Sola BYOB hosted Bryan and I for dinner.
As always, all opinions are my own. For more information see my disclosures here.

Bryan and I started our holiday weekend with dinner at Sola BYOB in Bryn Mawr, PA. Sola focuses on contemporary American cuisine with French influence, and offers a good mix of fish and meat. They offer a seasonally inspired menu and take advantage of local farms and organic producers of cheese, honey and other items. 

Keep reading if you’re interested in learning about all the delicious food we tried. 

Appetizers

Bryan ordered the foie gras, which was on special that night. It came with black figs and a cherry puree. According to Bryan, it was a delicate yet flavorful dish that will leave you wanting more. Since the portion is small, it’s easy to want to dig in and eat it quickly. However, Bryan recommends taking small bites to enjoy the flavor and get the full experience. He really enjoyed the sweet cherry puree on the side. 

I chose the seared scallops for my appetizer. They came with a spinach emulsion, and a salad of watercress, granny smith apple and lime vinaigrette. The scallops were cooked perfectly. They had a nice glazed crust on the outside, but were soft and buttery on the inside. The watercress salad paired well with the scallops. I never thought to purchase watercress at the grocery store, but next time I will! 

Although we didn’t order it, Brian, Sola’s owner, brought over another appetizer for us – mushroom risotto with clams in a white wine sauce. I really enjoy clams, so I was more than happy to try it. The mushroom risotto was seasoned just right and not too mushy. If you’ve ever had mushy risotto, you know how crappy that can taste. This dish was savory from the mushroom but also a bit tangy from the white wine sauce. It was a great combination. 

Entrees 

Next up were our entrees, which certainly did not disappoint. Bryan ordered the cornish hen, which had a honey poppy seed baste and a sun dried tomato cream sauce. It was accompanied with Romano risotto and asparagus. Bryan never had cornish hen before, but he knew he had to order it. He was glad that he did! He said it tasted very similar to chicken, but when given the choice he would choose hen every time, because it has a slightly stronger flavor. 

I ordered the halibut, which came with an arugula puree, fiddlehead ferns, cherry tomatoes and a lemon caper sauce. You can order halibut at any restaurant, but not like this. It was seared like the scallops – crunchy crust with a buttery soft inside. It literally melted in my mouth. I enjoyed the fresh arugula puree around the side of the plate. It added a bit of spice to the dish. 

Dessert

After dinner, the two waiters and Brian stopped by our table at different times and told us that we had to get the deep fried apple pie for dessert. Of course, we were ordering it! Apple pie is already a favorite of mine. But deep fried?! That takes it to a whole different level. I didn’t want to share any with Bryan, so we ordered two. HOLY MOLEY. The apple pie came with a caramel sauce and homemade vanilla bean ice cream, which was not shy of vanilla bean. I wish they sold the ice cream by the pint, because I would have purchased some to go. When Brian stopped by our table to see how we were doing, I told him that I could eat the dessert for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It’s that amazing. If you go to Sola, you must order the deep fried apple pie.

Brian also brought us a sample of the homemade coffee ice cream. Although I’m not the biggest coffee ice cream fan, this was really good! I appreciate that all the ice cream flavors are made in-house. You can certainly taste the difference between generic store bought ice cream and ice cream made fresh. 

I can’t wait to come back to Sola. We already told our friends and family that they need to visit as soon as possible. They were patiently waiting to hear all about our experience on the blog, so here you go! 

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