Ten Penny

There are limited gluten free choices here, but I'm a sucker for a good filet.  As an appetizer, I'm a sucker for crab dip. It looked like the salmon could be prepared gluten free, too, if you're into that sort of thing.

The crab dip usually comes with soft pretzels to dip in it.  The server told me she didn't know what to bring me as a substitute, so I suggested celery.  She told me they didn't have celery.  That was funny because there was celery on the veggie platter that our group ordered.  After the crab dip was delivered, I grabbed some celery off our veggie platter & dug in.

It was served in a tiny cast iron pan.  The cheese was crispy with maximum stretch.  I love a crispy cheese right out from under the broiler.  The flavor had a tiny kick, but mostly cheesy crab.  I don't like things too spicy, so this was perfect for me.  It was big enough to share with a friend, but I didn't share.  I actually took half home for lunch the next day.

I chose the filet mignon medium rare with no steak sauce for my main course.  I don't care for steak sauce to begin with, but I also didn't trust it.  The steak was cooked perfectly.  My only complaint was the pepper "crust" it had.  It seamed like it was over seasoned with pepper.  You can see half cracked peppercorns in the picture.  And perhaps they meant to crust it with pepper, but maybe it should have been a finer grind or around the edges instead of on the top & bottom.

I believe that too much pepper is what bad cooks use to cover up their mistakes.  This steak would have been ten times better if the dry seasoning was much less.  Not to say the steak was bad, because it wasn't, just that it could have been better if I could taste the steak more and less of the peppercorns.


https://www.tenpennypgh.com/

Ten Penny
960 Penn Ave
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
(412) 318-8000

The Porch at Siena

 

I've actually been here a few times recently.  This past time was later in the evening.  I felt like someone forgot to dim the lights & the atmosphere would have been a bit better if the lighting was a bit lower.  Well, at least I could see what I was eating.  

They are willing to accommodate groups.  So if you are looking for a place to have twelve to twenty people and have some gluten free options, you may want to look into this place.

The gluten free menu & specials menu are just pieces of paper with items printed out on it and hand cut with scissors crocked.  I wasn't the only person there asking for a gluten free menu last time I went because my server had to retrieve it from another table for me to look at.  I feel like maybe you should do something a little more presentable to attract the gluten free community, but at least menu presentation is no indicator of food quality.

Pictured above, I ordered the steak sandwich without the bread with an onion balsamic relish.  The onions had just the right amount of sweetness and were a great accompaniment to the steak.  The steak had a nice flavor, but there were a good amount of tough gristle parts that, if on a sandwich would have been overlooked, but since I was eating it without, it was very noticeable.  They do not offer gluten free bread here.  I feel like they could really step up their game if they catered to gluten free needs more.  Regardless, they do a good job of not cross contaminating the stuff they can do gluten free.  

I couldn't have the fries that normally come as a side, so they made me a little side salad.

They make a fabulous crab dip that you can get celery to dip in it.  It's cheesy and creamy with just the right amount of crab.  

Over the summer, I had the chicken.  It was really good, but now on the winter menu, I'm told they changed their chicken and it cannot be gluten free.  Hopefully in the summer I can come back & get gluten free chicken again.  It was good.

This time, I ordered the fig and goat cheese salad.  The figs were a sweet addition to the bed of spring mix, radicchio, almonds, and goat cheese.  I added grilled chicken to the salad, as I felt it needed a protein.   The chicken had a decent flavor.  I've had juicier grilled chicken, but it wasn't dried out either.  The salad was large enough to be an entree. I definitely picked out the good stuff & still had a bowl of lettuce left over.  It was enough to fill me up.

All in all, the food was tasty and I didn't get sick, so in my book that's a win! Thank you to The Porch at Siena, I'll be back soon.

Siena at St. Clair

120 Siena Drive
Upper St. Clair, PA 15241

412-833-5385