Third Time’s a Charm for Bridge Road Market?
By Brooke A. Brown
More than a couple of times in recent weeks I’ve found myself having lunch at the South Hills Market and Café. You guys know about this place, right? It used to be affiliated with the Bridge Road Bistro before it broke ties with that restaurant and, under new ownership, became something else. And then it went away and was vacant for a while. But it’s back, baby (under new ownership once again), and it is better than ever.
So good, in fact, that I keep forgetting to take pictures of the place. And that’s why I’m borrowing a few from area blogger Oncee, who apparently used his iPhone to snap a few good ones (thank you, sir).
What’s really nice about this latest version of the market is that they have a handful of tables and chairs where one can casually dine on gourmet soups and salads, delicious wraps and sandwiches. And they even serve – get this – breakfast. It was just yesterday that I had a cup of the roasted tomato soup, the roasted turkey sandwich with red onion marmalade, which is served on cranberry bread, and a side of pastini – tiny pearls of pasta mixed with spinach, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes and black olives.
The soup was creamy and delicious. I tasted a hint of rosemary (I think), which added a nice woodsy flavor to the tomato tang. The pastini was unusual in the fact that you simply can’t get that sort of thing anywhere else around here, but utterly scrumptious, nevertheless. And the sandwich was a fancy version of a sloppy, post-Thanksgiving meal dagwood that I’ve mentioned here in the past. I was simply amazed at how juicy the thinly-sliced turkey turned out to be. It was an absolutely wonderful lunch.
The only thing that’s a bit of a drag is that there are, in fact, only a handful of tables. Oh, and the service is not so speedy (it is a casual lunch destination, after all). But considering the atmosphere and the high level of food quality, it’s definitely worth the trip when you don’t have to make a 1 p.m. meeting. Besides (and this wipes out any negative), the market boasts the biggest, most delicious chocolate chip cookies I’ve seen and/or tasted in my lifetime. No, seriously.
The South Hills Market and Café still offers a huge wine selection and a pretty decent beer cooler to boot, not to mention freshly prepared foods like meatloaf, pork chops and stuffed eggplant which can make dinner after a long day at work a breeze. They have full coffee service, too, but I really don’t feel like rating their coffee at this point in time. Been there, done that.
Without question, this is the best version of the Bridge Road/South Hills Market to date. Let’s hope this one sticks around for a long while. You can see that it does by paying them a visit.
IF YOU GO: South Hills Market and Café, 1010 Bridge Road, Charleston, W.Va. 25314, (304) 345-2585
April 2nd, 2008 at 5:19 pm
My wife and I went there last week. She ordered a really nice Cobb salad, but I was not so lucky. I ordered the Ruben on marble rye, Which was a mess! It was a mush of Kraut, Russian Dressing and bits of corned beef that squirted out the side like egg-salad when I bit into it. I hope it was a fluke, but at 9 bucks, I can’t afford to give the ruben a second chance. I think I will get a Cobb salad if I go back.
April 3rd, 2008 at 9:46 am
I like the fact that this place serves salads that have more than iceberg lettuce and mealy tomatoes in them. Yesterday, I had a lovely salad with dark mixed greens, dried cranberries and sugared pecans. I upped the ante by adding feta cheese, but one can also add chicken. Salad-wise, this is definitely, my lunch place of choice.
April 3rd, 2008 at 11:31 am
Rich,
Have you honestly ever eaten a Reuben that wasn’t a complete mess? I don’t think I have…
But if by ‘mush’ you mean it was overly soggy, then I feel your pain. I deplore soggy bread.
April 3rd, 2008 at 4:26 pm
I believe that Rich doesn’t quite get the point of a reuben. They are supposed to be a mess.
I had roasted chicken from there once and it was fabulous. Roast chicken is one of those things you can really judge a place on. It is so simple, yet so easy to mess up.
April 3rd, 2008 at 7:43 pm
Guys, I just call em like I see em… I think I can say that I have enough “deli credentials” having been raised in New Jersey around several neighborhood Italian and Jewish delicatessens. I even worked in one!
The ruben I had seemed as if it had been assembled by scooping “ruben filling” onto the marble rye. There were no beautiful laminar layers of corned beef, just an occassional chunk in the mush. I couldn’t tell the kraut from the dressing, and it squirted out when I bit into it. Sure, a ruben can sometimes be a bit messy, like having to wipe a bit of dressing from the corners of your mouth… But I shouldn’t have to scoop up the innards and stick it back onto the bread after each bite!
I will go back. My wife’s cobb salad was excellent. My side dish of orzo salad was great. But I am going to stay away from the ruben…
April 3rd, 2008 at 7:51 pm
BTW, There are many sandwich historians that believe the Ruben sandwich was actually first sold in Atlantic City (My hometown) by Ruben’s sandwich stand. He then moved to a full blown deli in New York where the sandwich became popular. This is just one of many accounts…
April 4th, 2008 at 9:54 am
Rich,
No one is doubting your deli credentials, although I may need to see some I.D. next time I bump in to you at the bar…
But something you said got me to thinking: would it not be interesting (to say the least) if one were to scoop some rueben filling onto bite-size pieces of marble rye, coat them in a simple beer batter and then flash fry ‘em? Have some extra Russian dressing on the side for dipping. And an extra beer, of course.
April 6th, 2008 at 5:23 am
Can I get a deep fried Kosher Dill with those Ruben fritters?
April 7th, 2008 at 10:37 am
Y’know… You may have stumbled onto the next big thing for the summer festival menu! Include me in the taste panel. I will bring the “right” beer; and al can bring the fried pickles…
April 7th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
I started to go in a few weeks ago and the tables threw me for a loop. Is it a restaurant? Is it a store? Do they have the caprese salad I’m too lazy to make and that I enjoyed picking up in one of the previous incarnations?
April 10th, 2008 at 7:48 am
Isn’t it “Reuben” you guys? Anyway, I’ve tried this place a couple times, and was thrilled to see something like it opening in that location, but it’s simply too expensive for what you get. I’m not going back. Oh, and stay away from their cappuccino machine too…