Bizarre meats coming to Allentown

Like ostrich, alligator and bison? Or at least curious to try? You won't have to go far in about a month. A new restaurant called Four Aces (I hope I heard that right) is slated to move into the former Rock Around the Clock Diner on 13th and Hamilton. That's all I know at this point. But here's hoping for some elk and wild boar. Aside: Mr Bill's deli at the Allentown Farmers Market carries a selection of exotic meats in the open case freezer to the right of the sausage counter. I've seen several styles of ducks, quail, pheasant, squab, boar and ostrich. I'll have to pull a random meat out of the case the next time I'm feeling inventive.

New restaurant in downtown Allentown

News today from Allentown is that the owner of the River Grille is going to open a restaurant in the first floor of the Butz Building, 9th and Hamilton. Cuisine will be Portuguese-Mediterranean -- probably similar to his other Easton property, Valencia. (Thanks @matuerk via Twitter.)

Thai coming to downtown Emmaus?

In case you don't read the comments, Amy from Emmaus shared this with the editorial staff of beyondscrapple.com:

We live in Emmaus, and did you know that Phenom, the Thai restaurant in Easton, is going to open a restaurant on Main Street in Emmaus? Look on the left side at: http://www.phenomthai.com/. There is a banner hanging on the building - they are taking over the old India Spice at the corner of Main and 2nd Street. My husband heard that they are trying to open within the month.

I've heard mostly positive things about Phenom. I'm happy to hear they're coming to this side of the Valley.

About Tika's

A few of you have asked me about Tika's, the new restaurant that replaced Tortilla Flat on the corner of Main and Market streets in downtown Bethlehem. Unfortunately, I don't know what to think.

First, the good: the owners seem to be very nice people -- personable, dedicated, enthusiastic. They invested a lot of time and money into the property. The interior has been redone in a orange/green motif. They shifted the bar to the south wall to make the entire floorspace a bit more open. And they added extra tables outside for al fresco dining.

Now the bad: I can't describe for you what type of food they serve. It's all over the place. There are a couple of everyday Mexican dishes -- burritos, quesadillas. There are sandwiches, including a Cuban sandwich. There are salads, though nothing very notable or creative. And there are expensive entrees like strip steak and surf & turf. I had lunch there four weeks ago. Honestly, I can't remember what I had (some kind of sandwich?), though I know it was not bad. It was decent, but unremarkable.

It's a problem when someone asks you, "What type of food do they have?" and you can't answer. They have a little bit of everything, but without the widespread selection of a diner. I don't know about you, but there are times when I'm fixing for a certain type of cuisine: Thai, Middle Eastern, Italian, Hispanic. Tika's falls short in this measure. They would be better off with a distinct menu theme that is underserved in the Lehigh Valley. Maybe Latin fusion. Maybe jazzed up comfort food. Maybe Spanish. Or authentic Greek.

That said, I wish them well. As noted, the owners, Bill and Tika, seem like genuinely good folk. They have an important corner on Main Street in Bethlehem, which needs to keep its momentum. Any thoughts from anyone else who's been?

Sorry. But I'm back and loving Petra.

Thank you all for your patience with my lack of blogging. Things have been busy here at Spark (no complaints about that), and I've been attending to some other needs. I haven't been eating out as much either, mostly because of time constraints. After all, the ethnic places I chronicle on Beyond Scrapple don't require a CEO's salary. So thanks for sticking with me.

I ventured today to Petra, the new Mediterranean restaurant on Broad Street close to Apollo Grill in Bethlehem. It was one of my best lunches in a long, long time.

Petra opened about two months ago in a former coffee shop that was headed nowhere from the day it opened. (Too many coffee shops in one downtown. We're not Seattle.) The decor is pleasant -- cream colored walls, wood floors, simple artwork. In many ways, it's a reflection of a cuisine that combines fresh straighforward ingredients in a delicious and healthful manner.

I was surprised to find a lunch buffet. I'd never seen one in a Mediterranean restaurant. The various dips/spreads lured me in; the rest of the dishes sold it. For $9, I can't remember a better buffet at any location. All items were freshly homemade.

In addition to standard hummus and a surprisingly light baba ganouj, Petra had a muhamara dip: a combination of walnuts, pomegranates, molasses, bread crumbs, olive oil, roasted red peppers and spices. Phenomenal -- it was at once hearty and sweet with incredible balance. I could have made a meal out of that alone.

The tabbouleh was fresh and tangy, though a little light on the bulgur in my opinion -- more of a parsley/mint salad with diced tomatoes. (That didn't stop me from having two small servings, though.) Hot dishes included couscous, which in this case refers to a stewed Moroccan vegetable dish (carrots, sweet potatoes, others), rather than the grain-size pasta. (Petra had that, too, and it was light and a tad buttery. Mmmmm.) A side dish of peas and diced carrots with small pieces of beef in a beef broth was rich and outstanding. It could have been an entree. And a rice/lentil combination featured an ideal balance of texture and flavor, not to mention the healthy rice-legume partnership.

I'll repeat: this is one of the best $9 buffets you'll find. Prompt, friendly service with good food at a fair price. I'm fortunate to have it less than three blocks from my desk.

Thanks once again to all who have continued following and commenting. I promise to make it out more often and continue blogging.