Black Olive Greek Cuisine

Ken treated Jay to dinner on Saturday, August 8, 2015, at Black Olive Greek Cuisine, 910 Haddonfield-Berlin Road, Voorhees, NJ 08043. After making reservations (highly recommended), we arrived on time and were promptly seated.

Warm bread and olives in olive oil were immediately brought to the table.

Entrees (choice of small house salad or cup of soup):

Jay order Exohiko, baked lamb in phyllo dough. She chose the salmon chowder, which came in a BOWL. Both dishes were very flavorful and filling.

Ken ordered the pork souvlaki appetizer, which were grilled to perfection! He enjoyed the Shrimp Tourkolimano (JUMBO shrimp sauteed in white wine with fresh tomatoes, garlic, feta cheese, kalamata olives and a touch of ouzo). He selected the salad.

Wines enjoyed:

Ginger Asian Cuisines

For Father's Day, Ken chose our favorite, Ginger Asian Cuisine, Medford, NJ. We arrived a bit early for our 6 PM reservation, and were promptly seated in a booth, as requested.


Initially, it wasn't overly busy, but started to fill up as we were eating. We had a wonderful time.

As always, the fried noodles ("crunchies") were brought to the table. They are so good!

The spring rolls come out nice and hot...

We shared the Vietnamese Beef Grape Leaves - always good. Takes a little bit longer to come out, but it's worth the wait.

Ken ordered the Bangkok Cow special, wok fried and lightly grilled tenderloin of beef, cooked medium, with fresh veggies and Thai basil sauce. The meat was tender and flavorful. The sauce was so good that Jay poured it over her brown rice, for another day's meal!

Jay ordered the soft shell crab special, with choice of spring roll or soup; white, brown, or fried rice, and mochi ice cream.

The crabs were lightly breaded and seasoned to perfection.

 Of course, the House Special Fried Rice was tasty, as usual...

Jay ended up taking her and Ken's salads home for Monday's dinner, because she ate both ice creams!

Ken ate the watermelon which came at the end of the meal.

Wines enjoyed:

A homemade Rose, which was quite refreshing - we want more!

Everyone is always so friendly here! Feels like home.

Allora

Helping our friends celebrate their 20th anniversary, we visited Allora on Friday, June 12, 2015. As always we had a wonderful time! We were greeted by smiling faces and friendly conversation.

Since Jay and Ken had dined at da Soli the previous Saturday, Sherry remembered and was happy to see us again.

Chef Mark treated us to his wonderful appetizer of chicken sausage with figs. So delicious.

We also enjoyed the crispy calamari, which is lightly breaded and cooked to perfection.

Entrees:

Jay enjoyed the rack of lamb, with broccoli rabe.

Larry was extremely satisfied with his strip steak and crab legs.

Ken enjoyed the Veal San Marco, which came with lump crab meat and homemade pasta.

Linda was happy with her grilled salmon. She loves beets!

Everything was flavorful and just the right amount! We will be back!

Wines enjoyed:

Italian Restaurant "Hop!"

On Saturday, June 6, 2015, Karin, George, Ken and Jay were to visit 3 restaurants for our Italian restaurant hop. Unfortunately, one was booked for parties, so we skipped it, and ended up going to 2. We still had a wonderful time!

Our first stop was Toscana, Tuscany Marketplace, 1990 Route 70 East, Cherry Hill, NJ 08003, where we enjoyed wonderful appetizers. Ken had a prior appointment, and couldn't make this leg of our journey. Mario was an awesome server!

We enjoyed Clams Brodetto (Manila clams steamed with garlic, white wine, shaved fennel & vine ripened tomato broth, served with herbed crostini). The clams were cooked to perfection and the broth was so flavorful! Couldn't stop eating it, even knowing we had other places to visit.

We also enjoyed Crispy Fritto Misto (polenta crusted calamari with fresh zucchini, artichoke, lemon and herbs, served with tartar and spicy tomato dipping sauces). Karin wanted extra rosemary, which Jay didn't quite understand until it arrived at the table. The rosemary was fried as well and was such a burst of flavor. An extra dish of tartar sauce was requested, because it was not your regular tartar sauce - extremely addictive!

Wine enjoyed:

Next stop on our hop was Il Villaggio, which was quite full unfortunately, so we went on to...


Da Soli Italian Restaurant, 116 Kings Highway East, Haddonfield, NJ 08033. We enjoyed a 3 hour leisurely lunch once Ken arrived.

Suppli, our favorite appetizer. We ordered 2 orders of these deliciously crispy risotto balls filled with ground beef tenderloin and 'fiore di latte mozzarella cheese. So tasty!

We also enjoyed the shrimp and (gluten-free) gnocchi as an appetizer, which came with a Caesar salad. The gravy was very flavorful and the mushrooms were addictive.

Ken and George each had the Veal alla Saltimbuca (fresh sage, prosciutto, provolone cheese, garlic demi-glace sauteed spinach), which they thoroughly enjoyed. It came with veggies, which were quite tasty.

Jay and Karin shared the Veal Al Limone, which our server, Sherry, was kind enough to put on separate plates. Very flavorful and tender.

Dessert:

Ken actually ordered dessert, the apple pie with ice cream. Very good.

Jay, Karin, and George shared the flourless chocolate cake, which was the BEST Jay had ever had! Normally chocolate cake is too much, but this piece of chocolaty goodness was addictive. Oh my goodness!

Wines enjoyed:

We always enjoy our time with Karin and George and look forward to our next dining adventure!

Bhan Thai (Thai Fusion Cuisine)

Ken surprised Jay by taking her out to dinner after work on Thursday, May 21, 2015. Bhan Thai in Mt. Laurel is one of our favorites, and we hadn't been there in a while, so it was a pleasant surprise.

No reservations, but it was a bit early so we chose to sit at a table in the front of the restaurant by the window.

Appetizers:

Jay wanted to try the French Onion Soup (who knew?) from their Chef's Specials menu, just to see their interpretation of it. She was not disappointed! The onions were perfect, and the bread was just the right thickness. Lots of cheese!

Ken enjoyed the Martini Shrimp (what else is new?) and enjoyed every bit of it.

Entrees:

Jay ordered the Crab Meat Pad Thai special (lump crab meat, rice noodles, egg, scallions, bean curds, bean sprouts, and ground peanuts). Spiciness: 4 out of 5 chilis, which was perfect. Just the right amount of heat. Delicious! There was enough left for Friday's lunch.

Ken ordered the Pla Rad Prik (Crispy Red Snapper), which came with bok choy. He devoured it. The crispy skin on the fish was wonderful and the Thai chili sauce was very flavorful.

Wine enjoyed: