Aunt Betty's Ice Cream Shack

After our visit to Wildwood we scrambled to find a place open for ice cream. Ice cream in OC is kind of sad topic for John at least. 2 of the best places to go were closed down about 3-4 years ago: the Dairy Queen on 34th street, and another classic ice cream place that sold out and moved to a smaller location in Sea Isle which will be featured on this blog and will get a scathing review for moving.

But change isn't necessarily a bad thing. When one thing goes away, another thing comes in to take it's place. Well the fine people from Uncle Bill's Pancake House might have found the replacement by creating it's sister (wife?) establishment Aunt Betty's Ice Cream Shack. Aunt Betty's is featured in two locations like Uncle Bill's, one at 21st and Asbury and another at 40th and West. It's beach themed with lots of flowers in front that will make you feel like you're in Hawaii or on some tropical island. Inside, they have a big chalkboard that lists all these different beach themed ice cream sundaes. We went to the one on 21st street, where they have a wooden outdoor deck for you to sit.

we both agreed, it was pretty awesome.

John ate: Bear Foot Brownie with Hot Fudge, A- "I had been to Aunt Betty's numerous times before but I always compared it to other places and I was never that impressed. Well tonight I loved it. The Bear Foot Brownie is a brownie and chocolate swirl mixed in vanilla ice cream. It was excellent. I can't wait to go back and try some more stuff.

Lauren ate: "The Sandman"-vanilla soft serve with crushed vanilla wafers and Swedish Fish, B+, "Upon finding out it was a kid's dish, I decided to get it anyway and was glad I did! The vanilla wafers crushed up gave it an interesting texture and taste. The swedish fish were a little excessive, but it's a kid's sundae, so i understand why there were so many of them. However the fish make the ice cream a little fruity tasting which was very good. It was perfect size for me too. I also LOVED the umbrella! The cutest little sundae ever!"

SHOUT OUT: Great White Roller Coaster in Wildwood

So Lauren and I took in a nice evening shedding our Ocean City roots while dodging tram cars in Wildwood. The Doo-Wop capital of the world with the widest beach ever where it takes you close to 6 hours to actually reach the ocean.

We didn't get any food there, but we did walk on the boardwalk. We're more OC people obviously, but Wildwood has some cool stuff; 3 amusements parks as opposed to two, boardwalk games where you can win prizes, and alcohol/bars, so we're making our first shout out to something awesome on Jersey shore that we think needs recognition.



(As told by John) On the southern most amusement park there's a wooden roller coaster called Great White. Lauren recommended it because she used to ride it when she was younger. Well, it was really awesome. I was shocked that it was so good. First off, one ride is about 8 bucks but it's a long ride in duration, so you get your money's worth. Secondly, it launched you right from the start from the starting point. It's a pretty fast ride from the beginning of the ride all the way to end. I am shocked you kind a roller coaster like this on any boardwalk, I'd expect it to be at some place like Great Adventure. So if you find yourself in Wildwood, check it out.

EXTRA: Down to the Wire Sports Blog

Hey everyone,

John's friend Dave is giving them some extra promotion about our blog on his sports blog "Down to the Wire".

Check it out sometime it's pretty good.

http://dttwsports.blogspot.com/

Brown's

Last week for breakfast we went to Brown's on the boardwalk. It's located alllll the way at the beginning of the boardwalk near 2nd street. So if you wanted to wake up early and go straight from breakfast to the beach, you could do it at Brown's. The inside is pretty cool because it has high wooden ceilings. There definitely is there is a feeling that you're right on the beach, so we loved the atmosphere. The service was great too.

One of the things that Brown's is known for is their homemade doughnuts. There actually was a pretty long line outside for people just there to get doughnuts. We both shared one and would like try it again. Overall, Brown's is a good place and we recommend anyone to check it out. You won't find the atmosphere anywhere else on the island, considering that the beach is 10 feet away.
















John ate: Belgian Waffle: B, Sausage: B-, Doughnut: B+, "The waffle was good and the sausage was just average, but the doughnut was really good. It was warm and fresh and wasn't your typical cake doughnut. It had a soft center while the outside was crispy and covered with sugar and was covered in a vanilla icing. There is no place on the island with the atmosphere like Brown's, but I think I've had a better and a better doughnut elsewhere".

Lauren ate: Panckes: A-, Bacon: B, Toast and Eggs: A-, Doughnut A-, : "I'm typically not a breakfast person, but I really enjoyed Brown's. Everything was really good. One of my pieces of bacon was too crispy, but the other piece was perfect. Overall, I give it an A-"

Sindia Restaurant

It's restaurant week in Ocean City!!! Obviously since we are bloggers, we had to take part in one of the deals, so we decided to go to the Sindia Restaurant.
Sindia restaurant is a restaurant on Atlantic Ave around 7th street. It is named after the old shipwreck off of Ocean City.

We were looking for "fine dining", and unfortunately, we did not get it. It's not that the place was bad, we both left very satisfied with our meal. The inside of the restaurant was very nice as well. It was still your typical Ocean City restaurant: mediocre service, mediocre meal, plastic bread basket, etc. The service wasn't that great. To be fair, our waiter was a young kid and it took him a little long to wait on us and take our order, but it wasn't nearly good enough service to be considered "fine dining".

John ate: Italian Wedding Soup B+, 6 oz. Strip Steak with corn and mashed potatoes B-, Chocolate Cream Pie B: "Starting off, the Italian Wedding Soup was actually pretty excellent. It was distinctly flavored with a nice spice and the meatballs in it were very flavorful. The strip steak was also pretty good, it was nicely seasoned. However, I found as if it was just an ordinary steak that you could cook on the grill at home and I'd rather do that then spend the money in a restaurant. The corn and mashed potatoes were nothing great either, I could have made them at home. The chocolate Cream Pie was good as well, but again, I could have found something just as good at home.


















Lauren Ate: Manhattan Clam Chowder B, Fried Flounder with corn and mashed potatoes B, Brownie C: "The clam chowder was actually pretty good, I had never had clam chowder before and I liked it. The fried flounder wasn't bad as well. However, the brownie wasn't very good. They didn't have a dessert menu and the waiter just read off the desserts. He never mentioned that the brownie had nuts in it. Had I known that, I never would have gotten the brownie. As John said, it wasn't bad, I left satisfied, but it was mediocre and I could have just gotten something equally good at home"


















We started this blog to find a restaurant on the island (or like right across the bridges) that we could consider "fine dining", some place we could get dressed up and go to or celebrate a birthday or anniversary at and get a great meal. Sindia Restaurant was not that. I guess we're blind to the fact that people go there that just spend the day in OC or are possibly renting or staying at a hotel. We are starting to realize that Sindia Restaurant/OC restaurants are just places for families and young kids that want a quick meal that's adequate. Sindia Restaurant would be perfect for that. You'd leave very satisfied. However, we want more. We want a great restaurant with great service, great atmosphere, and great food. We still haven't found it yet, and we are still looking.

Shriver's Gelato

The other night we went on the boardwalk and tried some Shriver's Gelato. It's an ice cream place next to Shriver's on 9th streets (the place that makes salt water taffy). It's a nice place inside and they have a variety of gourme flavors. For instance, we tried a sample of Chocolate Ginger (which wasn't that great). The gelato was pretty good. They allow you to get 2 different flavors in one cup or 3 different flavors in a cup depending on how much you want to get. We both opted for 2 scoops. We both thought it was very good.

John ate: 1 scoop Peanut Butter Cup and 1 scoop Cookie Crunch, B, "The cookie crunch was good but it seemed a little too plain and the vanilla ice cream in it was a little weird tasting. The peanut butter cup was very good. However, I wouldn't have wanted to get just 2 scoops of it because the peanut butter was a little strong in it. I also kind of wish they gave me a bigger portion. Any other ice cream place gives you 2 big scoops, not just 2 small scoops".

Lauren ate: 2 Scoops Fruiti Di Bosco, B, "It was pink and pretty and really good! It was nice to have something different than just normal ice cream. It almost seemed like a combination of water ice and ice cream."

Overall, we both liked it. If you're looking for a little something different than normal ice cream, you'll like Shriver's Gelato.

Tacos at the Promenade

Aaaaaahhhhhh it's been a long time since we've updated this thing so sorry.

The last place we went to was last Friday at the Promenade next to the Water Park on the Boardwalk.



The promenade isn't exactly one specific restaurant,it's more like a food court. I've never even been there and I've been spending my summers in OC for like 22 years. I imagine though it is Shoobie central.

Anyway, we stopped at the taco stand. Lauren didn't get anything because she doesn't like taco's, but I did.
I ordered one soft taco and one hard shell taco. You had the option of ordering different flavored tortillas for the tacos, but I just stayed with regular. It was a really big soft taco, they used like a large sized tortilla and it was very filling. The hardshell taco was red, but I don't exactly know the flavor. They were average taco's. No different than any taco you would make at home. The meat was nothign special, the cheese was nothing special. The only good thing about it was the fact that it was a big soft taco. But if you're on the beach and desperate for a taco, go for it.


John's ate: Hard shell and soft shell taco, C, "I'll leave the Promenade to the shoobies."

Airport Diner

So in order to kick off this Memorial Day Weekend/start of summer, we decided breakfast was in order. We decided to go to the Airport Diner located next to the airport and golf course around 26th and Bay. Once again, another dive looking place with a not too appetizing name, but it's pretty good. I've been there before and have ordered out breakfast sandwiches there before. It's little dinner that serves just breakfast and lunch and if you're in the mood, check it out.

John ate:
Western Omellette: B, "it came with homefries and toast, but had to add american cheese to it for like an extra dollar. It was pretty good though"



Lauren ate:
Pancake with bacon: B, "It was very satisfying, but not spectacular"




BTW....GO FLYERS

Grilled Cheese & Crab Cake Co.

One of the best places we tried is a little place right before the parkway entrance in Somers Point called the Grilled Cheese & Crab Cake company. This place looks like a dive from the outside. Even though it's right off the parkway, it's in a little shopping center that's in a residential area. The name isn't too appealling either. Grilled cheese and crab cakes? That's it? It sounds like some kid asked his mom if he could open up a grilled cheese and lemonade stand and his mom said sure and put up the money.

Anyway, we passed it one day on our way to parkway and decided to give it a shot. It is actually very nice inside with a boating and beach theme. They had soup which was excellent and low priced, grilled cheeses which were more like tuna and crab melts, and crab cakes. It was excellent and probably one of our new favorite places to eat. It is perfect for lunch and would be epic if they opened one up on the boardwalk.

John ate:
Cream of Crab Soup: A, "awesome for such a low price"
Crab Melt: B, "very good, but the soup is better"

Lauren ate:
Cream of Crab Soup: A, "the soup was awesome, very filling!"
Fried Shrimp Grilled Cheese: B, "much better than expected"

Prep's Pizza and Dairy Bar

Prep's Pizza and Dairy Bar is a pizza place practically right next to Playland. It's been there forever and has the cute little Alligator logo holding a pizza and ice cream cone. We had never gone there, and nothing beats a pizza and ice cream holding alligator, so we figured we'd try it out tonight.

It was pretty nice inside, but it wasn't too good. You can find better food elsewhere. The alligator tricked us. On the bright side, it was one of the nicest nights ever on the boardwalk.



John ate:
2 slices of plain pizza, C

Lauren ate:
French Fries, C

Clancy's By the Sea

Located on the southern end of the boardwalk, Clancy's By the Sea is a new restaurant that looks like a really nice place when you pass by it. Since there aren't too many really nice sit-down restaurants in OC, we were hoping that Clancy's would be great restaurant actually on the island that we have been looking for.

The food was very good, but we were a little disappointed. We went on May 21, 2010 and ate outside on the boardwalk. The atmosphere was perfect because it was beautiful night outside. However, we were hoping for a nicer experience. They didn't have real menu's and they had paper place mats instead. They also didn't hand out bread until your entrees came. We both liked our food a lot and would definitely go again, but we were just hoping for a nicer sit-down restaurant.

John ate:
Ravioli with crab meat, A- "it was excellent, it had a tomato cream sauce and was topped with a lot of crab meat, I would love to get it again sometime"

Lauren ate:
Southern Flounder, B+ "It was good but not great, I wish they would have given you a choice of vegetable, but I was stuck with broccoli"


In conclusion, if you're looking for a really fancy, sit-down restaurant on the island in OC, this isn't quite it. If you're just looking for something nice on the boardwalk with good food, this place will be perfect for you.

Curly's Fries on the Boardwalk

Everyone loves boardwalk fries, and Curly's fries has some of the best. They have many locations on the boardwalk, but the one we stopped at is across from the Ocean Colony (in between 9th and 10th street). We got them on April 2, 2010.

John ate:
Curly seasoned Fries, B+, "Great fries, I would absolutely get them again"

Lauren ate:
Fresh-Cut Fries: A+, "Best fries on the boardwalk, hands down"

Crab Trap

Located right off the circle in Somers Point, NJ, the Crab Trap is one of the nicest and classiest restaurants in the Ocean City area; that is why it is the first entry on our blog. Typically, there is a very long wait to get in and they do not take reservations. The food is excellent and until we find otherwise, we find that it is the best sit-down restaurant in the Ocean City area.

We went in early March 2010 to celebrate Lauren's birthday.

John ate:
Crab Bisque: A, "excellent soup, but I would have rather had the stuffed onion ring as an appetizer!"
Crab Cakes: A, "some of the best crab cakes I have ever had"

Lauren ate:
Crab bisque: A+, "the crab bisque is the sole reason that I go to the Crab Trap!!!"
Fried Flounder: A-, "It was very good, nothing out of this world though"


Other Comments: Lauren is obsessed with the bread they serve and they always bring you out more if you ask.

Greetings from Ocean City, NJ

Hi!!! We are John and Lauren, a couple in their early 20's that met in Ocean City, NJ and have been spending our summers there for the past 5 years. We love Ocean City and we love eating, so one of our summer goals was to try as many local restaurants and eateries in Ocean City as we could. We want to find out what the best restaurant is in OC so we decided to write a blog rating each restaurant. We hope you enjoy and we hope we help you find the best Ocean City restaurant!