This week, the Harriton Banner visited a new local venue: Fuel. We reviewed seven dishes in total. Fuel certainly has a unique atmosphere as it advertises that everything is less than 500 calories. Additionally, simply its name supports putting good quality “fuel” into your body to allow you to function optimally and recharge after a workout. Though its message is to be health-conscious, indulgences are not absent, with impressive and outstanding desserts.

For the main courses we ordered the Grilled Chicken Wrap, Sweet Potato Avocado Panini, Tomato Basil Mozzarella Pesto Panini, Fuel Stacker Panini, and Shrimp and Avocado Salad. The ingredients and descriptions of these dishes are top of the line; in fact, this whole restaurant is really moving in the right direction, as it provides organic options and focuses on the integrity and healthfulness of foods. Despite superior ingredients, the restaurant did not entirely reach its full potential. By making small changes to allow these fresh, whole elements to shine and prove that healthy food can be delicious, Fuel would improve itself tremendously. Furthermore, it should be noted that all the main dishes (with the exception of the salad) came with a side salad and that these ingredient choices can be eaten in the form of a Panini, Wrap, Flatbread or Salad, with the choice of a white or wheat wrap, or a white, wheat, rye or gluten free bread for a Panini. Certain ingredients may be better suited for one presentation or another. For example, the Sweet Potato Avocado Panini may have been better in the form of a wrap, though we ordered it in Panini form which may have been an inaccurate representation of this dish’s true potential. Nonetheless, we will review the dishes exactly how we ordered them, though for the reason just mentioned, our observations should be taken with a grain of salt.

The Grilled Chicken wrap (shown on the right) was heartily packed with chicken. The description includes artichokes, mixed greens, provolone and sun-dried tomato spread. However, the wrap was mainly grilled chicken with not as much cheese, artichokes or mixed greens as desired or expected. More of these other ingredients could have made the wrap juicier and fresher, a good complement to the chicken. Although the grilled chicken was nicely prepared, warming the wrap to melt the cheese or increasing the ratio of other ingredients to the chicken would have strengthened this dish.

The next dish was a Sweet Potato Avocado Panini (shown on the right). Unfortunately, though the ingredients sounded delicious, the Panini did not live up to expectations. The sandwich had fresh mozzarella on it, in combination with the sweet potato and avocado that were simply set atop the bread and the Panini as a whole seemed plainly prepared. Again, like the wrap, the dish was not bad, but due the high quality ingredients and appetizing description there is so much more potential for these dishes that small modifications, such as adding more seasoning to the sweet potato and avocado or heating the sandwich and melting the cheese, would bring this Panini to a whole other level.

The perfect example of a dish reaching its full potential was the Tomato Basil Mozzarella Pesto Panini (shown below). Though more pesto or tomatoes would not have hurt, this Panini was warm, crunchy, and filled with warm, melting cheese. It could satisfy any craving for a good dose of “fuel”! Additionally, this sandwich highlights the importance of choosing either a wrap or Panini for the ingredients in this description, because these ingredients taste much better in Panini than in wrap form, for example.