Lunch at Houlihans

Late Lunch at Houlihan's - Houlihan's: Cherry Hill, NJ

My mother wanted to treat me to a late lunch/early dinner, to celebrate my completion of the teacher prep program, so I let her pick the place.

It's been a while since I've eaten at Houlihan's, so I'm not sure how new this is, but they have an early bird dinner menu. You get a fountain drink, soup (or salad), an entree, and a dessert for under twenty bucks. Not too shabby.

I ordered:

• Cream of Broccoli Soup (The soup of the day)
• Chicken Stir-fry
• Crème Brûlée

It was a cold and rainy day, so I picked charmander the soup as my starter. I figured it would warm me up...but it was cold. It wasn't our server's fault, she took our order and the soup was at our table in 5 minutes, so I am guessing that whatever warming device Houlihan's uses was off or broken. Still, the soup had a nice creamy texture and it was well seasoned. Due to the cold temperature it was a bit thicker than I would have liked, but it was still pretty yummy.

Next was my stir-fry, thankfully this dish was piping hot when it arrived, I really needed something to warm me up and that cold soup wasn't cutting it. The dish is pretty simple, it's chopped veggies, white rice, and chicken covered in an Asian-inspired sauce and topped with crisp noodles. It looked really yummy, and the veggies were really fresh, but the sauce was just a bit too ginger-y. I like ginger, in small doses, but this was a bit too much. Still, I ate about half of the portion you see on my plate and packed the rest up to go home. (I gotta mention that the stir-fry was really well plated, look how pretty it is!) 

Lastly it was dessert time! (The best time ever.)  There are three dessert options on the early bird menu: ice cream, cheesecake, and crème brûlée. As you can see, I opted for the crème brûlée. (Maybe I am weird but I am not a fan of cheesecake. It was also way too cold for ice cream.)

The crème brûlée was the best part of my meal. The golden, burnt sugar, layer was crisp and crunchy while the custard was rich and creamy. You could see little flecks of vanilla bean in every spoonful, and it was served with a deliciously ripe strawberry. 

I imagine my meal could have been a lot better had I picked some different options, but I still enjoyed myself and our server was very attentive and polite. Overall, the meal wasn't stellar, but for the pricing and the sheer amount of food you receive, it's not bad.

© Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.net
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