Manor House Inn

CLOSED. OUT OF BUSINESS. DONE. GONE. We called tonight to make a reservation for this week. I had to pick a rating — required to do so. But we’ve never been there and were looking forward to going. We were told they are out of business and closed.

Just left Manor House Inn… Wonderful dinner! Our waitress Grace could not have been any nicer and very attentive… we also got to meet the chef. First we had appetizers my husband had the clams in white wine sauce and I had the cauliflower in Boursin sauce both were excellent. Second we had the salad with shaved Parmesan cheese and strawberry vinaigrette dressing… very nice portion and great taste. Third we both had the scallops with lentils and green beans and again excellent. We had no complaints with our meal, service or atmosphere. We were there to celebrate our anniversary and they went the extra mile and made it very special for us… We Thank You. As for the appearance sure it could use a little upgrade but it’s what you get inside that counts!

We have eaten at The Manor House Inn several times and we have never left disappointed or hungry. The portions are large and the sides are included and not ala cart like many upscale places. The prices are not cheap but not out of sight either. We have found you basically get what you pay for in fine dining.

I went here with my fiancée, sister and brother-​in-​law. I was a little worried as we pulled into the parking lot. for a minute I thought we had the wrong place. The exterior needs a major renovation, it looks very, very worn… however, as we entered, the interior was nicely decorated and had a pleasant french farm house look.
The service was good, I would say better than average. The waitress is probably used to people coming in with a look of worry on their face after seeing the exterior but she did her best to ease our fears and make us feel welcome and comfortable. She clearly knew her menu and could easily explain each dish and answer questions.
In regards to the food, I skipped on the appetizer but the rest of my party indulged in the lobster bisque and french onion soup. Mixed reviews on the bisque, my sister loved it but brother-​in-​law thought it was a little salty. I tried my fiancée’s french onion soup, it was good but nothing spectacular. Bread was also brought our for us, not the tastiest bread I have had.
As other reviewers have mentioned, after the first course you are treated to some raspberry sorbet to cleanse the pallet. Very good, not the best mix with my beer. but wait, never mind, everything goes good with beer. On that note, the beer selection is weak but what do you expect at a french restaurant?
For the main course, I ordered the surf and turf. It was good. It came with a type of potatoes au gratin dish and perfectly cooked asparagus. Both were very good, in fact better than the steak and lobster. The steak was good. but not WOW, it had a good taste but I felt it lacked something. My sister warned me not to get the lobster because it wasn’t from Maine. it was from Brazil. I ignored her, but regret that decision because it was tasteless and a little dry.
You may be wondering why I gave this restaurant a four star review at this point. It is because my sister got the Beef Wellington and loved it. It did look great and the waitress said it was one of the best dishes they have. TRY IT folks, it does look very tasty! My brother-​in-​law got the Salmon and had nothing but good things to say. My fiancée got chicken. I tried it and it again was OK but she liked it. All of the portions, although pricey, are portioned well. both my sister and fiancée had left overs and had to take a Swany bag home (yes not a doggy bag, you will have to visit to understand that).
I ended the night by sharing a moist, chocolate cake a la mode with my fiancée. It was moist and the walnuts and drizzled chocolate made for a satisfied ending.
So in a nut shell I recommend giving this place a try, don’t drive away after seeing the exterior. Order the Beef Wellington, enjoy the potatoes and perfectly cooked asparagus. forget the beer and order wine and you should have a nice evening out.

The good:
The food here was cooked quite well however I have had better at some of the prices they charge. The service we received was very good — our server was very attentive.
The bad:
The room we had our food in was very cold; even with space heaters. We (a group of us) had lunch there during the winter months and it wasn’t the coldest day on record.
Food took a long time to get out to us all. I was expecting being there maybe an hour or two tops; the entire meal took close to 5 hours. Good food but not if you have plans afterwards.

We ate here for the first time this past Valentine’s Day. I wish I could give 3.5 stars, since 3 doesn’t seem adequate but I think 4 is a bit generous.
Service was not a highlight for us… It took a little while to be seated even though we had a later reservation and they said they were just changing over our table. Then it took quite a bit if time to receive our drinks and some bread (we had to ask for the bread). Also, we were twice brought the wrong thing — a bottle of wine and one of our entrées.
Our appetizers (frog legs and a shrimp/​scallop dish) were good but did not wow us.
However, our entrées, once we had the correct dishes, were Excellent! I had a special lobster dish and my husband had the veal — we cleaned our plates.
For dessert we shared a nice sized slice of apple cake, which was also very good.
I’d probably give 4 stars if we had experienced more attentive service. I would go back, but will not be rushing to do so… Based on my personal experiences (once at each place, thus far) I am more inclined to go back to Bolete.

We’ve been eating here for well over 10 years, maybe even 15. The current owner has been running it for about 23 years. This is a classic french style restaurant and nearly every meal is absolutely perfect. We visited last night and were seated next to a famous local, retired, race car driver. There is a picture of said celebrity in the lobby so it was very cool to see him in the restaurant.
The four us enjoyed the snail appetizers and 3 of the salads, all were quite good. The waiter was very attentive and extremely knowledgeable. We had not been here in almost 2 years so I was glad to see some variation in the menu yet still be able to select a classic french dish. Between the four of use, we had the Filet, vegetable wellington and sweet breads, all were delicious.
The restaurant could use some refreshing. The building is great but its time to update the interior a bit. With all the local competition now, renovations should reinvigorate the crowd. However, I suspect he has low or no rent which has enabled him to weather economy and fend off the competition.

We had a terrific meal here most recently. The place is a beautiful old country inn and the atmosphere is old rustic French romantic. Linen tablecloths, fine china and silverware. Nice classical music playing in the background. Most reminiscent of The late, great famous Ballietsville Inn which was a nearby Allentown — area staple for elegant cuisine for many years. The appetizers of sautéed sweetbreads were delicious as was the entrée of coconut lobster, fresh delicious lobster meat taken out of its shell, cubed, seasoned and cooked, and then placed back in the shell to be served with eye appeal, and for easy non — messy removal. Accompanied by fresh asparagus spears and piping hot scalloped potatoes. The dessert tray was grand. A special mention goes out to our server Mary, who learned her trade coincidentally enough at The Ballietsville Inn. She is quite the bartender and still knows how to make all the cocktails, including hard — to — find classics such as Courvoisier Alexander and Pink Squirrel !

I visited on October 27^th 2013. When we walked in there was no one there to greet us. We waited for about 3 – 4 minutes. Finally, we were greeted by the server/​hostess/​bartender. She was nice enough, but she was doing everything. We had a drink at the bar. The bar had a tray of clean glasses sitting there, so only 4 seats available of the 6. Wine list is not that impressive. They did claim to have some really high end bottles ranging from $ 900 up to $ 1800. From the looks of the place, I would beg to differ. It is a little dated. The bathroom had spider webs around the light fixture. The carpet was lifting up in the bar area. We were seated on time. Once at the table we ordered a bottle of French Bordeaux for $ 30.00. The wine was great! We ordered 2 appetizers, the country pâté and smoked fish platter. The pâté was a little too firm and pretty tasteless. They did offer mustard and lignonberry sauce and capers & onions. That helped. The smoked fish was very good. It was salmon and trout with horseradish crème fraiche. The only complaint is that the items were served with crackers shaped like butterflies. I think Pepperidge Farms makes them. Bread would have been a better choice. After the appetizers we ordered a Caesar salad and French onion soup. The salad was good, but had too much dressing even for me. I love extra dressing. The soup had a good flavor. Lots of cheese and bread, but it was salty. For dinner my husband had the bouillabaisse and I had the duck with port wine sauce. The seafood in the bouillabaisse was plentiful. My husband said it was bland. I did not try it because it contained lobster, which I am allergic. The duck was served with asparagus and roasted potatoes. The duck was way overcooked. It was stringy, there was no breast meat at all. I think it was supposed to be a half a duck. The asparagus was very thick and tasted very bland, similar to the canned stuff we used to have to eat when I was a kid. The potatoes were a little burnt and bland. My husband ate his. That is how he is, but I sent mine back. They did take it off the bill. The bill was $ 158.00 without the tip. I had a
gift certificate worth $ 25.00 off. They would no honor it, saying that the took the entrée off. I was told you have to purchase 2 entrees in order to use it. Nowhere on the gift certificate does it state that. It does however state you must make a minimum purchase of $ 37.50. I was so mad, I decided not to argue. I will NEVER go back to this restaurant and giving you fair warning it is not worth it. What a disappointment!

I went here for lunch with a friend recently. When we arrived, the place was closed and there was a notice on the door that the electric had been turned off due to nonpayment of the bill. When I later called the phone number, the person answering said that they stopped serving lunch two years ago. He said that he had tried, unsuccessfully so far, to get the owner to update the website. My point here is that any restauranteur who doesn’t care enough to pay the bills or keep his website current doesn’t deserve any more business

I ate here for the first time last night and impressed does not even begin to cover it. The service was amazing. Our waitress was very attentive and knowledgeable about the menu items (being a vegetarian, I had a lot of questions about ingredients, all of which were answered completely). When we asked for more of a description on a bottle of wine, she offered to open a new bottle to give us a taste, even though the wine in question was only sold by the bottle. She told us that if we didn’t like it, she’d just open a different bottle for us to try (no worries, the wine was great).
The food was incredible. I had the soup of the day (potato leek), which was out of this world. I also had the Wellington Legumes, which was incomparable – the flaky crust melted in my mouth, and the vegetables were perfectly cooked. The other diners with me were equally impressed with their entrees (salade pommes, French onion soup, and steaks).
Of course, the ambiance and atmosphere were elegant and sophisticated. (The building’s storied history was shared with us by our waitress.) I cannot say enough good things about our experience here. I highly recommend this restaurant – it’s well worth the price!

I have to say I was very impressed with my experience at the Manor House Inn. I love the old feel and atmosphere of the place and the bar is beautiful. We took our work group there, I was a little worried about our dress since were mostly casual and it says business casual, but we were welcomed in and had a seat in the large back room where a fireplace was providing a nice atmosphere.
Our service was spot on, nothing was forgotten, our water glasses remained full, the attention to our drinks and our meal was served in a relaxed but timely manner. All that was as I would expect from any establishment, but what really impressed me was the wonderful meal. EVERYONE loved their meal… seriously raved. I never went anywhere and had a whole group enjoy their food so much… too the last drop. Even our one guest who needed a special meal due to allergies was taken very seriously.
It was a wonderful end to a wonderful day of visiting the Lehigh Wine Trail. I had never heard of Manor House Inn, but I sure am telling everyone about it now. I would go back for special occasions, the prices are higher than average but that is because of the wonderful food. I thought it was totally worth every penny, and my husband, who was paying the bill, would agree.
If you like seriously good food, I think you will enjoy this place!

Great French country atmosphere. Our waitress was really impressive, she knew the food well and waited on the whole room without any lapse in service. We came over dressed (because the website says coat/​tie/​business casual. The only other people dressed similarly, were coincidently the only other people around our age (late 20’s, maybe they were fellow Grouponers?). Everyone else was late 40’s and up. Most of the crowd were probably grandparents, and were dressed comfortably in slacks and sweaters. I was jealous of their comfy-​ness.
We had the cheese and fruit plate appetizer. I love cheese, and this was a bit of a let down for me. The cheeses all tasted subpar. Supermarket grade if you will.
My husband had the boeuf wellington, which was moist and amazing. I had the bouillabaisse, which I thought was underwhelming given the price, some of it was over cooked and beyond chewy.
I wanted to give them 3 stars but did not because the substantial dinner portions made up for the cost of the less than stellar bits, and the boeuf wellington was really THAT good..

— No music
— Great Brie
— Schnabby crowd
— Great pomme salad
— Sorbet before entrée was classy
— Pleasant service
— Bad chocolate desert

I have a soft spot for old country inns and French is my favorite cuisine, so while I do have high expectations when I go to a place like the Manor house I’m also inclined to be a little forgiving in certain areas where I might be more critical when reviewing another fine dining restaurant. That being said there is no need for me to soften my review as the Manor House met all my expectations and even exceeded them in some areas.
My wife and I went here a couple weeks ago for our anniversary. It’s a nice looking place on the exterior and on the interior. The interior decorations are done up in a way that is very familiar and comforting to me in terms of fine dining. There’s lots of wood, old world style paintings, dim lighting, a large fireplace. What’s not to love?
I realize that what one person calls run down another graciously refers to as rustic old-​world charm. With this in mind, I saw no evidence at the restaurant of what others described as «rough around the edges» qualities i.e. worn carpeting and the building being in disrepair.
For appetizers we had the soup du jour, which was a creamy bell pepper bisque, and the seared duck foie gras with caramelized onions and figs. Both appetizers were amazing.
A lemon sorbet followed the appetizer as a palate cleanser. It was very refreshing with just the right amount of sweet and tart.
Our entrees consisted of salmon with a cream sauce containing herbs and sun dried tomatoes and sweetbreads of veal, with rosemary, bacon, caper, sherry sauce. I don’t like rosemary so I asked the waitress for the chef to exclude the rosemary from my sweetbreads. They came out as I had requested. Both entrees were served with identical sides, half of a tomato stuffed with bread crumbs, cheese and herbs and a potato au gratin with thin potato slices and cheese layers. Everything about the entrees was fantastic and the portions were larger than I expected.
This is French cooking, so the food is rich, delicious and calorie laden. Which means you will eat like a King and/​or Queen, but it also means that this is not the place you should go to for dinner the day before having your cholesterol checked.
Service was very good. Our server was friendly and accommodating. Truthfully she didn’t have too tough of a job as it was just us and one other table of two in the whole restaurant.
The prices here tend to be higher but the entrée portions are VERY generous and for the quality of the food you don’t feel shortchanged like you do at some fine dining restaurants.
Everything about this place is what I’ve come to expect from a fine dining establishment. I seriously hope that the Manor House can weather this current economy because I have found a new favorite fine dining restaurant in this place.

I was taken to the Manor House just a few days ago for my birthday and what an experience.
The manor house is Country French so as the previous person advised a little rough around the edges.
For appetizer we started off the the Escargot. It was not served as stated on the menu however our waitress informed us of the variation. They were delicious. Sauteed in garlic and I cannot remember what else on top of a portobella mushroom. They sauce it was sauteed in was perfect for dipping our hot bread in.
To cleanse the palate was a lemon sorbet. Very good perfect amount of tart.
Dinner I ordered Peppered jumbo sea scallops, with truffle oil and exotic mushroom. The scallops were cooked perfectly and the few exotic mushrooms in the dish were unique and had a very tart taste. The vegetable was steams seasons zucchini and half of a Roma tomato. All items cook to perfection not to soft, not too hard. The potato was almost a casserole, thinly sliced potatoes layered with cheese similar to an Au Gratin. The cheese on top and bottom were nicely browned adding to the flavor.
I would have like to see fresh ground pepper offered, after dinner I did notice a pepper mill on a side table on the other side of our dining room, but again was not offered during dinner.
Dessert I ordered the Crème Brulee. It was very good topped with perfectly sweet fresh strawberries. It was very good, however I would have liked to see the sugar a bit more caramelized.
Overall was a great experience, I look forward to going back in the future.

Well, I have to say I am very suprised by Laura K’s review.
Now let me say that I was there only once, back in 2006, but I remeber have a good meal with nice atmosphere.
Yes, it is an old manor house, so it’s a little rough around the edges… character some might say? I do understand the argument that if you are paying fine dining prices, there should be a fine dining décor. It did not bother me much, and I found it charming.
I don’t recall the wait staff, so I can’t say much as to their temperment, but I don’t remember it being horrible so I am sure it ws mediocre at worst. As mentioned the wine list was extensive, and we did enjoy a very nice bottle of something I am sure. I do know we had a caricature style plate of cheeses, foie gras, and fruits… being a huge fan of gorged goose liver, I loved it. I also had a roasted chicken dish, which I remember being quite nice.
My personal dining experience there at that time warrants 4-stars…leaving off the last star for pricing. As much as I can appreciate the «fine dining» accpect, I feel very few places are justified in the prices they charge for food.
All this said, the place could have gone down hill since my visit… which could very well be the case. I might have to re-​visit to find out.

A nice country setting for a weary French restaurant with spotty service and food quality. They have a great wine list, but, anyone can have a great wine list. You have to actually have the wine on your shelves. We struck out twice and so had to wait a while to drink a glass while the waiter went hunting for our inexpensive-​but-​good selections.
I ordered sliced duck breast with some maple-​fig concoction and came to the conclusion that I don’t like duck breast. One of my fellow diners ordered duck a l’orange and it was like a shriveled up, dried out old duck. The waiter didn’t seem to know what to do when we said it was «inedible, take it away,» but the manager came to our table immediately to apologize and it was not on the bill nor was the replacement cheese plate that my friend wanted in place of the duck entrée.
The atmosphere is kind of interesting, and the house needs some repair and refreshing [more than just worn carpeting and uneven floors, which I had expected.]
(later addition 2010: when I say «repair and refreshing» I was partly referring to the ladies room being in complete shambles. Yes, it was a pot to piss in but it looked like a tornado had attacked the place. Since there have been positive reviews Unilocaled lately I might go back and give it another go and skip the duck. It’s been about 2 years since I’ve visited.)