Restaurant reviewd by:
Jane Ong
Coming from Los Angeles, my colleagues and I are very curious about the Jersey Shore. So we paid our very first visit to Seaside Heights yesterday. As much as we love hanging out in the beach towns all over California, we were not impressed by Seaside Heights. It was disheartening to see it in person. May be it was just the gloomy weather that made the town look particularly sad. We were there to attend the Hot Rod & Food Trucks event on Bay Avenue. But after walking through a few miserable looking blocks (that resembled the high crime neighborhood we avoid in Los Angeles), from our parking spot to the event, our spirits were saddened enough that, not even the display of beautiful antique cars was able to keep us there much longer.
I personally would very much like to stay at the event longer to try the food offered by the food trucks. But then my colleagues, who were so annoyed by the heat and humidity of the cloudy weather that they refused to eat standing around without proper utensils and comfortable seating. They insisted that we went to Tiffany's in Toms River because they heard about an offer of "buy one Prime Rib dinner ($16.99 as shown on the above photo) and get another for free". I was out-voted and I had no choice but to go along.
The restaurant is very huge and spacious inside, with the typical decor of a casual family restaurant. The interior is clean, comfortable and decently decorated. I actually love the hanging lamps there.
My colleagues picked Tiffany's because it's one of the few restaurants in this area that serve "alcohol". I finally was able to have my "real" Pineapple Mojito. We read from the Asbury Park Press that the restaurant has until July 24, 2015 to sell the liquid license due to the State's citation on the restaurant's sale of alcohol to anyone who appears intoxicated. So this Pineapple Mojito I ordered can be one of the last glasses served.
The mojito tasted okay, not great, but not bad either. As for my prime rib. It was not a bad piece of meat. But it was more like sub-prime rib to me. It was edible when served at the restaurant and reasonable at such a discounted price tag. It was decent food compared to
the awful food I tried elsewhere here in Toms River. The vegetables were just too bland for our taste and we hate the plainly blanched snow peas. Couldn't they be blanched in beef stock or something tasty instead of plain water, if they were to be served as blanched vegetables? I of course prefer my veggies to be seasoned and sauteed the usual California style. The mashed potato was the best item on my plate because it was well seasoned and it was real red potatoes mashed with real butter. The mashed potato tasted good this morning as leftover but the prime rib tasted bad this morning as leftover. I guess the reason that the prime rib didn't taste good after one night in the fridge is because the quality of the meat just wasn't great to begin with. It was then not properly seasoned when cooked. It was pretty bland yesterday when I had it in the restaurant. I had to constantly sprinkle salt on it but salt alone can't really add much flavor to a piece of steak that was long frozen. The server offered to give me the A-1 Steak sauce, but I never liked putting this sauce on my steak, or any of my food. I'm just not a fan of A-1. I'm sure the great chefs in Los Angeles could have made this kind of steak work. Unfortunately, restaurants here in this area don't seem to have that calibers of chefs. This restaurant is not the place we plan on returning soon. But we won't mind returning if we are in this neighborhood again and we are real hungry but knowing nowhere else to go. I wonder if the food at the food trucks back in Seaside Heights would have served us better food. May be my colleagues and I shouldn't have left the Hot Rod event too early.
This is one of the food trucks that I was very interested in trying but my colleagues were all turned off by the idea of standing in a long line under very hot, sticky and humid climate condition. My colleagues seemed to be in grouchy mood and I wonder may be it was because of the gloomy overcast....They considered $12 for just one lobster roll sandwich was overpriced compared to the half-price Prime Rib deal they had in their mind. But even not for the food, I would like to stay at the event a little longer so I could learn more about the beautiful cars there.
This Corvette is really pretty but what year was this car made? I have no clue now because my friends pulled me out of the event too early.
The above cool antique car really caught my eyes. I would love to test drive it and take a photo with it. Again, what is the year and model of this car?
This pretty shiny blue car must be from the 1950s, right? Sometimes it's just better to travel alone than travelling in packs because I won't have to be rushed by friends or family who may not share the same interest with me. So, if anyone of you happen to know the year, model and the estimated market value of any of the above cars, please let me know by commenting in the comment box below. I would really appreciate. I just want to know how many years will I have to save before I can afford one of these babies.
Restaurant: Tiffany's Restaurant
Address: 270 NJ-37, Toms River, NJ 08753
Tel:(732) 281-1036
