Three Weeks in Malvern, PA

Despite the Philadelphia metro area expanding westward to Malvern, the town still retains much of its small-town feel. Because most of the original town sits well off the major highways, Malvern’s downtown business district is full of historic commercial and residential buildings. Along US 30 and Pennsylvania 29, you’ll find most of the newer hotels, shopping centers, and chain restaurants. Running north along Pennsylvania 29 is the Great Valley Corporate Center, a large suburban office park and home to a Pennsylvania State University satellite campus.

The main purpose of my trip to Malvern was for training for a new job at the company’s headquarters. Therefore, I was not able to take advantage of all of the activities in the area. However, during my 3 weeks in Malvern, I was able to find time in the evenings to venture out and explore the area.

While Malvern itself does not offer a lot to tourists, its location makes it an excellent "base of operations" for tourists seeking to venture out to Lancaster County, Philadelphia, and Valley Forge. Within a relatively short drive, you’ll find:

• The historic Valley Forge National Park, site of the Continental Army’s winter headquarters during the American Revolution and a popular place for a range of outdoor activities
• Outstanding shopping at King of Prussia Mall
• The famous Amish and Mennonite communities of Lancaster County
• Excellent dining, including several historic inns that have been serving travelers for over 200 years
• Longwood Gardens, one of the world’s premiere display gardens
• Access to central Philadelphia, via Interstate 76 (which can be prone to bad traffic), SEPTA, and Amtrak commuter trains

Quick Tips:

• VisitPA.com, the official tourism website for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a great source for tourist information on local festivals and events, as well as coupons for popular sights, hotels, and restaurants.
• Hotels in the Malvern area tend to be completely full during the week with business travelers due to the large number of suburban corporate offices in the area. However, on Fridays, the business travelers clear out and great deals can easily be found for weekend stays. Many of the area hotels are all-suite, extended-stay properties. Weekend specials for around for a two-bedroom, two-bathroom suite with a full kitchen are often available, providing very spacious accommodations for families at very reasonable prices. Many of these hotels also include a full breakfast buffet with the room.

Best Way To Get Around:

Due to Malvern’s suburban location, a rental car is recommended. Most area attractions will require a car to get to. However, for day trips into central Philadelphia, a trip on a SEPTA commuter train from the Malvern station may be more convenient than driving. The trip by train takes about an hour to get downtown, which may be somewhat faster and cheaper than driving (traffic on the Interstate 76 Schuylkill Expressway is often a nightmare) and finding a parking place downtown. Amtrak service into Philadelphia is also available from the nearby Paoli station. The closest commercial airport is the Philadelphia International Airport, which is served by all of the major domestic airlines and several discount carriers. The airport is also a major hub for US Airways. Be warned that processing times at Philadelphia for clearing security tend to be much longer than at most other major US airports, so be sure to arrive at the airport at least 90 minutes to 2 hours before your scheduled departure for a return flight, especially if flying out on a weekday. For information on public transit in the area, see the SEPTA website.

Staybridge Suites is the more upscale of the two extended-stay hotel concepts operated by the InterContinental Hotels Group. All guestrooms at a Staybridge Suites are suites, featuring a living room with sofa bed, recliner, and large television; a small dining table with two chairs; a kitchen with full-size refrigerator, electric range, dishwasher, toaster oven, microwave, coffee maker, dishes, cookware, and utensils; and at least one bedroom and bathroom with vanity area. Each bedroom includes its own desk, dresser, and large television. This particular Staybridge also included Herman Miller Aeron desk chairs, a DVD/VCR combination unit connected to the living room television, and a complimentary high-speed Internet connection (wired) at the dining room table. In addition to the guest suites, a complimentary breakfast buffet featuring hot and cold items, and an evening reception (Tuesdays-Thursdays) with snacks, sodas, and a light meal are included in the room rate. For recreation and exercise, there is an exercise room with treadmill, elliptical trainer, and bike, an outdoor sport court for tennis and basketball, and an outdoor pool and sauna (open summers only). Completing the hotel’s extensive list of amenities are a complimentary business center with two computers and laser printer, a small convenience store with snacks, beverages, toiletries, and light meal items, and an outdoor deck with picnic tables and gas barbecue grills.

Upon check-in each week, I was greeted with a gift bag with crackers, candy, pretzels, and a small bottle of water. My other coworkers did not receive this amenity, so I assume it was because I hold gold status in InterContinental’s Priority Club frequent guest program. I was also upgraded to a two-bedroom, two-bath suite on two of my three stays at this hotel; however, this did not matter to me that much, as I was traveling alone and had no need for the second bedroom and bath. Still, the gesture was appreciated. All three suites I stayed in were well-maintained, although the first one showed signs of abuse by previous guests; the sofa had a large tear in the upholstery, the recliner and one lamp were missing from the living room, and one of the desk chairs did not recline properly. The rest of this suite, along with the others I stayed in, were in good working order. I appreciated the fact that the suites all had very comfortable pillow-top mattresses and an extra pillow tucked away in the closet, if needed. Other than damaged and missing furniture in my first suite, the only real complaint I had concerned noise. The exterior walls and windows are not very soundproof, so cars and people coming and going can be a little distracting inside.

Overall, I highly recommend this hotel. The location provides easy access to highways 29, 30, and 202, and the suite layout is ideal for families who would like some extra space to spread out. Rates during the week are geared toward business travelers, but weekend specials around $100 are usually available.

On the recommendation of a friend (and now coworker) who used to live and work in the Malvern area, I checked out SaSa one evening for dinner. This small Asian restaurant is located in The Shops at Great Valley, a strip center at the busy intersection of Pennsylvania 29 (Morehall Road) and Swedesford Road, adjacent to the US 202 interchange.

SaSa offers a complete menu of Japanese and Chinese favorites. Despite branching two popular Asian cuisines, neither dominates the menu, with a roughly equal number of selections from each. A sushi bar is also available, and the menu includes a wide selection of á la carte sushi and sashimi, as well as 16 sushi and sashimi combo plates.

On my visit to SaSa, I was more in the mood for Chinese than Japanese, so I opted to eat from that side of the menu. I selected the crispy orange chicken as an entrée and a cup of hot and sour soup as an appetizer. The cup of steaming soup soon arrived, and it was absolutely delicious. Full of chopped vegetables and chunks of meat and tofu, the soup had just the right balance of spices so that it was spicy but not overwhelmingly so. Next came the excellent entrée, a large plate of lightly breaded and white-meat chicken chunks stir-fried with orange peel, spices, hot peppers, and a spicy-sweet orange flavored sauce. Presentation of entrées is important at SaSa, and the plate was decorated with "flowers" cut from a variety of fresh vegetables. The entrée was just as delicious as the soup: lightly fried to a crisp texture, but with the chicken still very tender. The entrée was almost big enough to split with another person, making this a good place to dine with friends or family and share. After finishing my meal, the check was presented with a plate of fresh orange slices. Service throughout the meal was excellent.

Not having tried anything off the Japanese side of SaSa’s menu, I can not attest to the quality of the sushi or Japanese menu items. However, if the restaurant’s kitchen takes the same care in preparing those menu selections as they do with the Chinese options, they are probably excellent choices as well. Menu prices at SaSa are slightly more expensive than many other Chinese restaurant, but not unreasonably so; my dinner, including beverage, tax, and tip, was about $18. A lunch menu is available between 11am and 3pm, with most lunch options averaging $6 to $7 for an entrée with rice, salad, and soup; sushi lunch combinations are slightly higher. Diners with MSG allergies will be glad to know that the kitchen does not use the flavor enhancer in any of its recipes. Delivery is also available to area hotels between 3 and 10pm. Finally, the restaurant is open 7 days a week, and major credit cards are accepted.

Since 1796 (yes, that’s 1796, only 20 years after the Declaration of Independence was signed!), Ship Inn has been a landmark for travelers on the busy road between Philadelphia and Lanacaster. In earlier times, the multi-story stone boarding house provided food and a place of rest for travelers and was instantly recognizable for its sign with a large sailing ship on it. In modern times, the historic Ship Inn is an outstanding restaurant featuring seafood and steak served by a knowledgeable and dedicated staff in a quiet setting.

During our first week in Malvern, several members of my training group discovered this fine restaurant and invited the rest of us to join them during our second week for a return trip. Upon entering the restaurant, our large party was easily accommodated in one of the first-floor dining rooms in the older, original part of the building. The restaurant offers a fairly extensive wine list, with many selections available by the glass and a full bar. The menu is mainly focused on seafood and fish selections, as well as steaks. There are also a handful of chicken and pasta entrées.

To start, I selected the Roquefort salad, a delicious combination of field greens with spiced pear slices and tomato slices, topped by caramelized pecans, a generous serving of crumbled bleu cheese, and a homemade vinaigrette dressing. This was easily one of the best salads I have ever eaten! For an entrée, I chose the Ship Inn’s famous crab cakes – several large crab cakes stuffed to the brim with fresh lump crab meat and only enough breading and filling to hold the cakes together. Accompanying the crab cakes were a single grilled jumbo shrimp; flavorful, well-seasoned steamed vegetables; and a small serving of mashed red potatoes. I’ve often had very good entrées at restaurants where the side dishes left much to be desired, but the chefs at the Ship Inn excel in creating side items that greatly exceeded my expectations of limp, flavorless vegetables.

A week later, several of us returned to Ship Inn to celebrate my birthday. Acting on the suggestion of a coworker, this time I ordered the grilled salmon, a filet of wild salmon topped with a light, slightly sweet marinade and grilled. Once again, I started with the wonderful Roquefort salad, and, as with the crab cakes, the salmon was paired with the same excellent vegetables and mashed potatoes I had enjoyed on the previous visit. Because we were celebrating a birthday, we ended our meal by sharing two desserts -- a scrumptious piece of chocolate-pecan pie and a bowl of vanilla ice cream topped by whipped cream and cherries. The pie was so good that it was hard to share it with my friends; had we not all been so full from our salads and entrées, we could all easily downed a piece of the pie each.

Overall, I can’t recommend Ship Inn enough, for the atmosphere, service, and excellent food.

Readers of my journals may have noticed that I’m a fan of most Asian cuisine. I noticed Margaret Kuo’s Mandarin in a small strip center on my first evening in Malvern, but I made the mistake of not visiting this wonderful Chinese restaurant until my last afternoon in town. I finally ate at Margaret Kuo’s for lunch on my last day, based on the recommendation of one of the women in our corporate travel office who swore to me that this was the best Chinese restaurant on this side of the Pacific Ocean. She may just be right on that evaluation.

Since 1987, Margaret Kuo’s has specialized in upscale northern Chinese food. The restaurant has won numerous awards for the outstanding creations that come out of its kitchen. This is no cheap, 200-plus item buffet restaurant with food of questionable quality. Everything at Margaret Kuo’s is prepared daily on site, and the quality shows. Granted, dinner prices are higher than the average Chinese restaurant (most dinner entrées start at $17 and everything is á la carte), but the price is worth it. Sure, you’ll find the standard Chinese favorites here, but most of the menu is dominated by creative offerings such as Mandarin shrimp scampi, tilapia Szechwan, and red-cooked veal shank.

I visited Margaret Kuo’s Mandarin on a Friday afternoon for lunch. For the budget-minded, I recommend eating here for lunch, as the ample lunch menu features most of the dinner offerings at lower prices. Additionally, an excellent lunch buffet is offered – I am not sure if this is only available on Fridays or other days as well. Unable to decide what to order from the lunch menu, I checked out the buffet. I’ve had some bad experiences with Asian buffets in the past and tend to shy away from such offerings, but after one look, I could not pass it up. The lunch buffet, priced at $10 for the buffet, a drink, and cup of soup, is a real bargain, especially when you consider the outstanding quality of the food and the nice selection of offerings. My meal started with a spicy cup of hot-and-sour soup. I then proceeded to the buffet, which is set up on a large circular table in the center of the main dining room. Approximately 10 to 15 items were offered, including wonderful egg rolls (the only ones I’ve ever had that are better than those at Ming’s Café in Houston), fried rice, stir-fried vegetables, peppercorn prawns, pan-fried pork dumplings, and several chicken entrées. Everything I sampled was incredibly good, and the buffet allowed me to try a variety of the restaurant’s offerings. In addition to the great food, service was friendly and efficient, and the restaurant’s atmosphere was very pleasant.

Margaret Kuo’s Mandarin is one of Malvern’s best dining options. I only wish I had chosen to eat here before my last day and will definitely return to this restaurant on future visits to Malvern.