The South Jersey Shore has a wide variety of fine dining restaurants with the Cuisine ranging from A to Z, but what most visitors want is “Seafood”. With this area being known for its fresh fish, scallops, shrimp, clams, crabs, and mussels, there are many places to find your favorites. I’ve been able to visit most establishments along the South Jersey Shore, and I’m going to share my three favorite Dive establishments. To clarify, when I call it a “Dive”, I’m talking about places with plastic utensils, rolls of paper towels, and plenty of good eating.

One small restaurant located on the intercoastal waterway in Somers Point NJ is Smitty’s Clam Bar. If you were to drive by Smitty’s and not know what they offered, you most likely would not stop. Unless of course you notice the hundreds of cars and people waiting to be seated. Smitty’s is known for it’s Clam Chowder, Baked Seafood including Scallops, Fish of the Day, and It’s atmosphere of an old time fishing dock. With a price range from $12-$20 for entrees, you can’t beat Smitty’s for great food, great price, and an all around great experience. (609) 927-8783.910 Bay Avenue, Somers Point, NJ. Kid Friendly and No Reservations allowed.

The Lobster House located at the foot of the Bridge coming into Cape May is world known for it’s fine dining and world cuisine. But what many do not know is about the Fish Market, which offers very similar food served in the Main Restaurant, but you can eat for about ½ the price and enjoy the atmosphere of the docks. What you do here is go into the Fish Market located at the front of the establishment, and you can order seafood any way you want it for a fraction of the price you would pay elsewhere. Then you go around to the back of the dock and find a table if you can. During the peak times, you have to wait and hover to find a table, but that is part of the fun. My favorite meal is the broiled seafood platter where you get a petite lobster tail, scallops, & shrimp, all boiled and it comes with baked potato and cole slaw. The price for this runs around $13.00 and is absolutely delicious. You can pick up some fabulous crab soup, or U-peel shrimp, or oysters on the half shell. This unique place is a must if visiting the South Jersey Shore. (609) 884-8296. 906 Schellengers Landing Road, Cape May. Kid Friendly and No Reservations allowed.

Located on the Bay in Sea Isle City, Mikes Seafood has everything you could ever want in a menu. Mikes offers freshly cooked seafood, but what is unique about Mikes is that they have a homemade spaghetti sauce that is the best around. Combination dinners include fresh fish, scallops, shrimp, crabs, and many varieties for the seafood lover in you. Their homemade soups are wonderful, and the crab balls are the best around. Mikes Seafood does not offer alcohol, but you are welcome to BYOB, which can save you money on your tab. Meals range from $15.00 to $30.00 but worth every penny. If you are near exit 17 of the Garden State Parkway, Mikes will make you exit and head into Sea Isle for a dining experience you’ll never forget. (609) 263-3458. 4222 Park Road (on the Bay), Sea Isle City. Kid Friendly and No Reservations allowed.

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Located about a half hour from Atlantic City, The Renault Winery houses a wonderful hotel called “The Tuscany House Hotel”, and inside there are two restaurants for visitors to enjoy. My wife and I decided to try “Josephs”, which was the more moderately priced restaurant for an evening of dining.

Dining at Renault Winery was a very good experience and I would recommend this to many. When we arrived at the Tuscany House Hotel, which is a fairly new hotel that makes you feel like you are in a small Italian city, it gave us a warm welcoming feeling.
Joseph’s made you feel like you were in an authentic Italian restaurant in Tuscany. The restaurants décor was enjoyable with ample room for everyone.

We started our meal with an appetizer of crab cakes, which we shared. We thought it would only be one crab cake, and was pleasantly surprised when two good size cakes were brought to our table. The crab cakes were excellent and we were excited about what the rest of our meal would be.

The presentation of our salads was excellent, and the ingredients fresh, but we wish we had asked for the dressing on the side. My wife had a salad with lettuce, apples, walnuts, Gorgonzola cheese, and vinaigrette dressing. I had a salad similar to a Caesar salad. Both salads had a heavy mayo based dressing that was drenched on the lettuce. We tried to wipe off as much as we could, but the dressing ruined the salads.

My main course was a pine nut encrusted sea bass with a cheese risotto, and my wife dinned on shrimp and crab scampi with a garlic, lemon butter, and white wine sauce. She made the mistake of telling the waiter not to put garlic in it, hence the sauce was bland. This was my wife’s mistake of ordering a garlic dish when she does not care for garlic. The pasta and seafood in the scampi was very good. My Sea Bass and risotto could not have been any better. The flavors came out and the portion was perfect.

The bread that was served with our meal was a crusted white Italian and the server gave us a small bowl of olives with poured olive oil. This was also very good.

For dessert, we shared a homemade Tiramisu, which was probably the best I’ve ever had. You could taste the marscapone cheese and the liquor did not overpower the dessert.

When we arrived for dinner, which was about 5:30 on a weeknight, there were only a few tables seated. When we left, we found the restaurant to be about three quarters full. Our waiter was friendly, but we did not see him often. Towards the end of our meal, we had about a fifteen-minute period between clearing the table and offering us dessert. This may or may not have been deliberate. He did tell us to enjoy and take our time with our meal, which we did.

After coffee and dessert, our bill for the evening with tip came to $120.00. I thought the meal was excellent and would not hesitate to come back again. My wife said, although it was good, her meal was not fantastic, and the salads, which were a nice price, were not good at all. She would come back, but it would not be her first choice.

I recommend Joseph’s at the Tuscany Hotel located at the Renault Winery in Egg Harbor City. You may want to come for a weekend and enjoy the whole uniqueness of the property.

Renault Winery
72 N Bremen Ave.
Egg Harbor City, NJ
(609) 965-2111
www.renaultwinery.com

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p align=”left”>In about a four-block area on the bay in Margate, located on Amherst Ave, you will find several fine dining restaurants and bars. One such establishment, Steve & Cookies By the Bay is known for its American Cuisine of fine foods. I’ve heard about this restaurant and a few others along this area and decided to give it a try. It was highly recommended by friends or ours and we were very excited to be able to get a reservation on a Saturday evening in the winter. We had to eat before 6:00 PM or after 8:30 due to the demand of customers. We chose to eat at 6:00.

My wife and I arrived about twenty minutes early for our reservation, and the parking lot was almost empty, as was the restaurant. We were seated immediately, close to the fireplace in a comfortable atmosphere that was very welcoming. After being seated, our waiter for the evening, Carlos, welcomed us and took our drink order. He asked if we had ever dined at Steve & Cookies, and when we told him that we had not, he came back and offered an explanation of the specials along with his recommendations of the menu. Carlos was very friendly and wanted to help us in every way.

Our cocktails were delivered along with bread. We always feel that the bread in a fine dining establishment should be hot and very good. The bread was hot, and good, but not fantastic good. We’ve had better bread.

We decided to share an appetizer called Suppli, which was a risotto fritter filled with fontina, mozzarella, peas and basil, with a plum tomato sauce. We had never heard of such an appetizer and its taste was as good as the mouth-watering description. Both of us thoroughly enjoyed this tasteful treat. It was served hot and moist and full of flavor.

The house salad, available as a small or large plate, came ala Carte. We both ordered the small house salad, which consisted of baby greens, dried cranberries, toasted walnuts, crumbled Gorgonzola cheese and a roasted shallot vinaigrette. The size of the small was plenty and the salad was excellent. Neither my wife or myself is a huge fan of any kind of onions, but Carlos assured us the shallots did not have a strong taste, and he was correct.

After our salads were finished, our entrees were served. We both ordered off the specials for the evening. My wife ordered crab cake stuffed shrimp, smashed potatoes, grilled asparagus, tomato relish, in a lemon caper butter. I had pan seared Hiramasa (Yellowtail Kingfish) filet, shrimp fried rice with Chinese pork sausage and Chinese broccoli, all served in a ginger teriyaki vinaigrette.

The crab cake stuffed shrimp, although good, was not the best my wife has had. The shrimp seemed a little over cooked, and the crab cake filling was good but not WOW. The grilled asparagus was crisp and fine, and the smashed potatoes were good.

I was not sure about the Hiramasa. I told Carlos that I liked white flaky fish such as yellowtail snapper, and flounder, and Carlos assured me if I liked those kinds of fish, I would like the Hiramasa. Carlos was correct. The Hiramasa came out in two pieces that were pan seared and the ginger teriyaki vinaigrette was served on the side. I thoroughly enjoyed the fish with the vinaigrette. It was very moist and did not have a fishy taste.
The shrimp fried rice with pork sausage that accompanied the fish was good, but not great.

After eating our meals, Carlos brought out the dessert menu and told us his favorites. We were both full and could have easily been persuaded to share a dessert, but after looking at what was available, there was nothing that grabbed both of us as a must try. We opted to have a coffee and the check.

Before, during, and after dinner, there was nice jazz music being played throughout the restaurant. The atmosphere was great with a real fireplace where you could actually smell the wood burning, and Carlos was a pleasure to have as our server. He was knowledgeable, efficient, and made some great recommendations.

When we arrived, the restaurant was almost empty. By the time we finished our meal and was ready to leave, the restaurant was full. When I called to make reservations, I asked what the dress code was and I mentioned not wearing jeans, and I was given the impression that jeans were not acceptable.

I was surprised to see many in jeans. A table for five next to us had three children who were dressed like they just came off the basketball courts from playing a game of hoops. Two of the children had on hooded sweatshirts with jeans that had rips in them and sneakers. The front door of the restaurant states “Proper Attire Required”, so I’m curious what “Proper” is? I know it is difficult to turn away business during the winter months, but I’m surprised at the restaurant and the parents of the children for not dressing a little nicer for a fine dining establishment.

Overall the restaurant was a great treat for us and although there were a few food related items that were good but not great, I say Steve and Cookies By the Bay was an enjoyable evening and the food met my expectations. My wife thought some of the food was very good, but her main course was just good, but not great.

The total cost of our bill, with appetizers, drinks, but no dessert was $120.00 for two. This is average for a fine dining establishment. Steve & Cookies By the Bay has been in Margate for many years and has been visited by tourist and locals with its excellent reputation. On a scale of one to ten taking into consideration the value of the meal, the atmosphere, the service, the taste and presentation of the meal, and overall satisfaction, I would recommend this fine dinning experience and give it a seven out of ten.

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Anyone who goes to Avalon or Stone Harbor is well aware of the Princeton in Avalon. A dive bar, (sort of), but a place where the beer flows, the bands play, and everyone meets for a good time. Welcome to the age of “The New Princeton” which has been renovated and offers two new hot eating-places: Princeton Bar & Grill, and Circle Tavern at the Princeton.

These two new establishments offer a Philly flare to eating. It reminds me of Ritten House Square and the bars and restaurants that line the streets. They are very impressive with much to offer.

Within the past few weeks, we’ve enjoyed meals at both the Princeton Bar & Grill, and also the Circle Tavern. At the Circle Tavern, we had your typical sandwiches, fries, and drinks, which were very good. What we enjoyed most was being able to sit outside in the open sunny area, and enjoy watching the people pass by.

The evening we dinned at the Princeton Bar & Grill, it was an unexpected stop. The restaurant we were going to eat in Stone Harbor was closed for the evening, so we drove through Avalon, and remembered the Princeton.

As we entered, we were very impressed with the open-air feeling and the brickwork and bar area. The owners put a lot of time, money and effort into this renovation. We were seated at a booth, and other than the confusion as to who was going to wait our table, (it took about fifteen minutes to be addressed by a waitress), the food was great.

We were informed when being seated that there was a simplified menu this evening since it was the beginning of the season, and the full menu with many entrees would be coming four days after we were there. This was fine with us because we were not that hungry and the appetizers, sandwiches, and the “Wave” bar, which featured seafood, would be plenty for us to sample. The menu had a good selection of some classic items, but also had a wide variety of items that were unique and tempting.

My wife decided on the Princeton Grill Salad, which consisted of mixed baby greens with goat cheese and dried cranberries tossed in Dijon balsamic vinaigrette, and an order of the Charleston Crab Soup, which was a white she-crab preparation. I also chose the soup, and ordered the jumbo U-Peel shrimp served with a Bloody Mary cocktail sauce.

The salad was very tasty. The goat cheese made a good combination with the cranberries and dressing. The mixed greens were fresh, and the dressing was perfect. The size was also ample and satisfying. My wife and I were both impressed with the “bowl” of soup that was served. The soup was served very hot, (which is very important to my wife), and although you could really taste the Sherry, the combination of port, crab and celery was different, but very good. The portion size was perfect and we both agreed that the soup was better than we had expected.

My jumbo U-Peel Shrimp could have been a little larger since they were advertised as “Jumbo”, and they were a little over cooked. The Bloody Mary Cocktail sauce was what it said it was, a Bloody Mary Mix. I’m not a Bloody Mary drinker, or even tomato juice, so it was not something I was crazy over, but my wife loved the sauce. I like a thick, spicy sauce to dip my shrimp into, but I can’t argue that they served what they advertised it as. And don’t get the wrong impression, I ate every last shrimp and over all enjoyed them.

We skipped dessert, (I’m not even sure if there was any to be offered). The meal worked very well with what we were looking for in a light meal. For appetizers and drinks our bill came to $62.00 with tax and tip. I thought the price was right for the Jersey shore and the food and atmosphere was worth the trip. We are excited to come back and try an entrée in a few weeks!

The Princeton Bar & Grill
The Circle Tavern at the Princeton
21st Street & Dune Drive
Avalon, NJ
609-967-3456
www.princetonbar.com

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I met with a life long friend one night for a dinner to catch up on our lives. With the hectic pace of everyone’s life, we try to meet a few times a year for good food and an evening of conversation.

We chose to meet at the Crab Trap, located on the circle in Somers Point heading into the Ocean City Ninth Street Bridge. This restaurant that has been in business for many, many years has been one of the most successful establishments in the area. While many restaurants in this area come and go, the Crab Trap has not only survived, but also flourished during its long profitable run. I think the secret to its success is that it serves good food at a reasonable price.

The large building that sits on the intercoastal has the décor of an ocean resort restaurant. Visitors enjoy this seascape of nautical flair. When I arrived, I had to park in the lot across the street from the restaurant, so I assumed that there would be a wait for a table. To my surprise, there were seats available, so I waited at the bar for my friend to arrive.

Once we were seated, our friendly waitress, Beth, offered us drinks and time to look at the menu. We told her that we were in no hurry and she informed us that because they were not as busy as usual, we could sit back, relax, and enjoy the evening. For a Tuesday evening in the middle of the winter, I thought the restaurant had a fantastic crowd. The property was about three quarters filled, but this is a very large restaurant with seating for what I would estimate to be around 1000.

The menu had a wide variety of everything from seafood, to steak, to chicken, to pasta. They are obviously famous for their seafood, so my friend and I decided that would be where we would concentrate. After drinks were served, I ordered the stuffed flounder and my friend chose the blackened Mahi Mahi with scallops and shrimp. We sat and talked, and before we knew it our salads and bread were served. All of the meals come with a salad, and the bread was served hot.

Once our meals came, the conversation stopped, and we enjoyed our wonderful cuisine. My flounder was very white and flaky and the crab imperial on top was moist and tasty. The meal was served very hot, which some restaurants do not know how to do. I had green beans and rice as my sides, and both met my expectations as having a great taste and being served hot.

My friend asked the waitress to make his blackened Mahi Mahi as spicy as it could be served. He was pleased with the results. His Mahi Mahi was very tasteful, and the shrimp and scallops were fresh and cooked to perfection. He also had green beans and a cucumber salad as his sides.

The Crab Trap is a great restaurant with so many positives that it was hard to find any negatives. During the summer season, and on weekends, this property gets extremely crowded and the Crab Trap does not take reservations. You may have an hour or two wait during the winter weekends, and possibly more during the summer. The wait during the summer months do not seem so long because the Crab Trap offers an outside bar on the water, so you can wait and enjoy the summer breezes coming off the cool waters of the Atlantic.

As our evening of good food and friendship came to a close, we both decided that the Crab Trap was definitely a winner. We enjoyed everything that was served. The bill for my friend and I with a few cocktails and tip came to $95.00, which I felt was well worth the price. Good food, served in a warm and friendly atmosphere at a reasonable price is the secret of success for the Crab Trap. They have been here for many years and will be here for many more.

The Crab Trap is located in Somers Point, NJ

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As you come to the end of the Garden State Parkway and go straight towards Cape May, you will find a restaurant located at the Marina called Lucky Bones. The rustic looking restaurant has a great choice of classic sandwiches and meals, but also a variety of different dishes.

My wife and I were looking for a place to get a good salad and sandwich for lunch when we came across Lucky Bones. Other than friends stopping there for drinks at the bar and saying they had a great variety, we had not heard anything about this restaurant.

The establishment is nothing fancy, but has the feel of a fishing village with the dark brown woods and the fireplace roaring. We enjoy rustic, and felt right at home. We were immediately seated, which surprised us because the parking lot was almost full. The menu offered exactly what we were looking for; Sandwiches and Salads.

Our waitress, (I forgot her name), was European and very pleasant. She brought us drinks while we looked at the menu. I originally was going to order a salad and sandwich, but the appetizers caught my eye as being unique, so I opted for Brick Oven Roasted Lemon Garlic Shrimp w/foccaccia bread for dipping, and the Fish and chips, which happened to be, flounder.

My wife wanted to share a Roasted Beet and Goat Cheese Salad, but since they offered a smaller version for only $5.00, she ordered that and the Grilled Chicken BLT. This sandwich was a grilled chicken breast topped with black pepper bacon, lettuce, tomato, and an herb mayonnaise on focaccia bread.

Our appetizers came first and to my wife’s surprise, the salad was a very good portion with plenty of goat cheese and the thyme vinaigrette dressing was fabulous! My lemon garlic shrimp was great and the bread, which was awesome, came in handy to dip into the juices left from the shrimp, garlic, and lemon. We were both very pleased with our initial choices.

The restaurant was very crowded and our meals came out at a perfect time. My fish and chips were very good. The flounder was cut in squares and lightly breaded, and the fries were good, but not the best I’ve had. My wife’s grilled chicken BLT was excellent and the foccaccia bread made the sandwich along with the herb mayo. She could only eat half of the sandwich after indulging in the wonderful salad. Neither of us had room for dessert.

Lucky Bones, owned by the infamous Washington Inn owners, received and excellent in all categories from us. You are not talking gourmet dining, but for the price, everything was great. Lunch for two was $45.00 including tip.

We were seated near the kitchen so we watched as many other tantalizing entrees were brought out. We can’t wait to try one of the specialty pizzas, or large burgers. Everything looked tempting and we will be back soon!

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I will not normally write a food review on a chain restaurant, but I read an article in the paper last week that impressed me, not only because it is one of just a few chain restaurants my wife and I enjoy eating at, but also the way this organization handles its employees and promotions. The Bonefish Grill, located at Fire and Tilton Roads in Egg Harbor Township has been open less than two years and has received a reputation of wonderful fresh seafood at a reasonable price.

During the winter months when many of the seasonal seafood restaurants are closed, we will head up the Parkway and eat at the Bonefish Grill. We normally try to make reservations because after 6:00PM on any given day, the place is at full capacity. We usually start our meal with the Bang Bang shrimp, which is a spicy, flavorful coated shrimp that you eat with chopsticks, which makes it very interesting. This appetizer, (which you can also ask for as your main course), is served hot over shredded lettuce, and the taste is wonderful. My wife does not like extreme spicy, but she always helps me devour this tasteful treat.

Most entrees range from $15.00 to $25.00, and come with hot warm bread that you can dip in the pesto oil that your waiter prepares at your table. I’ve tried many of the dishes such as the shrimp and scallops in a butter lemon sauce, Monkfish, Chilean Sea Bass, or one of the many specials they offer. My wife usually has the shrimp and scallops in Asian sauce, or she will choose one of the specials. Besides seafood, the menu also offers chicken, pork, and steak dishes.

On most days, the entrée is served with spaghetti squash that is fabulous, and a choice of potato, rice, or vegetable medley. Since we are all health conscience these days, you can eat a healthy portion of recommended fish and the vegetables will complete a great tasting, healthy meal.

The specialty desserts always look great, but after our appetizer, bread, and meal we are usually full enough to walk away without the sinful delicacies. For two, you can have a wonderful meal for about $70.00 with drinks and tip.

What I read in the newspaper that impressed me was that many of the entry-level employees who start off as dishwashers, bus persons, and prep chefs, work their way up the ladder and end up as managers/owners. Managing partners get a ten percent share of the profits that come from the restaurant. This explains the cleanliness, and friendly atmosphere of the restaurant.

I have enjoyed the Bonefish since it opened almost two years ago. My wife and I both agree that you can get a wonderful meal at a reasonable price and you walk away feeling satisfied both food wise and monetarily. Try the Bonefish. You will be pleasantly surprised.

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Andrea Trattoria Italiana II, located at 4216 Park Road in Sea Isle City, NJ has been open in Sea Isle for two years, and the word about town was that it was excellent. My recent dining experience was not excellent. It was average at best.

My wife and I decided to dine at Andrea’s on a whim and since it was the last week before Labor Day, we figured it would not be a problem getting a table. The seating was half way full when we arrived, so we were seated immediately. The first thing we both noticed was the décor was basic, bland, and not very attractive. We were seated in line with the waitresses coming out of the kitchen, and every time someone walked by, I felt like I was bouncing from the vibration. Since I was in direct line with the kitchen, this went on the whole evening.

Our waitress, who seemed to be friendly at first, but we never saw the whole dinner recited the many specials that were being offered. I always give credit to waiters and waitresses who have to recite multiple specials and I wonder why restaurants offer more than just two or three. The waitress nailed the specials, but repeated them so fast, and there were so many, we would not even have considered one of them. So we ordered directly from the menu.

I ordered the Pollo Agli Asparagi, which is sautéed chicken breast with asparagus and crab meat in a lemon zest cream sauce, and my wife ordered Tagliolini Ai Gamberi, which is homemade thin pasta with shrimp, asparagus, diced tomatoes, garlic and extra virgin olive oil. Both sounded like excellent choices and we were excited to try them.

Bread is a very important part of a good meal to many. My feelings are if you are spending more than $20.00 for a meal, the bread should be very good. We were disappointed from the start. The bread seemed fresh, but nothing about it was wonderful. It was basic cold Italian bread, served with butter. Disappointing, but we were still hopeful the rest of the meal would be fine.

The dinner salad that was served next was fresh, but once again very basic. It came with a house Italian, which had little taste. By the time our meals arrived, we had started to loose hope that the meal would be as wonderful as we had originally anticipated. My first observation was that my wife’s dish had steam coming off it, while mine did not look like it was very hot. My first bite confirmed that although it was warm, my meal was not hot.

The chicken was average, but the asparagus was tough and the crabmeat was limited. My dish was $21.99, and I’ve had better similar entrees for less than this. My wife’s pasta dish was good, hot, and plentiful. Not until our meal was almost completely finished did our waitress come to the table to ask if everything was all right. We graciously said it was fine, passed on dessert, and asked for our check.

Andrea Trattoria Italiana II was a disappointment to us, but as I said at the beginning, we had heard very good things about this restaurant. We may have arrived at a time when the staff is short because of students going back to school. Although we may never eat there again, we did see the place was full when we left and customers seem to be satisfied. We are very fortunate to live at the shore where good food is extremely plentiful during the summer months, and this was a disappointment for that very reason.