A Wonderful Addition to the Pennridge Area
Maize Restaurant occupies the space which formerly housed Cafe Avocado on Walnut Street in Perkasie. It's a place worth visiting whether you're a Perkasie native or coming in from Doylestown, Souderton, Quakertown, Bedminster, or beyond.The chef/owner Matt McPhelin has created a charming space of deep ochre with red accents and white trim. The floor is slate, and one wall remains exposed brick accented by mirrors. The 28 seat venue has cherry tables and chairs from which dinners can watch the chef and his brother bustle in the kitchen visible through an arched pass-through.The effect is intimate, uncluttered, and comfortable.
Our evening started with a greeting from the genial one-man-wait-staff, Bob. We were immediately offered Maize's signature popcorn (yes, popcorn to keep with the theme of the name) dressed with olive oil, salt, capers, and parsley. Highly addicting! Once we had ordered we were next offered their corn biscuit served with local honey and butter. The hubby and i were content at that point, but we gathered all our strength for the three courses to come.
I started with the delicata squash coup with creme fraiche and pumpkin seeds. The soup was velvety and quite subtle in flavor with the seeds adding an interesting crunch. My spouse started with the canneloni stuffed with leeks and duck confit and served with a light duck jus. Both were delicious and a perfect portion size.
We moved on to the crabcake and duck breast. The crabcake had a subtle flavor, more like sauteed crab than the highly seasoned crabcake one might expect. The hash beneath and the sauce perfectly complemented the cake and caused us to wish for more bread to sop up every drop. The duck breast served on quinoa was perfectly medium rare with a nice sear on the outside. The base of quinoa, jus, orange and cranberry perfectly supported the duck , again causing us to scrape the plate to taste everything.
The only spot on the evening was the long wait between our main course and dessert, but we quickly forgave the lapse when the chef appeared tableside with my polenta and olive oil cake personally. Chef prepares the dish to order; he did not like how the first dish came out, so he remade it. The cake was worth the wait! I did not taste the hubby's roasted pear, but very little remained on that plate either.
Service was attentive but not fussy. We had a leisurely 2 hour dinner and enjoyed every minute. We'll go back again in the near future.
