Ahh…Memorial Day Weekend! What does that mean? An opportunity to eat and drink with reckless abandon; especially when your travel plans include a trip to the Jersey Shore!
Rockstar, Thighs and I hit the road late Friday for a weekend in Toms River. We kicked off our weekend with a late dinner at
Jack Baker's Lobster Shanty in Toms River. Jack Baker's also has a location in Point Pleasant catering to the 'Benny's' and while the Jack Baker's in Toms River definitely caters to the 'senior-set'. This was painfully obvious we arrived after nine to find were were at the end of their dinner service. Needless to say, this is a place we often go when dining with dear old Dad.
This didn't stop us from indulging in the all-you-can-eat $19.99 seafood buffet. It actually wasn't as bad as I expected (but was too famished to care). The calamari was a standout item for me, breaded and coated in a sweet and spicy sauce – not bad! Thighs and Rockstar particularly enjoyed the sole which enveloped some crab meat stuffing while I preferred the mahi mahi. With final stops at a local liquor store and the Super Stop n Shop we were ready for the weekend and ready for bed.
Saturday morning, we mobilized for our jaunt to
Island Beach State Park. We been doing this for a few summers now and have a good system going; pulling the beach chairs out of the shed, getting the umbrellas, neat sheets and towels together, obsessively applying sunscreen and of course packing the cooler on wheels chock full of snacks. The healthy fruit and veggie snacks are eventually overlooked for the bag of chips but we do make a noble effort. The final stop of seaside journey includes stopping at Ebby's Deli in Berkeley to get a sandwich right before the entrance to the park.
Ebby's is a bit of an old school deli with plenty of Italian specialties (including pignoli cookies, cannoli, biscotti and the like) and some great sandwich combinations. We will usually pick the standard crowd pleaser: turkey, lettuce, oil and vinegar since fresh mozzarella, grilled chicken and sundried tomatoes don't often travel well to the beach. They also serve up the usual Taylor Ham, egg & cheese sandwiches but unfortunately we've had breakfast by the time we get there. By the way, if you don't had Taylor Ham - you haven't lived!
After a beautiful day relaxing and snacking on the beach we headed home to get ready for our night's big excursion; a
Lakewood Blue Claws game! Capt BG joined us and as you can imagine, Ms. Foodie's love of baseball is really a love of ballpark food.
I started the evening with a sausage and peppers sandwich. The sausage was sweet and I was impressed by the kick of seasoning in what can usually be a bland ballpark meat. A few innings and quite a few beers later and I was splitting a nicely charred hot dog with BG. The lack of sauerkraut at the park was only one of a few missteps by First Energy Park's catering; but with such a tasty snappy hot dog' I really couldn't complain.
Thighs had a chicken cheese steak with some tangy zesty BBQ sauce that was really amazing. We compared it to our favorite chicken cheese steak from Off the Wagon. Wow! Tender, fresh thinly shaved chicken on a hearty roll with a nice kick from the BBQ sauce – who knew?
The soft ice cream was a bit of a chemically-induced mess but at this point we had so many great items that I'll give them a pass but they really should work on that since what's a seventh inning stretch without some soft ice cream?
Luckily, I made up for the lame ice cream at the park with a stop at Kohr's on the Boardwalk. No trip to the Jersey Shore is complete without a soft ice cream cone. Now if I only had room for pizza!
We also spent some time with the parentals, meeting my Pops and Marie for dinner on Sunday at Hot Tomato, a modest Italian restaurant on Fischer Boulevard. It is a BYOB with an extensive Italian menu and gentle prices. They offer a wide range of specials nightly as well and if you can stand the wait, you will be in for a pretty good meal.
I went against the norm, ordering a rigatoni with Bolognese sauce after seeing an order leave the kitchen. The hearty sauce was flavorful and zesty, a nice balance to the toothsome pasta.
Thighs plopped a meatball in my plate and again, I was surprised on how well this garlicky meatball was prepared; finely ground beef and a nice layer of flavors. Rockstar chose the "house specialty"; fusilli with sausage in tomato sauce with a touch of cream.
Monday morning was spent with Thigh's parents and breakfast at Fast Break. In the past, we have had some great breakfasts at this perennial greasy spoon but this particular trip was a huge disappointment. After waiting an hour for our food, my standard omlette was satisfying but only because I was starving after my morning run. If it were not for the pleasure of the company (Momma & Poppa Thighs are a delight), I would have walked out a long time before our food arrived. I'd like to tell you that the diner was packed but this was not the case. Service was obscenly lame and I highly doubt I will be back any time soon.
Labels: Jack Baker's Lobster Shanty, Jersey shore, Kohr's ice cream, Sausage and peppers
This past Sunday, MPV, BG and Shaney-Baby came into the city and we had a lovely ladies' (and little dude) brunch at Blue Water Grill.
The service was attentive, the coffee (albeit a bit bitter) was flowing and the complimentary brunch cocktail (Bellini for BG and myself; Bloody Mary for MPV) had us wanting more. 
We decided to go a bit against our norm and order brunch fare that you wouldn't necessarily get in another establishment. MPV went with the Smoked Salmon Eggs Benedict, BG had the everything's-organic-but-the-eggs Organic Omelet with spinach, tomatoes, cheddar and a mixed greens salad and I had the Lump Crab, Artichoke and Camembert Omelet. 
Overall, everything was decent. Just decent. I found my meal to be under seasoned and bland when it had so much more potential and the ladies pretty much felt the same way. 
