Overall, my dining partner and I had a very good meal. I would put this restaurant on par with Coyote Crossing in Conshohocken. It is not your typical Mexican food. No fajitas. No tacos. No standard Mexican fare. The meals here are almost gourmet, with certain flair.

We started with 2 margaritas, on the rocks. Although I didn’t ask for it, we were given Jose Cuero 1800 tequila. The drinks were excellent, but at $9.00 a piece, a bit painful in the wallet.

For appetizer, we shared the Guacamole Real, which was great with a nice spicy Guacamole and homemade chips.

On the main course, my dining partner enjoyed her Pollo a la Parrilla, which was a basic grilled chicken with Mexican sides. Nothing special, but it was enjoyable.

I had the Camarones Cullian, which was large shrimp, wrapped in bacon and service in a spicy sauce with white rice. My meal was excellent and was certainly a unique dish. This was my first visit to El Sarape and I was expecting the typical Mexican fare, this certainly was not it.

We decided to skip desert and coffee, but I can say that the coffee another table had smelled great, with a hit of a spice, maybe cinnamon.

Overall, a very good meal, I’ll be back..

Ehh, mediocre at best. OK food. Expensive prices. Just not my thing. There are so many other better restaurants in the area, pick something else.

Check the menu. $13 for Fried Chicken. A little much? Yep. Plus the cover charge for the live music. Plus the yelling at your companion during dinner because the music is so loud. Plus the $13 Fried Chicken. It was fun, something different. I think I had a coupon from the Entertainment book that helped offset the costs, but I probably won’t be back.

An interesting restaurant, not the typical steakhouse, by any means. There are lots of first edition books lining the walls, making it look more like a library then a restaurant.

The food was pretty good. I’m still partial to Sullivan’s, so every time I get a steak, I compare it to them. This was right up there. I had 1/2 dozen oysters on the half shell starters, which were excellent. I then had the NY Strip steak for main course, again very good. I think the biggest difference between Sullivan’s and Barclay Prime is the sides. BCs were a bit boring for my taste, but my fellow diners seemed to enjoy it.

For desert I got the Toasted Peanut Butter S’Mores, which was very good. The toasted marshmallow was homemade and you could tell. A great finish to a excellent meal.

My only complaint was the seating. We had a table for four and two of the diners were given separate chairs, while I and another diner sat on a bench-style seat. This is not a big deal, but when one person wants to move the chair; both diners need to do it. A bit strange for a first class eating establishment, but a minor note in the grand scheme of things.

A highlight is the ability to “choose your weapon”, as the waiter displays a series of top quality steak knives to cut your meat. There were Global, Wustuf, Henckels, etc which is a neat feature.

This smal BYOB in Lafayette Hill is a diamond in the rough. The prices are fair, the service is solid and the food is worth the (often!) wait out the door. They have all the standard Italian dishes including some specials that you won’t find in South Philly. Although I have not tried the pizza, it looks popular and I think I’ll get a pie next time.

But, the choice food at ‘From the Boot’ is by far the bruchetta. It is fresh and tasty, with olive oil soaked bread crisps. I could make a meal out of it alone.