Gloucester Township

30
Jan
2015

Review: Kitchen 519 – Gloucester Twp NJ

This small casual restaurant is a bright wide open space with a lot of very eclectic decor. Vintage clothes hang on clotheslines on the wall alongside artwork and old photos.

While you wait for your meal to be ready you can keep yourself occupied with the Trivial Pursuit cards on each table. You can also enjoy some appetizers. The garlic fries are good and the Cuban quesadilla is an interesting (and tasty) twist on traditional Cuban sandwich. However, the fried pickles (usually a favorite of mine) were disappointing because the cornmeal breading fell off most of the pickles while they were still in the basket.

I haven’t been here for dinner yet but the lunches I’ve had were quite good. All of the sandwiches on the menu sound good making it hard to choose. I particularly enjoyed the Pork Rojo.

I look forward to exploring more menu items on future visits.

Posted by Michael in Reviews
02
Jun
2014

Review: Lumpy’s BBQ – Gloucester Twp NJ

I love good barbecue, but it can be hard to find it in the Philadelphia area. This isn’t the south. Here cheesesteak and pizza places are on every corner, not BBQ joints. Lumpy’s BBQ can be literally hard to find. It’s easy to accidentally drive right past because it sits in a nondescript shopping center and isn’t all that visible from the road. I’ve passed it a thousand times and never noticed it. I only found it because I was looking up some other local restaurants on Yelp.

However, I can happily report that Lumpy’s has the best barbecue that I’ve ever had north of the Mason-Dixon Line. It’s a simply decorated place and operates much like most barbecue restaurants. You go the counter to order and you get your own drinks. Your food is brought to your table when it’s ready. When we first walked in and saw we were the only diners in the place, we were concerned, but they clearly do a booming take-out business. I was also really excited to find out that they deliver.

We ordered pork ribs, pulled pork and burnt ends. They were all delicious and served with 2 sauces (hot or mild). The burnt ends were especially delicious. The sides we chose were good, although the mac and cheese was not as good as I would have hoped for.

In doing some research on my phone on the way home, I read that the owner competed on the BBQ Pitmasters TV show, so when we got home, I immediately bought that episode on iTunes. It made me want to go back for more right away or, better yet, get some delivered!

Posted by Michael in Reviews
20
Jan
2014

Review: Lamp Post Diner – Gloucester Township NJ

Lamp Post Diner ExteriorThe first time I visited the Lamp Post Diner was just a few days after they opened. There were a few small glitches like a waitress who apparently quit in the middle of her shift. The management did their best to figure out what orders she had or had not taken. The next few visits were much improved. We spoke to one of the owner/managers and he was very friendly. It’s clear that they are working hard to make their new diner the best it can be.

The food was quite good and their selection of desserts is expansive. Their portions are huge. I’ve tried sandwiches, breakfast and other menu items and haven’t been disappointed. Personally, I have to give them some extra points for serving their coffee classic “diner mugs.”

The only negative is that they are not open 24 hours/day. I hope that they will soon move to a 24 hour schedule since that’s what I expect from a true New Jersey diner. I also found the fact that there are TVs around the restaurant a little odd.

Overall, this is one of the first new diners to open around here in a while and it seems to have some real potential to become a long lasting institution in the community.

Posted by Michael in Reviews
29
Jun
2013

Hometown Farmers Market Disappointment

For the past 2 months I’ve been going to different local towns’ farmers markets because our town, Gloucester Township’s market (called Blackwood Farmers Market after the neighborhood it’s held in) doesn’t start until the end of June.

Yesterday morning I went to the opening day excited to be able to shop close to home while still being able to support local farmers. What a disappointment! There were only 2 farmers there. (Luckily one was my favorite, Sorbello Girls.)

While there was a honey stand, bakery and a winery, most of the other vendors did not belong at a farmers market. No one wants to see a chiropractor, buy jewelry or buy other junk at this sort of event.

We did get there just in time for the local politicians to give speeches. :-/

Here’s hoping it improves immensely as the season progresses.

Posted by Michael in Randomness
19
Oct
2009

Orange County Choppers Photos & more

Orange County ChoppersI just added 2 new albums to my Photos section. The first is from Orange County Choppers in Newburgh, NY. You probably recognize the name from the Discovery show American Chopper. I stopped by the Teutels new “world headquarters” on the way to Vermont last week. They have a retail store which is fairly over-priced, but I did shell out for a keychain anyway. The best part of it is the bikes that are on display. They have many of the theme bikes they built on the show on display. There’s also a viewing area where you can see into the shop area.

I also added a small album of photos from the Bordentown, NJ Cranberry festival. Thrown in with that album are also a few shots from the Blackwood Pumpkin Festival in Gloucester Township and my backyard all from the same day.

Another important note… these are the first photos I’ve posted that were taken with my new Nikon D90!

Check out them all out here.

Posted by Michael in Life, Photography, Site Updates