We haven’t gotten over to Phoenixville much in the past couple of years, but we’ve been reading about all the good stuff happening there and when it came time to celebrate Lin’s birthday I asked her to pick a place to dine and she said let’s go to the Black Lab Bistro in Phoenixville.

I was surprised that it only took us 40 minutes to get there during the evening rush hour. Our reservations were for 6:30 and leaving at 5:50 we got there right on time. We were also able to park right out front of the restaurant, which is always nice. And it was free!

Inside, the bistro is very comfortable and nicely decorated. The bistro has a nice menu selection and a little something for every taste. They provide a nightly special insert to the menu, which I like, so I don’t have to try to remember all the selection the waitress may recite. They also have a very reasonable 3 course price fixe during the week and that’s where our attention landed.

I started with the toasted pita points that came with baked brie and roasted tomatoes on a kale salad, with pickled red onions and balsamic glaze. This was quite attractive on the plate and very delicious. For my main course I chose the gnocchi, which came with sun dried tomatoes, broccoli, olive oil and garlic. I really liked this dish.

Lin went with a starter of asparagus soup. This came in a very large bowl that you usually don’t see with a price fixe. We were both surprised by how large the portion sizes were for all three courses. Lin’s main was beer battered cod and chips. The chips were Remoulade malt vinegar fries. It also came with a frisee slaw salad.

I was going to order that dish but then changed when she chose it, so we could taste a few different plates. The fish and chips were quite good. For dessert we both went with Tres Leches Cake. Once again, it was a very nice portion and very good.

Service throughout the meal was very good. The Black Lab is a BYOB and they do not charge a corkage fee. They have outdoor seating available, though that appears to be mostly on the weekend and with all the traffic on Bridge Street, I’d pass on that option. The interior space was not noisy at all. Even with six diners sitting right next to us with children we could still talk comfortably and enjoy the moment.

We were so delighted with our experience in Phoenixville we decided to make it a destination to repeat over the coming months to try some of the other new and older places throughout the borough.

As we were driving home we talked about our meal experience and collaborated on a rating. We decided the Black Lab Bistro should get 3 stars out of 4 and we would definitely recommend it.

It’s easy to make reservations on line or by the phone and I would recommend you do that. Our price fixe was three courses for $25, so our bill came to $53 and we added a 20% tip.

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Top image courtesy of Chester County Planning Commission