Readington Diner

Readington Diner

452 US-22
Whitehouse Station
NJ 08889
(908) 534-6777


Finally, we found a decent diner.  The diners closer to us have been terrible.  The Readington diner is on the edge of too far, about 9 miles.  But it was worth the 15 minute trip.

Pete had a Ham and Cheddar Omelette, and I had the 'Readington Melt'.  Both were well executed.

Pete's omelete was fully cooked, but not overly toasted, as omelets sometimes can be.  He liked it a lot.  The home fries were great.  They had peppers and onions in them.  He also noted that his rye toast was good rye bread.

My 'Readington Melt' was a grilled cheddar and bacon on multigrain bread, with the key addition of granny smith apple slices.  I make a sandwich like it at home sometimes, but with gruyere instead of cheddar.  It was great.  Highly recommended.  It came with soup, I chose chicken noodle at the suggestion of waitress.  It was also great.  And like she said, it was full of big pieces of chicken.

Yeah, finally, a good diner.

Oh, and if you have a body type like mine, avoid the booths.

We will be back.

VILLAGE BREWING CO.

The Village Brewing Company

34 West Main Street

Somerville, NJ 08876

(908) 333-2990

Pete picked this one out of google maps, and we can't fathom how we didn't already know about it or eaten there many times.  Our kind of place.

Microbrew Restaurant.  5 of their own beers on tap, as well as a huge selection of beer and cocktails.  It is a big place!  It didn't look big from the outside.  I think 250 people would be comfortable in there.

Pete had the "I Know a Guy" IPA.  Brewed in house.  Pete liked it.
I had a Peach Moonshine and Iced Tea.  This would be a great hot summer day drink.

We started with "5 and Dime" buffalo wings.  They were very good.  Good heat.  I thought they could have been a little meatier, but the flavor was great.  Real crumbled blue cheese dressing. 😀 Gorgonzola to be precise.

Pete ordered the Village Burger, with cheddar and house cured bacon.  He said it was well executed.  The burger alone would have been tasty, even plain.

I had the VBC Cheese Steak.  Shaved beef, smoked poblano peppers, mushrooms, onions, and beer cheese fondue sauce.  The hint of smokiness may not be for everyone, but I thought it was something special.  Delicious.

Both sandwiches came with a huge amount of fresh cut fries.  1/4" fresh cut.  They could have been a little crisper, but still good.  I am probably being too nit picky about the fries.  They were fine.

Place was industrial chic. High ceilings, dark, visible mash tanks, funky edison style bulbs.  I like it.

We have already picked out our food for the next time...

Jenni's Cafe

Jenni's Cafe

1165 US-202
Branchburg, NJ
08853
908-255-4075

We took a shot in the dark today.  It is a strange little place, in a strange little strip mall.  The food was basic.  But it was DELICIOUS.

It is kind of a deli, kind of a restaurant, kind of a diner...  Seat yourself, grab a menu, and make sure to check the days specials.

I had a hot pastrami sandwich, with swiss and home made 1000 Island.  It was really good.  The meat was great, and the bread was grilled crisp.  Usually these are soggy, but they got it right at Jenni's.  Onion rings were standard.  Nothing to complain about, but nothing special.

Pete got a Crispy Buffalo Chicken sandwich on a hard roll.  He really enjoyed it.  It could have been a little spicier, but for most people it would have been perfect.  Pete and I like our buffalo pretty hot.  And tater tots for his side.  Fried, well.  Nice and crispy.

Oh, and Jenni does baking!  I had a blueberry bread pudding, and Pete had a peanut butter brownie.  Both were exceptional.

Nothing fancy, just good food.  Oh, and it was inexpensive.

Sticky's Finger Joint

Sticky's Finger Joint

Bridgewater Township
NJ 08807
(908) 655-1117

Lois brow beat me about not having reviewed any restaurants in a long time. So, here we go...

Pete and I were skeptical about a restaurant that essentially only sells chicken fingers and fries. That is what my 7 year old daughter eats, not me...

We we needn't have worried. It is essentially only chicken fingers and fries, but they are great. The chicken fingers are breaded well, freshly cooked, and nice large juicy chicken tenderloin pieces. The fries were dusted in that magical powder that crisped them up beyond what a normal potato should do.

They sell these fingers and fries with a bevy of toppings and sauces.

I had Honey BBQ Club. 3 fingers, covered in bbq sauce, bacon, cheddar, shallots and green onions. They were great, and three was the "medium" serving. I added an order of Bacon Mac Fries, which were essentially a HUGE portion of fries covered in cheese sauce and chopped bacon. Good bacon. Lots of bacon. If you don't want bacon, don't order these.The cheese sauce was a little spicy, maybe it had some jalapeno in it. Not real spicy, just cheese with a kick. Loved it.

Pete had the Bacon Mac Sandwich. 2 fingers on a potato roll, with the same cheese sauce as my fries, chopped bacon, caramelized onions, and pickle chips. Pete's weird anti pickle stance asked him to ask for 'no pickles', and they delivered no pickles. Not a guarantee at a fast food chain.. He loved it, and also noted the tremendous amount of bacon. (Bacon makes everything better!) He added an order of truffle parm fries. Very good, and they were not stingy with the parm.

In fact they were not stingy with ANY of the toppings or sauces. Thumbs up!

One lesson learned, you can get one order of fries for 2 people to share. The serving size was big.

We will definitely be going back. Maybe I will have to bring my daughter, as she would be in Chicken Finger heaven. (although she would probably only want boring old ketchup, honey mustard is too fancy for her)

J&G South Bound Brook Diner

J&G South Bound Brook Diner

10 Cherry St
South Bound Brook, NJ
08880
(732) 667-5890

What an odd little diner.  Fantastically odd.  American Diner food, and Latin dishes.

I had a reuben, and it was great.  Thick sliced (think corned beef and cabbage) corned beef, sauerkraut, swiss and russian on crispy toasted rye.  Not soggy at all.  And the french fries were great.  Unseasoned, 3/8 cut, skin on, crisp and tender.

Pete had a Colorado Omelet.  Peppers, Onions, Ham, Cheddar, and Salsa.  It came with toast and homefries.  Pete added a side of sausage as well.  He llved his omelet, and thought his homefries where the best he has had in a long time.  Crisp and tender, a little onion.  Perfect.  The sausage was short fat links, with a nice snap from the casing.  Very tasty.

This weird little place was great.  Next time I want to try the Spiced Pork sandwich.  Sliced pork, grilled onions, tomatoes, avocado, provolone, and chipotle sauce.

Check it out if you get a chance!

Sarah Jane's Restaurant

We hit a winner today!

Sarah Jane's Restaurant
(No Website, google maps entry)
33 US-206
Somerville, NJ 08876
(908) 722-5454

Local Restaurant and Bar.  Old school decor and interior.  We sat at the bar.  The bar stools were comfortable...

Pete ordered a Pastrami Reuben and Mother Earth Brewing IPA.
I ordered the soup of the day, Sausage Noodle, the Somerville Melt Burger, and a Yuengling.

When they brought my soup, Pete yelled out, "I wan't one too".  It was a great soup.  Crumbled italian sausage, vegetables and curly noodles.

Pete and I were both interested by the Reuben, but we were worried we would only be able to compare it to a Suspender's Reuben, and be a little disappointed.  We didn't need to worry, Pete said his Reuben was great.  Open faced, well grilled bread, lots of good pastrami, ample sauerkraut, russian and lots of melted swiss on top.

My burger was cooked a perfect medium.  It was a large juicy burger, with grilled onions, swiss cheese, and russian dressing on rye toast.  A unique version of a patty melt.  The burger was great.  It was just the right amount of sloppy.

Both meals came with shoestring fries that were good.  Not great, but no complaints.

Our friend Elsa was supposed to come with us, but couldn't at the last minute.  We will definately be back so that Elsa can enjoy it too :)

22 West Tap and Grill

22 West Tap and Grill

1601 Route 22
Bridgewater, NJ 08805

We went with no expectations.  "Tap and Grills" have spring up all over the place as the current trendy restaurant style.  They are all fine.  But this one was different.

The food and service were great.  We ate too much :)

We started with Warm Pretzel nuggets and beer cheese.  I also had to try some fried pickles, even though Pete hates pickles.  It was a lot of warm pretzel nuggets, and the beer cheese fondue (yes, the waitress light a candle under the bowl of cheese) was amazing.  I loved the fried pickles too.  They were chips, and I prefer spears, but they were great.  Crisp, and great dipping sauce.

Pete then had a Crab Cake Grilled Cheese.  A crab cake and gruyere cheese on a sourdough.  With a great remoulade to dip it in.  It was a BIG sandwich.  Pete said it was great.

I had a French Onion Belly Burger.  Burger with lots of melted provolone, grilled onions and fired pork belly.  Wow.  It did remind you of french onion soup.  I ate every git of it, even though I was getting over full.

Then we came back to the office and I took a nap in my desk chair :)