Island Cafe

1611 Route 37 East

Toms River, NJ 08753

732-929-3030
www.islandcafetomsriver.com

John:     Ellen:

Price: $$

Neslted next to Richs II Ice Cream between Washington and Vaughn sits a casual, friendly, family owned and operated BYOB eatery called Island Café. I was told that I absolutely had to visit there to try one of their 18 different wraps. When we first walked in, it looked like every other pizza joint with it’s glass counter showing pizzas you buy by the slice as well as fixing for their subs. To the right, however, is a cute little dining room with about a dozen tables, seating 45. The walls were nicely painted in a seascape mural. One look at their extensive menu of veal, beef, chicken, 20 different salads, pasta, pork and more and any thoughts of this being just another pizza joint went out the window. Not to say they don’t take good care of their pizza customers, with such choices as whole wheat and gluten free pizza.

After being seated, we were pleasantly greeted by our waitress Tara. She and another server, Barry, were the only two servers, responsible for serving and bussing the entire dining room. Quite a task. Fortunately, not all tables were full but as the evening went on, the few empty tables began filling up. Somehow though, they managed to pull it off. And with the exception of the kitchen, which did not share our servers’ passion for speed, service was flawless. Thanks to Barry who was steadily walking around the dining room looking for things that needed his attention, our soda glasses were never empty and our used bread and appetizer plates were removed as soon as we finished our last bites. Even though he wasn’t our server, he didn’t hesitate to take care of whatever needed his attention, regardless of whose table it was.


Not long after we were seated, Tara brought us a basket of fresh rolls. The smell of garlic was so strong I could smell it before the basket hit the table. That’s how garlic rolls should be! If garlic isn’t your thing, there were also pizza bread rolls. All fresh out of the oven and steaming hot.

Although we went to Island Café because of the wrap recommendation, we were feeling like dinner, so we checked out the entrée menu and found a great page of specials called the Pre-fix Specials. The special includes one appetizer to share, two entrees (including soup or salad), and dessert for $25. The list of entrees that qualified for the pre-fix price were substantial. I was first interested in trying the lobster ravioli but when I asked if the ravioli was freshly made at the café, Tara honestly told me no so I passed. My second choice was flat iron steak. Strike two. The flat iron steak was sold out. But the good news is, they were substituting sirloin steak in its place. I chose to go with the sirloin, which included choice of potato and choice from about a half dozen vegetable options. I chose the fries and steamed asparagus. The asparagus was also available sautéed, but those rolls put me over my garlic limit for the day. My wife Ellen ordered the seafood au gratin consisting of lobster, shrimp, scallops and lump crab meat in a pink sauce with buttered bread crumbs toasted on top with a side of buttered pappardelle pasta.

Our first impression of what was to come was our appetizer of fried calamari which I have to tell you, we order just about everywhere we go, and we were amazed that this little café put out the BEST calamari we’ve had to date. The coating was some of the crispiest while the squid was among the most tender. The coating, when eaten alone, was a tad lacking in flavor, but the texture, and the crunch, and the absolute absence of oil more than made up for it. A little salt and pepper, a squirt of lemon, a dip of marinara, all had so much flavor there was really no need to flavor the coating any more than it was. The coating was there for texture, while the squid and the accompanying seasonings and dip handled the responsibilities of taste perfectly. The side of marinara sauce had a tang that complemented the calamari nicely but which we originally thought might be too tangy for pasta,. Looking back though, I’m sure the tang of the marinara was intensified by the lemon we had squirted on the calamari, so don’t fear ordering it on pasta. We finished every bite and our empty plate was quickly cleared off the table.

Next came my cream of asparagus soup and Ellen’s house salad, Both were typical fare. Not great, (maybe after the appetizer I’m spoiled) but nothing to complain about either. Soup was hot and tasted of asparagus although the creaminess could have been improved by better whisking of the thickening agent which had settled to the bottom in a few tiny lumps. The salad dressing, like the marinara, was a bit tangy and Ellen accidentally put on more than she normally would, so most of the salad went uneaten. Again, no time was wasted clearing the plates off our table.
Then we waited. And waited. And waited. If the kitchen was as understaffed as the dining room, I can understand the delay. In this particular case, waiting was particularly unfortunate. While we waited, we noticed one woman sending her pasta back to the kitchen, then we heard another woman, sitting right beside us, telling her date that her “sautéed” chicken tasted more boiled than sautéed. Oh boy, this was not looking good.

We struck up a conversation with the couple and found out that they come here often, and just love it here. This particular chicken dish misunderstanding was the first problem they’d ever experienced there. She also said the chicken was actually quite good, just not what she had expected. Later that visit, when Tara asked her how her meal was and she said it wasn’t what she expected, the folks at Island Café couldn’t have been more accommodating. The owner, Debbie, came out and personally apologized profusely and offered several option to make it up to her. She finally settled on a new dinner, plus taking the original dinner home. The pasta lady hadn’t gotten that kind of attention so I assume her problem was minor and easily fixed, however, by the time the pasta lady got her new spaghetti, her date had already finished his so she asked to have her replacement spaghetti boxed to go. That’s unfortunate.

They say good things come to those who wait. Evidently great things come to those who wait and wait and wait. My sirloin was absolutely amazing! The beautiful crispy char on the outside belied the perfectly pink juicy interior. The huge sirloin was as thick as a filet mignon, but twice the size, twice the flavor and nearly as tender. The steak, the vegetables and the fries, as well as Ellen’s casserole were as hot as they could be so we knew the delay wasn’t caused by the cooked food waiting around for our server to pick them up. Cooking from scratch takes time and is worth the wait. When I cleaned my plate of my steak, there wasn’t a scrap left. Not an ounce of fat had to be cut off. Every bite was eaten and every bite was perfect. Like the calamari, the sirlon was the best I’d ever eaten.

Ellen had to get used to the excess of butter in her seafood casserole. With the buttered bread crumbs and the buttered pasta it was a bit too rich. But once she got used to it, it went down easy. It was still too rich to eat all in one sitting though so she brought half of it home and we both enjoyed it again later that evening.

We had to get our dessert to go because we were now running late, but the carrot cake made a nice snack while watching TV later that night.

Despite a couple little items I mentioned, the outstanding appetizer, perfect sirloin, and attentive staff made this a place we will definitely recommend and return to.

Island Café accepts competitors’ coupons up to $11.00, as well as their own coupons which are available on their website. We didn‘t have a coupon but the couple we had spoken to regarding their chicken had two of Island Café’s 20% off coupons which they had gotten from the back of their Stop & Shop sales receipt and they kindly slipped us one. Unfortunately we weren’t able to use it on the special. No problem. We’ll hold onto it until we come back for those wraps!