Last week wrote about one of my favorite restaurants in Stone Harbor, NJ called Jay’s on Third but I also mentioned Quahog’s Seafood Shack as another of my favorite dining establishments down at the Jersey shore. Back in 2008 I wrote about their signature dish, Grilled Barbecue Pacu Fish Ribs that were featured on the TV show “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives” with Guy Fieri.

We did make it there last week, and it is never a let down. In fact, my wife said to me after dinner “I am never disappointed with the food we are served.” And now that the girls have finally stopped ordering off the kid’s menu, I get to sample even more menu items.

Where Jay’s is a more formal looking establishment as far as a seaside resorts go, Quahog’s Seafood Shack is just what you would expect of a beach resort casual seafood restaurant. They have a few tables inside in the air conditioning, but most of the tables are outside under a roof but open to the environment and that’s where you want to be. When it’s hot and humid like it can be in July, you want to be situated under one of the many ceiling fans.

The walls are adorned with fishing bric-a-brac and blackboards describing the daily specials. Each table has a collection of hot sauces next to the salt and pepper shakers. The waiters are friendly and attentive as can be, but when it is busy, so are they.

Quahog’s is a BYOB restaurant, and this is where I came across my first wine bottle with a glass cork. We brought along a bottle of Calera Chardonnay from Fred’s, the local liquor store in Avalon. We were all surprised when the waiter popped it off with a twist of the hand and placed a weird looking glass stopper on the table. I’ll be writing more about this alternative wine cork in the near future.

Some Great Menu Items

We started with a few appetizers including the cornmeal encrusted local crispy calamari with chipotle bbq sauce & tomato-jalapeno salsa. They stuck it in front of my daughter Nell so I risked life and limb to sample some. I am happy to report that I emerged both satisfied and unscathed. There was also a special appetizer of watermelon and tuna ceviche that was quite tasty.

My youngest wanted to order everything on the menu. Obviously, she takes after me. She was so excited about coming back to Quahog’s, and I would bet it’s because of their lobster taquitos with mango salsa. They serve this as an appetizer but she ordered it as her main meal.

According to Wikipedia, “taquitos” are small tacos that were actually invented in San Diego, CA by Ralph Pesqueria, Jr., although I find it hard to believe that someone didn’t prepare these in Mexico years ago.

For entrees my wife ordered a whole branzino, the fish of the day, and we were all very surprised by how it looked when it was served. My wife said it looked like “a boat, with the head as the bow and the tail as the stern”. I only wish I took a better photo. It was delicious.

Nell had been craving Italian food. She wanted to go to another restaurant in Stone Harbor that featured Italian food when she heard the wait to get into Quahog’s was over an hour. (They don’t take reservations.) So she ordered the clam carbonara with fresh linguini, little neck clams, bacon, roasted garlic, sun dried tomatoes and a white wine cream sauce. She was in heaven.

I ordered their famous BBQ Pacu Fish Ribs. They were served with an orange bbq sauce over coconut rice. You can read more about these ribs on my 2008 blog post called Grilled Barbecue Pacu Fish Ribs.

By that time, it was getting late, and we were too full to order dessert, so we left very satisfied and look forward to coming back next year.

I don’t know about you, but when I go out to a restaurant there are certain things that drive me crazy and can ruin the entire experience. Of course if the food is bad, it’s not going to be a great experience. But what about those times when the food is great but the experience still stinks?

I would always give up a little food quality for great service compared to incredible food and mediocre service. We go out to dinner to enjoy the food, the service, and the atmosphere. I love trying new restaurants and having a good time enjoying someone else’s cooking but it way more than that.

Besides the food, the decor, service and food all come together to create a memorable occasion. I started to think about some of my own restaurant pet peeves on this vacation and wanted to share them with you and find out some of your own dislikes.

Luckily, most of the restaurants we’ve dined at here at the Jersey shore have been excellent. Good food and good service. But there are a couple of restaurants that made me think about other experiences not so enjoyable.

Let me be clear, I understand there are some restaurants that are more casual and I don’t expect white tablecloth service, but it still should be competent service, and the waiters should know what they are doing.

So here are some of my personal restaurant pet peeves, and I hope you can share some of your own with me:

#1. Snotty greeters, maitre d’s or hosts – Nothing can start the night off on the wrong foot like a host or hostess with attitude. You walk into a new restaurant excited about enjoying some incredible food and the host gives you attitude. Who knows if they are having a bad day or they hate their job but this is the first person you come in contact with and how they greet you will affect the rest of the night. Please maitre d’s, smile and make your guests feel welcome.

#2. Waiters who stand over your shoulder reading your menu and telling you what they like and what you should order. And why is it they always like the most expensive items on the menu? Waiters, please don’t tell me what you like on the menu unless I ask.

#3. Reading the specials from their ordering pad. It’s usually one or two appetizer specials and one or two entree specials. The chef went to a lot of trouble coming up with these specials, so please take the time to learn what they are and what’s in them. And if you do have to read them, please slow down and enunciate. I’m getting older and my hearing’s not as good as it used to be.

#4. Pouring wine to the top of the wine glass. Red or white, I like to swirl my wine and I like my white wine chilled. I like to pace myself with a bottle of wine when I’m out to dinner with friends, make it last the entire meal. If a waiter overpours, I typically over drink and then there’s none to enjoy with the main course and I have to order another glass or bottle. Most of the time after tasting the wine, I ask the waiter to let me do the pouring. Besides making it last, I enjoy the control.

#5. Expensive restaurants that require you to get up and order your own food. Haven’t experienced many of these but on this vacation, we went to a pretty nice restaurant that wasn’t cheap and you had to walk up to a window, place your order and then prepare a salad at the salad bar. A waitress then serves you your food and drink. I understand the concept, but if you have a wait staff to do the serving, why not let them take your order?

#5a. Expensive restaurants that require you to cook your own food (e.g. Fondue). Why bother? I mean, we can do that at home.

#6. Serving really good food in Styrofoam containers when plates, even inexpensive plates, would be so much nicer. There is a really fun restaurant that serves excellent local fish in a wonderful outdoor setting but I’m not thrilled to go there because the waiters serve everything in Styrofoam containers. Besides being a drag on the environment, I find it hard to enjoy local flounder, fresh corn and tomatoes out of styrofoam containers.Besides, for the amount of money the food costs, they could certainly afford to put it on a plate.

What Can A Restaurant Do?

So, that’s my list. I rarely run up against #5 and #5a, but the rest of the issues happen frequently enough that it bothers me. And not wanting to be one who comes up with a list of complaints without proposing some solutions, it seems to me that a lot of my pet peeves can be remedied by good training. Managers really need to take the time to teach the hosts and hostesses that they are the face of the restaurant and to behave accordingly.

Whoever is in charge of training the wait staff should be very specific in telling the servers how and when to recommend menu items. Of course, especially with corporate restaurants, the wait staff may be instructed to suggest pricier items. If that’s the case, I most likely wouldn’t bother going back to that restaurant.

The same holds true for the specials. Both the front of the house manager and the kitchen manager/chef should collaborate in this area. The kitchen should make sure that the servers are knowledgeable about not only what is in the specials but also how they taste. That means that all servers should be able to taste all specials before service begins so that they can make informed recommendations.

The wine issue is a matter for the sommelier or bar/beverage manager. Restaurants make the most profit on beverages, by far. And pouring more than 4-6 ounces into a diner’s wine glass can really affect the bottom line.

And, lastly, I would hope that restaurants that serve exclusively on/in Styrofoam and plastic would switch to a recyclable material, or at least one that is biodegradable. The way we take care of–or don’t take care of–our environment is a huge issue. And with the trend towards green restaurants, it seems to me that the days of serving on Styrofoam are numbered.

So What Are Your Pet Peeves?

I gave you a few of mine but I would love to hear more about what are some of your restaurant pet peeves. Here’s your change to let everyone know what gets under your skin when dinning out.

Where to Eat in Stone Harbor, New Jersey

I’m sure there are a lot of great places to enjoy a terrific meal in Stone Harbor, New Jersey when on vacation, but there are two restaurants that are must visits for me whenever I’m next door in Avalon.  One is Jay’s On Third and the other is Quahog’s. I went to both last year but didn’t write about them and plan on going back to both this year.  Purely for reporting purposes, of course.

My favorite Stone Harbor restaurant is Jay’s On Third. I wrote about Chef Jason Hippen and Jay’s On Third the first time I ate there a couple of years ago but didn’t write about my amazing meal last year when Meg and I dined there without the kids.

What I remember most about our dinner experience that night was how much energy there was in the room.  The crowd was lively and you could hear how excited people were about what they ordered and what they were being served.

Sometimes you go into a restaurant and there is no energy. People are eating but you can see they are not enthused by the menu. The night we were at Jay’s On Third, the entire room was buzzing and you could see people sharing their food with each other. Granted, we were at the Jersey shore after an incredible day on the beach and most folks were in vacation mode, but there was something special going on this night.

For me, a great atmosphere can somewhat make up for less-than-wonderful food, and wonderful food can sometimes make up for a dull atmosphere.  But, at Jason’s on Third, they are the whole package. The atmosphere and excitement elevate the food, and vice versa.

What Did I Eat at Jay’s On Third

Photo courtesy of Jay’s On Third

I’m not a big fan of waiters telling you what they tried on the menu and offering suggestions on what to eat. It’s usually the most expensive item and they don’t even know what I like.  But even so, I’m going to act like that waiter and try and tell you what I remember about what we ate and then whole-heartedly recommend all of it to you.

First up, the grilled scallops.  I know I had the grilled scallops last year and they were served with some sort of emulsion. It could have been what’s currently being served on the menu – Grilled Scallops – Smoked Bacon, Green Beans, Sweet Corn, and Oyster Emulsion. These may have been the most perfectly cooked scallops I’ve ever tried.

I also remember trying the Crisp Calamari and that, too, was cooked to perfection. Served with Chili Sea Salt, Napa Cabbage and Lime-Gin Aioli.

As for the fish I ordered, I can’t remember but it may have been the Pacific Halibut served with mussels, potato crisps, Kaffir Lime and Coconut-Shellfish Emulsion that’s now on the menu. It may have been some other dish entirely, but I can tell you that it was amazing, whatever it was.  You can trust me about this:  if the dish had been terrible, I surely would have remembered that, especially after having had the amazing scallops and calamari!

Desserts

Photo courtesy of Jay’s On Third

I do remember we planned on going a few blocks north to Springers for dessert where they serve the most delicious ice cream. This place deserves a post all by itself, and I will try to get around to it this trip. Fortunately, in this case, we didn’t get the chance to go to Springers because Chef Jason sent out a couple of his own desserts that were new to me and totally outrageous.

One of them was Yogurt Panna Cotta and the other was a Raspberry & Blueberry Tart made with vanilla mascarpone and Nutella ice milk.  Panna Cotta is an Italian dessert made by simmering milk, cream and sugar and then mixing this with gelatin. When it cools it sets into a soft custard like consistency.

There are many recipes to be found on the Internet combining a basic Panna Cotta with other ingredient, but at its heart, panna cotta is a simple dish that doesn’t take too long to make. I’ll post a recipe as soon as I find one I like and give it a try. If you have one you think I would enjoy, please send it along.

So Meg and I can’t wait to get back to this impressive seaside resort restaurant and eat more of Chef Jason’s cooking. If you are in south Jersey on vacation and looking for a great dinner in Stone Harbor, I recommend you give Jay’s On Third a try.  If you go, and you really should, please let me know about your experience.