LBI recommendations for summer 2006

[pnapoli]

i forgot to mention one other thing that made me really happy about LBI: in beach haven toward the south end of town is a tiny little storefront called la oaxaquena.  when you first walk in, it looks like they don't have much of anything but snack food, but a closer look reveals several varieties of dried peppers, the usual pegboard full of mexican herbs and spices, tortillas, jamaica, AND lots of snack food.  i wasn't expecting to find a mexican grocery down there.  excellent!

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just noticed this post - very cool - thx for posting about this place. whereabouts is it? a goole search proved futile...

[mzrb]

Spent a couple of weeks down there last summer (on either end of the summer season) and found our greatest ally was the Pearl River Market for really good take-out salads and sandwiches and really great crabcakes. I can't rec the mayonnaise-y salads or that sort of thing...but if you call in advance they'll steam you lobsters for your lunch or dinner -- bearing in mind that they close at 8.

they also had a killer crab/cream cheese dippy thing that I enjoyed overlooking the beach at sunset.

they also stock a lot of great local seafood if you feel like cooking yourself. We had local flounder that had practically jumped off the boat into my frying pan.

They also have great breakfast burritos and egg sandwiches if you make it out of bed early. Nice to ride your bike down there and sit out under the umbrellas.

Anyhoo, it was our source of much happy food.

Can anyone remember the name of the great olde time round-shaped burger joint that serves simple burgers, grilled cheese, maybe some wings and really good, homemade, not fake, chocolate cakes and good pies (key lime was our fave.) It's a bargain and a thoroughly enjoyable trip in the time machine. No kobe-beef joint this one...but a great "down the shore" summertime experience.

[njduchess]

We were down on LBI last weekend for a Slow Food Event. We visited Viking Village in Barnegat Light, toured a fishing boat right before it left, and then examined - close up -very fresh catch, right off the boats, including scallops, monkfish, tile fish, skate, and swordfish. These people are practicing sustainable fishing and are very concerned about responsibly protecting these waters.

Right in the Viking Village, we were served lunch in a little restaurant called Off the Hook. It's located to the left as you enter the Village right behind the place that advertising coffee. There are picnic tables out front and they probably do mostly a take-out business serving the very freshest catch right off the boats. We started with grape tomatoes stuffed with fresh tuna salad and beautiful shrimp. The next dish was seared scallops with a somewhat spicy crust, sitting on a bed of seaweed salad. The scallops had been very recently caught, and were termed sushi quality, served very rare. They were the best scallops I have ever had. The final dish was a delicious seared tuna encrusted in sesame seeds on a bed of Asian cole slaw. I briefly checked out the menu and other offerings. There is a large display case of prepared salads and such, with a nice list of fish prepared to order.

If you're in LBI, you might want to try out this place. It's on the north end of the Island. Once you hit Barnegat Light, make a left onto 19th street, and you'll go right into it.

Marie

[Soda]

We'll be trying daddy O the first night of our August LBI week... Nice Website:

http://www.daddyorestaurant.com/

Here are some of our fave LBI eateries:

Mustache Bill's, 18th Street Cafe & Off The Hook -- Barnegat Light

The Plantation (Same mgmt as daddy O), Caneel Bay & Harvey Cedars Shellfish --Harvey Cedars

Yellow Fin, Blue, Panzone's, Octopuss's Garden, and Boulevard Clams -- Surf City

Chicken Or The Egg & Buckalew's -- Beach Haven

-s.

Edited June 30, 2007 by Soda (log)

[mzrb]

FYI: Just back from LBI and noticed that the mexican grocery looked shuttered and closed for good. could this be true?

and one other note: Holiday Snack Bar (the place with the burgers in my previous post) has the a first-rate slice of key lime pie. and real whipped cream. not the aerated nonsense.

[mrbigjas]

just noticed this post - very cool - thx for posting about this place.  whereabouts is it? a goole search proved futile... 

it is (or was) on the main drag in beach haven, down toward the south end of town. on the right as you're going south.

FYI: Just back from LBI and noticed that the mexican grocery looked shuttered and closed for good. could this be true?

it certainly could; business did not appear to be booming when we were there last year.

[njduchess]

Can anyone report? Is Vidalia still open and a good choice? We're spending a few nights at Daddy-O next week. We'll eat there one night, and we're still trying to decide on a night two.

Marie

[mzrb]

no news on vidalia, but did get take-out from daddy-o while we were down there last week, and it bordered on inedible. we got super-simple food (grilled flounder, corn, scallops, baked potato) and the flounder was mushy, the corn undercooked and the baked potato just sort of weird and inedible.

that said, my parents stayed at the hotel and thought it a wonderful sleeping experience!

i would love to know any new recs people have after their summertime visits there. thanks.

[mrbigjas]

i would love to know any new recs people have after their summertime visits there. thanks.

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i would too, since we're heading down there next week....

[njduchess]

We were there 2 weeks ago during that very rainy week. The first night we ate at Daddy-O. The food was just okay. They seemed to cater to families so the dining room was extremely noisy. The kids were unhappy with lack of beach time. On the other hand, we did also eat at the bar: afternoon snacks and lunch one day. The fried appetizers were good as were the salads and the sliders (just happy hour), but we certainly would have preferred to be out on the beach. By the way, the wireless internet at Daddy-O doesn't make it up to the guest rooms on the 2nd floor. However, internet reception was perfect at the bar.

The meal at Vidalia was excellent. It is a BYO. I had a swordfish special and my husband had the seared scallops - both were quite good. For appetizers, my husband had thinly sliced pears on a flatbread which were nice and I can't remember what I had. The dessert was a seasonal peach cobbler - excellent!

[Dana329]

Any other suggestions? I don't think I've ever been in LBI during summer. I usually go toward the end of Sept and do my own cooking. I've already reserved Sweet Vidalia for Tues at 9pm. Monday is arrival day and will be probably Engleside. Wednesday is open but I've been barred from Yellowfin . A long ago incident 6 years ago.

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We happened on Plantation in Harvey Cedars when looking for a nice dinner with more vegetarian options than just pasta. It's where the Owl Tree used to be and owned by the same people as Daddy-O's. It was fantastic. Great atmosphere great food and we were especially impressed by the servers. Very well trained and friendly. So my friend is vegetarian and they have an entire menu of vegetarian and gluten-free options. And they were wonderful. Ended up having lunch AND dinner there.

[HD73]

Any new suggestions for LBI? This was the most recent thread I could find on the topic. I will be in town next weekend and I'm looking for some place to eat dinner on Saturday. I'm open to anything - casual, formal, seafood, ethnic - as long as it's good. I know that's a tall order at the shore, at least in my experience, but I'm hoping someone here can help me out. Thanks in advance!

[jkarpf]

Hi from the LBI, where this New Yorker is surrounded by Philadelphians.

 

Ship Bottom's Zen is at least recently terrible for noodles, maybe thanks to the global apocalypse. Good cold soba when we dined in two years ago, but their takeout "soba" last month may as well have been spaghetti. But there's good news in Tom's River from 4.3: The Point:

 

Toms River, NJ Rejoices with News of a Unique Ramen Restaurant Opening Soon

 

“Ramen, when done right, can be a delicacy. Ramen has roots. . . . According to a profile from APP.com, Wayne’s love of Ramen came from watching the Brittany Murphy movie ‘The Ramen Girl.’ . . . Wayne wanted to create a sit-down ramen restaurant, and he did. Roc N Ramen is now operating in New Rochelle, New York, the Bronx, and Dubai. . . . His next venture is a brand new chain of ramen restaurants called Vibe N Slurp. Ha! . . . Lucky for us, one of the ten nationwide locations set to open will be in Toms River. Look for Vibe N Slurp at 1776 Hooper Avenue taking the place of Bamboo Panda. . . . [There will be] infused ramen such as shrimp scampi. . . "

[gfweb]

1 hour ago, jkarpf said:

Hi from the LBI, where this New Yorker is surrounded by Philadelphians

 

 

 

Don't make any false moves. 

[MetsFan5]

Idk I grew up going to LBI and I’m from NJ. 

[gfweb]

https://www.inquirer.com/food/craig-laban/jersey-shore-best-outdoor-dining-restaurants-summer-laban-20200710.html

 

The Inquirer  food critic is always right.