My spouse and I
most recently dined at Roar Social House for an early dinner on a Sunday
afternoon in late October 2015; however, we have dined at the restaurant
several other times as part of a larger group since it opened in September
2014. Roar accepts reservations by telephone or using an on-line system (Yelp
by SeatMe). Roar is open for weekday lunch and dinner daily (which begins at
4:00 on Saturdays and 3:00 pm on Sundays). The owners of Roar also own the
speakeasy called Hush and the ice cream parlor named Center Ice. All three
establishments are owned by the Saylor family, who for many years owned The
Shanty restaurant.
Roar is located
in the space that used to house a Chinese restaurant, but there is absolutely
no shred of evidence. The restaurant features three-story high ceilings (and
two floors of seating) in a 1920s/1930s Prohibition/supper club atmosphere. The
décor contains dark woods, exposed brick walls, interesting lighting, and a
photo projection screen. The front of the restaurant contains both booth and
semi-booth seating, a bar dominates the middle of the dining space, and the
rear of the dining room contains both high-top tables and traditional low
tables. To reach the restrooms, you pass through the semi-open kitchen, which
has some high-top tables for two if patrons want to watch the workings of the
kitchen. (These are not true kitchen tables, however because you are unable to
see what the chefs are preparing; you can only observe the food after it has
been plated when the wait staff adds the last-minute garnishes). Some limited
outdoor seating is available on the front sidewalk in nice weather. Hush, the
restaurant’s speakeasy, is located at the rear of the narrow building through
an unmarked door. The small back room offers a tiny bar and some casual lounge
seating, and the room can accommodate about 30 people. Valet parking is
available (current cost is $6), but street parking and nearby surface lots and
garages abound. This restaurant is located across from the rear door of the new
PPL Center, so it makes an excellent choice before or after an event.
During our most
recent dining experience, we shared several plates from their appetizer menu,
including the macaroni and cheese balls (no longer on the menu) accented with a
tomato dipping sauce, crab spring rolls (also no longer on the menu), crab
cakes, and lobster roll. For dessert, we shared the apple cake, which was an
enormous slice suitable for sharing and accented with whipped cream. We
particularly liked the lobster roll and the apple cake. The crab cake appetizer
was a bit disappointing in that each of the two mini cakes was topped with a
piece of lump crabmeat, leading us to believe that the cake itself would also contain
lump crab, but it did not. We have also tried the scallops (served with
risotto) and lamp entrees, the papardelle pasta (accented with pancetta,
chicken, and peas) and the charcuterie board appetizer. We look forward to
trying their new menu (which began the day after our visit), particularly
because it contains some new appetizers like the short rib steamed buns (which
are very difficult to find on a restaurant menu in the Lehigh Valley), the
cheesesteak dumplings, the short rib, lobster ravioli, tortellini with chicken
and shrimp, and bucatini bolognese.
Service was
excellent on this visit, even though it was a lazy afternoon. On past visits,
we have found that service on a weekend night preceding an event at the PPL
Center can lag a bit if the restaurant is operating at maximum capacity.
We will
definitely return to Roar; we just wish that it was open for weekend
lunch/brunch because it fits better into our schedules.
