Author: Marilyn Johnson

Marilyn is a freelance writer covering the food and drink scene of South Jersey.

Exciting New Menu Items at Silver Diner in Cherry Hill

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The Silver Diner on Route 38, across from the Cherry Hill Mall, next to Kohl’s may look like an ordinary diner, but the food is elevated several notches above regular diner food. They’ve added some exciting new menu items and we were more than happy to taste test upon invitation. We usually dine at least twice every season which typically coincides with new items being added to the menu. I love that they keep the popular items and offer new dishes. I tend to gravitate towards new things because it keeps things interesting.

There truly is something for everyone on this menu, including vegans and people who adhere to a gluten-free diet. This is so important because I know my plant-based and GF friends struggle with dining out. The Silver Diner is somewhere they can feel comfortable eating.

We tried the Wagyu Brisket Burger, Wagyu Brisket, and Crab Cakes.

All of these dishes are under $20. I love that they use premium ingredients at an affordable price. The burger was HUGE, so if you like big burgers, you’re going to love this one. The apple and butternut squash served with the Wagyu Brisket added a nice sweetness which balanced the richness of the beef. The crab cakes were downright delectable. Everything was well-seasoned, cooked the way we liked, and traveled well. Granted, we live just two miles from the restaurant. YMMV.

Totally going back to try the Wagyu Benedict for brunch someday soon! 🙂

If you go, tell ’em South Jersey Food Scene sent ya.

Thanks to Silver Diner for the complimentary items, but our opinions are our own.
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Red’s Cafe to Open in Marlton

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On February 1st, 2021, Red’s Cafe, a new takeout kitchenette, will open in One Greentree Centre, 10000 Lincoln Drive East in Marlton, NJ.

Owned and operated by Megan Hilbert of Red’s Rolling Restaurant in collaboration with Mary’s Mobile Diner. This will be the first foray into a brick and mortar business for the mother-daughter food truck owners.

The menu will offer breakfast and lunch options, including breakfast sandwiches, paninis, flatbreads, quesadillas, Mac & Cheese, smoothies, soups, and more.

The cafe will be open Monday through Friday from 8am to 3pm.

More info as we get it!

Karachi Kafe Brings Taste of Pakistan to Voorhees

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Last month, Karachi Kafe opened at 2999 E Evesham Road in Voorhees, serving Pakistani cuisine. Owner Anny Khan named the new restaurant after Karachi, the largest city in Pakistan, where she was born and raised.

The restaurant’s menu features many traditional Pakistani dishes, including several made with a tandoori grill, and some “fusion” dishes including Naan pizzas, burgers and chicken sandwiches, and chicken wings.

The dining room is decorated in colorful furniture, with murals paying homage to Karachi, known as the “City of Lights,” adorning the walls.

The restaurant is open Tuesday to Sunday 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.

Currently limited to 25% capacity for indoor dining, the restaurant is also offering takeout. So give it a try and let us know what you think!

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New Nutrition-Focused Cafes Open in Moorestown and Palmyra

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New Year, New You?

If you want to get healthier this year, you might be pleased to hear that two new nutrition-focused cafes opened in South Jersey, one in Moorestown and another in Palmyra.

Moorestown Nutrition (115 West Main Street in Moorestown) opened in October and Top Notch Spot (537 Cinnaminson Avenue) opened most recently in January.

Both cafes serve smoothies, shakes, energy drinks, juices, and coffees (hot or iced). Top Notch Spot also serves a small menu of breakfast-centric food items such as donuts, waffles, and smoothie bowls all of which boast high protein and low-calorie counts.

Moorestown Nutrition is owned by Erica and Steven Koehl, who’s been in the Air Force for 13 years, and live on Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst. They opened Easthampton Nutrition at 1307 Woodlane Road in Westhampton, NJ last year and plan to open Westampton Nutrition later this month at 897 Rancocas Road in Westhampton, NJ.

Since opening in Easthampton, the Koehl’s sold the business to Caly and Timm Williams. Once up and running, Bob and Lori Kirkpatrick will be the sole owners of the Westhampton location.

The Koehl’s love giving back to the community. During Christmas, they fundraised for a local charity, Camp No Worries.

Top Notch Spot in Palmyra is a family-owned business operated by Jensy Urena and his wife Yahaira Pena, who noticed that there were not too many spots for healthy eats in the area. The location, formerly Mama’s Cookies and Love, Live, Donuts before that, is kid-friendly.

If you’re looking to be more health-conscious this year, check out these two new nutrition-focused cafes in South Jersey.

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South Jersey Hot Chocolate Trail

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Do you know what we need (or what we didn’t think we needed) right now?

A hot chocolate trail.

That’s right! Winter is here and it’s time to indulge in a luxurious hot cocoa drink!

Visit South Jersey has assembled this trail map of South Jersey’s must-visit spots where you can get your hot chocolate fix!

Do you have a favorite place to get hot chocolate in South Jersey? Let us know in the comments!

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Get Mariah Carey’s Cookies Delivered in South Jersey

by Marilyn JohnsonNews / ReviewsLeave a Comment on Get Mariah Carey’s Cookies Delivered in South Jersey

Want to try Mariah Carey’s cookies? If you’re in the Cherry Hill area, you can!

A couple of weeks ago, Mariah Carey launched her own delivery-only cookie brand just in time for the holidays. Cherry Hill is one of the “30 major markets” where the concept launched and is apparently running out of a possible ghost kitchen on Haddonfield Road in the Towne Place at Garden State Park shopping center.

I haven’t had a chance to go over there to scope out the location, but I noticed another concept called “Wing Squad” that shows up on Grubhub operating from that address so I’m kind of guessing.

Anyways, Mariah’s Cookies offers boxes of a dozen or half-dozen cookies in various flavors such as:

  • Chocolate Chunk
  • Triple Chocolate Chunk
  • Heath Bar
  • Lemon Cooler
  • Spiced Oatmeal Raisin
  • Pumpkin (seasonal)
  • Gingerbread (seasonal)
  • White Chocolate Cranberry (seasonal)

Cookies are available to order via delivery apps including Grubhub, DoorDash, Postmates, UberEats, and Seamless. You can build your own box and pick the flavors you would like.

We ordered a box with a half dozen cookies from Grubhub tonight and had one of six flavors delivered (Heath Bar, Lemon Cooler, Spiced Oatmeal Raisin, Pumpkin, Gingerbread, White Chocolate Cranberry).

Mariah’s Cookies

While the cookies were tasty, by the time we ordered them (5:45 pm) and they were delivered (6:45 pm), they did not seem fresh. In fact, they were probably made earlier in the day and had been sitting around. They were crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside—certainly not stale at all—which didn’t bother me, but if you’re looking for fresh from the oven, you may not find that here. Or, try to order as early in the day as possible maybe?

As you can see from the photo above, the sizes are also inconsistent. Some are very large (gingerbread), while others are rather small (spiced oatmeal raisin). Not a huge deal, but it would be nice if they were similar sizes. I’d say the Lemon Cooler and the White Chocolate Cranberry were my favorite as each had a good flavor. The lemon especially comes through on the lemon cookie.

A half-dozen cookies costs $11.99. Additional cookies can be added for $1.99/piece. A dozen cookies costs $21.99.

With fees, tax, and tip, I ended up spending $21.68 altogether. A bit steep for six cookies, but I felt I was doing important cookie research. 😉

And while I’m not a big fan of Mariah Carey, I love cookies and had to see what these were all about. The cookies are okay, but I probably don’t see myself spending that much money on them again. YMMV.

@mariahcareyscookies

Let me know what you think if you try them! Comment here or tag me on social @southjerseyfoodscene.

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Valente’s Cucina in Haddonfield to Expand

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Valente’s Cucina, 7 Kings Court in Haddonfield, announced that it will be expanding its dining room paving way for more seating indoors. They will be taking over space next door where a tailor used to be.

“Nothing like opening a restaurant during a global pandemic and shutdown and then trying to expand on the brink of another shutdown,” Marcello De Feo, owner, told South Jersey Food Scene.

New Jersey restaurants are still operating on 25% capacity for indoor dining. For a small restaurant with already limited seating, this makes it tough to survive.

Demo and construction will begin “soon” and he’s hoping to have more diners inside, socially distanced of course, by the middle of January.

In the meantime, De Feo is able to run a take-out and delivery “ghost kitchen” business, with offerings not available as Valente’s. This will supplement the business until the new dining space opens up.

Basta offers starters, sandwiches, steaks, salads, pasta dishes, and some entrees for lunch or dinner.

Stay tuned as we learn more.

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Marcello’s Ristorante is now Marlton Bistro

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Marcello’s Ristorante, located at 300 E. Greentree Road in Marlton, recently underwent a rebranding and is now known as Marlton Bistro.

Managing Partner Vic Ram, 33, originally from Moorestown, took ownership three years ago and came to the realization that the area didn’t need another Italian restaurant or pizza shop. He got to know the customers and what they wanted.

“This change had been in the works since before the pandemic,” Ram told South Jersey Food Scene. “We’re not restricted by it. In fact, our take-out and delivery are thriving. We just felt it was time for a change.”

In addition to the name change, the dining room has undergone a “refresher” with some updates to the menu. While popular Italian-style items from Marcello’s remain, they’ve added some new dishes like burgers, fried chicken sandwiches, and a couple of charcuterie boards on the appetizer menu.

The biggest change is a brand new Brunch menu available on Saturday and Sunday from 8AM to 2PM, which includes popular items such as omelettes, French toast, pancakes, breakfast sandwiches and wraps, and bagels & lox.

The restaurant is BYOB and reservations can be made on Open Table.

Guests are welcome to dine inside at 25% capacity.

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Haddonfield’s Jersey Java & Tea Converts Space Into Small Food Market

by Marilyn JohnsonNewsLeave a Comment on Haddonfield’s Jersey Java & Tea Converts Space Into Small Food Market

It comes as no surprise to hear that another sit-down food business has converted at least part of its space into a food market.

Last month, cozy French bistro The Little Hen located at 220 Kings Highway East in Haddonfield announced it was transforming its restaurant into a small grocery store offering cheeses, provisions, and kitchenwares. They also scaled back the restaurant menu to offer French-inspired sandwiches only for takeout.

Earlier this month, popular Haddonfield coffeeshop Jersey Java and Tea at 140 North Haddon Avenue announced its own evolution into a pandemic-inspired specialty boutique market to take up unused space due to continued indoor restrictions.

“We can only seat 10 people inside,” owner Mary Burke tells South Jersey Food Scene. “Needless to say, that left a lot of empty space.”

Working with Jonathan Raduns of Merchandise Food to create a retail-friendly environment, Burke brought in refrigerated display cases for perishable food and shelves to merchandise non-perishable food products.

“We want to carry as many local, small vendors as much as possible,” Burke noted. “We’re offering Hillacres Pride cheese from Peach Bottom, PA, Heirzoom Hungarian Pastries from Turnersville, NJ, iSwich ice cream sandwiches from West Chester PA, TBJ Gourmet Bacon Jam also from West Chester, and many others. We’re still in the process of sourcing local products to put our shelves.”

When the pandemic first began, they started offering Franklin Fountain ice cream pints. Sales continue to be successful and will continue to stock them.

“We’re also setting up a mixer section for customers to take home to make drinks. A popular addition to this section is a Grapefruit Rosemary syrup,” Burke mentioned. “We also have a DIY gift section including Kombucha kits, hot sauce kits, donuts, gingerbread cookies, and bagels.”

They also still offer Square One coffee (from Lancaster, PA) and their own homemade pastries and quiches.

Small businesses such as Burke’s Jersey Java have had to pivot creatively to keep the lights on during the pandemic. Consider supporting these small businesses even more during the holidays.

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BB.Q Chicken Marlton Plans December Opening

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Do you know what South Jersey needs more of? Fried chicken!

And not just any fried chicken, but succulently juicy and extra crispy Korean golden fried chicken. Have I got your attention?

Owner Sam Li expects to debut his BB.Q Chicken franchise in the Marlton Crossing Shopping Center at 125 Route 73 South during the first week of December for a soft opening, then a grand opening the following week.

In addition to the Korean fried chicken that the global BB.Q Chicken chain, which operates over 3000 stores worldwide, is famous for, this location will also feature Bubble tea, and Thai rolled ice cream (thanks to a partnership with Frozen Boba). Kind of a one-stop-shop for all things sinfully delicious, if you ask me.

Grand Opening specials will include BOGO on all bubble teas. They will also be hosting social media contests and giveaways.

Li also owns and operates OSushi in the Marlton Crossing Shopping Center and Oriental Palace in Lawnside.

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