What to do when you’re dropping off a friend at 30th Street Station and you both want to get a bite to eat before the train leaves, but you don’t want to settle for Au Bon Pain, Auntie Anne’s, or the rest of the fast food options that the station has to offer? We faced just that predicament last weekend, and the solution was fairly obvious: Bridgewater’s Pub, the sole sit-down restaurant at 30th Street. We may have spoken somewhat disparagingly about it in the past (well, at least about its location), but we were eager to give Bridgewater’s another shot. The menu, designed by Chef Fredrick Price, has most of the traditional pub fare you would expect (Black Angus burger, barbecued ribs) alongside some dishes that you definitely wouldn’t (kangaroo, ostrich burger). We decided to start off with the duck sausage appetizer served atop a bed of wild rice pilaf with pecans and cranberries. The sausage was pleasantly salty, nicely offset by the nutty taste of the pilaf. All in all, it was a good, hearty appetizer. After that, we were ready for the main course: The hangar steak salad and the crab cake sandwich. The hanger steak was slightly tough but flavorful, and the salad (which included Romaine lettuce, chopped egg, shaved manchego, red onion, peppers, cucumbers, Mandarin oranges) was topped off with tasty Dijon-paprika vinaigrette, making for a quality light lunch. What certainly wasn’t light was the crab cake: It was enormous and delicious. Though the menu said it was served with sweet potato fries, it came with regular fries, but the crab cake was so big that it didn’t really matter though, as it reduced the fries to mere garnish status (even though they were tasty). We didn’t have time for dessert, though the rustic vibe of the menu leads us to think that the bread pudding would have been a hit…we’ll definitely give it a shot next time when we’re not in such a hurry. Perhaps best of all, Bridgewater’s has a nice selection of beer on tap and in bottles, including the hard-to-find Innstadt from Germany, so import snobs won’t have any reason to complain when you tell them that you’re going to the train station to eat.
Bridgewater’s Pub. 30th Street Station. 215-387-4787.
We love Bridgewaters! The food is amazing compared to the other station options and the beer list is always top notch. The best part is the intimacy they achieve with their enclosed bar.
Bridgewaters music selection was lame when I was there (cheesy slowed down Blues Hammer-type stuff) but it’s a swell place otherwise, ESPECIALLY for a train station. That place could easily be a Chili’s Express or TGIFridays, so feel lucky, Philly. Get to the station early or stay late after your train next time…