Review: Sweet Briar Cafe (Ambler)

Did you know the best ice cream shop in Ambler is also the best farm-to-table dinner spot! At first glance it’s just and ice cream and burger place and because of its long history in town (formerly Cone Heads), but  I’m here to tell you skip the ice cream and make a reservation for a one of a kind farm-to-table dinner - that won’t break the bank.

Once you step in the door, you’re not in the summer sweets spot anymore. Sweet Briar offers a relaxed atmosphere for a sit down BYOB dinner, all year round. This review is only on their dinner menu.

The Food

All organic, most of the food is from the family’s 4^th generation farm “SweetBriar” in Bucks County. They also use Sunrise Sunflower Farm and seafood is sourced from Hesh’s Seafood.  

Sweet Briar offers dinner Tuesday – Saturday from 4-9pm. The menu offers a variety of home cooked style meals from Butternut Squash Ravioli to classic Pasta and Meatballs. My favorite part of Sweet Briar is their Harvest Dinners. For a modest $28, Sweet Briar holds a 4-course Harvest dinner, the first Tuesday of every month. Reservations are recommended. I’ve been to a few and there’s always something different on the menu, each time equally delicious! Here is a sampling from our visit in June 2016:

To start we had the Roasted Corn and Red Pepper Soup. It was topped with avocado cream and bacon bits, and I could have had two! It had a perfect texture and the flavors melded well.

Next we had Scallops over a Red Cabbage and Orzo Pasta Caesar Salad. This was creative and had a subtle Caesar taste with parmesan cheese bits and creamy consistency.

For the main course, the Coffee Chocolate Short Ribs and Chicken Brie Puff Pastry were both outstanding!  The Short ribs were juicy on a bed of pappardelle pasta and topped with mozzarella cheese. The hint of chocolate and coffee was creative and tasty.

 The Chicken Brie Puff Pastry was a nice combination of spinach, red pepper and zucchini. Roasted red peppers really stood out in this and the flaky crust made for a mouthwatering meal.   

Lastly was dessert, vanilla ice cream with baked apples and an oatmeal cookie bar. I was so full at this point I didn’t think I could eat dessert but made it through at least half of it. I made sure to eat the oatmeal cookie which tasted freshly baked. Two thumbs up!

The Service

You will feel the family owned and operated attention to detail from start to finish.  The owners can always be seen stopping by tables to check in on the meal with customers and chat. Servers are always knowledgeable about the menu and are happy to answer questions.

The Price

The regular dinner menu offers modest prices for a high quality farm fresh meal. You won’t pay over $13 for an entrée! The Harvest dinners are 4-course for $28. The prices are a deal compared to most high-end farm-to-table restaurants.

I highly recommend Sweet Briar Cafe for dinner. Cheapest true farm-to-table around. 

Click here to check out Sweet Briar Café’s website and full menu.