Restaurant Review: Earl's Prime
Jon and I discovered Earl's about a year ago and it is still #1 on our list for steaks, overall food quality, service, and atmosphere. We've been back a few times, most recently on Saturday night. Although located in Peddler's Village, a country shopping village always filled with tourists on the weekends, the restaurant is the complete opposite of "country." They have done a great job with making you feel like you are in a NYC restaurant. It has a bit of a trendy feel, but is still very elegant, cozy, and quiet - much different than their biggest local competition, Marsha Brown's.
Every time we have been to Earl's the food has been amazing. We keep waiting for our first bad experience, but so far that hasn't happened. My only complaint is that their prices have increased quite a bit over the past year.
After Jon had the jumbo lump crab cocktail ($15) from their raw bar, we all started with the wedge salad. I wish I had pictures - the presentation of this salad is the best I've seen. It's a nice wedge of iceberg lettuce on a square plate surrounded by little piles of crispy prosciutto, tomatoes, very good blue cheese, and blue cheese dressing. We often recreate this one at home. Surprisingly this salad is only $5.
We all ordered Filet Mignon for our entree. Everyone always yells at me for ordering it well done (when you used to be a vegetarian, you don't want to see red in your meat), but at Earl's the meat is such high quality and they cook it perfectly - even at well done my steak was still like butter. When our server brought the steaks she asked us to cut into them to make sure they were done to our liking. From medium rare and medium to well done, they were all perfect. I love Earl's Bearnaise sauce and want to try to make it on my own someday. The steaks come with one side, and tonight it was Peruvian potatoes. They were purple which was a little scary, but very good! We ordered the creamed spinach but weren't that impressed - it was more like creamy spinach soup - however my father-in-law's stewed tomatoes were very good. The filet is $40 for the 8 oz and $48 for the 12 oz. Sides are $5-$8 and they easily serve 2 people.
Dessert - Jon's 7 layer chocolate cake was amazing! I don't like sweets but this cake was very good. Rich, but not overly sweet. Jim was very happy to hear that they had the Penn State Creamery Ice Cream back on the menu. Peachy Paterno it was.
Every time we have been to Earl's the food has been amazing. We keep waiting for our first bad experience, but so far that hasn't happened. My only complaint is that their prices have increased quite a bit over the past year.
After Jon had the jumbo lump crab cocktail ($15) from their raw bar, we all started with the wedge salad. I wish I had pictures - the presentation of this salad is the best I've seen. It's a nice wedge of iceberg lettuce on a square plate surrounded by little piles of crispy prosciutto, tomatoes, very good blue cheese, and blue cheese dressing. We often recreate this one at home. Surprisingly this salad is only $5.
We all ordered Filet Mignon for our entree. Everyone always yells at me for ordering it well done (when you used to be a vegetarian, you don't want to see red in your meat), but at Earl's the meat is such high quality and they cook it perfectly - even at well done my steak was still like butter. When our server brought the steaks she asked us to cut into them to make sure they were done to our liking. From medium rare and medium to well done, they were all perfect. I love Earl's Bearnaise sauce and want to try to make it on my own someday. The steaks come with one side, and tonight it was Peruvian potatoes. They were purple which was a little scary, but very good! We ordered the creamed spinach but weren't that impressed - it was more like creamy spinach soup - however my father-in-law's stewed tomatoes were very good. The filet is $40 for the 8 oz and $48 for the 12 oz. Sides are $5-$8 and they easily serve 2 people.
Dessert - Jon's 7 layer chocolate cake was amazing! I don't like sweets but this cake was very good. Rich, but not overly sweet. Jim was very happy to hear that they had the Penn State Creamery Ice Cream back on the menu. Peachy Paterno it was.
If we could we'd go to Earl's every weekend, but the prices definitely make it a place to visit every few months. Expect to spend at least $100 per person for drinks, salad, entree, a shared dessert, and tip - more if you have any appetizers or selections from the raw bar. But you won't be disappointed with the food or the service. We end up comparing every other restaurant to Earl's and so far none have come close. It's our favorite restaurant by far, and if you go you'll know why.
