Tick Tock Diner Doesn’t Deliver on Breakfast

October 9, 2012 By 4 Comments

I love television. I love period dramas like Downton Abbey, fantasy series like Once Upon a Time, and reality shows like The Real Housewives of New Jersey. I watch TV a LOT, and a show that is always on at my house is Diners Drive ins and Dives. Not because I love Guy Fieri (sorry, buddy, you’re just not my type), but because I love the idea that wherever I am in this country, I can eat at a local mom-and-pop joint instead of a generic drive though. As goofy as Guy seems, he has rarely steered me wrong, and I often end up at out-of-the-way places that I would never have known of, had it not been for his TV show.

That’s how I ended up at Tick Tock Diner, on the show for its massive portions of homemade food, where the motto is “eat heavy.” I mean, with a motto like that, how could I pass it up?

At 8 AM on a Tuesday, it wasn’t exactly hopping, but it was clean, servers were courteous, and coffee came fast and hot. Sadly, it wasn’t really the right time for their famous disco fries, I went with my second favorite diner food: an omelette.

Athens omelette with spinach, tomato, and feta served with homefries and toast

I don’t know what I was expecting..maybe an omelette bursting with tangy feta, Jersey tomatoes, and bright green spinach, all blanketed by creamy eggs. Maybe freshly diced potatoes cooked with sweetly caramelized onions until the potatoes were impossibly crispy and salty. Maybe home-baked bread, thick and wheaty next to a pat of melting butter.

This wasn’t that.

It was an ordinary omelette. A fine one, served quickly and to order, but it wasn’t exemplary. The vegetables were fresh but not especially memorable, the omelette was sizable but not gargantuan, and the homefries were more soggy than crunchy. The toast was serviceable but not more than that. This was a fine omelette. One worth getting off the highway? Hardly.

Melon and Cottage Cheese

This wasn’t revelatory either, but it didn’t have to be. Ripe, sweet melon and full fat cottage cheese is just as perfect as it comes.

You let me down, Guy. I marked this place off on the map, expected to be dazzled, and was instead disappointed. If my hopes hadn’t been so high, I am sure that this would have been a very fine breakfast. But, as it stands, don’t get off the road for a breakfast at Tick Tock.

And if Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives comes on at the same time as The X-Factor?

Well, Britney still hasn’t let me down.

Filed Under: New Jersey Tagged With: ,

Bistro 14 – Making the Rehearsal Dinner the Main Event

September 30, 2012 By 1 Comment

When you go to a rehearsal dinner, you are mostly praying for free-flowing wine, food that is thoroughly cooked, and not to be seated next to a creepy groomsman. It’s no use to pray for the food to actually be good, because that just never happens. Except at this wedding. Thank you, Jamie and Larry, for being totally and completely obsessed about food.

Bistro 14 is a globally inspired eatery on Long Beach Island that specializes in the fresh seafood and produce of the area. It is open year round, but in the off-season, only on weekends. The feel is beach elegant, with an airy, wood paneled room with many windows.

Chowder

Whatever you do, whatever you order, GET THIS CLAM CHOWDER. For some reason, the folks on Long Beach Island make a fantastic clam chowder.. The clams are large and sweet, with a pleasant chew and a totally clean aftertaste. The broth is briny and acidic, brimming with fragrant celery, tangy tomatoes, and lots of sharp black pepper. This clam chowder isn’t anything new, but it is made so well that it seems like it is. If only every restaurant in NYC took such care with its clam chowder, I wouldn’t be so thrilled when I tried clam chowder here.

But, as fate would have it, I was.

Green Salad with Crostini

A few salad leaves, some fresh cucumbers and Jersey tomatoes, and some tart, bright vinaigrette. Nothing special, but again, something done with care. The vegetables are crisp and fresh and crisp, the dressing is applied sparingly, and the crostini is spread with light, creamy goat cheese that is none too grassy or funky. It works for people who love goat cheese and people who are wary of it.

Grilled Local Scallops, shrimp, and Crabcake with Herbed French Fries and Coleslaw

Seafood so good I would swear I was at a clam shack in Massachusetts or Maine. Succulent scallops, broiled until just cooked through, so rich that they required no butter. Large shrimp, expertly cleaned and absolutely as sweet as sugar. When I have shrimp like this, it reminds me why I’m not kosher. The crabcake is another winner, with large, mild hunks of crab combined with herbs and mayonnaise until they form a moist, satisfying cake. They don’t’ skimp on the crab here, and put enough seasoning in the mix to complement the crab, making it sweeter next to the savory garlic and herbs. The cocktail sauce is rather insipid, and the tartar sauce unmemorable, but the coleslaw was creamy, tangy, and perfectly crunchy. The French Fries are another winner – overtly garlicky and piping hot, but not too salty. I would have cleaned my plate if my boyfriend hadn’t “generously” offered to help me with my fries and crabcake…thank you?

Bistro 14 hosted a really great rehearsal dinner and I have no doubt that the food is just this delicious when you dine here a la carte. The chef was there at this dinner cooking, overseeing, coming out to chat with the bride and groom…it was a totally hands on situation. He is proud of all the food he puts out, and he should be. The price point is very reasonable, especially to someone coming from Manhattan, and if the service was like it was at this affair, it is more than competent. I mean, this restaurant did the impossible ..it made the rehearsal dinner part of the main event.

Bistro 14 Restaurant and Raw Bar on Urbanspoon

Filed Under: New Jersey Tagged With: , ,

Jayson’s Pancake House – the Biggest Breakfast in New Jersey?

September 19, 2012 By Leave a Comment

A destination like Long Beach Island has many breakfast options, all with cute names like “Gertrude’s Pankake Haus” and “Uncle Stevie’s Roadside Grill.” So many choices can be confusing, there is always the feeling that you are missing out on the sweetest cinnamon rolls, the freshest eggs, and the cutest knickknacks on the windowsills.

While on the quaint island for a wedding, the groom told us to check out Jayson’s Pancake House, saying that it served some of the most delicious pancakes in town. He swore on it so much that he came there to eat. On his wedding day.

If the man trusts this place to fortify him on the most important day of his life, the least I could do was trust him.

The restaurant is extremely quaint – a totally predictable beachside eatery with checkered curtains, sweet servers who often work at 2 different restaurants in town during the summer, and steaming cups of coffee brought round as soon as your tucchus hits the seat.

Eggs with Scrapple and Toast

2 eggs, cooked until the whites are firm and the yolks are thick but still runny. 2 pieces of wheat toast, served with mound of creamy whipped butter, melting into rivulets on the crusty bread. Scrapple, crunchy without and creamy within – onions and pork prevalent, blending well with the sweet maple syrup served alongside. Perhaps the most memorable component of this dish are the homefries – almost like Greek fries, they are thick cut and very crisp, with fluffy, buttery innards. Barely salted, they are purely potatoey, somewhere between chips and fries, and totally delicious when dipped int he egg yolk and some hot sauce.

Silver Platter Breakfast

This has most of the same food that I had (as well as some very fluffy, light, none too sweet pancakes), but in gargantuan portions. Enough to feed an entire army. Enough to feed an entire nation. Enough to feed a groom and a best man.

Maybe this meal was just great because we were celebrating the wedding of two great people. Maybe we were made hungry by the sea air. But I don’t think that’s all that it was. I think that the food here is really great, honest food, served by kind servers at very reasonable prices. Bring cash and bring your appetite.

And if you finish that silver platter breakfst…bravo to you!

Filed Under: New Jersey Tagged With: , , ,

Greenhouse Cafe on Long Beach Island

September 10, 2012 By 2 Comments

The trick isn’t always choosing the fanciest or the most locally sourced restaurant – sometimes, those aren’t even possibilities. If you are, say, in an oceanside resort town in the beginning of fall, many places may be closed for the season. If you are there with a huge group of people, your choices get even fewer. You may need to improvise, and this is where the trick turns from choosing the best menu to choosing the best item on the menu.

Greenhouse Cafe is a little eatery in the quaint seaside town of Ship Bottom, New Jersey. Think fudge stores, carousels, and lazy days of picnicking on the beach. This restaurant caters to the local family-oriented crowd and is thus casual, sunny, and leans to an all American bill of fare.

Rhode Island Clam Chowder

Let’s get one thing straight – this AIN’T Rhode Island clam chowder.  This is a mixture of Manhattan and New England chowder. What it misses in proper moniker, though, it makes up for it taste. This is one of my favorite chowders in recent memory! Thinner than many clam chowders and a dusky rose color, this soup has the best of both worlds. It has the buttery base and creamy potatoes of New England clam chowder and the gentle heat, aromatic celery, and juicy tomatoes of Manhattan clam chowder.

Even better, the clams themselves are fantastic – large and tender, with the salty-sweet taste that only fresh clams have. The small size of this is a  very hearty appetizer, but it is light enough to not be a total gut bomb.

Turkey Cheese Burger

if you are looking for the greatest burger since foie gras, this isn’t it. However, if you are looking for a very ordinary turkey burger served under a blanket of gooey cheddar cheese, with Jersey fresh vegetables, atop a crusty yet supple bun, here is your man! The burger is a little dense and dry, but hey; it’s not the speciality of the house. It is cheap, it is hot, and it is very serviceable when doused in ketchup.

This is what the Greenhouse Cafe is – very serviceable. The service is a bit brusque, but the prices are cheap, the place is clean, and the food is fine. In fact, the soup is sensational – trip worthy for sure. This is the whole point of this post – don’t order the prime rib at the Greenhouse Cafe. Don’t get the Cajun Chicken Pasta. Get the local seafood, a reliable sandwich or salad, and enjoy being with your loved ones.

Come to think of it…eating with loved ones is actually the best tip for enjoying any meal.

Greenhouse Cafe on Urbanspoon

Filed Under: New Jersey Tagged With: , ,