Allora

Finally caught up with friends Vip and Angie for dinner on Friday, March 27, 2015, at Allora by da Soli in Marlton, NJ. We had a wonderful time. Chef Mark Berenato continues to impress.

Appetizers enjoyed:

Once Jay found out that fried smelts were one of the specials, she couldn't listen to anything else! The smelts were lightly breaded to perfection, accompanied by a lovely sauce of tomatoes and olives goodness. Yum!

Angie and Vip shared the fried calamari, which was lightly breaded and accompanied by a wonderful marinara sauce.

Vip enjoyed the Caesar salad, tossed with house made Caesar dressing, pecorino romano cheese, with crisp garlic croutons.

Ken asked for the chicken sausage and fig appetizer that he had on a previous visit. It was awesome and flavorful!

Entrees:

Jay ordered the Veal Piccata, with lemon, butter, and novella wine sauce with capers. Very lemony and delicious.

Ken ordered the Flounder Francese, egg battered, pan seared, lemon butter white wine sauce, with jumbo lump crabmeat. He thoroughly enjoyed it.

Angie enjoyed the Veal San Marco, sauteed with porcini mushrooms, sundried tomatoes, jumbo lump crabmeat, Sicilian Marsala wine, with a splash of cream.

Vip (and us all) enjoyed the Chicken Italiano, cutlets topped with char grilled red peppers, Italian long hots, garlic and EVOO. There was enough to take home.

We were treated to Kiwi"cello" - similar process to limoncello but made with kiwi. If you like kiwis, you'll love this!

We were also treated to the biscotti, which was a lovely end to the evening.

Wines enjoyed:

Our server, Mark, remembered Ken and Jay from our previous visit. We'll definitely be back and request him again!

It was nice seeing Lauren from da Soli as well. Very pleasant overall!

Ritz Seafood

Celebrating Ken's birthday a bit late, due to Jay's illness, we finally dined at Ritz Seafood, 910 Rt. 561, Voorhees, NJ 08043, on Sunday, March 22, 2015. We arrived on time for our 6:30 reservation and were seated after a few minutes wait.

Appetizers:
Jay ordered Chef Dan's Tuna Pizza - ahi tuna, tomato, read onion and sesame with chili aioli on brown rice cracker crust. Very good. Wish the tuna had a bit more seasoning...

Ken enjoyed the Vietnamese Bang Bang Shrimp, with chili and garlic aioli. Seasoned to perfection.

Entrees:

Jay wanted the Pan Roasted Hawaiian Butterfish, miso marinated, with wild mushroom risotto and soy syrup. HOWEVER, it had not been available for at least a YEAR. Why not just cross it off the menu?

Instead, she tried the Pan Roasted Sea Scallops, with wild mushroom risotto, miso broth, and truffle essence. It came with broccoli and carrots. Delicious! The scallops were perfectly cooked. More risotto please! So good!

Ken devoured the Coconut Crusted Lobster Tails, with pad thai noodles. Jay helped with the pad thai. Well seasoned and addictive...

Dessert:

Ken saw Bananas Foster and was excited. However, the bananas had to be thrown out so it wasn't available. He was a bit disappointed since not many restaurants make it.

Jay ordered the coconut cream pie, which was featured on the Food Network's "Best Thing I Ever Ate." Very tasty. Not too sweet. Perfect balance of cream and coconut. Ken even munched on the toasted coconut.

Wines enjoyed:

Obviously, we were a bit off today, since both bottles went back home half finished.

We thought it odd that our food came out a bit quickly, but realized what was going on when we were the last to leave around 8pm, and the server locked the door behind us - 2 hours before closing!

Flavors of India

Catching up with Jay’s friend, Mary, who came to town on Thursday, March 19, 2015, we finally decided that we wanted Indian food, but not Monsoon. We decided on Flavors of India, 3111 Route 38 (Larchmont Commons Shopping Center), Mount Laurel, NJ 08054. We were not disappointed!

No reservations, but we were promptly seated at a booth.

Papadum was brought to the table, along with 3 sauces - one green (Jay’s favorite!), one a little spicy, and one a little sweet. Love papadum!

We shared the assorted Pakora appetizer: spinach, onion, and green chili. Each morsel was lightly battered and crunchy deliciousness!

For our entrees, we both ordered thalis, which came with tomato soup, Mulligatawny (lentil) soup, potato curry (oh my goodness!), rice, Raitha, Naan, and rice pudding with raisins and cashews.

Jay couldn’t finish the Goat Fry, which was wonderful!

Mary barely finished the Lamb Korma (medium), but she made it! Its sauce was so flavorful!

Mary commented that she was surprised that more people were not dining. Jay pointed out March Madness, and also noticed that there were many takeout orders.

We left full and satisfied. What a wonderful meal.

Wines enjoyed:

We will return!

Ginger Asian Cuisines (Yes, again!)

After a long week, Jay arrived home tonight hungry and wanting to go out to eat. Ginger's it is! We didn't make reservations, and were quite surprised to find the restaurant full. After being told we would have a half-hour wait, we were extremely happy to be seated in less than 10 minutes. We got to sit in one of their smaller rooms, by the window. Cozy. We liked it!

We visit often enough that most of the people who work there know us. Our server even remembered some of the appetizers that we normally order. Impressive!

Appetizers enjoyed:

Jay wanted spare ribs, and she got them! So good!

Ken ordered the Vietnamese grape leaves, which he hasn't had for a while. Still delicious!

Entrees:

Jay ordered the Bangkok Mango Shrimp - huge, tasty shrimp with fresh mango, peppers and snow peas. She couldn't finish it all - lunch tomorrow! The entree comes with either soup, salad or spring roll. She chose the spring roll.

Ken ordered the Honey Walnut Shrimp, which he preferred over Bhan Thai's version. 10 HUGE shrimp; he could only finish 5.

We always order the House Special Fried Rice, instead of getting white or brown rice. Delicious! Leftovers for another day.

We were given complimentary Mochi ice cream. Jay would describe the texture as being encased in a tasty sweet dough. She ate Ken's portion as well. Was told that one was mango and one was red bean. So good! (Forgot to take a picture - so excited to get it!)

We left pleasantly satisfied.

Wine enjoyed:

Allora by da Soli (Italian)

We looked forward to trying Allora, 892 Route 73, Marlton, NJ 08053, since we love Da Soli in Haddonfield. We were not disappointed! Chef Mark has done it again! We met friends, Larry and Linda, for a 7:15pm reservation on Saturday, March 7.

Ken devoured the bread and peppers that were brought to the table.

Appetizers:

Jay and Ken wanted to split the grilled calamari, but the server heard fried. No worries! It was lightly breaded and came with a delicious marinara sauce.

The server also brought the grilled calamari (on the house). That was so nice. The calamari was grilled to perfection and the spicy pomadora sauce with pepperoncini was AWESOME! Yum! Will definitely get again.

Linda and Jay shared the orange and beet salad - thinly sliced fennel, baby arugula toasted walnuts, honey maple dressing, creamy ricotta, balsamic drizzle, topped with grilled shrimp (hey! Jay didn't get any shrimp, Linda! LOL). Delicious and refreshing.

Larry enjoyed the sausage appetizer special - it was seasoned to perfection. Jay helped a little and couldn't stop eating it.

Entrees:

Larry ordered the beef special, which he couldn't finish and took the rest home. The gnocchi was heavenly.

Ken ordered the Tuscan Braised beef - fork tender beef, oven roasted in a rich red wine pan sauce with plum tomatoes, rosemary, and roasted vegetables (grilled zucchini). He devoured it. Jay didn't get to taste any...

Linda ordered the Herbed Crusted Salmon special, which came with white beans. She doesn't like a lot of sauce, so she didn't finish and took most of it home...

Jay ordered the Tuna Siciliano - grilled ahi tuna topped with diced tomatoes, fennel, capers, basil, and olives. She ordered it rare. Although it was very pink, it wasn't quite as rare as she'd thought it would be. She needs to keep in mind that this is not sushi grade, and order accordingly in the future. The entree came with risotto, which was a bit crunchy, although flavorful, and grilled zucchini. She devoured the dish anyway, because it was so good.

Wines enjoyed:

Since Larry and Linda helped us to celebrate Ken's birthday, 11 days early (we have a birthday MONTH), we were treated by the restaurant to a slice of creamy cheesecake! What a nice surprise! Ken doesn't like singing out in public, so we didn't (party pooper! LOL!). Jay ate most of the cheesecake.

We were too full once we got back to their house to eat the cake they bought Ken, so we took it home...

Good food! Good friends! Good times!

We will return in a few weeks with more friends. Hopefully, it won't be as loud (is the same group of obnoxious diners following us?), but we'll see.

Il Villaggio (Italian)

For our monthly lunch date, we met Karin and George at Il Villaggio, 211 Berlin Road, Cherry Hill, NJ, today. Since there was a baby shower, we were seated in the smaller room with windows. It was great that the doors could be closed so the noise was minimal.

We had a wonderful 3 hour plus lunch! Everyone was so awesome and knowledgeable!

Fresh, crusty bread was brought to the table, along with seasoned butter and olive oil. Yummy!

We shared the following appetizers:

Oysters special...

Clams Posolipio, littleneck clams sauteed in a zesty white wine sauce - tasty!

Broccoli rabe & sausage, sauteed in a roasted garlic olive oil, with grape tomatoes

We shared the following entrees:

Veal Tortellini special - so flavorful!

Gnocchi with gorgonzola and porcini sauce. The gnocchi is so light and airy. Wow!

Since we let them know we'd be sharing, they gave us small plates. How thoughtful!

Veal Saltimbucco (not on the menu, but we requested and voila!...)

Scallops Risotto, pan seared, served over mushroom risotto with truffle essence

Jay's small plate...

We finished with a cheese tray that included goat cheese, truffle honey, and manchego cheese...

Wines enjoyed:

Excellent meal - awesome friends!


We then stopped by the bakery next door for goodies for later...