“Bar food with a twist”. They said it, not me but I do have to agree. Shotti’s is located at 3505 Coastal Highway in Ocean City, MD on the bay.
A place my OC friends and I decided to stop for an early dinner. Ocean City and the Delaware Beaches are crowded this week.
I had never been to Shotti’s and I can’t wait to go back. It is casual and the food was great.
This Tuna Poke was outstanding. A nice portion, as well. We saw it coming out and had to have it. Actually, the three of us did. Rare Ahi tuna, saffron rice, kimchi, seaweed salad, avocado, plum sauce, toasted coconut, and shallots. This tower has everything.
This Duck Tostados were the appetizers. Perfect for the three of us. Like it spicy? Keep the jalapeños. Awesome!
They had smoke Gouda, pickled onion, black olives, jalapeños and crema.
That’s all we had. Plenty of other offerings to try the next time, for sure.??
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Happy Easter ?
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They call it Stewman’s and it is located on the waterfront at 35 West St., Bar Harbor, Maine. Tel. 201-288-0346. Website? http://www.stewmanslobsterpound.com
From the West Street Hotel, and our balcony, we had an advantage view. Around 11:30 a.m. or so the line begins to form. It goes quickly and we were there on Labor Day. An ideal setting to be able to sit right on the water.
Early in the morning we took a walk around the area. Not open yet but you were able to get the idea of what they would be serving there. It has a full menu and of course many of the delicacies that you come to experience in Bar Harbor.
You can watch them make the lobster bisque and the clam chowder. Pounds and pounds of this delicious soups with an addition of Sherry.
It was quiet but not for long.
Then look at it as the afternoon progressed.
We stopped for a tasting of soup. Both completely different, but my bisque was truly delicious.
I’ll be honest, I thought, originally, that it was going to be a tourist trap. Yes, tourist do come in but, boy, was I wrong. It is definitely worth trying. It stays open until 9 p.m.
So if you are thinking of a quick get away this Fall, Maine has captured my attention.
Posting from Maine’s trip, I remain.
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“There is no sincerer love than the love of food.” Nothing beats sitting around with friends and family and having meaningful conversations over a delicious meal.
Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, is a dining destination. You can find almost anything, from the Boardwalk Grub to fine dining.
Outdoor dining is something you do not find in all the restaurants but The Blue Hen located at 33 Wilmington Ave. in Downtown Rehoboth has the outdoor atmosphere, and the food to boot. Their new hours are from Thursday through Monday. Their phone is 302-278-7842. Website? http://www.thebluehenrehoboth.com
Meet me at the Fire Pit is what I just told my friends. In the past few weeks I have visited The Blue Hen twice. Love being able to sit outdoor, whether is to have cocktails or even decide to eat dinner by the fire pit. Great atmosphere.
The Beet Salad was a starter and it is a shareable dish. Golden beets (I love them), pomegrate seeds, pickled onion, red beet yogurt, toasted spiced nuts and herbs. Great way to start a dining experience.
What is the original advice about eating oysters? Only eat them in the 8 months of the year that contain the letter “R”, which means September through April. I, actually, do not follow that advice and nothing has ever happened.
Cold and salty, that’s how I like my oysters.
The scallops at the Blue Hen are delicious. They are a very popular dish. They are served with trumpet mushrooms, braised fennel, sea beans, green apple dashi, and chives. Dashi is a class of soup and cooking stock used in Japanese cuisine.
Eating by the Fire Pit is perfect at this time of the year. Eating outdoors is first come first served regarding to seating arrangements. The Blue Hen accepts reservations for indoor seating.
If you are in Rehoboth visiting and decide to eat at The Blue Hen the Smith Island crab cakes are very good and the fresh Maryland crab will probably only be availabe for another week or so. These are no fillers crab cakes, roasted red bliss potatoes, ham pickle slaw, and tartar sauce.
The Pan Seared King Salmon with baby kale, roasted grapes, celery root puree, pine nuts and brown butter while it was very good, my friend thought it should have been cooked a little bit more.
Dessert…just one will do. Please bring us a few spoons. The chocolate dense cake and mint ice cream hit the right spot.
Rehoboth nights continue in the Second Season. Beautiful nights in the fall is the best time of the year at the beach.
Sitting with my friends enjoying a nice meal reminds me of my own family dinners when t.v. was off and it was time to learn about each other and what everyone had done that day.
A generous spread of delicious food is the universal unifier. Food can be dressed up or down. You can’t rush it, you have to cook from the heart.
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When we share a meal with friends, it is so much more than food (really?)…and, when we share it with girlfriends, and for purposes of this post, like the Swirl Girls, then it is really priceless. Some of us have known each other for years while others, are getting to know each other very fast. Here we were trying to figure out which table would be the best one. Right after Memorial week-end we had the place to ourselves since we arrived early. We did not want a big table. We like to be cozy in order to get that conversation going. The group had just gone to watch the Book Club, if you get my drift.
The majority of us had not yet dined at Our Harvest. This restaurant located at 1106 Coastal Hwy., Fenwick Island, DE 19944, opened last year. Every day, at 5:00 p.m., you can come in and experience a way of eating that has become so popular in the U. S. Telephone is 302-581-0377. No reservations are accepted. The website is http://www.ourharvestde.com.
As the season progresses please have in mind when you would like to eat. You have to have a plan because it gets crowded at the Delaware Beaches. If you arrive and there is a wait, you could have cocktails, relaxing in their bar or in any of the very comfortable leather sofas.
There is an open concept kitchen. You really can see how the kitchen is running. I have to tell you that I probably should have come to try Our Harvest last year. I love their sister restaurant, Liquid Assets, in Ocean City, MD, and I did not want to like this one more. Guess what? They are completely different.
The menu was presented and our server knew the menu well. She explained the concept of eating small plates and shareables. At that moment all we wanted was some wine. Having watched the Book Club, wine was very much consumed by the characters. It was time to relax. The wine that you see at the table was from South Africa. A full bodied Merlot called Immortal Hero.
At first you are a bit overwhelmed because you, actually, do not know how much to order for the table. And, we all have our likes and dislikes. We managed to do a good job and we were all very pleased with how the evening was progressing. Could not believe Jane Fonda looks that good at 81… I know, I know.
We all decided to have a small plate to start our dining experience. Every time I see the offering of a Grilled Caesar Salad, I order it. Years ago I had it at a restaurant in Hagerstown, Maryland. Since then, a few have gotten close at how good that one tasted so I wanted to see how this one would be, more so because it had Boquerones which are white anchovies. They are very mild and usually they are marinated in vinegar. It gives the salad a kick. I will have to say that this Caesar was excellent.
Others ordered the Salt Roasted Beets & Two Cheeses. Served on a wooden plank it had whipped ricotta, Stracciatella, local greens, black pepper and beet vinaigrette. Stracciatella cheese is produced from Italian buffalo milk in the southern Italian region of Apulia. They use a stretching and shredding technique. This particular small plate could have been shared by two people.
We ordered the Spring Harvest Flatbread. A crispy crust filled with local peas, ramps, morel mushrooms, local asparagus, ricotta, gruyere mornay, green garlic pesto and crispy capers. Ramps are a special type of wild onion, found in eastern Canada and U.S. And a Gruyere mornay is a bechamel sauce that has Gruyere cheese added to it. It was delicious but to tell you the truth we probably ordered too much. Not that we did not eat it, by the way.
“Friendship is a delicious meal to be shared off one large plate.” So, we decided to order our large plates. This particular dish I truly loved. It was called the Vegan Feast. It was a whole wood fire roasted head of cauliflower, benne cashew crumb, and a lemon garlic vegan aioli. At first we thought it was cheese but it was the benne cashew crumb. Cashews are lower in fat than other nuts. You can find online a lot of recipes for this vegan seed.
A very popular dish at Our Harvest is a whole Amish air chilled chicken…Arnold Palmer brine, (sweet tea and lemonade brine chicken, I believe), wood fired with lemon and rosemary. Liquid Assets has an amazing chicken, as well. Both chickens are completely different and delicious in more ways than one. We ordered TWO.
Needless to say, no need for dessert. We decided that definitely we would be back. Thanks to our server and also to the hostess that so graciously explained to me how the restaurant worked.
And so I end my post with this quote from John Lanchester….”Hospitality is central to the restaurant business, yet it’s a hard idea to define precisely. Most, it involves being nice to people and making them feel welcome. You notice it when it’s there, and you particularly notice it when it isn’t. A single significant lapse in this area can be your dominant impression of an entire meal.”
Until next time….
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Did I forget to say, that everything is homemade? The mozzarella, the ciabatta bread, and cannoli. The prices are so reasonable, the friendly atmosphere, smiles, and music are free!!
Word of mouth…don’t you love it? Andrew took Brenda, who back in October told me. Now I am passing the word on to you. Plenty of places to eat in South Florida. Everyone knows that. Some of them, stand out. And, this is one of them.
Talia’s Tuscan Table is located at 4070 N. Dixie Hwy., Boca Raton, Florida. Tel. 561-362-0874. Website? http://www.taliastable.com. You can also check it on Facebook, where you can see other commentaries and check what specials they are offering. Talia’s opens at 11:30 a.m. until 8:30 p.m. Closed on Sundays.
I drove south from Delray on Federal Highway, took a right on Spanish River and then a right on Dixie. The restaurant is in a small strip shopping center, right as you make the right turn. You cannot miss it.
Like I was saying…the music was playing and you could tell the customers were regulars; the usual suspects. I decided to talk to some of them and you could tell they meant it when they said the food was delicious.
Frankie said…have a menu, you don’t have to look at the walls. There were menus on the walls. Frankie is a part owner, Danny is the other owner.
I asked Frankie…if this is a customer’s first time…what would you recommend? What would be the dish that will hook you? No hesitation there. The Bronx Bomber and the Michelanglo he said. Bring it on, that’s what I want, I said.
Talia’s is a restaurant that is very casual, you can dine in, sit on either table outside, or take out, like I did.
The music got a little louder and Frankie was smiling…Nice!
OMG, a sandwich was coming out of the kitchen. It was called the Galileo Cheese Steak with roast beef, cheddar, onion, lettuce, tomato and Russian dressing. If mine were that huge I was going to be in trouble. Calories out the window, for sure.
Have some bread, Frankie said as he place a place full of garlic ciabatta bread with a wonderful smell and so warm.
How about some mozzarella? They make their own. Put it on the bread. I obliged.
Next sandwich coming out of the kitchen was the Fermi. Portabella, roasted peppers, tuscan beans and organic lettuce. It was the only sandwich on the menu that said it contained 195 calories. I was not counting calories, that’s for sure.
The customers let me take the pictures. You could tell they really loved Talia’s. Some of them were known by their first names.
A Citrus Seafood Salad came out of the kitchen…looked very nice!!
Frankie said…do you like cannolis….is the Pope Catholic? Two cannolis to go on the house. Drink on the house, as well.
My bag carrying the sandwiches was heavy with 2 hefty sandwiches. They said “adios” and off I went.
Each of the sandwiches could have, definitely, fed 2 people. They were truly amazing. Here is what they were:
The Michelanglo with herb chicken cutlet, eggplant, mozzarella and roasted peppers. The chicken cutlet was thin and perfectly breaded, a perfect pair to the rest of the ingredients.
Frankie had asked me if I liked hot peppers….bring it on. The next one was the Bronx Bomber. This one had salami, capicolla, mortadella, ham, provolone and hot peppers. Another winner!! Very very Nice!!
Please note that wine and beer are available at Talia’s.
Thanks to Frankie for his suggestions and to Brenda for showing me the way.
Have a good one!!
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My goodness, it has been such a long time since I have gone to Ed’s Chicken. They have been in Dewey Beach for so many years. If you have visited Dewey Beach and have not eaten at Ed’s then you might as well go back and do so, because it really is an institution.
I have even brought my parents from Puerto Rico through the years to eat chicken and crabs there and they always looked forward to that.
Ed’s Chicken & Crabs is located at the corner of Swedes St. and Rt. 1 in Dewey Beach. Tel. 302-227-9484. It seems that they are always open. Credit cards are accepted.
When I first went to Ed’s Chicken (that’s what it was called), I loved the way they marinated the chicken. You could taste the vinegar marinade. It was delicious. Later on I would eat other things there but chicken is what I liked.
Yes, an institution or a roadstand, and in Puerto Rico they would probably call it a chinchorro. It has had several facelifts through the years; paint, fencing, and umbrellas. But what has not changed is their friendly disposition. The owners always there to take care of things.
On Thursday, I decided to go there after enjoying the bay. The man behind me was raising his eyebrows as he listened to everything I was ordering; 2 dozen steamed clams, 1 chicken dinner, 1/2 dozen crabs, and the seafood medley which had all kinds of seafood. Yes, you guessed it, I was writing a post for the blog.
Let me tell you that Ed’s is a very popular restaurant, but you never have to wait long. Five minutes, if that.
Ed’s has carry out but the best is just sitting out on the corner of the highway and eating outdoors in the casual atmosphere known here at the beaches. No liquor license but you may bring liquor in.
I have to tell you that I was a little disappointed with the chicken. It is not that it was not good, it just was not the vinegar marinade that I remembered.
The clams were very good and the seafood medley got good reviews, as well.
I thought that the crabs were o.k. but definitely I have had better ones. This has been a very good year for crabs and I was not that crazy about these ones.
It was good eating outdoors; such a beautiful evening. Every time I can do this, it makes my meal better.
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