The Plantation | lbiviews

Kyle’s Review (2005)

The plantation is located at  7908 Long Beach Boulevard in Harvey Cedars. It was formerly The Owl Tree. Parking at the Plantation is complimentary valet.

The clientele ranges in age from 1 month old through about 90 years old . They are kid friendly and are ready with high chairs and one of the better childrens menus that weve seen. The children’s menu is  not just fried chicken and french fries, but also a decent selection of appetizers and main course. We ate in the first floor dining room. There is a bar in the center of the restaurant but since we were seated at the far end of the dining room it was a pleasant, smoke free experience.

Dinner started with some thinly sliced bread and individual oil plates. The menu includes a fairly extensive wine list.

We split the garden salad. It included candied walnuts, cranberries and a simply delicious, melt in your mouth, goat cheese. I was going to order the alfredo with scallops. However, the waitress mentioned that one of the specials was probably available. It was large Tortellini stuffed with crab meat, artichokes, lobster and shitake mushrooms. It sounded too good to pass up so I ordered it. It turned out to be a wonderful choice. Kiki shared one of her large crab cakes. That was also delicious. I prefer my crab cakes without a lot of heavy seasoning. They were served with just the right amount of seasoning or my tastes.

For desert I opted for their moon mountain and a cup of coffee (No cappuccino available). Their moon mountain is a generous serving of Hazelnut buttercream covered with chocolate. That turned out to be an excellent choice.

Our son ordered the childrens pasta and shared some of our seafood. For desert he ordered their root beer float from the kids menu. That was served in a tall Sunday glass and was, according to our desert expert, Delicious!!.

The wicker chairs were a little hard to maneuver. Conversation was a little difficult at times due to the proximity of the tables and the acoustics. We checked out the upstairs dining room and the acoustical situation seemed a little worse.

All in all, it was an excellent dining experience.   

Update (September 2006)

We revisited the Plantation for Lunch the weekend after Labor Day. I opted for the Grilled Chicken Panini. It is made with a mouth watering blend of Provolone Cheese, Caramelized Onion, Peppers,   and Pesto.  The service was excellent. The place was surprisingly full for an off-season Sunday. The Plantation is now fully non smoking. The owners of the Plantation also operate Daddyo’s  Hotel and Restaurant.