Reading: The Speckled Hen (October 2016)

The Speckled Hen Cottage Pub and Alehouse - Casual Atmosphere, Good Food

My spouse and I visited The Speckled Hen Cottage Pub and Alehouse for drinks and snacks on a Saturday afternoon in late October 2016. This pub is located at the intersection of Cherry and South Fourth Streets in downtown Reading near the Santander Arena. The owners of the Speckled Hen also operate Judy’s on Cherry and Plein Air Garden Café (an outdoor courtyard restaurant open in spring and summer); all three properties share the same piece of corner real estate. The Speckled Hen is open for dinner and drinks Wednesdays through Saturdays (closed Sundays through Tuesdays). The restaurant accepts reservations by telephone. A complimentary surface parking lot is available across the street.

The Speckled Hen occupies the part of an historic building complex that includes a log house, Hiester House, and the market annex. The Log House, built about 1760, features pine logs joined together with cut stone and mortar in a notch-and-saddle corner construction. The John Hiester House, built about 1820, is located to the rear of the Log House. To the rear of the Hiester House is the West Reading Market Annex, built in 1895. The complex joined the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. Owners modeled The Speckled Hen after the country cottage pubs in the British Isles. The space includes two dining areas; the main area includes a working fireplace, tavern tables, upholstered benches, and a small wooden bar. A red-walled parlor provides additional seating. 

The Speckled Hen offers eight beers on tap, although not “Old Speckled Hen” (which is only available in the bottle). The restaurant serves pub-style comfort food including hearty entrees such as shepherd’s pie, fish and chips, bangers and mash, meatloaf, grilled cheese, and macaroni and cheese. We just wanted a snack, so we shared the Scotch eggs (hard-boiled egg wrapped in ground sausage and deep-fried) and the Brussel sprout bites (fried with shallots and tossed in ponzu sauce). We enjoyed the unique Scotch eggs, but we felt that the portion of sprouts was undersized and of inferior quality, consisting of mostly peeled-off curly leaves instead of dense centers (yet the pub priced the sprouts at the same $8 price as the eggs).

Still, we enjoyed our time at The Speckled Hen.