Fore! Tavola at The Springfield Country Club

OK, while we wait for the Philly Foodie Girl to finish bikini shopping and leave her next post, please let her hubby chime in with a quick word about Tavola at the Springfield Country Club.

First, let me say there is not much fine dining where we live in Delaware County. We enjoy some of the places on State Street in Media, especially Margaret Kuo’s Peking Restaurant and sometimes Iron Hill. So the big question was where to turn to on a warm Friday night in late September when we were determined to sit outside and enjoy the mild early fall weather? How did you guess Tavola's Restaurant and Bar? I’m not even sure how to pronounce it.

This is the former location of ‘Stephen’s’ at the Springfield Country Club, as in Stephen Finley of Finley Catering fame. The three of us, including our well-traveled daughter, were seated on the outside deck right next to a green on the golf course by Joe, our chatty host. Overall, the atmosphere was pretty interesting, as a mix of sixty-something golfers and mismatched thirty-something couples came and went over the course of our two hours there.

The food ranged from pretty good to adequate - the $29 filet good, the sugary sweet potato fries that came with it questionable, the salads adequate. The ‘Asian-flared’ mussels the Foodie Girl had were described only as ‘interesting’ since many of the shells were empty and the combination of flavors was mismatched. However, she did appreciate the effort to come up with some interesting dishes at a place like this.

The service was spotty, with long waits between visits from our server. When Jennifer the server did spend time with us she was quite nice and very accommodating and playful with our Junior Foodie. Maybe she had too many tables to tend to on a night the place was two-thirds full.

Overall, we believe we will probably return to Tavolas. In the warmer months I highly recommend opting for the outdoor patio. However, if given the choice between here and a real fav - Carson’s Dockside Grill on the newly refurbished Ridley Township Marina, we would choose Carson’s. (Pork Wings! Another story for another day!)

Please be sure to post your comments about your experiences at Tavolas or anyplace in the Philly area. Caio!