The Blue Plate Diner

The Blue Plate Diner used to be a favorite of mine. It seemed to be closed down for awhile (I think the owners were focused on opening their new place in Rehoboth Beach). Anyway, this past summer I noticed it reopened. J & E were in town and we decided to give it a shot to see if it was up to its old standards. When ended up with a slow start to the day, so the original plan for breakfast turned into lunch. We had patty melts, and they met our standards for this classic diner meal. The one odd thing that we noticed ... while the Blue Plate was mostly empty when we were there, there were many dirty tables around us. Several of them looked like the food on the plates had barely been touched. Where did these people go? Why did they leave so suddenly? Why didn't the staff clear the tables? Strange.

Milton Family Restaurant

Hey, I gave the Milton Family Restaurant on route 16 a try for breakfast. You know, eggs, pancakes, the works. The service was awesome, and the food was what you would expect from diner fare. The prices were reasonable as well, so the Milton Family Restaurant gets a recommendation from me.

Stoney Lonen

J and E were in town, and we decided to give Stoney Lonen in Rehoboth Beach a try. We didn't know much about it other than it was an Irish place, so we were expecting pub-like food. When we got there, we looked at the menu posted outside, and based on the dishes (and prices), we realized that Stoney Lonen is fancier than we were expecting, but the descriptions of the menu items sounded interesting, so we decided to give it a go.


E ordered onion soup, and the server brought out some dinner rolls for the table. E described the soup as very blah and forgettable. The dinner rolls were also bland -- the type of thing that you'd get at any rubber chicken banquet. Since I'm a bread fanatic, I decided to get a side order of thegrilled brown bread. I was excited, as I've had real brown bread in Ireland, and it's awesome. Unfortunately, what's served at Stoney Lonen is NOT real brown bread. Somehow they managed to suck all of the taste out of it, and this stuff was BORING.

Eventually, J's chicken dish was served, as was E's crabcake. (My food was nowhere to be found). We waited and waited, and I insisted that J and E start eating, as my food showed no signs of appearing. Just by appearances, you could tell that J's chicken dish had been sitting under heat lamps, as it had a very dried out appearance. The sauce sounded interesting from the menu description (fresh herb fontina cream sauce) turned out to be flavorless. E's crabcake with lemon dijon cream sauce was acceptable, if not exceptional.

Eventually my cod and clam dish arrived. It was completely tasteless, and the interesting sauce/broth that was described by the waiter appeared to be nothing more than water.

The Bottom Line: Stoney Lonen -- bad service with bland, boring food, at tourist prices.

Mr. Pizza

I really like Mr. Pizza in Lewes. The pizzas are made in a traditional brick oven, giving the crust that little something extra. I've been there several times, and the service is always friendly and attentive. If you are really feeling decadent, order the fried mushroom appetizer. The mushrooms are the size of your fist (alright, maybe a child's fist, but really, they are huge as far as mushrooms go!) and are covered in a really flaky batter. Hmmm.

If you are looking for pizza in the Lewes area, go no further than Mr. Pizza.

Iguana Grill - Milton

The restaurant choices are a bit limited in the Milton area, so I thought it was great when I heard that the Iguana Grill was opening a new location there. Based on my first visit, I think Milton is still looking for a fun spot with good food. Who knows, maybe Dogfish Head will finally get around to opening a pub at its brewery location in Milton. But back to the Iguana Grill ...

C & I went there and got a seat on the outdoor deck. The location is great, and overlooks a pond. It has the makings of a fun hangout. We tried an appetizer sampler, which was a platter of tasty, but unhealthy fried stuff. C ordered a southwestern steak wrap, and she was satisfied with it. I ordered a french dip sandwich, which was a special of the day. Unfortunately, the special list didn't mention that the sandwich would come slathered with a thick layer of horseradish sauce, which I don't like. Also, my sandwich also showed signs of sitting under the heat lamps for quite some time. I don't get it ... I've worked in restaurants, and it's possible to time the meal/food so that the food comes out hot, but not dried out. Needless to say, I was disappointed in my meal. I'm willing to give it one more shot, but Iguana Grill needs to do better next time.

Japonica

C & I were in the mood for Japanese, so we headed off to my favorite Japanese/Sushi place in Rehoboth Beach, The Cultured Pearl. Unfortunately, since it was a crowded Summer weekend at the beach, The Cultured Pearl was packed and there was no way we were getting in. So we headed off to try Japonica, the relatively new place in town (I think it's about a year old). Japonica is located on Rehoboth Avenue, on the beach block. The restaurant is in a storefront space. It's not too large, but nicely appointed. We started with a tempura appetizer, which was an excellent combination of shrimp and seasonal vegetables. We also had some miso soup and a salad with an excellent ginger dressing. We followed all of this with a sushi and sashimi sampler (we split this), which came with a side of seaweed salad. Wow ... this was awesome. I say ... if you like Japanese, give Japonica a try. We had excellent service, outstanding food, and reasonable prices!

Harpoon Hanna's - Fenwick Island

When I'm in the Fenwick Island area, I like to get a beer and some appetizers at the bar on the deck at Haroon Hanna's. It's a fun, relaxing atmosphere, with good service, and good, if not memorable food. In previous visits, I really enjoyed the live music as well (a solo guitar player, singing and playing fun, beachy music from the 60s and 70s). However, during my most recent visit, they had the stereo cranked to the point that I could not have a conversation with my fellow diners.