Reviews for Magnolia Room in Cape May, NJ
The greeting and seating was pleasant and quick. Easy to reserve and we have wanted to try for years. The reviews were not great... but me and my wife wanted to experience the cape May tradition. That was the great part of the review. Now for the food. Westarted with appetizers of spring rolls very small but tasty and baby back ribs that were tender but the glaze was too sweet formy taste. My wife tried the famous fried chicken but was sadly bland and dry in parts. She asked for gravy to help it out butthat was thin and not very good. To think they charged a premium of $32 for chicken with a breast the size of a drumstick. Thecornbread that was brought out was lukewarm at best. I ordered the crab cake which was very small and at $36 to receive only oneis a shame. The waitress was attentive but not creative but served us promptly. Overall rating of 2 stars was due to pricingand poor flavor from a restaurant that was supposed to deliver southern charm. Read more
How loud can you scream on Google?STAY AWAY!Don't eat here if you enjoy good food and good flavor. While the setting is really... nice with indoor and outdoor seating that is the limit of positive things I can say therefore I will limit my comments todescribing the food: dry chicken, cold cornbread, lumpy mashed potatoes, watery horrible tasting gravy which I requested to helpadd flavor to my unseasoned chicken. The staff was nice enough but there is really nothing exciting about this place, the menuchoices or the taste of the food. It seems obvious that they fail to read the negative reviews(as did I prior to coming) butworse than that is the obvious fact that they have no plans in heeding the comments of previous guests. It was my birthday and Irefused to let my husband order dessert?I couldn?t allow him to give them another dime of his money with such terrible tastingfood. Won?t be coming back! Read more
We made reservation and had the last seating time available and our service and dinner reflected the end of the night effort. We... were attracted by the live jazz jam session and wanted to experience this fun and energetic happening. We arrived 20 minutesbefore our dinner reservation at 8:40 pm and let the hostess know we arrived. We waited patiently at the King Edward Bar in acrowded room in the corner. After 45 minutes we went to the hostess and she did not have a table available, she offered a tablenext yo the front steps, adjacent to the makeshift porch bar, which had a revolving line of people being served as they campedout on the front lawn, listening to the jazz jam session. No thank you, we didn?t want a rowdy crowd invited to our dinnertable. We waited another 20 minutes and she sat us at a table on the side porch, no lighting, the waitress brought us a fewcandles. We had to use our phone flashlight to read the menu. My husband ordered prime rib rare, well it still had marks wherethe jockey was hitting it and came out cold and inedible! My salad was awful as well. We were so tired, but tried to salvage thenight listening to the jazz jam and vowed never to eat there again. Yes, we paid the bill and left a good tip. No, we didn?tmake a fuss, just chalked it up to bad management and an unorganized kitchen. So disappointed. Go for the jazz, have fun with afew drinks, but eat dinner somewhere else! Read more
Two years ago we had their Sunday buffet. Will never return. The broccoli salad was delicious. That was it! Yeast rolls... tasted great but dry. That was the theme. Taste Ok but dry. Dry macaroni and cheese, over cooked.. Dry chicken, dry hunks ofham. Blackeye peas right out of a can. Average. Buffet not worth the price. Oh yes, the seafood salad is sea leg salad. Crab LIKE ingredient. We heard they will serve real crab on fourth of July and Labor day weekend Sundays. We enjoyed talkingwith the chef during the two weeks we stayed at the hotel. She actually agreed with our assessment. She said there is a verylong term employee in the kitchen. She is always reminding her of the way they have always done it; she becomes a glorifiedcook with little freedom to improve the quality and presentation of the food she prepares. Yes, the black eyes peas are alwaysout of a can, that is the way they have always done it. Even the owner's son Dillion (the manager) told me he knows why thechicken is dry. PS: Don't write a negative review while staying at the establishment. We felt threatened and with nouncertain terms, evicted by the owner. Read more
I am no history buff but I was taking in every bit of what this locale has to offer. The staff is amazing and the service is... perfect. The food is exquisite - just right. Balanced seasoning. Scallops were done perfectly. The green beans were tender andcrisp.. the mash was just perfect. The banana pudding is to die for. Enjoy. Read more
At the beach we saw a sky sign "Best fried chicken USA Today" so we went that evening. Food was luke warm, fried chicken was... tasteless...Kennedy Fried Chicken would have been better, at least there would have been flavor. Service was good. Ambiance wasgreat, however. Even with 2 stars, I would still recommend if only to sit out on the porch and have a meal with friends andfamily. Read more
Southern fried chicken is the specialty for the Chalfonte. My wife and I thought the chicken was ok. We enjoyed the drinks and... dining on the patio was devine. We enjoyed watching the horse and carriage tours circle the house as we dined. Read more
We arrived at 6:10 for a 6:30 reservation. A somewhat rude host told us we would have to wait as there were people ahead of us.... There was no one waiting and I saw an empty table. We waited at bar until 6:30, went back and was seated at the same table I sawempty earlier. Now to the food. I ordered the shrimp appetizer and I cannot even explain the sauce that was on it. It was glossyand had absolutely no flavor. I also got the Caesar?s salad which was served on a clear glass plate much like you?d get at awedding. The dressing was bottled and croutons store bought. Two others ordered the ribs that were very tough and sweet. I wastold the chicken was decent however very small for the price. Crab cake was ordered by another and he said it was good however$36 for one is robbery. I wish I could give this place zero stars. As another said, stay away! Read more