Tuscan House

1250 Hooper Avenue

Toms River, NJ 08753

732-797-2570

www.tuscanhousenj.com

John:   Ellen:

 

Price: $ $ (free entree coupon)

　
Finally! A restaurant for the “Good” list. Our first visit to Tuscan House, when they first opened a couple years ago, was an extreme disappointment. The menu, consisting of absolutely nothing I wanted to order, was printed on our paper napkin. They’ve come long way since then. Our second visit a year or so ago was much better, but still nothing to rave about. But, we figured, if they get better every year let’s give them another try and see if the third time is the charm. Well, it is! The menu improved, the service improved, the food improved, and Tuscan House has become a new destination of choice.

Dinner started out a little scary. When the bread basket came, instead of the typical big ol’ hunk of Italian bread, or a bunch of rolls, we got a half dozen wedges of pita thin flat bread. At first we didn’t quite know what to make of it, but when we tasted it, dipped in the olive oil/balsamic vinegar dip that came with it, it was surprisingly delicious! We couldn’t stop eating it and when we finished it off in no time flat, we were quickly offered a refill, which we gladly accepted.

For appetizer, we ordered the Trio of Wings. Chicken wings served three way (none of them buffalo style). The sauces were scarpariello, garlic parmesan bleu cheese, and the favorite of us both, balsamic glaze. These wings were huge! And unlike the fatty wings you may get from your local pizzeria, they were all meat. All three sauces hit the mark. As much as I wanted to eat them all (there must have been at least two dozen of them) we stopped half way to save room for dinner. They reheated nicely the next day for lunch.

Salad came next which was a basic garden salad made better than basic by the delicious house vinaigrette.

After watching Guy Fieri cook Osso Buco (slow braised pork shank on the bone) on the Food Network, I was happy to see it on the menu listed as a house special so I decided to give it a try. I’d never had it before and was glad I tried it. It was served over polenta with roasted carrots and onions and was delicious (unless you ask my wife who absolutely hated it. No fault of Tuscan House. Osso Buco is not for everyone.) The carrots and onions were less of a side dish and more of a flavoring for the meat. The polenta was a tad salty, but not so much so that it ruined the dish. There was much more lean meat than I expected, it just kept coming as I peeled fork tender bite after bite off the bone.

My wife Ellen ordered the Salmon Genovese which was salmon with dried tomatoes and pesto over risotto. The salmon was cooked perfectly and she enjoyed.  As Hell's Kitchen's Chef Ramsey would have said, the risotto was "spot on."
The cost for Trio of Wings was $12.99 (More than enough for two people), Osso Buco was $17.50 and the Salmon $15.99. We got the salmon for free though because we had a buy one entrée get one free coupon.

If you go to the Tuscan House without a coupon, shame on you. They are available all over the place. The two easiest places are going to their website and signing up for email coupons at http://tuscanhouserestaurantnj.com/savings/ (I just got this months, buy one entrée get one for half price) or visit their facebook page  http://www.facebook.com/tuscanhouse and print one out from there. A third option is an interesting promotion partnered with Tiffany’s on Rt. 37 in Toms River. Eat at Tiffany’s and save your receipt. Show it at Tuscan House and get a free entrée with purchase of another. Then bring your Tuscan House receipt to Tiffany’s and get the same deal there, and so on, and so on.

It took a while, but Tuscan House has made me a fan.