Harry's Blue Bell Taproom: Bacon Scallop Special $14, Flight Of Bacon $12
By Glen Macnow
Harry's Blue Bell Taproom
736 Dekalb Pike, Blue Bell
Harry's is a small pub with a fine beer list that promotes itself as a bacon lover's paradise. That's not just hype. By our count, bacon is the star (or at least co-star) in 14 separate items on the pub menu. So it's difficult to avoid the swine – from apps to main courses through dessert.
And it's fine meat, from the good people at Bespoke Bacon, a local smoker gaining positive attention for their all-natural ingredients and use of quality woods. Bespoke is to store-bought bacon what a fine craft brewer is to Miller Lite. In other words, a better alternative.
We started with the "flight of bacon" appetizer, four cups of flavored crisp sticks. You choose your own flavors from the menu. We went with rosemary (excellent), maple (drool-worthy), Buffalo (decent) and wasabi (not working).
Then we graduated to the scallops rumaki – the classic seafood dish tucked in bacon. Near perfection. Sweet tender shell fish, wrapped as tight and neat as a military bed. We could have stood for a bit more crispiness in the bacon, but that's a quibble. This was a great dish.
Scores:
Scallops Rumaki: 89/100
Flight of Bacon: 85/100