Somerset Diner (New Jersey)

Despite all my time on the East Coast, I don't think I've ever eaten in a Jersey diner-- until this summer! It was for the non-bachelorette weekend of That Sara, and after a night of celebrating, we all needed some REAL FOOD.

We waited about 30 minutes for a table here at the Somerset Diner-- this place was never less than packed.

I started with the a cup of strong, hot coffee. Thank you!

That Sara ordered a macchiato, I believe, and it sure was pretty!

Complete with rock candy stirrer! 

Amid a sea of options, I finally settled on the Irish Scrambler skillet (9.99!) with corned beef, onion, potatoes, and Hollandaise sauce. However, I found out they had CHIPOTLE Hollandaise sauce, and asked if they could sub that in my dish. Yeah, I was kind of THAT person. It was good, but I wish there had been more of a chipotle flavor to it.

We all had some spin on eggs that morning.. eggs with a lot of other stuff to bring us back to life again. V had the Farmer's omelette, with fresh, oozy mozzarella and lots of veggies.

That Sara got another skillet, hers with basted eggs and bacon. I was so close to getting hers, but the corned beef and Hollandaise won me over. If I could have had my eggs basted instead of scrambled, that would have been ideal --but I didn't want to get TOO demanding.

The staff was super friendly, and our server didn't even blink at my special request. There was a bit of wait for coffee, but our server was working a ton of tables and made sure the coffee we did get was fresh. I think I had at least 3 cups that morning!

The food was hot, fresh, and came quickly, the price was right, the service was great, and overall, my first Jersey diner experience was a delicious success!

Somerset Diner
1045 Easton Ave
Somerset, NJ 08873
(732) 828-5424

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Blue Plate Diner (Middletown, RI)

ABF & I took an impromptu weekend trip up to Newport, Rhode Island. Any New England getaway is fine with me! We stayed just down the road from Blue Plate Diner, which is fairly new but already popular with the locals. It's in Middletown, just a 5-minute drive from downtown Newport.

We stopped in there between the lunch & dinner rush, and I spotted the FourSquare sticker on the door. I checked in and they offered 5 dollars off our tab of 25 or more (we were apparently the first ones to use this deal, but it went through just fine)--you know I love saving money!

I wanted something marginally healthy, so I opted for a Cobb salad (one of my dishes I love to compare from place to place). This was so good. I don't know what they do with their hard-boiled eggs, but these were the best I've ever had: soft, flavorful, I even ate the yolks! Winner.

I also had a nice, piping hot mug of coffee with cream. It was freeeeeezing out that weekend!

ABF ordered the burger, and of course he offered me a bite! This was fresh, scrumptious, and juicy.
Our food came quickly, the staff were friendly, and every bite was so, so good.

Blue Plate Diner

665 W Main Rd

Middletown, RI 02842

(401) 848-9500

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Scotty's Diner

After a drinks-only Happy Hour with ABF (at a nice, cheap, cozy little dive bar), we were in dire need of some actual FOOD. Thank goodness Scotty's diner was a) right around the corner and b) open 24 hours!

Considering it was after 10pm at the moment, Scotty's was pretty busy! We sat immediately in one of the time-worn but clean booths.

We each ordered a burger-- "Texas" style for me (jalapenos and Monterey Jack cheese)with sweet potato fries and "California" style for ABF, with mushrooms and avocado--LOTS of avocado. These came out so fast I could hardly believe it--but wasted no time in diving in for a delicious bite!

They do NOT skimp on an avocado. He had more than half of an entire avocado on that burger--and it was perfectly ripe.

I liked my fries a lot-- even though ABF called them "soggy." That's exactly how I like mine! His fries were crispier, much more to his liking than mine.

My burger was perfectly medium, juicy, delicious, I ate every bite and every single tangy, pickled jalapeno!

We shared a piece of their carrot cake, which was incredibly tasty! It had this awesome layer of what I'd call a cheesecake mousse in the middle. Our server said that's the REAL New York carrot cake. I cannot confirm that, but I can confirm that it was pretty freaking delicious.

While ABF ordered a coffee, I ordered a hot chocolate, imagining it to be some standard, boring affair. Not so! It came in a fancy cappuccino glass with whipped cream and a dusting of cinnamon-- delectable!!

Scotty's was a win for us. It's your basic diner that is the life's blood of many a city-- nothing fancy, but man, it was good! We also noticed local after local coming in for takeout (a few of them actually wearing PJs), so that gave me another vote of confidence. It's walking distance from Grand Central Station and the subways, so it's cheap, convenient, and came to our late-night rescue. Grab a pint nearby, then fill your belly here!

Scotty's Diner

336 Lexington Avenue

New York, NY 10016

(212) 986-1520

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Hinsch's is Back!

I posted last fall (amidst my London/Amsterdam posts) that Bay Ridge favorite Hinsch's was closing. That was true, for the moment. Weeks later, the shop REOPENED (I do feel a little toyed with, I'll admit it) for a new and improved version-- not only does the new Hinsch's offer free wi-fi, but they are now open late for dinner!

First things first--how is breakfast? Well now they offer fancier 'brunchy' options, so I gave the Eggs Benedict a whirl. Very good, but one of my eggs was overcooked. Kel encouraged me to send it back, something I have done perhaps twice in my life. Normally I wouldn't say anything, but the manager came over at just the right moment and saw the hardboiled yolk. 2 minutes later, I had a second, perfectly-poached egg. Much better! The sauce was good, English muffins perfectly toasted, and the fruit kabob was a nice touch.

My dish also came with a free OJ. Granted, it's literally a shot glass worth, but that's about all I need anyway. It is definitely fresh-squeezed, too!

Kel got her usual-- 2 eggs over easy, cheese fries and crispy bacon. Everything was perfectly cooked and she was quite happy.

A few weeks later, we tried them out for dinner seeing as, up until now, the only meals we've ever tried were their breakfasts or their burgers (both delicious).

It was around 8:30, late dinner for us, so we were one of only a few tables that night. The dinner menu is even more expansive than the old menu, which is saying something. It took me a while to make up my mind, but I settled on the spinach salad with crispy bacon, hard-boiled egg, mushrooms, and a lemon vinaigrette. I added some grilled shrimp for extra protein.

It wasn't just good, it was GREAT. I ate almost every bite (except for those still-kinda-creepy mushrooms) and will be re-creating this lemon vinaigrette at home. Tart AND mellow at the same time, no sicky-sweetness to it. Excelsior!

Kel ordered the cheese quesadilla, which was impressively large (easily enough for 2-3 people to share as an app, 2 people for an entree). It came with pickled jalapenos, sour cream, and guac. Good, but not anywhere near my salad's awesomeness.

Of course we split a Hinsch's famous sundae for dessert. One scoop of vanilla ice cream, one scoop of chocolate, and marshmallow topping. So good!!

Hinsch's

8518 5th Avenue

Brooklyn, NY 11209

(718) 748-2854

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Krisch's (aka Bunnyland!)

The blogging word is a delicious place sometimes! Through it (and our awesome mutual friend Hoosh) I met Halcyon (her blog is here) and she told me about LilyHydrangea's site (go here!) THAT's how I heard about Krisch's! ABF & I finally made it there last night for dinner...and ice cream! As it turns out, Krisch's started in Bay Ridge! Fulllll circle, baby!

This is "Bunnyland" season at Krisch's, meaning a whole side room at the restaurant is chock full of chocolate bunnies, chicks, eggs, and more! No kids or strollers in bunnyland (or walkers or wheelchairs! tight quarters)--they are not kidding around with their chocolate supply! I took a walk through here while we waited for our seat. It was packed but we really didn't have to wait long--maybe 15-20 minutes.

While we waited, I admired the 30-lb bunny that's up for grabs (the photo featured previously on LilyHydrangea's site, that first put Krisch on my radar!) That's a lotta chocolate. They don't just do Easter chocolates, though--more pics at the end of this post!

Almost the second we sat down, ABF ordered the mozzarella sticks. These were pretty good--seasoned and melty, with a zesty (but not spicy) dipping sauce.

I knew the second I got there I'd be getting the cheeseburger, and I subbed sweet potato fries. It was more well-done than the medium I requested, but somehow it was still juicy. There's no onions on the burger, but there is definitely onion powder or something like that in the seasonings--this was a juicy, flavorful, mouth-watering burger. I ate every bite of it.

ABF ordered the bacon cheeseburger, and we each shared a bite of our burgers. The bacon added a smoky crunch to his burger, but I was very happy with mine, too. Both sets of fries were delicious, but the sweet potato by far outranked the regular potato fries.

Let's get real here, though--I was here for the ice cream. I tried a sample of their black raspberry, as that is one of my favorite ice cream flavors EVAH, but when I saw they offer marshmallow topping, I went for vanilla. Black raspberry is best enjoyed in its pure state--on a cone, no toppings, nothing interfering with its awesomeness.

The dessert menu is overwhelming--so many options, from ice cream to pies to puddings. I hemmed and hawed and ultimately went with my first instinct: the Massapequa Special--2 scoops of ice cream with hot fudge AND marshmallow. Awww yeah.

The real winner of the night, though, was ABF's choice: the Just Peachy sundae. 2 scoops of fresh peach ice cream, melba sauce (raspberries, currants, etc), and fresh whipped cream. I think we almost devoured this one. Each bite was almost like biting into a fresh, juicy peach. Mamma mia, this was good.

Overall, we loved every bite of Krisch's. The portions are insanely huge--next time I'll opt for a single scoop, as we didn't even finish 1/3 of my sundae, and we scooped a lot of the whipped cream off our sundaes (so much cream--and I love it, just too much after all that food). The servers are all young but they were great--our server checked in on us a few times (that seems to happen less and less as we go out), and she was friendly and helpful, even as the room was crazy busy and hectic. I absolutely recommend stopping by Krisch's, no matter what the season!

Krisch's Restaurant & Ice Cream Parlor
11 Central Ave, Massapequa, NY 11758
(516) 797-3149

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Neptune Diner

My sister HLP came to town for a visit, and seeing as the airlines barely give you a seat, much less food, she was quite hungry upon arrival at LaGuardia. We hopped the bus from the airport to the subway stop and saw the Neptune Diner located on the corner.

We settled in a booth and persued the ginormous menu..and.. umm..jelly omelettes? I don't think I want to know....

We both picked cheeseburgers and Cokes. Not just any Coke..CHERRY Coke. Deeeelicious.

I ordered just the cheeseburger, no fries. It was charcoaly, perfectly cooked, and quite a deal.

Sistah was nice enough to let me eat some of her fries--thanks, sis!

The servers were helpful, affable, and good-humored gentlemen, and made the sistah's first few hours back in NYC quite enjoyable. It wasn't THE BEST BURGER EVAH, but it was definitely worth it, and extremely convenient if you're heading to/from LaGuardia airport!

Neptune Diner
3105 Astoria Blvd
Astoria, NY 11102
(718) 278-4853

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