Williamstown

Review: Cinder Bar – Monroe Twp NJ

I’ve been to the original East Greenwich Township location of Cinder Bar numerous times but I’m thrilled to see that they now have a second location because I assume this means they are doing well and, selfishly, it’s closer to home for me. This new location has the same great menu as the original. My favorites are their small plates because they have quite a unique variety and I’m always a sucker for good appetizers/small plates. We typically just order a large selection of them and share. The hardest part is deciding which ones to get because you can only eat so much in one sitting yet they all sound so good. If I had to pick just one, I’d probably suggest the short rib poutine. 


I tend to go to both locations at lunchtime, so we get soft drinks, but the fact that they have 200 whiskeys plus four house made cellos certainly is impressive and a good motivation to go for dinner sometime.


They have a section of the restaurant that can be opened to the outdoors in warm weather months. When we were there on a slightly snowy January day, the windows/roof panels were obviously closed and we sat near the cozy fireplace as we ate off a table built of reclaimed lumber from the historic Philadelphia Broad Street Station. Good food, a cozy atmosphere and some local history… you can’t ask for much more than that!

Posted by Michael in Reviews

Review: Village Grille – Williamstown NJ

When you think of a restaurant in an Amish market you think of simple homemade comfort food. That is exactly what this restaurant’s predecessor used to serve. A visit to the Village Grille, however, yielded only food that tasted like it came out of the frozen foods aisle of the supermarket. I was sorely disappointed. I ordered the pulled pork sandwich because the old proprietor used to smoke his own meats and they were delicious. The little bit of meat on the sandwich that was placed in front of me this time looked and tasted much like the stuff that comes in plastic tubs in the refrigerated aisle of the supermarket. The rest of the meal was not much better. Thankfully the Amish market the Village Grille is located in sells great meats and much more so I can make my own meals at home.

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