Jasper’s Westside Review
1010 Ford Street Conshohocken, PA 19428
Another trip to Philadelphia on January 26th, 2020 on a late Sunday afternoon was for a visit and review of a restaurant in a Conshy town. It was located in a really pretty stone building amongst a bustling street corner of a neighborhood outside center city. The venue is called Jasper’s West Side, which is a smaller secondary place from the team of Jasper’s Backyard restaurant.
The first feeling I had when I entered the restaurant was how inviting and neat as a pin this place was. The walls and spotless tabletops and booths were covered in warm caramel woods, with a nice sized casual bar area with tv’s playing sports and news, and windows bringing in lots of light to this already very cheerful ambiance. The hostess and waiter were there at the ready the minute we entered the building, and they were extremely nice and helpful.
Because I went to culinary school with the Sous Chef there, of course I asked the staff to please let Chef James know that I had arrived (he was expecting me). I do have to preface this review with this, that I was cooking partners many times with James in culinary school, and we worked well together. We each admired the others strengths, and both of us went at our cooking with calm yet intense focus. I also remember that James had a great knack for flavor, and by flavor I mean his food always had delicious complexity of taste and skill. Because of this previous knowledge, I had an inkling that James was going to have grown even greater in his Chef skills and mastery of flavor over the years from working professionally in restaurants since culinary school.
Chef James came walking out of the kitchen and into the bar area to greet us, as I and one guest sat in a bar booth. It was a pleasure to reunite once again after years had passed. Both of us had grown well into our new Chef roles after much hard work and sacrifice, and I just knew James was going to knock it out of the park with my meal that evening. Even still, I held out firmly to keep my opinions very fair and objective.
First, James sent out to us a large portion of his house made sweet chili hummus with cut up veggies for starters. It was fresh and enjoyable. I also really love the fact that they make a special hummus of the week in different flavors, which is clever, trendy, and health minded.
After we ate a ton of delicious hummus, our friendly and attentive waiter served us our meals. Chef James actually recommended our two meal selections as popular signature options at Jasper’s West Side. I got the Duck Confit Tagliatelle with kale and wild mushrooms in a brandy cream sauce. I remembered making duck confit with James in culinary school, and I had full confidence he would make this an exceptional meal. The portions for this duck dish were large, piled up high, and with attention to detail to the plating. Every bite was very tasty, and absolutely packed with loads of duck confit meat. Literally scrumptious. The other meal was another popular menu choice, the Flat Iron Steak with parsnip barley risotto, braised onions, haricot verts, and cabernet demi. Another awesome meal that was beautifully cooked to a med rare temp, and plated casually and simply. The portions are big and of good value for the price points of an average dinner meal ranging from $25-$27. I actually needed to take half of my duck confit home, but I got to enjoy it again the next day for breakfast because it was so yummy. Yes, I ate it for breakfast.
I give Jasper’s West Side 4 J’s out of 5 for this casual style bar pub. With its lovely understated and inviting charm that welcomes you out of the cold and in for some creative hummus dips, great sandwiches, small plates, and eclectic dinner options. It’s a place you can go for some casual fun with friends, great cocktails, and delicious high quality food from wonderfully skilled chefs.





