Club Diner

Front door of Club Diner

Post ballroom practice munchies call for wholesome food less than five minutes away. In the only state you can do this in, Chi and I typed "diner" into the GPS and sure enough there were seven diners within a three mile range. We picked the closest one, Club Diner, located on the Black Horse Pike in Bellmawr, NJ. We were coming down West Browning Avenue, about to make a left onto Route168, and we asked at the same time, "where is this place?" We were answered quickly when, around the corner of an art store, Club Diner's red, glowing, neon lights suddenly appeared.

Chicken Escarole Soup

Before the meal we were handed a giant basket of bread that appeared to have sourdough and a sourdough-pumpernickel swirl bread. I loved the sourdough-pumpernickel myself and Club Diner does a very nice job of combining the two bold flavors. And surprise, surprise! home made, super dense, sweet banana bread was hiding at the bottom of the basket, delicious.  Also, as an appetizer I ordered the chicken escarole soup. This salty and savory soup was a great way to start the meal. It had nice big chicken meatballs full of flavor and texture as well as diced pieces of white meat.

Wanting to try something new, I originally thought I would order a roast beef sandwich to see how it compared to the roast beef deli meet sold at Wegmans, but then I saw ravioli and meatballs and my stomach ended up deciding for me. Evidently I didn't know that cheese ravioli and meatballs is weird, but everyone (my girlfriend and parents) informed me that it's strange (I mean come on, Chef Boyardee has meet ravioli with meatballs in a can, but Boyardee isn't an expert on Italian cuisine, so that's that). Regardless of how different this plate selection was (by the way, you have an option between meatballs and Italian sausage. I think I made the right choice) it had some high points even though the plating was strange. 

Ravioli and Meatballs

You know how sometimes a dish can get boring as you keep eating it because it's a lot of the same thing? Well, the Ricotta cheese filling was very creamy and even nearing the end of the plate the dish never became repetitive. The pasta sauce was unique. I can't quite place my finger on whether it's homemade or just altered sauce from a can, but it had a nice sweetness and thick, not chunky, consistency. The meatballs were sadly the low point of the meal (maybe I'll do Italian sausage if I ever try it again). My best guess is that it was an all beef meatball (onions and other spices in the blend) that was moist like a meatball should be, but it was soft and mushy and had a downright strange texture to it (they should set their beef grinder to the same setting as their chicken grinder).

Blueberry Pie with Whipped Cream

Dessert came with the meal (awesome) and after our waitress (who was wonderful) listed off all the different pies they had, I decided on blueberry almost immediately. She asked if I wanted whipped cream on mine. I said yes. The pie wasn't exactly what I expected. The crust had a similar taste to a palmier and it was thin, soft, and almost had a slight chewiness. At first it was off putting but I grew to like it as I kept eating. The blueberry filling was kind of crazy. The whole reason I ordered blueberry pie was because I wanted some tartness to go along with the sweetness. This thing was all sweet, like blue sugar. I understand how people could really love this pie, but if you have a fruit that can have different flavor levels, then the pie should reflect that.

Outside

Inside

If there are different types of diners I think it would be reasonable to say that at least aesthetically, there are two kinds: the dreary, bordering on dirty diner, and the (kind of) trashy, flashy kind of diner. I think Club Diner wants to be the second kind (see pictures) with its red neon cutting through the black of the night and its digital jumbo-tron flashing advertisements and specials.


Given this, I was amused by the simplicity of the inside and the simplicity of the man sitting next to us who was talking about “a machine that puts bubbles into drinks”. Well sir, do you mean…a soda machine?

As I eavesdropped, I surveyed the menu that I thought to be rather dinner-heavy, including a whole page full of $9.99 specials. I settled on the fried flounder after much hesitation about having fish again at a diner so soon after the Silver Coin debacle. But I decided to take a chance, especially since the Club Diner’s $9.99 special comes with:

1 entrée

1 soup du jour or 1 salad

2 vegetable sides (they also had rice pilaf as an option)

1 dessert (they have a bakery on site)

I was charmed by this deal, especially since it cost me $11.00 earlier in the day for a grilled cheese sandwich and some chips in Philadelphia. I opted for the salad (because the veggie soup option was split pea) and soon enough presented to me was The Wettest Salad Ever. It was not soggy at all, nor were the greens especially juicy. It was physically wet. It’s like they washed the iceberg and cherry tomatoes proceed to throw it on my plate without so much as waiting for it to drip excess water away or heaven-forbid put it through a colander or salad spinner.  I was literary eating water, and not in the way that lettuce is water anyways. However, having been the one to find the hidden pieces of banana bread in our (extensive) bread basket (with whipped butter) I was quickly appeased.

Broccoli and Potatoes

Fried Flounder

My fish was surprisingly well-thought out. It was fried, but not so much that it lost the fish’s natural tenderness. The filet was a good size and the fish itself was fresh tasting and flaky. My sides of baked potato and broccoli were almost on par with the fish. My baked potato would have delicious if there was some fluffing of the actual starch to make it easier to eat, particularly since it came out sans toppings and still in its foil casing. My broccoli was the biggest disappointment of the night, as it came out in HUGE stalks and was chewy. But I should point that this probably stemmed from the fact that broccoli is the veggie I eat the most and the fact that my dinner knife was incredibly dull and could barely saw through it.

I chose pumpkin pie as my desert since I make it point to go out of my way to eat pumpkin in the fall. I am OBSESSED with pumpkin spiced lattes and pumpkin muffins, by the way. The waitress had said it was her favorite, and I can see why. The pie was sweet, but still flavorful with notes of different spices. The actual filling was not too dense or goopy as pumpkin pie can start to separate after a while. With the whipped cream on top it was the perfect not-too-unhealthy finish. Overall it was a good meal at a very good $9.99.

Pumpkin Pie with Chris in the Background

Caffe Aldo Lamberti

This is our second Silver Spoon restaurant to be featured and I've driven by it almost every day since May of this year. Caffe Aldo Lamberti is in Cherry Hill, NJ and sits on the corner of Rt. 70 and Grove St.

Let me preface this by saying that this restaurant from the outside looks so modern and (literally) shiny that I first mistook it years ago for a car dealership. In fact, because there is such an odd abundance of car dealerships in Cherry Hill, NJ, for a while afterwards out of the corner of my eye, I still thought that it could possibly be one. It’s located on a major highway that leads straight to Philadelphia, in a kind of hard-to-access area unless you’ve tried to get into its lot a few times.

This place has these two marquees that change weekly, sometimes daily, and always expressing some new item they’ve just received in the formula of adjective + fish + event = a reason to come try their food. For example, “Sweet Chilean Sea Bass freshly flown in, just in time for Prom”! Well, they probably didn’t market themselves quite that way for the prom crowd, but regardless, you get my drift.

I decided on a whim the Friday of my first week of work to celebrate and go. We had made a promise that we couldn’t review anymore diners until we reviewed a silver spoon, so this was perfect. We were somewhat out of place (not just because I had incorrectly told Chris that nice shorts were probably OK) but because we were younger than the average person in there by about 10-15 years- at least! It should be noted that we dined at 6:00 PM and almost everybody was at the bar that is outside, but features one side that is covered by the ceiling for those wanting to talk to their dates with less whooshing from cars flying down Route 70. I feel like our waiters noticed too, but among the three (3!) people that serviced us for those couple of hours we were definitely well taken care of- even if each side perceived the other to be…awkward.

For my main course I ordered off their Seasonal Menu (this was only after I turned down some of their specials which included a butterfish). I went with the Pan Seared Cape May Sea Scallops. It seemed more environmentally friendly to go with a more local selection than to eat a fish that was flown in from the Southeast Pacific (probably fresher, too). Our waiter complemented me on my selection and went to place our order. Chi and I then sat and waited for a while nibbling on the two types of bread that was brought to our table. The bread was served with home made (or at least home bottled) extra virgin olive oil. The olive oil certainly was different than anything I've ever bought from Wegmans. It had a fresh, cool quality to it, and for me, it set the tone for what the rest of the meal would be like; Caffe Aldo Lamberti tries to take the standard to the next level. The other bread that was at our table had a tomato sauce on it, which essentially made it a bunch of pizza-sticks (not to detract from the complexity of the sauce). They were tangy and warm, and like the olive oil, fresh. It was the first time I have been served complementary bread before a meal that was more than bread.

Our (non-pizza) bread was pretty average, but I agree that our olive oil (or, “oo” as I’ll refer to it) was not. This was the first time I was ever given the whole bottle. It had high notes of what I can only imagine (in my limited oo palate) was citrus. It also came with a small dish of big green olives and made me wonder: Do real Italians eat their bread this way? Was this an attempt to be authentic, or was it truly so?

Did you know that good oo should be marketed like good wine? For example, on the bottle, it shouldn’t just say “Product of Italy” (because it you read more closely there’s a good chance that it was still bottled in the US), but it should clearly state from what olive farm/plantation in whatever city it came from.

Chris and I decided to be adventurous and essentially upgrade our usual order of calamari to their grilled octopus. We were taken back by how it was presented.

Grilled Octopus

We soon discovered that it was partially pre-disassembled for ease of consumption, which was good since it was very…fleshy. I had never tasted octopus that tasted so much like meat before. It was delicious but slightly off-putting since I don’t eat meat. It was tender, with no taste of grimy ocean, or any of the general things that can turn people off. Well, that is unless you consider the fact that the suction cups on its legs still worked. (Chris tested them). Our only critique was that we wished it was crispier at the ends. Funny enough, this was the second time we had had grilled octopus within a week. The first was at Sapori, a delicious and rustic Italian restaurant in Collingswood where I had my “yay, I’m employed”-celebration dinner. I preferred Sapori’s, but I suspect Chris enjoyed this version more.

Pan Seared Sea Scallops

When the food came to the table I was still hungry and thank goodness thing since my plate consisted of five large scallops sitting on a dense bed of squid ink linguine with oil, garlic, and zesty red and yellow tomatoes. The scallops were the slightest bit chewy even though they remained very tender. Their buttery flavor was easily the highlight of the meal. Unfortunately the searing on the scallops was not uniform on every scallop. The ones that were more seared seemed to be tenderer almost as though the less seared scallops were cooked longer at a lower temperature. I can comfortably give the scallops a very good rating, but certainly not great. This was my first time having squid ink linguine and I wasn't lying when I said it was dense. It started to fill me up right away which was a shame since the meal was going in a wonderful direction. The squid ink gave the pasta an earthy, rich flavor (I'm sure the oil contributed to that as well), but kept its raw pasta flavor while enhancing the depth of the meal. With all the sweet, wholesome notes on the plate, the garlic and tomatoes gave the dish the zip it needed. The tomatoes were bright and summery and the garlic was not cooked to sweetness and left very pure.

Sweet Potato Gnocchi

I ordered the sweet potato gnocchi after much debate over what entre to choose. I had originally wanted the catch-of-the-day risotto, but upon hearing that it was a Dover sole, and not wanting to purchase something without a price, I picked the gnocchi. I love the stuff and almost always gravitate towards it when eating Italian. (Side note: for great, fresh, hand-made gnocchi in the area, head to Spasso’s in Old City, Philadelphia). It sounded like a genius and whimsical take on a normal gnocchi, and I looked forward to the contrast between a likely truffle/garlic sauce and the sweetness. While there was a contrast, and the sauce and mushrooms ended up being delicious as expected, the gnocchi itself was disappointing…but the kind of disappointing that just creeps up on you. My first bite was fine, although I immediately noticed there was a slick, oily coating that seemed to not release the potato inside. A further bite confirmed my suspicion that this gnocchi wasn’t going to be satisfyingly smushable in my mouth and was (somehow) neither fluffy nor dense. It occurred to me that for it being what it was, that it wasn’t especially sweet-potato-y.

Tiramisu

The dessert continued the theme of the restaurant. We opted for the tiramisu. We were surprised when the dish came out. The best way to describe it is an espresso soaked (soaked!) lady finger, surrounded in a mascarpone-whipped cream, dusted with espresso powder, topped with a halved strawberry, and finished off with a lady finger sticking out askew of it all. Oh, it also came in a squat martini/dessert glass, a whimsical approach on an Italian classic. The cream was the first aspect of the dessert we encountered. It was incredibly light, but at the same time it was runny (though I have a theory of why that might be). The show stopper of the dessert was what the cream was surrounding. The soaked ladyfinger in the middle was gushing with flavor. It was sweet and rich and light all at the same time. I believe the total liquid content of the dessert accounted for a runny whipped cream. The actual burst of flavor and liquid that came from the center of the tiramisu not only made the dessert delicious but also fun to eat. The ladyfinger pointing out the top was fun for dipping but in comparison to the rest, it might have well been only garnishing.

Additional notes: Don't be in a rush. There will be a wait between the courses but just enjoy the atmosphere while you watch the forty-somethings get drunk off Shiraz and Pinot Grigio during their happy hour. I took home my dish hoping that my general craving for heavy, starchy foods would leave me reheating it and giving it another chance the next day but when Chris’s mother was cleaning out the fridge a week later, I made no attempt to save it. Also, their wineries looked impressive (boasting 800 wines!!) and so I'll definitely have to come back if to do nothing else but take a tour of their selection.

Maritsa's

Maritsa's? What's a Maritsa's?

Apparently it's a not-quite-together diner with a heart of gold. You want to like Maritsa's, and if you're a citizen of Maple Shade, NJ perhaps you need to love Maritsa's.

Home Fries done the Right Way!

The uniform here unofficially (or officially) is a Phillies Jersey; waitresses pick their favorite player and channel them by briskly taking and delivering orders fast and furiously. It's charming, even as the restaurant is in the middle of expansion. It doesn't quite look like a restaurant as there is mismatched flooring and furniture. I'm not sure they really know what they want it to look like once it's all done and paid for.

Veggie Omelette

Perhaps that it's just time for Chris and I to try break up our diner outings with some silver spoon entries and I'm just getting sick of veggie omelettes. But quite seriously, I hated this one. Have you ever experienced the phenomenon that is disgusting, not-cut-up kind of muddy mushrooms? Muddy mushrooms (you heard it here first!) and this time, muddy button mushrooms. The worst. The veggies in this thing were huge- so huge that it was a chore to eat. It tasted fine (besides the mushrooms) but the labor of chewing through it was ridiculous and caused me to not finish it. I only ate half. However, I will say that Chris and I were finally introduced to the idea of putting onions and peppers and gooey American cheese onto your home fries.

It was delicious. And, I don't even like American cheese.

For Chi and I the service was a little shaky, but it could be explained through misunderstandings instead of negligence or apathy. My biggest problem with the meal was the amount of time it took my family (that's right, we were accompanied by my parents for the first time) to be waited on. We were seated almost immediately (which is pretty good for a Sunday morning), but we were seated with an extra chair at the table. Our waitress then waited for around ten minutes for our "guest" to arrive. Eventually we called her over and she apologized profusely, explained herself, and ended up a bit embarrassed, which was never our intention.

Two Egg Breakfast with Sausage

My food was perfectly ordinary. Let me explain; there was nothing about my meal that was wrong, however, there was nothing that stood out or went beyond expectation. My mug was consistently topped off with piping hot java, my eggs were as medium as medium can be, the four sausage links we juicy, my toast was liberally buttered, and my home fries (probably the best part) were right in between sliced and shredded and cooked to crispy deliciousness. The super star of every meal on the table rested on my fathers plate. As Chi mentioned above, we were in the presence of home fries that were filled with onion and green peppers and topped with gooey American cheese. The ole' man let us each have a bite and to say the least, we were impressed. The onions and peppers created a natural, fresh sweetness while the cheese on top balanced out the vegetable with its saltiness. It also helps that the potatoes stayed crispy with the extra moisture.

Additional notes: There's no big sign-on-a-post out front, so you're going to have to keep your eyes open for the front of their building along East Main street in Maple Shade.

Silver Coin Diner

The decision to stop in the Silver Coin Diner seemed to be a no-brainer. Its big, gaudy sign and excess chrome shone out like the bat-signal after a particularly rural stretch of the White Horse Pike. This was the first "silver" diner that we visited and I think that raised our expectations. The fact that it's located halfway between Philadelphia and Atlantic City on a main Jersey Shore road certainly can't hurt them either. By just going off location and external looks is enough to bring anyone into their restaurant on a hungry one hour drive. I put my foot on the break and made a right hand turn into their parking lot on that blistering summer day unaware of what would come next.

Eggs Benedict

Oh, the Hollandaise! So much Hollandaise Sauce, everywhere. But, let me focus on (as stuff Chef Spike would say) the "good stuff," first. My Eggs Benedict was (after some wiki research) pretty standard. Two English muffin halves topped with ham, poached eggs, and, yes, Hollandaise Sauce. I made this decision after about three minutes of reviewing their menu. I was curious, I was bold, and unfortunately I think I made a mistake. First of all the Hallandaise was rich; super rich, like a "suped-up" melted hard-boiled egg yolk. So, at least it had flavor, but that also means the entire plate, sans the potato, was that same yolk flavor (also the same yolk yellow). I was, however, impressed by the ham portion. Their ham slabs were cut thick, and now as I'm thinking about it, maybe their Eggs Benedict theory is to go big or go home. The poached eggs topping the ham where cooked as well as any other poached egg I've had, but the yolk inside added to the super yolkiness of everything else. I knew I was in over my head at that point. Finally we get to the sad English muffins on the very bottom. They kept soaking up my sauce throughout the meal and remained soggy and chewy at the same time. I'm glad I tried it, but I'm sure there are better versions elsewhere. My potatoes were undercooked. Sigh.

It really is a shame that my experience at what appears to be a landmark diner was disappointing. I'll go back at least once more with the hope that what I was served was the exception. Maybe a classic sandwich will redeem them, but it could prove that all the chrome in the world can't cover up their mediocre food.

Fried Eggplant

As for my part, I suppose I should preface it by saying it's not like you readers would ever go and order Mahi Mahi from a diner, but then again...in act of desperation like myself, you may have a lapse of judgement. My reasoning was that I wanted something that would 'fill me up not fill me out' because Chris and I were on our way to a Salsa event. I figured that the Mahi Mahi - a steaky fish - would probably be cooked thoroughly and that even if it was mediocre, there would be a side of delicious mango salsa and fresh veggies to go with me. The amount of veggies if you measured it would have been about half a cup and the mango tasted nothing like mango which leads me to the somewhat related question: Do they even make canned mango?! It came with a side of fried eggplant which I think I took one bite of and left it alone. All batter; no substance. If Chris's potatoes were underdone, then the clearly tried to compensate with my side.

Mahi Mahi with Mango Salsa

The fish was incredibly, incredibly overcooked to the point that the ends of the cut had kind of created that hard seal that wouldn't let the rest of the meat and what little juice was in there come out when I pressed down with my fork and knife. Parts of it were fine, and other parts just seemed like a waste of using an imported (and generally un-eco-friendly) fish. But I will say that it never tasted muddy or smelled 'fishy' and it was only about 10 dollars. Overall, not a terrible choice for the dinner diner that wants something on the healthier side. I think ordering it with light-to-no mango sauce (generic, kind of sweet, kind of sour) and trying to customize how long you'd like it to cook would improve the dish. But then, of course, you run the risk of these instructions not being executed well since it's not a normal seafood restaurant.

If there was ever a peanut gallery at a diner that we've experienced so far, it was at this place. The waitresses here, while good at providing solid customer service to their tables, were so clique and chatty the moment they got away that at first it was endearing, but quickly turned annoying. One of them suddenly burst out into a cheer (from the waist up) that she used to do as a cheerleader in high school to amuse one the children that were running around.

Silver Coin Diner's interior

Considering that (a) the air conditioning was broken for the front half of the house where we sat, (b) we were kind of in a rush and (c) our terrible mis-adventures in food selection, maybe it was just circumstances that made us not enjoy this diner. (No, it's not you; it's me!) But, with about five more diners on this road and the bright and shiny Galloway diner just a few minutes away, I see no reason to come back.

StarView Diner

Located on the White Horse Pike in Somerdale, their dominating sign caught my eye one morning while I was heading out to Blackwood for a summer class. The big, bubbly, WordArt-esque lettering took me back to days of handing in middle school lab reports that had to have a cover sheet. The pink/fuchsia and turquoise lettering made it stand out more than any other sign on the short stretch of road. My first thought was that the establishment was wonderfully tacky. I was hoping it was more wonderful than tacky, and since the parking lot was usually filled every time I took that route at 9:30 on a weekend morning I figured they must be doing something right behind their doors. We arrived at the StarView a little after 7:00 on a humid evening and greeted by smiles of the hosts and waitresses. We were promptly seated at the first booth in the diner and given menus. As soon as we were seated we noticed how the place seemed to be filled with regulars. Everyone was on a first name basis with everyone else, and everyone was in high spirits.

After my Monte Cristo during my last diner escapade I needed to go back to my standard: two eggs over medium, sausage, home-fries well done, wheat toast, and coffee, black. Let's face it, it doesn't get much better than that. I'm going to take you through this review as if you were in my seat. Let's start with the home-fries. They listened to my request of having them come out "a little extra crispy" and they gave me a healthy amount, too. But then, I slid three of my sausages away from the potatoes and noticed there was a gaping hole on the back left corner. A cover-up had taken place right under my taste buds! It's OK though, I got over it quickly once I salted them up and dug in. They were nice and well done on one side which made up for what seemed to be slightly under-cooked potato throughout. On to the sausage. Let me just say that they weren't the all stars of this meal. They didn't possess any unique quality that would make them stand out from sausage links bought at your local grocery store. Maybe I'll go for bacon next time. Now it's time for the eggs, which from the outside looked like they were cooked perfectly. Unfortunately, appearances aren't everything since they were cooked more on the over easy side. I always hope that an egg cooked incorrectly at a diner is a fluke, but once it happens, it makes me weary to try their food a second time. On a positive note, the extra egg on my plate was great to soak up with my toast. Mmm. Their coffee was, in a word, bland, even though our waitress was quick with a refill.  For me, the service outshone the food, which after some terrible service at other places, was a nice breath of fresh air. I still want to try their bacon.

This, vs.

...This

Reflecting back, I thought this place was pretty weird. I too was intrigued by its 1980's, pastel, and generally gaudy sign that made me think, "Wow! If I was a character in Jem, I would be eating here!"

But then were seated and after a few minutes of looking around and admiring upholstery, the bakery, and the general air of friendliness, I realized that yeah, I would go here, if I was a character in Jem and a possible cultist. Above the booths line these pieces of ceiling art were stars...everywhere. But, not just normal stars as you can see below. All of a sudden the decor made no sense to me, and I wonder if I was the only person who upon first visit had questioned this choice of theme. It actually is quite arresting as you can see the picture below as once we saw these pentagrams, there was no unseeing them. FYI: Also, upon further research I've been informed that one can also call these pentacles. I kept wondering, "What do these mean"? But ultimately I was too chicken to find out, but I definitely will ask next time. But, really, maybe this just matters to me- since nobody on Yelp seems to mind the decor.

Scary

Readers of earlier posts will know that I, through this adventure thus far, have started to have realizations about how I like my breakfast (specifically my eggs) done. My most significant realization so far has been that I like my omelettes well done- I believe I called it a 'step before chewy'-and that fluffy, soft omelettes are unappetizing to me. I've started to realize that I'm also developing a preference for how the items IN my omelette are prepared, specifically how large they are in relation to the actual omelette. Picky, yes. However, I never considered it as an actual issue, until I had to eat through my very well-cooked broccoli omelette, only to realize that I never really was able to bite into a piece of broccoli. The vegetable was so well broken down into little florets (where were the stems?!) and folded into the egg that ultimately I felt that I was eating a broccoli-flavored plain omelette. If it doesn't sound like a big deal, I can say that it wasn't...until I got about half-way and started to lose the complexities in flavor. Note: For the polar opposite of this phenomenon, see the Maritsa's review that will be up next week!

Have you ever just eaten something and then after a while have it lose its taste? You can tell what temperature it is, or how salty or sweet it is, but you lose the ability to actually taste the ingredients that went into it? I ended up not finishing it. However, my home-fries were bountiful (unlike Chris's) and delicious. 

Ultimately, it's not a place I would go back to, but I did enjoy our waitress who was fast and courteous and seemed to be super friendly to everyone in the house. It was a multicultural-friendly diner and even though I know that I live in a world where racism is relatively subtle and de facto at worst, it's still nice to see black and white seniors smiling and shaking hands like old friends. I like to imagine that they come the same time, every week and have made this diner a part of the rest of their lives.


Additional info:
Our meals came with free juice; usually this juice is a "small" but should really be called a mini. When Chi declined hers, I was upgraded to a medium, which once again speaks of their stellar service. This diner, being our first on the White Horse Pike has opened up the door for exploring this stretch of road, potential reviews from the Jersey Shore could be soon to come.

Used to be 24 hours, now has standard early morning and late night hours. Moderately cheap; pay at the front.

Christopher

Authors' note: This entry marks our first in our 'Silver Spoon' entries- the restaurants we visit and review that are notably higher scale than our usual diner go-tos. Who says that NJ doesn't have fine dining? Who says Philadelphia is a terrible food city? 

Located in a quiet strip mall on Kressen Road in Chris's hometown of Cherry Hill, is the appropriately named Christopher restaurant. With the spotlight on their famous crab cakes, the restaurant focuses on three areas- seafood, steak (angus, certified) and pasta. The menu is no frou-frou with those as the only options. The decor, at least on the side where Chris and I were seated was also succinct as we pull up and see (or not see) that all of the curtains were let down and we could not even hope to glimpse inside. Intimidated, we walk in and are eventually greeted by a nice man who would end up being our host, our waiter, and then the floor busser.

I ordered their 'famous' crab cakes. All I can say is that I'm not sure why they're famous, because they weren't delicious and after two weeks I can barely remember any good quality about them. The crab pieces themselves were not large, and there wasn't a good crisp on the crusts. It was very soft, and eventually mushy and boring. My potato on the side frankly was more exciting- but then again what's not to love about twice-baked potato? It's difficult for me to find a vegetarian version of anything multiply-baked and I enjoyed the option. The portion was small, but not unexpectedly so.

Our busy waiter rushed over to our table after giving us a few minutes to look over the menu and we ordered our starter: fried calamari (this seems to be our bread and butter for appetizers, besides the complementary bread and butter). I need to begin with a compliment for our starter. It might have been the best cooked calamari I've been served. The outside of the rings were feather light, not very greasy, and even the rings on the bottom were crispy all the way around. The inside was, figuratively, like butter, and almost as rich. The one problem with the dish, however, was the seasoning. It was predominately salt. Actually, salt was the only thing I really tasted. Then again, that's the only downside the dish had. The marinara sauce that it came with was fresh and cut the saltiness back. When thinking about the plate as a whole instead of nit-picking, it was delightful.

For my main dish I had the "Filet Mignon With Fresh Grilled Shrimp" for $28.95. I need to lay down that the best steak that I get on a semi-regular basis is the beef from a restaurant called Famer Brown's in Waterloo, NE. I judge most of my steak off of beef from Nebraska, simply because that's what I grew up with and I honestly believe it's the best. That being said, the steak at Christopher was good. It was tender all the way through, lightly seasoned, and the chef did a knockout job of letting the quality and natural flavor of the steak speak for itself. It was a refreshing piece of meat that was well rested and retained its juices nicely. I asked for it to be cooked medium-rare and it came out more on the medium side, but I'll count that as a minor oversight since I really don't think it affected the overall tenderness of the filet. Now, the real star of the show was the shrimp. These three little guys were...perfect. If nothing else, they were the best cooked and juiciest shrimp I have ever had. They made the super market shrimp cocktail rings taste like pink rubber bands. I'm looking forward to getting more shrimp the next time I visit. The meal also came with a double baked potato. This potato had a shadow cast over it in comparison with the rest of my entreé. The only thing I really liked about it was the sour cream note really came through and added some needed zest to the rest of the plate. God, that was some good shrimp.

Riding the high of Chris's meal, we decided to order dessert. I decided that we shouldn't penalize the whole experience just because I didn't particularly enjoy my crab cakes. To be fair, I consider myself a relatively picky eater when it comes to crab just because I've been blessed to live (and eat) in the Chesapeake area of Maryland and then the Jersey Shore where blue crabs abound. Anyways, our waiter brought us out our dessert options via representations-on-a-tray instead of a menu, which I've seen at some upscale restaurants. However, instead of the deserts being perfect plastic versions of themselves or freshly cut slices, these pieces had seemed to be sitting there all day. The fluffiness of the cakes were gone; their icing starting to lose their brightness and melting off the edges. However, the power of our waiters descriptive words broke through the somewhat unapetizing desert mirage and we decided to order the red-velvet cake - an all-time favorite of mine. Like the rest of meal, there were distinct ups and downs.

The frosting? Delicious. Truly a thoughtful blend of a tangy cheese and sugary goodness. There wasn't too much that overtook the cake, and it left me wishing I could run back to the kitchen and lick some off the KitchenAid mixer. As far as the cake, I feel as if Christopher was trying to pull the wool over my eyes. I have a pretty firm understanding about how a red velvet is constructed traditionally, and the chemical reactions involved with cocoa ultimately give the desert its deep rich red color. This cake was a bright pink at most, and tasted like a pound (albeit moist) cake that had food coloring.

Overall, what a strange place with many ups and downs. Having read many mixed reviews on it, I wished we were able to, in the end, make up our minds about it. It's not as bad as some haters make it out to be - no, we didn't see any rats, and the service was good- but nothing about it changed my life. Except for that shrimp. Since Christopher, no shrimp has compared. 

Ponzio's- Diner, Bakery, Bar

A late dinner out was in order after Chris's first (full) softball game in several years with his company and after a particularly hard couple of days at work for me. Chris has raved about taking me to Ponzios for years and I've always wanted to go as it just looks so well-established and trendy with an always packed parking lot. This is why it was so disconcerning when on the way there Wednesday night at a red light he says, "I feel...like you're going to be disappointed in this place."

What?

First of all- what a huge place! We ended up being seated in what I believe was called "The Garden Room" after passing several distinct sections of the restaurant, including the big bakery. I was able to peer into the 'bar'- not very impressive and inhabited by about 4-5 individuals in their 50s and 60s just watching television and not talking to each other.

We decided to order calamari (kind of sketchy to order at a diner) and then I ordered the veggie Alpine Swiss- a garden burger with Swiss, grilled mushrooms and fried and supposedly crispy onions on a thick sweet Brioche bun. Tasty, but not as much as it should have been. It didn't fulfill its potential as it came to be just a notch above room temperature and cooler than the fries I got on the side. I figured it was an issue of timing since Chris's crazy sandwich came out with the cheese melting off of the bun and syrup nice and hot. My cheese as a point of reference was already congealed and my onions, while delicious, were on the road to soggy. Comes with the usual pickle and slaw, however, I will say that mine was not over-drenched in dressing, which made it easier to eat. One day, I'll learn to like coleslaw. Maybe.

I must say Ponzio's is the closest diner to where I live, and my family has frequented it countless times making it rather difficult for me to be impartial. The family usually eats there on lazy Sundays for brunch and I usually get an omelet or fried eggs, the usual. So, in an attempt to be different, I went with something different. The sandwich is called a Monte Cristo, and it is put together with egg dipped sour dough, ham, turkey, swiss cheese, pineapple, and honey-mustard sauce. The honey-mustard sauce sold me. What I didn't expect was that egg dipped meant the sour dough slices were essential French Toast, and it was never explained to me that it would be served with a mini pitcher of hot breakfast syrup. The details were nice. The sandwich itself was a miniature adventure and it had no clear beginning, middle, or end. Cheese was everywhere, confectionery sugar was dusted on one side, and the choose your own adventure with the syrup made every bite different. However, in the midst of the hysteria, the flavors came together. I would reserve this sandwich only for nights when I need a designated driver to get to Ponzio's. And if you happen to take a girl on a date to this particular diner, I warn you, there is no romantic or flattering way to eat the Monte Cristo.

Some argue that the portion of a review that covers the appetizer should be placed before the reviews of the entrees, and I argue that the literal appetizer should be delivered to the table before the literal entrees. Well, we both lose in this case. In the waitress' defense she was extremely apologetic about forgetting to put in our calamari order, and after she rushed back to the kitchen the amount of time it took to come back with a platter of freshly, fried squid, was quick and full of more apologies. On to the actual quality of food; the calamari was only rings (no little full squids), it was crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, paired with a nice, light marinara sauce, but the amount of lemon juice they squirted over these crunchy cephalopods was enough to make both Chi and I pucker up as we munched away. Maybe, I'll try the mozzarella sticks next time.