Porch Restaurant

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  They have two options.  Fine dining upstairs and casual dining downstairs (in the pub).  I ate downstairs and it's my understanding the quality and selection is the same.  The difference between the crab cake entrees from the two menus is upstairs is two cakes downstairs is one cake.
  
  Downstairs is the pub so the ambiance is reflective.  Your at a table, there are patrons at the bar and two tv's on so it's a little loud but it's not overwhelming.  It's what you should expect eating casually at a bar.  
  
  First the beer list.  Excellent by my standards.  Four pages, American, English, German, Belgian etc.  Some selections were Duchesse De Bourgoune, Chimay blue, Chimay Red, 6 different Trappists, monks cafe sour ale, founders breakfast and a plethora of IPA's which I don't like so didn't commit to memory.  One was some very expensive Alaskan IPA's.  It's a very wide selection.  I was pleased.  
  
  I ordered the crab cakes, which was served with a veggie of the day and a beurre blanc sauce served over farfaline pasta.  The crab cakes were fantastic.  The farfaline was a little scant and veggie if the day was peas.  Overall the meal was expensive but equally delicious.  I will be back on more than one occasion.  
  
  If your in the myerstown area and want good food.  Come here and eat.
  
  You get what you pay for.  I wish this place and the (westy) west hamburg tavern would change places.
  
  I'm giving this five stars.  I'm sure there are michelan star establishments out there that top this food by far but I have not eaten at them.  Therefore based on beer, food, price and service.  Bam!  5 STARS.

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  Posted on 05.21.13 Michael W.

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  This is truly, the best in the area. If you're looking for a great meal, service and overall dining experience, Porch is the place to go. Fresh menu with a staff that pays attention to detail.

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  Posted on 04.27.13 Michael S.

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  Just realized that there was another yelp link to review this place.
  
  (From previous review)
  Had some food here with the bf the other night while we were in town.
  It was recommended by the innkeeper at the Cornwall Inn. We called the place a few time to find out what time they closed. They have a fine dining upstairs and a more casual dining downstairs.
  
  We unfortunately got there when they stopped serving regular food (we called twice- first guy told us they are open until 2 and the second guy told us until 12). Neither one mentioned that they stop serving dinner food and only serve bar food after a certain time. Had we known, we would've made it for the regular food.
  
  Still we got mozzarella sticks, truffle fries and a sticky bun ice cream. Each item $6 while pretty good not worth the price. The waitress who was also the bartender was very nice. I would come back just to try it again during normal food hours and will update if I do.

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  Posted on 12.11.12 Melissa N.

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  We are regulars upstairs for the fine dining which has always been excellent. Stopped downstairs last night for a light supper and it was a great experience.  Can't believe simple "lite fare" could be so good.

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  Posted on 11.02.12 Noel W.

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  Just got back from our first dinner at Porch in Myerstown.  I would never have even known it was there if I didn't see it listed on <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2FRestaurant.com&s=0aab4cbd731f3d3b0d1453050d3abc56a8c80bd214e25469c7555b750dca8a51" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://Restaurant.com</a>.  From the outside, it looks mostly like a bar in a big, old Victorian house with a wrap-around porch.  There's outdoor dining in the back and apparently a "fine dining" dining room upstairs.  We ate in the downstairs area because we weren't dressed up.  
  
  I had the mussels frites-- mussels and shoestring french fries in a cream, wine and shallot broth-- to start.  A couple of my mussels were gritty but it didn't matter at all because the broth was excellent and went perfectly with the fries.  My boyfriend had the wings with spicy mango sauce.  The wings themselves were fresh, big and cooked perfectly without any dredge or batter.  (You can tell if wings have been frozen if when you bite them, the bones are black.)  The mango sauce was okay.  It wasn't really spicy enough and didn't cling to the wings in the way that we'd hoped.  It wasn't bad but it wasn't as good as we'd hoped.
  
  For our entrees, I had their Brick Chicken-- a frenched chicken breast and leg cooked under a brick to press it flat and create an uber-crunchy skin.  It came with scalloped potatoes with Tillamook cheddar and a wine sauce and a small portion of sauteed spinach.  It was absolutely excellent.  The chicken was moist and flavorful.  The skin on the chicken was amazing.  The portion of chicken was perfect but I felt like there could have been a little more potatoes and spinach.  My boyfriend had the single crab cake.  It came on a bed of farfallini pasta with a small side of sauteed spinach.  While the crab cake was probably one of the top three I've had in my life, the pasta bed seemed like an odd pairing and there wasn't very much of it.
  
  For dessert, he had the blondie with coffee gelato and I had the lemon chess pie.  Both were rich and amazing.  
  
  The service was okay.  It seemed like there was one waitress, one manager (who mostly stayed upstairs and was kind of snippy when she did come down through the small pub dining room) and the bartender (who served as our waitress).  The bartender and waitress were running up and down the stairs next to our table the whole time we were there.  At one point, the chef ran plates down the stairs to the outside dining area.  Apparently, the outdoor area was full.
  
  When I went back to their ladies room, there was a large table covered with the debris from the last group of diners who were there when we arrived.  Dishes hadn't been cleared, nor glasses, nor were the chairs pushed in.  It seemed kind of strange that there wasn't a busboy or that the manager didn't have someone clear the table.  It seemed like they were unprepared for the diners who were there tonight and they weren't *that* busy.
  
  That said, Porch is very local to us, in an area with a dearth of restaurant options.  We'll be back to check out the burgers on the pub menu.  As some were carried past our table, I literally found myself drooling.  If you take away anything from this review, please understand that the food was EXCELLENT.

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  Posted on 08.26.10 Juli K.

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  I'm a big fan of porch. I've been here on several occasions and have never been disappointed.  They have the same menu all the time (that you can see on the site) and then some wonderful specials as additions.  You can get a seat right away and it's a nice place inside.  The servers are friendly and attentive. The chef worked at Le Bec Fin for a couple years and you can tell he's a pro.  His mother and him make all the desserts there and they are wonderful too.  Once a month they have a brunch that is by far the best brunch i ever went to. I have it marked on my calander so that I don't miss it! Porch is definitely worth the drive out to Myerstown.  They have a pub downstairs to eat in as well.  It's a more casual place and lighter fare as they call it.  It's sort of weird and dark down there though. I prefer the main restaurant.

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  Posted on 01.13.10 Tracy D.

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