Tokyo Tea House - Pocono Summit

Tokyo Tea House PA 940, Long Pond, PA
☆ ☆ 2/5 stars
As many of you have come to find out, good sushi is hard to come by in the Poconos. So, when given the opportunity to test the flavors of the orient nearby, my partner and I take it.

Unfortunately, the Tokyo Tea House leaves a lot to be desired. Appearance aside (as it lays in a shopping center, with a barely paved, un-lined parking lot), the Tokyo tea house is overpriced and underwhelming. Many japanese food places don't have a great atmosphere (dim lighting, awkward seating) but I try to not hold the look of the restaurant to any standard before judging the food.

We went on a Friday evening, around dinner time and as we entered the small, little restaurant we were informed that food may take longer than usual due to a large party being served. We ordered a few cocktails from the glorified basement bar (it was literally tiny and had very limited options).

As we perused the menu, we were surprised to see the prices. For a small place, in an area that could not have high leasing costs and had a small staff, the prices were kind of ridiculous. Had they offered prices on their online menu (they don't), we might have instead spent the gas money to drive to Wilkes-Barre to eat at our favorite japanese restaurant.

Since we were already committed to the "long" wait, we ordered the beef negi maki appetizer. The appetizer was pretty quick to arrive at our table, but I suppose that's because there were only 4 small peices for us to share. It was decent, a little overcooked and the serving size was pathetic.

For dinner, I ordered my favorite sushi roll, the dragon roll, and a basic roll to accompany it - I believe I had a white tuna roll. My partner was thrilled to see the variety of noodles they had to order, though our young waitress couldn't really help him in explaining the difference of the noodles. He ordered the Yaki Udon noodle dinner - which was chicken sauteed with vegetables and noodles.

His noodle meal was brought out about 15 minutes before my sushi was brought out. I aided him in eating it and it was pretty tasty though a bit over-oiled. By the time my sushi came out, I wasn't all that hungry but because I love sushi, I indulged.

The rolls were both very small and unfortunately, they maneged to ruin the dragon roll in a way that I had never tasted it - even at cheap sushi places. The eel tasted more like ginger - I suppose they managed to make some variation of it that gave it a flavor entirely like ginger.

It was disappointing. All in all, if you are absolutely desperate for sushi and can't get out to Wilkes-Barre to eat at Mirakuya, then Tokyo Tea House will do. But plan to overpay for average sushi served by inexperienced waiters in a dingy restaurant. Also, watch the potholes as you attempt to park.

Pocono Brewing Company - Swiftwater, PA

Pocono Brewing Company
PA 611, Swiftwater, PA

☆ ☆ 2/5 stars

What a shame Pocono Brewing Company can't capitalize on the assets at their dispose. PBC, as they call themselves, offers a great environment for a night out with friends. With a big open floorspace, game room and weekend entertainment, PBC COULD be an awesome place.

I am partially reminded of the Ice House in the Pocono Pines (which is now closed down) when I think of PBC - great environment with lots of room for a great night out.

Okay, onto PBC. We went on a weekend night and it was appropriately crowded for such a night; not too busy, but busy enough. We ordered a beer sampler and enjoyed a few of their own microbrews - unfortunately, their website doesn't work (in a digital world, that's unfortunate) so I can't name the beers that were included (they weren't that memorable I suppose).

We had a few different servers; one male and one female - I suppose this means they pool tips. The female server was quite nice, though her low-cut v-neck shirt was inappropriate for a restaurant filled with families. We had their appetizer sampler - nothing special. It had jap. poppers, mozzerella sticks, southwest eggrolls and onion rings. It was good, but reminiscent of a Friday's-Applebee's-Chili's type of thing. Quality was mass produced and it was standard bar food.

My partner ordered the chicken fajitas for the main entree and I had a buffalo chicken wrap. Again, nothing to write home about; just bar food. My wrap did have fresh mozzerella which was a nice surprise and not something typically found in a buffalo wrap. The fajitas came in a very large portion and served their purpose.

For dinner, we ordered accompanying beers. It was not long after we finished eating and almost-full beers that the male server asked if he should drop the check off. We smiled and said no as we planned to go into the game room, enjoy some games and finish our beers. Before we were able to get to the game room, he returned and asked again.

He must have asked us about 4 times if he could drop the check. Our drinks were not drank and our table hadn't even been cleared. I used the nearby restroom and when I returned, the check was on the table. Apparently he dropped it anyway even though my partner said we weren't ready.

At this time, the restaurant was less busy - we were surrounded with open tables but the persistence of this server to rush us out of the restaurant ruined the entire experience. I don't believe I finished my beer and I certainly didn't even get to go into the gameroom.

If a restaurant, like PBC, offers an entertainment experience (with a game room and comedy show that evening), they shouldn't play the fast table turnover game. It defeats the purpose. If you want to turn your tables over quickly then don't have additional features. For sub-par bar food; a rushed experience and a server without bed-side manner, PBC gets 2 stars.

For the entertainment alone, should I had been able to enjoy it, it could have earned three stars. Unfortunately, there is no silver bullet here. I would recommend you go to enjoy the cool atmosphere but at the same time you may not get a chance to do that if you do dine there - so instead you will be paying for bar food which could be more cheaply obtained at a chain restaurant.

Robert Christian's - Pocono Lake, PA

Robert Christian's
Route 940
Pocono Lake, PA

☆ ☆ 2/5 stars

I guess the best way to begin this review is to share the convo that was had between my partner and I after we ate. This convo, in short, was about how if a restaurant wants to charge semi-high prices, their decor should match. It also included, a shared desire for a real, fine dining restaurant to exist in it's place. Because, to be fair, Robert Christian's gets pretty busy - and I have no idea why.

Many restaurants in the Poconos have a rustic feel to their interior - wood paneling, etc. This one had those things but while dining (In August) their mantel still had Christmas decorations on it and their table clothes were nothing short than dollar store picnic tarps. Rather than rustic, it felt dingy and cheap.

The menu, however, was not cheap. Though it wasn't Blakeslee Inn pricey, it was overpriced. The quality of food and pedigree of the chefs who made the dishes were underwhelming. The star of the show was the RC House Salad - I do not know what is in their dressing (and our waitress didn't share) but it had a very unique flavor that I have yet to experience anywhere else.

As per usual, the wine menu disappointed - It was obvious from when we first entered, this would be the case as their wine rack was filled with Sutter Home. Come on restaurants, I drank Sutter Home in college BECAUSE it's cheap!

Same rant, different restaurant. Anyway, the main courses were okay. I had the Chicken Marsala - a pretty common dish. Their version of this included a slim amount of bad quality chicken and a bland sauce. My partner had the Chicken ranch wrap from the lite fare menu and was more dissapointed with the flavor than I was with my dish.

All in all, it was not memorable. I gave Robert Christian's two stars because the experience included: bland food, a dingy atmosphere and prices that were a bit too high for the quality of food.

If you are still interested, here is the menu

Blakeslee Inn

Blakeslee Inn
Rt. 940, Blakeslee, PA

☆ ☆ 2 stars/5

Where to begin? We had visitors staying with us who were seeking a fine dining experience. Unfortunately, while the country club-like atmosphere boasts just that, and the menu fits the bill, the food itself was an underachiever.

The food is very overpriced, not sure if it's because the Blakeslee Inn is the only fine dining option in town or if it's because someone in the management office is greedy.

Either way, the most impressive part of the dining experience was the selection of quality beer (they have all Chimay variations, which is hard to find in many restaurants) and the quasi-appetizers - these little fried balls of tastiness (we were told they were Chicken Cordon Bleu bites, though the wait staff was unable to point us in the direction of a recipe).

Now, here's the bad: I had filet, cooked medium. The cut of the steak was okay but the tenderness left much to be desired as did the side vegetable (overcooked and bland). One of my guests had the chicken special (not sure what it is called, this was a month or so ago) but suffice to say, the chicken was very overcooked - it's dryness did provoke us to order more Chimay but the indulgence of beer or any beverage caused a whole other issue...their bathrooms were not in working order.

Not sure how long they didn't have water for, so I won't assume they continued serving without a public restroom for the remainder of the night, as we didn't hang around much longer. We took our open bottle of Chimay to go, paid the steep bill and never returned.

My suggestion is: buy your own steak and find a gourmet recipe. If you have 100+ bucks to spend on dinner for two, visit a local pub then go bowling, otherwise your empty stomach will be accompanied by an empty wallet.