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Bethany, Dewey Beach, Rehoboth

In between Dewey and Bethany, closer to Bethany, there is a lovely seafood restaurant (and market) on the bay side. I can't remember the name but I know it was open Thanksgiving weekend last year.

There are usually a couple of restaurants open in Rehobeth, more than you would expect. In the strip mall with the movie theater there is an Italian restaurant which is pretty good when you consider its location.

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​Dewey Beach, Rehoboth

Rehoboth has much more quality and variety than Dewey when it comes to dining at the beach. Having grown up very close to Rehoboth, I think I've eaten at nearly every restaurant within a 20 mile radius.... If you're looking for good food, I suggest the following:

Blue Moon -- consistently one of the best in the area, this restaurant is located in a quaint converted beach house. Save room for the Moon Pie dessert!

http://www.bluemoonrehoboth.com/

Espuma -- describes itself as "eclectic Mediterranean" cuisine. Their website is a little over-the-top, but don't let that discourage you...

http://www.espumarestaurant.com/

La La Land -- the bubble machine out front will be your fist indication that this is a funky, whimsical restaurant. They have several indoor rooms and an outdoor patio (weather permitting) that create nice ambience.

http://www.lalalandrestaurant.com/welcome.html

They're all good, but my favorite is Blue Moon. I believe that BYO wine is allowed at all 3 and the corkage fee is reasonable (~$10). Enjoy!

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​Rehoboth

I had a great birthday dinner with the family at Eden, which appears to be open during the off-season (or they need to update their page). I can also second Bigpinot's suggestions of 'Espuma' and "Blue Moon", with the caveat that I've never been (We were supposed to go to both, but in what became the story of that weekend, we couldn't in both cases for different reasons mad.gif ), but both were hugely recommended by my uncle who has a place there, and whose opinion I value as highly as anybody else here! I hear Dish! (Warning: Really whacked-out Flash website) is good, too.

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​Bethany

I've enjoyed several good meals at DiFebo's which is about one minute west of Bethany Beach. I particularly enjoy the antipasto salad, the prosciutto platter and the pasta specials. They are open every day, lunch and dinner. It is very family friendly, and they'll do simple dishes for the kiddies, but it is still a white tablecloth place. They also opened up a more casual pizza and pasta place called Isabella's nearby, but I've not been there yet.

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​Bethany, Rehoboth

Eden remains the best beach meal I've had with a good wine list and they were kind enough to waive corkage-good stemware so no need to BYOGs. The last time I ate at Blue Moon, it was pretty bad (brunch-I mean how do you screw up brunch?) . BBQ blues in Bethany is a pretty good value with decent BBQ and a good place if the kids are along. Sonoma (also BB) ain't worth it. LaLa Land has been around for many years so they must be doing something right. Dish was hit and miss and kind of diner like decor. We liked Fusion and again corkage was waived. Celesius was also pretty good but its been a few years since our last visit. There's a Chinese place across from these two places that we picked up some good carryout. Sidneys (sp) has great bands and the back room can turn into a pickup joint for every persuasion as the night goes on. We used to like Cloud 9 but the last few times, I've ordered a steak-$5 corkage but their list is ok. Overall, the more I eat at the beach, the more I prefer to dine in-get some spiced shrimp and a couple of steamed lobsters and you're good to go. Of course , there's always Nicola-mediocre za but those nicobolis!

Edited by porcupine
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​Bethany

We'll be in Bethany Beach 6/9-14, and if anyone has a suggestion for a good, casual, kid-friendly seafood place I'd be much obliged. Seafood market suggestions a bonus. Our condo is a little north of the "downtown".

Also, how expensive are the grocery stores?

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We'll be in Bethany Beach 6/9-14, and if anyone has a suggestion for a good, casual, kid-friendly seafood place I'd be much obliged. Seafood market suggestions a bonus. Our condo is a little north of the "downtown".

Also, how expensive are the grocery stores?

Generally cheaper to bring food/wine from DC though no sales tax in Deleware. Stop for produce on the way down-plenty of places from which to choose.

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​Rehoboth

I had a few good meals in Rehoboth recently:

Eden -- Good food & efficient service, though the restaurant was a bit noisy. Corkage was waived for me as well, on the condition that I let the waiter have a small glass of the wine (his idea - sounded like he's done this routine before...).

Celsius -- One of my new beach favorites. They have a prix fixe menu for $30 (I think), which includes soup, entree, and dessert. They also accept restaurant.com certificates, which makes the meal an even better deal. We enjoyed the food too - sort of a mediterranean-inspired bistro menu, if that makes any sense...

Lazy Susan's, on Rte 1, north of Rehoboth, is a great place for pick-your-own-crabs and beer. The restaurant doesn't take reservations and can get packed on the weekends.

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Generally cheaper to bring food/wine from DC though no sales tax in Deleware. Stop for produce on the way down-plenty of places from which to choose.
Thanks! That was tentatively the plan but thought I should check. We'll bring the staples from home.
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​Rehoboth

Any recent reports from Rehoboth? I'm heading down tonight for a few days.

I asked Kliman a similar question the other day:

Mt. Pleasant, DC

Is there any restaurant in Rehoboth that isn't
mediocre and overpriced?

Todd: Take a look at the July issue. [of Washingtonian Magazine]
I'm with you, by and large, about the fine-dining options.

But Espuma delivers. There's some smart, accomplished cooking coming from Jay Caputo's kitchen. You're not likely to come away feeling like somebody's been playing with too many ingredients in the back.

And a handful of new-ish places -- Fish On!, Northeast Seafood Kitchen, Blue Coast, all of them owned by the same company -- has figured out that what people really want from a nice meal out at the beach is simple, focused flavors and good, fresh fish.
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​Rehoboth

We were in Rehoboth Beach a couple of weekends ago and we dined at Eden, Fusion and Chez La Mer.

Eden was my favorite, and not just because you can BYOW ($5/stem was the corkage fee this time). It has a unique feel to the room and they've expanded the upstairs significantly. But we chose to remain on the main floor with one of the booths with the gauzy fabrics dangling hthere to make the booths even more cozy. Very good service, quite good food. The highlight was actually the tableau of food underneath one of the entrees, a concoction of corn, bacon, tmato and various seasonings. Super.

Fusion was very good, and was my wife's favorte this trip. A bit more spartan, but with some interesting art. It does have some noise issues even without it being a full room. But leaving that aside, the food is quite, quite good. Very fresh and creative and a decently priced winelist, if a little spartan (eden's was better -- and better described along with fun section headings like 'Don't Hate Me Because I'm Pink') as they do not allow BYOW. Their desserts are fine, but we passed this year opting for some banana, brown sugar and sour cream crepes at Le Crepes Suzette over on Penny Lane.

Chez La Mer, which I thought had slipped a bit a few years ago was back in form, but perhaps not at its peak. But stil a very good meal. Inventive enough, but just well prepared food served simply and efficiently. A nice and french-heavy winelist, they also do not allow BYOW. But they do have 1/2 price wine nights on Mondays. Definitely worthwhile.

We've only been to LaLaLand once a few years ago and found it to be horribly overrated. Too crowded floor (tables way too close together), not so great service and a tad pretentious.

Espuma is on our hitlist for either late in the season if we make it back this year, or next season.

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​Rehoboth

It has been several years, but we used to go to Rehobeth Beach regularly. Eden is very good, the Back Porch is also good, especially if you can get a seat outside up on the roof. For dessert have them make the special back porch coffee, it is a show of flame and fun. Both permit BYOB.

If you like Sushi, the Cultured Pearl is very nice, good food and a great room but they don't allow BYOB and thier wine list is only OK. Chez La Mer is good seafood and a very good list, but as TJ said, go on Monday.

I had a bad experience at Celesius the last time we went (horrible service, the server was rude to our kid who was being very quiet and had asked for some iced tea, my nephew's salad came half way into the entrees, etc.) and the management, who I talked to as we were leaving indicated that they couldn't care less. Food was ok, but I won't go back, too many other good places to go.

Blue Moon is fun, and Sydney's Side Street serves late, often has jazz, and serves wines and Port by the flight. Food is ok but nothing to write home about.

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​Rehoboth

Just returned from Rehoboth yesterday. Hits included a revived LaLaLand and the new Retro Cafe on Wilmington for brunch. Misses included the declining Celcius and Summer House. Oh, and the ubiquitous Grotto Pizza continues to be unimpressive (try telling that to my folks).

The Summer House, chosen by my parents, is apparently under new ownership. When they picked the place, I objected pointing out that I had done shots with friends there only a summer ago. "You want to eat there??" I asked. They did. Mom, Dad, Aunt and Uncle liked everything about the place; I attempted to get through the meal without sulking. It's noisy, there are TVs everywhere and the food was very whatever. Folks liked the soft, warm bread (which was undercooked really) which comes with olive oil and shredded parmesan. I tried sprinkling the cheese atop the bread but couldn't get it to stay. I gave up.

Spinach and artichoke dip was popular with the crew, as were the salmon entrees and crab cakes. My ribeye was excessively salted and cooked to medium well (I ordered medium).

The Summer House is not significantly cheaper than restaurants I think are a step (or three) better. I very much needed a beer, however they don't offer any - any!! - on tap so I had a glass of Sauvignon Blanc from their very questionable wine list. Beringer White Zin anyone?

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​Rehoboth

We celebrated my boyfriend's birthday at LaLaLand. The biggest surprise? Bartender David (aka Leopardhead) was in a lovely mood. Seriously, I usually warn people I take there for drinks that he's known for and loved in spite of his cantankerousness. No need this trip.

The takeaway for me from this latest LaLaLand meal was that the food was much improved, while the presentations remain stalled in the era that loved stacks, columns, garnishes and other embellishment. Perhaps this is meant to cater to the average tourist (aka my parents, aunt and uncle), perhaps not. Either way, this recent meal left my relatives, prone to groaning when I pick LaLaLand because of its "high falutin'" menu and high prices, raving.

In the end, we had a few more friends join us (LaLaLand handled the increase from 6 people to 8 with grace). At least five people ordered the lobster main. I'll try to recall details, but there were lots of glasses of wine and cocktails too. biggrin.gif

My starter of Korean-style spare ribs with red cabbage (instead of the advertised kimchi) was delcious, a hearty portion. My boyfriend's gratin of escargot disappeared quickly and when he asked if I wanted a taste, I could tell he didn't mean it so I was kind and declined. I did, though, get a taste of Mom's great goat cheese torta with pine nut crust and a red beet emulsion. She looked at me timidly when the dish arrived, questioning the beets, but then she loved it all.

Caesar salads at LaLa are H-U-G-E and come with a delicious buttery parmesan crisp. Dad was nice enough to give his to me. The soup of the day was a white gazpacho; a crab bisque was also available and enjoyed by one of my friends.

I have been getting burned by veal lately, but I ordered the veal porterhouse anyway. It had tremendous flavor, but was a little tough in spite of being cooked to medium rare. Its sides were killer - gnocchi with truffle butter and sauteed favas.

Too full for dinner at the end of it all. We paid the bill and walked it off, all the way over to Ben & Jerry's followed by drinks at the Frogg Pond (karaoke is Sunday nights presently; Monday is live music).

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​Dewey, Rehoboth

Big Fish Grill (Rehoboth): 2 huge softshells for $22 crispy and clean. Grilled rare tuna also huge, perfecty cooked, a little underseasond for me, but fresh and meaty all the same. The sides were weird. Huge mash and tiny veggies . I couldn't get addtional recs for seafood so I felt we did well considering...
Dewey Grill (duh): right across from the Starboard. It's a 'health' food bar which we didn't realize. wasn't a huge fan of their ceaser dressing, but I can be picky. However the bf loved, loved their turkey burger on whole wheat bun (thank goodness, since he asked if the chef had something against a 'real' burger nicely :-) and that's when he was told it was a 'health' food place.) I'd recommed for a quick bite close to the beach and bloody marys were good too.
Northbeach: (Dewey): Picture perfect setting. Sunday's special mammoth frozen drinks 5.75 (prob 16-20oz) I guiltily had 2. Get the fried fish sandwich. Half the heat hot fish goes on the sandwich, half goes in your companions mouth. It says a dijon tartar sauce, but after asking about it the waitress said it's just regular - which it was (poor girl - who was a really great waitress - gets requests for the "dijon tartar" for other food, and nobody believes her when she says it really the same as the other tartar on the menu, it's these stories of 'guests' in restaurants that doesn't make me miss the biz).

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​Bethany

Bluecoast in Bethany Beach. Not bad, small-ish bar, but a big lounge area. Service was surprisingly plesant considering the amount of tourists which I am sure can grate on them throughout the crush. OK wine list, overpriced but not outrageous, bottle of Calera Pinot Noir ran us $48.00 bones. Fried Lobster Tails, 4 small tails, 2 biters basically, $17.00.
Hour wait, then once we hit the table, clean space, lots of elbow room.
Fried Oysters, plump and not dried out, Wife had the Chilled Romaine with spicy blue cheese dressing and bacon. Not bad, a little over=dressed on the greens.
Entrees were hawiaan spiced Tuna for the wife, and I had a rare tenderloin with asparagus.

Let me just say this, finally someone cooks asparagus that has crunch. Its supposeed to have that cigar ash taste and not be limp.
Overall, good place. Pricey...yes. But its suppossed to be that way.

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Georgetown

Has anyone ever stopped at La Quetzalteca, that Mexican joint on 404 just before Georgetown en route to Rehoboth?
I ate there once, out of curiousity. It's definitely authentic (all of the employees were clearly latinos) and I think I was the only gringo in the place. Food was nothing special, unfortunately, given the relatively large population of latinos who live in and around Georgetown.
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​Rehoboth

The Retro Cafe has moved to the larger space next door and the old Retro Cafe is now the GreenMan Juice Bar and Bistro. The GreenMan's menu didn't do much for me, so breakfast yesterday and today has been at Retro. It's OK. I'm not as jazzed about the food as I was last year. The service has suffered during the expansion--that much I know. The owner who also plays the role of server seems 100x as harried as he did last year. My nutella pancakes today were pretty good. My scrambled eggs yesterday required two tries--the first batch came out in little crumbles even though I'd asked for them "easy." Oh well...I'm not at work, at least.

My non-foodie family enjoyed The Pig + Fish Restaurant which is new. I'm not a fan. Our appetizer of hummus, sun dried tomatoes and feta cheese ended up being a mix of the three, rather than a sample of the three. It had an odd, but not inedible, curdled texture. I was starving so I ate it. My main, a tobasco-smoked pork tenderloin, showed up well done instead of the medium I requested. But the real problem was the semi-sweet maple-tinged sauce accompanying it, as well as the soggy asparagus and beyond-crisp carrots.

Better luck next meal.

Appetizers at LaLaLand last night were very, very good. The menu hasn't changed since last year (which is unlike the place), but what we had was even better than last year's visit. Thai spring rolls featured a crispy, greaseless crust, and the Korean BBQ style ribs were really tremendous, tender and full of flavor. I didn't try the calimari, but my friends made it disappear quickly.

We moved on to Ristorante Zebra for main courses. Pretty good, and I like having the option of ordering pastas in a half portion or whole. My carbonara ($10) was suprisingly un-rich. It was fine, but not tremendous. My friend had a much better dish of pappardelle with mushrooms and truffle oil. No room for dessert.

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Fenwick, Bethany

I recommend Crabcake Factory (on 12000 Coastal Highway- ocean side) for their delicious jumbo lump crabcakes.
For breakfast, The Fractured Prune around 120th has great, hot, fresh doughnuts.
For more upscale, try bluecoast (no caps means shi-shi) in Bethany Beach- first come first serve, but pretty nice food.
These are all pretty close the the place in Fenwick.

Here is a post from our trip last year.

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​Rehoboth

I am heading to Rehoboth in a few weeks, and I am wondering if anyone has had a great meal there recently. I know that there are some real gems, but they also seem to turn over quite frequently, and I fear that what I enjoyed in the past may no longer be worthwhile. By the way, if any of you recommend Grotto's Pizza, I will lose all respect for you--that place is an abomination. Thanks.

Also, I know there is a travel section, but I think that the beaches are essentially local offshoots. Nonetheless, I don't want to be in the wrong place, so we can move this if need be.

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​Rehoboth

One favorite of ours is to have dessert (or breakfast) at La Crepes Suzette (I think that is what it's called) located in an 'alley' of shops called Penny Lane. They make killer crepes, particularly the brown sugar, sour cream and banana version. But they are all good. In the mornings, they don't make crepes, but the window next to the place is connected and they make some good coffee and great pastries (chocolate croissant is great).

Some favorite lunch-time places and lower end of the price spectrum joints are Gus & Gus on the boardwalk (try the hot dogs and grilled cheese...fries are very good and I am told their cheesesteak is quite good too, not to mention their fried chicken!). And if you're looking for pizza, we avoid Grotto and head to Nicola's.

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Fenwick; along the way

Fenwick Island recap:

We were at a private party at Captain Pete's Mediterranean Cove (700 Coastal Hwy, approx W. Atlantic St) for one of Pete's nephews, so I can't really tell you what the food is like there on a normal night, but they pulled out the roasters that they normally only use during Orthodox Easter and spitted a whole lamb and a whole pig. Six hours and 200 lbs of wood charcoal later, stuffed only with Greek oregano, olive oil, and lemons, both roasts were perfectly juicy, tear-apart tender, and tightly bound by their crisp brown skins which had split circumferentially at the joints. Apart from these special-occasion treats, the other stand-outs were their dolmades - still the best I've had anywhere, delicate and moist instead of dense, starchy and chewy - and the taramosalata, which was pleasantly light and not particularly salty. Excellent, but not as transcendant, were the spanakopita and tyropita. I must disclose that Pete and Helen's extended family figured largely in my appreciation of Greek food when they lived in Potomac, so I have a certain home-cooked bias, but all of the dishes we ate last weekend had that same flavor that I remembered from years ago, and I loved it. I noticed that just couple miles to the south there was a sign for Ocean City's annual Greek Festival at the end of July, but have no idea if they'll be participating.

As it happens, Jimmy's Kitchen (between W. Georgetown and W. Houston) was almost directly across the highway from where we stayed. It's got that friendly, happy beach shack family kinda vibe, and serves up a perfect fry-up. Good S.O.S. (one of my guilty pleasures) but also good fluffy pancakes, egg sandwiches, and coffee. Prices are frighteningly reasonable, as in Denny's-reasonable. Most breakfast mains are in the $4.50 range, but if you can afford $6, the Nor'easter (two eggs any style, bacon, one sausage link, hash browns, two pancakes and a side of creamed chipped beef) will satisfy the caloric needs of a small steam generator. Two big thumbs up.

Tempted by Blue Coast but distracted by Sietsema's comment last year about the parent company, we decided to roll the dice on the newest member of the chain, Catch 54. Located on Rt 54 about a mile west of the main drag, it occupies a scenic location on the sound. Unfortunately, I found it to be somewhat uneven for the price, and not nearly as interesting as the online menu would have me believe. "Crab cake sliders" were a trio of tasty little crab balls served on slider rolls with a slice of tomato and pickle, but the amount of bread in each roll overwhelmed the crab. Ditching the top half of each roll brought the whole thing into balance, apparently a widely-recognized problem because our server commented that "a lot of people do that" when clearing our plates. Baked oysters fared a little worse, topped with an attractive but somewhat bland crab imperial. We had higher hopes for fresh fish, but surprisingly the only fresh catch on the menu were the tuna, and the rockfish on the daily specials list. Described as crispy skin-on pan-fried rockfish in a chili oil, we both found the dish to be disappointing and confused. Between rather too much chili oil and an uneven fine dice of cucumbers and red onion, the flavor of the fish got lost. Which was no small feat, because the chili oil also suffered from a serious lack of oomph...it was little more than a red oil puddle. The crisped skin had a great texture, but not much of the concentration of flavor that I usually associate with pan-frying. Our final tab came to over $90 for two, about the same as what we paid on the way home for a vastly more satisfying meal at Waterman's in Rock Hall.

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​Rehoboth

I went to Rehoboth two weeks ago, and just to add:

- Back Porch remains consistently good, although a little pricey. I had a fantastic lunch of orzo salad, and some grilled chicken. Mr. Beezy's gazpacho was quite remarkable.

- Retro's breakfast seemed pretty tired. My breakfast quesdilla eggs were bland, smothered in cheese (it's a quesadilla, yes, but not a block of cheddar), with some bac-o tasting bacon. The lemon ricotta pancakes were pretty good, but a little dry. Coffee was completely anemic.

- The Grotto's gelato was no better than Kohr Brothers, and twice as expensive.

- There's a great place on the north end of town that's brand new - the Pig and Fish. As the name suggests, there's lots of pork and seafood, both fresh and good quality. I had a great meatloaf studded with mushrooms. They're also a microbrewery, although we didn't imbibe since we were on the way home...

I am glad to see that there's still nasty beach food to be had - GusGus, the Grotto and the like are still thriving. As frou frou as Rehoboth is, it's still the beach.

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​Rehoboth

For breakfast, try the Crystal Restaurant (620 Rehoboth Ave.) for huge omelets, pancakes, scrapple & egg sandwiches (a locals favorite!), etc. There is usually a line, but the service is fast. And, no, it is nothing like the Crystal City Restaurant...

Another option is Oby Lee (722 Rehoboth Ave.). They roast their own coffee beans onsite, and have a nice assortment of homemade quiches, and pastries of all kinds. They also have wireless internet access, I think.

Other recommendations:

Nicola's pizza - their version of a stromboli, the Nic-a-boli, is legendary.
Fish On - located north of Rehoboth, in Lewes, Fish On has nicely-executed seafood dishes that are reasonably priced. Interesting wine list too.

For greasy-good beach food, you can't go wrong with Gus & Gus and Louie's.

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Rehoboth

Just got back from several days in Rehoboth...so I'll add my 2 cents to the list...

Back Porch Cafe - The sort of place where ambiance out weighs the cooking. You're at the beach, you're relaxed, feeling kinda crispy from sitting on the beach all day, the weather is perfect, you're enjoying the company of your friends...$30 for overcooked roast guinea hen, well the setting is nice, and I did mention you're enjoying the company of friends. Seemed like the chef was going for the big time and not completely pulling it off. Perhaps too ambitious of a menu would be a good way of putting it...but lovely ambiance.

Eden Restaurant - A dressed up place that could easily pass for a restaurant in say the Penn Quarter. The food while still pricey, more $30 entrees, was more even then Back Porch. We enjoyed the Lobster and crab tower, the flatbread with duck confit could have used a little more punch, the seared tuna was excellent, scallops yummy, and lamb chops nicely rare...the one clanger was the chicken breast with house made fettuccine, but then again that's what you get for ordering chicken breast rolleyes.gif

Summer House - Your basic nicely appointed saloon style bar and grill...a place that might perhaps sprout from the minds of the Clyde's Group. Doing the basics here, large sandwiches, burgers, salads, etc. etc. Nothing to complain about, nothing to write home about...but a pleasent place to have lunch.

Funnel Cake...yes you must buy some on the boardwalk and enjoy it on the beach...I mean you are on vacation after all

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Rehoboth

Wouldn't you know that my one chance this summer to sample Jay Caputo's highly touted restaurant, Espuma, would fall on a Monday evening - the only night of the week it's closed.

So thanks to this thread (link provided for our WETA.org readers), I found Chez La Mer as an alternate choice. Chez La Mer is a Rehoboth Beach institution that has been open since 1980, but more importantly, it has half-priced bottles of wine on Monday nights.

It was an expensive, hit-and-miss meal, the highlight being one of the best housemade country patés I've had in quite awhile - not to mention a $31 (half-priced) bottle of 2006 Domaine de Tempier Bandol Rosé. I have all sorts of details I could tell you, but why on earth would I write about individual dishes when there's gossip to report?

As I was sitting there, reading through the menu, I saw that the chef-owner of Chez La Mer was ...

Jay Caputo.

Huh?

On the way out, I asked about this, and this is what I was told by a restaurant employee:

Jay Caputo purchased Chez La Mer on or around June 15th, and Espuma is currently on the selling block. When it sells, Caputo plans to start spending his time at Chez La Mer, modernizing it, and the name Chez La Mer may be, to paraphrase from Sir Patrick Spens, nae mair.

I'd say this is the Rehoboth Beach equivalent of Fabio Trabocchi leaving Maestro, but I've already made a past career out of trying to make small things seem big, and I'm so beyond that.

Cheers,
Rocks.

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​Rehoboth

We like Fins in RB for excellent seafood and a fun bar scene especially when Jamie (sp) is pouring. He's the former owner and always makes you feel welcome. Good wines by the glass and great oysters for light fare. Ask him for dinner recs as we've never been disappointed. Portions are large so two can split an entree.

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​Rehoboth

Was down at the shore for Labor Day weekend.
Went with a large group of friends to Cafe Zeus in Rehobeth Beach.
All in all a nice meal. We started with a few appetizers- the toasted ravioli and baked brie with apricot- both delicious.
I had the raspberry soup with creme fraiche- nice, summery.
I got the Veal Sirloin- Oscar style with crab on top. The veal was nice, crab was just ok. My cousin got their rack of lamb which was pretty great.
For dessert, I had profiteroles, but I also tried their Delaware state fair prizewinning cappuchino cheesecake.
My only complaint would be that the place was host to live music, some cabaret singer Viki Dee, and her speakers were right in front of our table making dinner conversation difficult.
I would say it was an alright meal, don't know if I would rush to return though.
Sat. night, I walked by Espuna which looked closed down.

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​Rehoboth

As I was sitting there, reading through the menu, I saw that the chef-owner of Chez La Mer was ...

Jay Caputo.

Huh?

On the way out, I asked about this, and this is what I was told by a restaurant employee:

Jay Caputo purchased Chez La Mer on or around June 15th, and Espuma is currently on the selling block. When it sells, Caputo plans to start spending his time at Chez La Mer, modernizing it, and the name Chez La Mer may be, to paraphrase from Sir Patrick Spens, nae mair.

I'd say this is the Rehoboth Beach equivalent of Fabio Trabocchi leaving Maestro, but I've already made a past career out of trying to make small things seem big, and I'm so beyond that.

Cheers,
Rocks.

Very interesting. I didn't read this before we went this past weekend and we just found out discovered this fact as well. DR, do you think that Chez La Mer will be his one and only home in RB then? Renamed the new Espuma or something entirely new?

We actually had the good fortune of dining at both Espuma AND Chez La Mer this trip. And let me tell you, Espuma blew Chez La Mer away. Far, far away.

Don't get me wrong, Chez La Mer has some great dishes, but also some real duds. But I am getting ahead of myself. See the section below for my report on Chez La Mer FWIW. Espuma will deserve a bit more time and attention to detail to write up becuase it was that good. Yes, that good. As in make me want to drive back just this upcoming weekend for no reason other than to just eat there.

Here's a Chez La Mer 2007 report --

Well, my wife got the details about Chez La Mer's changing hands. Apparently, the previous owner was finally tired of having to work every summer and, after 25 straight of them working, she sold the place to the owner of a place just a block away, Espuma.

We were in town with some family and my father was looking forward to getting the bouliabaisse, and he got it and it is still divine, but I get ahead of myself.

The first things we noticed about the space is that the new owner invested in better chairs for all of the tables -- great news indeed. While the dining room chairs were always OK enough, even they became butt-whackers after a time. But they did not compare to how lousy the porch and roof chairs were -- cheap plastic patio chairs you can buy at Wal-Mart or wherever for $2 each. These chairs, while not perfect, were a huge improvement!

My wife got the escargots and declared them quite delicious -- so much so that I didn't even get a taste! They were prepared with mushrooms butter and garlic en croute. She mentioned that there seemed to be more mushrooms than escargots, but that this did not detract from it too much at all. I got their pate, which I declared was still up to form. It was served with nice tiny crouton toasts, capers, pistachios, onions, and cornichons and a sauce in a tiny bowl. Still very very good.

The main courses were a bit of a let down though. My wife got a stuffed chicken roulade of a sort while I got the sweetbreads. They were both adequate, but nothing very special. I thought my stuff lacked flavor and was a bit under-seasoned and when I mentioned this to my wife later, she agreed her main was underseasoned as well. Still, the portions were good and not too big. But, since I had the pate and helped my father polish of the bouliabaisse, we decided to skip the desserts (probably a mistake as the desserts are usually quite good).

I will hold out hope that the new owner will make further changes to the menu to bring his own twist on French Cuisine here in Rehoboth Beach, but I hope the changes are for the better. ONE THING that they have not changed is that their winelist is still HALF PRICE every MONDAY night. At those prices, there are some real steals on their list.

Cautiously still recommended, but there may be some misses along with the hits if you go still this year/season.

As an add-on now knowing what Jay Caputo's deal is in moving over to the Chez La Mer space full time (perhaps next season?), there may be precious little time to head back there before it changes completely? So if you love good pate, escargots en croute and boulliabaise, get there NOW.

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Some more details on Espuma--

OK, here is what the my wife and I had for dinner at Espuma --

I had Prawns with beans lemon olives and broth of the gods -- this was simple ane brilliant at the same time. Perfectly executed.

My wife had 'Bacon and Egg salad'. A poached egg which was then barely dipped in bread crumbs and super flash fried on top of some really excellent bacon and a salad to go with it all....Super.

My main course was a Duck Confit with brown butter gnocchi and oyster mushrooms with fig spread on top -- well executed and the duck was the highlight of this dish. Good stuff.

My wife opted for the Chicken (with crispy skin) with peppers, almond ravioli and lobster and best mystery sauce ever -- Damn fine.

Wine was 2003 Fiddlehead Cellars Pinot Noir 728 fiddlestix -- awesome cinnamon and brown butter and ripe cherries and brown spice -- a very good wine. Maybe 90 points.

Dessert was an Ice Cream Sandwich with ginger orange ice cream and cinnamon meruinge cookies and dried cherries.

All in all a great meal. It was made better by the fact that we could linger a bit and the space was nice. Comfortably appointed, there is a wall and curtains alternating to set off the dining room from the bar to leave you feeling a bit of the vibe of the bar area without it becoming too noisy. Service was excellent with the staff being very familiar with the whole menu and specials as well as the wine list -- always a plus. The fact that it was ridiculously walkable from the place we were staying was another plus.

I'd definitely go again -- or wherever the chef decides to be now that he's bought Chez La Mer.

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I assume everyone read in the Washington Post a few weeks back that Chez La Mer is now Porcini House. Below is the snippet from the Washington Post...

Anyone been there yet?

Porcini House

With his modern-Mediterranean restaurant Espuma solidly booked, chef-owner Jay Caputo has created a stellar hangout of an offshoot, sort of Espuma-light, just a block away. The old Chez La Mer site has been redone as a gleaming-wood cottage with open porch, deck lounge and off-season fireplace. The menu is ideal for dawdling over drinks but is also kid-friendly. Best bets include tapas-style appetizers, gourmet panini slivers (especially good is the luscious duck confit with dried cherries and pistachio pesto or croque-monsieur-ish country ham and Gruyere), irresistible flatbreads (porcinis, ricotta and black truffles or artichokes, roasted peppers and olives), a half-dozen risottos and a few heartier main dishes, including a homemade chicken pot pie, roast chicken or Portuguese-style mussels with sausage.

PORCINI HOUSE 210 Second St., Rehoboth Beach. 302-227-6494. Dinner appetizers $6-$12; flatbread and panini $10-$13; entrees $10-$25.
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I'm driving out to Rehoboth tomorrow and will report back with any finds. It used to be easy for me to bamboozle my family into letting me pick the restaurants, but in recent years, they've started pushing back, wanting less "scary" food and also wanting less expensive options. :lol:

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Here I am, in overcast Rehoboth Beach, going stir crazy from too much family time and too much pouting/sulking/complaining about food. You may recall from my posts that I have an aunt who always orders a "French martini" but is never satisfied, and often, upon seeing tuna offered as an entree, asks if it can be served "blackened." I regress to my teenage self and do much eye rolling.

Tonight we hit new lows at the new Porcini House. I put my head in my hands a few times. At the end, I took aside the server (Tim) and thanks him gratefully for not rolling his eyes as I did. He laughed it off.

Anyway...the food. We'd had lots of snacky foods back at the house so none of us had appetizers. I couldn't decide between two of the offered risottos, corn or tomato, so I ended up with half portions of each at the suggestion of the server. Although I didn't think I was that hungry, I ate about 90% - burp. Really rich and delicious. I offered my difficult aunt a taste of either and she declined as risotto is too "creamy." My father, who usually eats whatever is put in front of him, does not like rice. I don't get it either.

My mother, sulking over the choice of restaurant, the lack of you-peel shrimp or anything else she considers sufficiently "beachy" ordered - wait for it - a burger, well done. It arrived pink and she sent it back. *sigh* In the end, she hated it, the accompanying popcorn (I'll admit, that's a weird side) AND the side of potato puree she ordered. She really should have had the chicken pot pie, but refused citing the presence of black truffles. She hates mushrooms and can't understand that they're not the same.

Both aunt and uncle had the tuna "cooked" and cleaned their plates although the tuna looked awfully dry to me.

Uncle was annoyed when the pinot noir he let the server pick ended up being $12. I somehow managed to bite my tongue. What I wanted to say was "pick your own wine then!" and "that's not that bad!" He also pointed out that at his country club, his wine glass is "full." I wanted to tell him that when you pour crappy wines...oh never mind.
<Do you sense that I have been in hell this week? I have. Someone please adopt me.>

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Rehoboth

I asked Kliman a similar question the other day:

Mt. Pleasant, DC

Is there any restaurant in Rehoboth that isn't
mediocre and overpriced?

Todd: Take a look at the July issue. [of Washingtonian Magazine]
I'm with you, by and large, about the fine-dining options.

But Espuma delivers. There's some smart, accomplished cooking coming from Jay Caputo's kitchen. You're not likely to come away feeling like somebody's been playing with too many ingredients in the back.

And a handful of new-ish places -- Fish On!, Northeast Seafood Kitchen, Blue Coast, all of them owned by the same company -- has figured out that what people really want from a nice meal out at the beach is simple, focused flavors and good, fresh fish.

I had dinner at Blue Coast tonight.

"Simple, focused flavors and good, fresh fish." Ridiculous.

It wants to be Black Salt, but the meal I had tonight was about what I'd expect from The Reef, and I'm actually being unkind to The Reef: I originally wrote Stoney's, but in fairness to Blue Coast, they at least make some attempt at plating the dishes.

Everything is either pulled from the awful display case (frozen-looking tilapia filets, tuna that looks purple, etc.) or from the freezer. The quality of meat in the crab cakes was as bad as any I've had in years - have you ever had that salty, stringy, canned, 99-cent Gulf-of-Thailand crap from Trader Joe's? This is that.

The bar, the wines, even the beers are as bad as anything, anywhere. The one merciful exception was a Dogfish Head Shelter Pale Ale.

Does anyone actually taste these comments before they leave the keyboard?

I'll figure out a way to be less brutal in the morning; tonight I'm pissed off to the tune of $175 for three people.
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Never eaten anywhere but the Dogfish Head brewpub, and don't see any need to eat anywhere else, either. I don't go to the beach for fine dining, I go for burgers and beers. And I don't go to Rehoboth for the beach, I just go for Dogfish.

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Went to Espuma in Rehoboth Beach, this labor day weekend- wow great meal.
Pics
The rethought "bacon and egg" salad was pretty cool. I had the Black Mission fig salad with parmesan foam.
For entree, I got the trio of Berkshire pork, but the best was their special, the Veal Ossobucco.
Someone else got the vegetarian extravaganza, which ended up being 7 different vegetarian items- 3 cold, 4 warm- like an ultra solo tapas experience.
Dessert was good, too- Jay's ice cream sandwich- 2 meringues sandwiching hazelnut ice cream was inspired. We also tried the chocolate, chocolate, chocolate- molten chocolate cake, pots de creme and a chocolate milkshake.

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Bethany

Had dinner at Steakhouse 26 recently. It's the fourth time we've been there since the opening and unfortunately noticed the food quality, although very acceptable, continues to decline. The decor is really well done, some staffers are great (some are not) and the TV's at the tables in the bar section are a nice touch. Drinks are good; beer on draught consistently good. Food, however, seems to be lacking. First two times we had steak and/or salmon. Pretty good. Last spring the salmon had to be sent back it was so poorly done. Yesterday, was build your own hamburger night -- can't beat the deal at $5.00. Except, hamburgers were full of grizzle and comparatively very small. Will think twice before re-visiting.

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Going in April. What's the best restaurant in Rehoboth these days? I looked at Espuma's menu and just doesn't sing to me. I don't care for any kind of salad when I'm eating at a fancy restaurant. Couldn't care less about any attempt at Asian cooking (not while I'm at the beach). I'm likely to eat at La Tolteca for lunch - my favorite tex-mex joint in the entire mid-atlantic region.

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Rehoboth; along the way

We left town shortly after 7 on Friday on Easter weekend. There was no traffic on the beltway and we made it to Rehoboth in just over 2 hrs. We celebrated our early arrival at La Tonalteca (part of the Las Toltecas chain). It's cheap tex-mex food but it's the one place we always go to when we go to the beach. Unfortunately we never went to be the beach this weekend because it rained all day on Saturday. Instead we ate at 3 joints on Saturday.

First we went to Jake's Seafood on Rt 1. The Maryland crab soup was a delicious vegetable soup (would've been great if there were more crab meat), the steamed clams were fresh and plump, but the crab balls werenothing special (I thought they're known for their crab balls?). We next stopped by Go Fish, a fish and chips shop owned by some Brits in Rehoboth. The cod was nicely beer battered but the entire restaurant feels greasy and sticky. For dinner we went to Blue Moon. The online menu was pretty exciting but the actual menu was much different. We ended up with antipasto (5 different cold cuts), fried green tomtatos (served with lots of pesto), lobster fricasse (the sauce was great but the dish came with very dense spatzle - so what if it's handmade?), potato leek soup (bland), and pasta Bolognese. We only had a bite of the pasta before we moved onto the dessert, which is the largest moon pie that I've ever seen. I don't think the food's great at Blue Moon but it's pretty good for the beach and the restaurant itself is really charming.

On the way home on Sunday, we stopped by the Narrows on Kent Island. We had mini crab cakes, cream of crab soup, baked clams, fried oysters and seared ahi tuna. Stick to the crabs and the place won't disappoint. In fact, the crab cakes were delicious.

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Blue Moon -- Good but a little disappointing. Nice space, good server, but food was not there for me. If you have a special with soft shell crabs (and they were wonderful for this early), why, oh why would you cover them with some sort of glop (salsa) on top? Crispiness is what it is about and you killed it! Ahh!

Gus & Gus on the Boardwalk -- just look at the pictures. These guys are dependably greasy good.
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Stupid donrockwell software is making me do this in two posts.

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