New Jersey

Review: Royal Cracovia – Magnolia NJ

When I see a new restaurant that seems to have gone over the top with its decor, I often wonder if they’ve put more energy into making it look pretty than making it good. Sometimes I’ve been wrong. In this case, I was not.

When you read the “about” page on their website you see a lot of bragging about how beautiful the decor of the restaurant is. This is mostly accurate. The only complaint I have about the atmosphere is that it is a bit bright in there.

The service is another story. After being seated, we sat for a while before someone finally came to take our order. We were never asked if we wanted beverages at all. I had to tell the waitress that we wanted to order soft drinks with our meal. When the drinks finally arrived my water glass was covered in bright pink lipstick. It wasn’t just a smudge. These were full lip prints. I don’t know how the waitress missed it while filling them.

The drinks themselves were served in very small glasses. I ordered a soda so I had to ask for refills several times.

We ordered some pierogies as an appetizer because they advertise that they have a “pierogi lab.” This would lead one to believe they have great pierogies. (And who doesn’t love pierogies?) Well, as it turns put there is such a thing as bad pierogies. Honestly, even frozen pierogies from the supermarket are much better than the pierogies at Royal Cracovia. The pierogies were made with a dough that is thin but inexplicably chewy and tough. The fact that they were room temperature instead being hot did not help any.

The other food such as sausages was not terrible but nothing to get excited over. We were brought a bottle of mustard for it but the inner seal hadn’t been removed from the bottle so we had to cut it off ourselves.

It would be nice to have a nice Polish restaurant nearby. Unfortunately, this is not it.

Posted by Michael in Reviews

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

Review: Piston Diner – Westville NJ

New Jersey’s official nickname is the Garden State but it could be called the The Diner State. There are diners everywhere and I’ve almost never been to a bad one. I enjoy trying new ones when I hear about them but The Piston Diner lands squarely in the “not worth going back to” column.

When you first walk in there’s no clear indication of where you should go to be seated. We stood there awkwardly for a minute before a waitress walked by and told us someone would be with us in a minute. Once we were finally seated the service didn’t get too much better. Very little attention was paid to us throughout our meal.

They only serve breakfast and lunch. I found that odd, but thankfully it was lunchtime when we stopped by.

I ordered a diner staple… the French Dip sandwich. It was mostly bread. The roll was huge and there was barely any roast beef on it at all.  I would say that the upside to this was that I could use the bread to soak up the au jus. However, the au jus had an odd flavor to it that wasn’t all that appealing.

Posted by Michael in Reviews

Review: Sorbello Girls Farm Market – Mullica Hill NJ

Years ago my father discovered the Sorbello Girls Farm Market. He would say he was going to go visit “the girls.” A few years have passed since then and “the girls” have grown up a bit but they still run a fantastic farm market.

There are more than a few farm markets in the Garden State but Sorbello’s stands out. Their products are always fresh and delicious and they always make you feel welcome when you enter their market. Ask them which apple you should choose and they’ll cut some up for you to taste. Ask a question about a vegetable and they’ll tell you all about the best way to cook it. Debbie also comes to the weekly farmer’s market in Gloucester Township on weekends. She’s the only reason I ever go to that nearby market although I’ll also frequently drive the 60 minute round trip passing many other markets to shop at Sorbello Girls. The quality of their products and the friendly service makes it worth the trip every time.

Posted by Michael in Reviews

Review: Station House – Haddon Heights NJ

The Station House, named for it’s location on Station Avenue near the railroad tracks, serves breakfast and lunch. In the past, the decor seemed a little dark and cluttered, but when I returned recently, I found the new decor much lighter and airier. I would describe it as casual and welcoming. It definitely has a local small town neighborhood feel to it. Drinks are served in Ball jars.

Their breakfast menu consists of all the standards you’d expect… eggs, omelets, pancakes, waffles, etc. Their list of omelets includes a nice variety. They also have specials. I was there on the Fourth of July weekend and they had several patriotically named specials such as the Independence Egg Casserole that was delicious. It was an egg over hash brown potatoes with bacon and cheese.

I’ve never tried their lunch, but the menu includes salads, sandwiches, burgers, wraps… everything you’d expect.

Their convenient location near other small shops and stores (plus the Haddon Heights Farmers Market on Sundays during Spring Summer and Fall) plus the friendly service make this a worthwhile stop.

Independence Egg Casserole

 

Sausage & Gravy with Biscuits & Hash Browns

Posted by Michael in Reviews

Review: The Country Crock – Williamstown NJ

The Country Crock is located inside the Stoltzfus Amish Farmer’s Market which means it’s only open Thursday morning through Saturday afternoon. When you think of a Mennonite or Amish) restaurant, the first thing that comes to mind is plain and simple. Eating here feels less like sitting in a restaurant and more like being in someone’s kitchen eating homemade food. Plastic plates, vinyl table cloths and walls adorned with photos of the owners and their family set the stage for comfort food prepared and presented simply.

Even though food is nothing fancy, it’s delicious and clearly prepared by hand with care. Their BBQ pork sandwich is delicious as is their meatloaf sandwich. (This is the only place where I’ve ever even considered ordering a meatloaf sandwich!) Their corn fritters are one of my favorites and if you ask the server, they’ll let you substitute them for the fries that would normally come with a sandwich.

I don’t often order dessert when I eat out, but The Country Crock’s desserts, which vary week to week, are always tempting. Sometimes it will be a traditional Pennsylvania Dutch dessert like cracker pudding. I’d never had cracker pudding before, but it was good. It tasted somewhat similar to rice pudding. Other times it’s something more “English” like Boston cream pie. Their Boston cream pie was one of the best I’ve ever had. I’m hoping to be around one day when they have shoo-fly pie!

Another nice touch is that they conveniently have a calendar on every table that tell you what specials are coming up in the weeks to come so you can plan your visits.

Update: This restaurant has changed hands and is now called the Village Grille. I’ve been there once and it is NOT what it used to be. None of the food appeared to be homemade. You can read my review of the new place here.

Posted by Michael in Reviews

Review: Woodbury Station Cafe – Woodbury NJ

Looking at the good side first, the atmosphere and decor of this restaurant is fun. It’s an old train station and they’ve embraced their history not only in the name of the place but with the decor as well. The theme of the restaurant combines train memorabilia with a New Orleans theme. Personally, I immediately noticed the Community Coffee sign on the wall, one of my favorite coffee companies. The train theme is cool because who doesn’t like trains. One of the waiters was making sure the little boy at the table by the window was seated facing the right way to see the train when it passed by on the still active tracks.

The food, however, wasn’t so great. We tried the bengiets and they weren’t bad. You don’t see them much around here so i dobt have much experiencw for conparison. However, our meal was disappointing. I ordered an omelet and it was quite overcooked. It was dry and mostly brown on the outside. The “railroad potatoes” were unfortunately also overcooked and bland.

While I wanted to like this place because of the cool concept, I don’t think I’ll be back.

Posted by Michael in Reviews

Review: Kuzina by Sofia – Cherry Hill NJ

I’m a sucker for Greek food. Finding a really authentic Greek restaurant in South Jersey is tough. (not counting Greek diners that have some great Greek items but not a full Greek menu) I don’t know how I never tried Kuzina by Sofia In Cherry Hill before now. The food was as authentic as it gets. It was hard not to order more than we could possibly eat in one sitting because everything on the five page menu sounded so good. We finally settled on the spanakopitakia and saghanaki appetizers which were both delicious. The Greek style steak and moussaka were both fantastic and were accompanied by potatoes roasted in lemon, olive oil garlic and herbs.

We didn’t intend to have dessert, but is there a person alive who can resist baklava? Theirs wasn’t the very best I’ve had, but it was still quite good. We also had an almond roll that was even better than the baclava. (I wish I could remember the name of it, but I’m terrible with Greek names!) and a cup of Greek coffee. As we ate our dessert, we were already planning our next visit to Kuzina!

Posted by Michael in Reviews

Review: The Pub – Pennsauken NJ

The Pub is far and away my favorite restaurant. It’s unique in every way. It’s beena round since long before I was born (since 1950). It’s survived burning to the ground and once going out of business. Through all of that nothing much has changed at all. One of the first unique things about The Pub is the HUGE dining room. The slightly medeival themed room seats over 500 people at a time yet it’s still quiet. I’ve never heard anything above a low murmur and there is always plenty of room to move around as you go to one of the two salad bars.

Speaking of the salad bars, they are fantastic. They include blocks of cheese from which you can cut off slices, various kinds of cake breads (in case the delicious crusty bread on your table isn’t enough for you) fruit, applesauce, along with a wide variety of salads and salad ingredients. However, I usually skip past most of this stuff and head right to the giant bowl of Caesar salad and pile my plate high. The Pub’s Caesar salad is one of the best I’ve had. The always fresh salad is made especially delicious by the plentiful anchovies scattered throughout.

The focal point of the dining room is the row of six coal fired ovens where chefs in big white hats turn out fantastic steaks. The pub has a fair number of entees ranging from seafood to chicken, to all sorts of steaks. I, however, typically stick to the best filet mignon I’ve had at any restaurant. It’s served wth massive onion rings and a potato. I recommend the twice baked stuffed potato. I also recomend taht you ask for some of their browned onions to go with your steak. They’re free, but you have to ask for them. In another unique touch, your steak will arrive at your table on a cart to be taken from a heated tray and plated right at the table.

If you want something a little more unique, try my father’s favorite, the capetbagger. It’s a filet spread with crabmeat and hollandaise sauce.

The only negative is the location. Although, it’s certainly never stopped me from going. The Pub is located at the maze of an intersection that used to be Airport Circle.It might take you a few tries to get in the correct lane. Of course, this should be no problem for a practiced New Jersey driver.

The Pub Chefs

The Pub Filet Mignon

Posted by Michael in Reviews