Fancy Italian Dining at An Affordable Price

As you drive up into their stone-paved driveway with overhead portico, you are greeted with a very pretty fountain and pots of greenery, giving a very nice Italian courtyard welcoming feel. It is only about 1 mile off Rte. 280, so it was pretty easy to find.

We were greeted at the door by the owner, Bobby. He escorted us to our table with lots of happy, small talk. He does know our friends, though, so I don’t know if he does this to all his customers or not. But, it was very nice, nevertheless.

There is a fairly large party room in this place which was being used while we were there. So, we sat in the dining room which has lots of niches with typical white busts of what appeared to be common Italians. The music being piped in was kept at just the right volume to illicit conversation.

There was a short list of appetizers, all reasonably priced, and some stood out that are worth describing We all shared the ones that we ordered, except my husband because his was just made for one; although I did taste his mozzarella. He had fresh mozzarella, roasted pepper, and tomatoes. He would have liked more than one piece of pepper, but he has a big appetite! I thought it looked like just the right amount for an appetizer. It was stacked and called “the tower” or some such. So how much could they have put on without it falling!!?? My friend’s husband shared his plate of sausage slices on a bed of hot peppers with very crispy potato slices, which were also spiced a little hot ~~ not too much, just right…….DELICIOUS! Someone else ordered the seafood salad which had calamari, scallops and shrimp and was in a very large bowl.

For entrees, my husband ordered the chicken Giambata, which is chicken sauteed with onions, mushrooms, potatoes and sweet bell or hot vinegar peppers. A friend had the chicken Betsy which comes grilled and sliced with romaine lettuce, tomatoes, onions and potatoes in “Betsy’s Special dressing”. I had the tilapia parmesian. I tasted a little of the sauce from both of the above plates with a little piece of Italian bread and thought both were really, really good. The bread was just exactly the way I love it ~~ crispy on the outside and soft on the inside; perfect for dipping in other peoples’ plates!!!

We also all had salad and all the different dressings were excellently flavored and given in good amounts.

The portion sizes were incredible…. easily enough for two people. And the prices were very reasonable. Between $15 - 18 for most meals. Lobster and other higher priced items were about $25.

As for dessert, no one was hungry enough to order any except one lady who ordered the Coconut Sorbet and passed it around for us to taste. And, boy I was glad she did! It was served in half a coconut shell and was very creamy and truly delicious with just the right amount of coconut pieces that I didn’t have to spend the rest of the night trying to remove some from my teeth! There was so much sorbet, that even after sharing at least half was left behind *sniff*,

So, all in all it was a very nice night out. I especially liked how you really get a lot for your money.

The Appian Way
http://www.appianway.com
619 Langdon Street
Orange, NJ 07050
973-678-0313

Review by: Claire McKenna

— by Guest Reviewer
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