73 replies to this topic

[Deldino]

I was wondering is Gecko strictly outdoor eating, I can't remember?

Thanks,

[Jeff L]

I was wondering is Gecko strictly outdoor eating, I can't remember?

Thanks,

They have indoor seating as well

[Deldino]

Thanks Jeff..
We are going in September this year instead of June and I wanted to try Gecko.

[mascarpone]

My wife and I went to Gecko's on July 5 for dinner. It was excellent; smoked trout cakes, Navajo bread, dinner salad tossed with roast corn, Oaxacan Mole, crab enchiladas, and Pear Corn Pudding and white chocolate cheese cake for dessert. The accompaniments (black beans, corn muffin with butter and jalepeno jelly, etc.) were top notch. Excellent creativity, and attention to detail in every dish. Delicious Iced tea.

The tab including tip came to around $75. A must-taste for anyone who goes to Cape May.

Get out of the way Mark Miller (Cayote Cafe), here comes Gecko's!

[suzilightning]

<BUMP>

we head down on 1 may for our annual visit. anything new in the area?

[KatieLoeb]

Suzi:

Heading down this weekend for a wedding shower. Will let you know if anything new jumps out at me or I hear about it.

[shellbellc]

So has anyone tried a new restaurant that was great? We go down to the shore quite a bit, but we're going to be down on vaca and like to do a date night or two.

We thought we'd try Blackfish in Stone Harbor or maybe Axelson's. It's been a couple of years since we've been there.

Anybody else have recommendations for restaurants from Ocean City down to Cape May??

By the way, a good family restaurant is Menz's out on 47 near the villas. Not cheap, but it's certainly an interesting restaurant. HIGHLY recommend reservations.

[markabauman]

A recent posting on another Cape May thread:

A quick recounting of our recent week in Cape May:

As mentioned, we did a little non-cooking "cooking" in our B & B. We can use their refrigerator to store some food/wine, etc. but not their stove, etc. Our room was on the second floor, with a private porch overlooking the beach and ocean and had an inside and outside table, so we prepped inside and ate outside. Got some excellent smoked fish from the Lobster House (mackerel, blue and salmon). Also some jumbo lump crabmeat, cooked shrimp and lobster for salads, cocktail, etc. Also got some fresh scallops for making ceviche (lime, onion, jalapeno, tomato, cilantro, etc.). As far as restaurants- we, as always, had a great, inexpensive meal at Luisa's. Had wanted to go to Union Park, where we had an excellent meal last year, and other guests this year recommended, but we ran out of time. Had another excellent meal at The Black Duck- the chef formerly cooked at Union Park. Had some excellent seafood apps and a decent thin crust pizza at Lucky Bone's. Jumping place that has become a favorite with locals and tourists. Some other foodie friends reported a great meal at La Verandah in the Hotel Alcott. Always under the radar, we may try it next year. Chef at the Peter Shields has left and the former sous chef is now in charge. Didn't hear good things-despite the beautiful setting. Prices are high and some people reported a little disappointment. Gecko good as always for southwestern. Went one morning to the zoo (our second trip and an incredible surprise as to how good a zoo it is-not just for kids) and it was suggested by some locals from the B & B (who I thought might have known better) that we try Tokyo Sushi in Rio Grande for lunch as they said the people who work there were Japanese. Well, it turns out they are mostly Chinese. Regardless, it was quite decent. Speaking of sushi, we were told that the Harbor View, just a little ways on the road to Wildwood, had a real Japanese itamae, and that the sushi was very good there. I am a little skeptical sometimes of places that have wonderful views of the water, etc. Sometimes the food is inversely proportional to the view quality. Actually, again, we were pleasantly surprised. The chef was, indeed, Japanese, and the sushi was very good. Beautiful day to sit by the water as well. There was a lot of buzz about a new chef who moved down who is now in charge of the Ebbitt Room. Did not get a chance to check it out. Some folks at the B & B enjoyed the old standard, the Washington Inn, for a special occasion. Did not consider 410 Bank St. this year. Was for many years one of our top favorites. Used to dream about their crawfish bisque all winter long. Really enjoyed it, but the last couple of visits left us feeling that it was a lot of money for what we got; sauces a little too rich, and the service a little indifferent and the seating a little crowded. Still very popular, however. Some friends enjoyed the Blue Pig-we didn't go, however. Nice outdoor patio- bring bug repellant. Had a very nice late lunch at the Pier House- former location of the Water's Edge. Excellent wine list (one of the few non-BYOB's we went to). Owner/chef George (CIA-trained), whom we met is Greek and lots of nice culinary touches evident. That's about it for now; if I remember anything else, I'll report back. We've already made our reservations for next year.

[Jeff L]

So has anyone tried a new restaurant that was great?  We go down to the shore quite a bit, but we're going to be down on vaca and like to do a date night or two. 

We thought we'd try Blackfish in Stone Harbor or maybe Axelson's.  It's been a couple of years since we've been there.

Anybody else have recommendations for restaurants from Ocean City down to Cape May??

By the way, a good family restaurant is Menz's out on 47 near the villas.  Not cheap, but it's certainly an interesting restaurant.  HIGHLY recommend reservations.

I'm having a really tough time seeing Blackfish and Menz's mentioned in the same post. While Blackfish is a very good restaurant with many inventive dishes, Menz's might well be the worse restaurant I've ever been to in my life.

The very first year I took my family to Cape May about 15 years ago, I asked at the hotel where we were staying for a great recommendation that would be a standout. Without the slightest hesitation, he said "go to Menz's". After a ridiculously long wait for reasons I just can not begin to fathom, we were served the single most horrible meal ever. Even my 2 girls 7 and 9 at the time hated it and they were and continue to be really adventurous eaters. This place should be avoided at all costs, it's even worse than the institutional food served at the Lobster House.

With some places I feel time might help turn things around for the better but I doubt that about this place. I suspect that the food is still the same greasy, tasteless and non appealing mess it's always been.

[sandra]

Blackfish was very, very good last weekend - and it's not that far to Stone Harbor...

[shellbellc]

We made it to Blackfish! Can't wait to visit the on in PA this winter. I definitely recommend this restaurant. BTW, it was much more family oriented than I'd imagined. I suppose because of the shore atmosphere. They actually have a children's menu with chic fingers and spaghetti. Our waitor said the the PA location does not have that type of atmosphere.

[&roid]

Just to resurrect this old thread: We've been in Cape May for a few days now and went to the Lobster House this lunchtime. To say I'm disappointed is a massive understatement (though clearly I should have read this thread BEFORE going!).

We started with a pretty decent onion soup and some good calamari, unfortunately things went downhill terribly with the mains, a boiled lobster and a tuna steak were both so overcooked as to be ruined. My other half asked for the tuna to be simply seared, still raw rare inside... what came looked like canned fish from a supermarket. Shame really as it was a lovely looking hunk of meat, I'm sure that with half the time on a hotter grill it would have been amazing. The lobster was the same, far to long in the heat, stringy, tough, thoroughly disappointing. They can't even cook fries there.

Had a similarly disappointing meal in Atlantic City yesterday, thank god we had a couple of days in NYC before moving south (and that we managed to find some decent meat to throw on the grill at the house we are renting).

Can anyone save the culinary part of our otherwise excellent holiday with a good recommendation for the next few days?

[patrickamory]

Can anyone save the culinary part of our otherwise excellent holiday with a good recommendation for the next few days?

Are you still near Atlantic City? How about the White House? A classic.

[KatieLoeb]

The Diving Horse in Avalon is excellent. Much more upscale than most of the other shore places in the area. Quahogs in Stone Harbor is more casual, definitely less spendy and is also excellent. Definitely my two favorite places in the general vicinity.

Please report back on your experiences...