Ocean Cafe At the Boardwalk

Ocean Cafe At the Boardwalk

It’s the start of Labor Day Weekend. We went out Thursday night because it was more convenient for us and the crowds aren’t quite as bad. We went to the boardwalk and decided to check out Ocean Café, a new place that just opened up this year. We’ve been fascinated by it ever since the very beginning of the summer when we saw it. It looks really nice from the outside and looked like a nice classy place. Well, we walked up to be seated and from the start, we were turned off. John recalls hearing the manager flirting with the hostess and being inappropriate. We were seated and given menus and the menus were real (which as you know, is a good thing with us!). There were a ton of screaming children, which is not the restaurant’s fault, it’s the boardwalk so we don’t expect there to not be crying kids. However, a friend of ours who is familiar with the restaurant mentioned that the acoustics and walls make everything louder, so one child crying sounds like ten to begin with. The small booth we were sitting at was fine at first, until we realized that we would have a family of four sitting in the booth next to us with no barrier or anything in between. They booths are like those in Friendly’s (made so you can have a large group over two booths) except this place didn’t have a removable wall in between them so it was like we were having dinner with a family of strangers. We ordered our meals and got some bread and butter, which is a plus! Then the meals came out and were very average, if not below average. To top it off, we paid with cash and were hoping for the waitress to break a 10 dollar bill so we could leave her a tip and she returned with the 10 dollar bill unbroken. Typically when we do that, the waitress will understand that we need ones or a five dollar bill to leave the tip. Overall, not a good experience and we also heard that it may not even be open next year. We’ll just have to try its replacement and hope for better results!

John ate: Chicken parmigiana, C-, “This was your classic Ocean City restaurant, with the exception that it was very nice on the inside. The atmosphere was not very good considering we were sitting in a booth with no barrier between us and the table sitting next to us, so we could listen in on their conversation. In addition, the music was a little irritating considering that they played Lady Gaga, Rihanna, and Justin Bieber (I actually like Lady Gaga, but not while eating dinner). I was also taken aback when the manager abruptly grabbed my shoulder to ask 'you ok?!?' about a minute after our food arrived. It was very awkward. I don’t mind the screaming kids, especially in a vacation town on the boardwalk there’s going to be screaming kids, it doesn’t bother me at all. However, the food wasn’t great either. They had the typical Coca Cola glasses for drinks and the chicken was mostly just bread crumbs, was very thin, and was actually a little burnt. The spaghetti and sauce had little flavor to it as well”

John's Half Eaten Meal

(We forgot about taking pictures. Sorry!)

Lauren ate: Pollo Limone, C-, "The screaming kids, strange booth situation, and creepy boss threw me off from the start.  The bread and butter was good, but the meal was not.  The chicken was decent I guess.  It came with garlic mashed potatoes and some vegetables.  I really am not a big fan of not being able to choose my own sides.  I understand that it's often easier for the restaurant that way, but it's less enjoyable for me.  John even tried my mashed potatoes and said they were not very good.  I asked the waitress what kind of drinks they had and expected an answer such as 'Cokie, Diet Coke, Sprite, Root Beer...' etc. However, the waitress had no idea what I was talking about so I simply ordered water.  It was definitely a family friendly restaurant (as John mentioned the music was trendy), so sure, bring your kids there.  Or go to Clancy's.  You'll be better off."

Lauren's Half-Eaten Meal! Oops!

Smitty's Clam Bar in Somers Point

So it’s been a while since we have updated our blog!  Sorry for the delay, but about 2 weeks ago we went to the Clam Bar in Somers Point.  We had heard good things about the Clam Bar so it was something that we had wanted to try out for a while.  Additionally, any time we drove by it there appeared to be a line waiting to get into it, so we figured it had to be good.

We got there a little bit before noon.  They serve breakfast till about 11:00 and close up for about an hour to change over for lunch.  It was a good thing we got there when we did because a line was already forming even before it opened for lunch.  The menu served mostly seafood dishes but had some interesting sandwich options such as a crab burger and a shrimp burger.  The service was friendly and the atmosphere was nice because its right on the bay, but we were disappointed with our food.  We recommended clam chowder, and that was very good, but we both thought they were lacking a lot of flavor and were expecting a little bit more.  Due to the fact that lines that are always outside of it, we both agreed we’d try it again sometime.

John ate: Clam Chowder, B+, Fried Shrimp with French fries, C, 

“Admittedly, I am not the world’s biggest seafood eater with the exception of shrimp, crab, and the occasional lobster.  The menu served mostly fish, so I was kind of stuck getting fried shrimp.  The shrimp wasn’t that great.  They were big pieces but they seemed to be a little too greasy.  Also, the French fries were nothing special.  They were greasy as well and very soft.  The positive thing was the clam chowder, which was excellent.”

  

Lauren ate: Baked Salmon in Lemon & Wine Sauce:  B-
 "The Clam Bar was so nice sitting right on the bay.  However, I feel like I partially have myself to blame to not liking my meal too much.  You can choose what sort of sauce you want your seafood baked in.  I chose Lemon & Wine which the waitress said tasted good with salmon.  It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t really good either.  I didn’t want to finish it and was not really satisfied.  I wonder if it would have been better in a different sauce.  The Clam Chowder was pretty good.  Definitely better than the entrée, but I’ve had better. I’d go back again just for the location on the bay and maybe I’d try something for dinner when they seem to have more choices.  Overall though, I’d stay in Ocean City for a seafood on the bay experience!"