Cape May Cafe -- Table Service -- Dinner -- Beach Club

*This dining experience took place in July 2013.

Cape May Buffet stations getting set up before opening

You'll feel like you're at a real New England clam bake when you dine at Cape May Cafe. From the steamed clams, mussels, and crab legs to the steamed red potatoes and the fresh corn on the cob, you'll be treated to some delicious seafood fare. Cape May has remained of my staple favorite buffets for their variety and their plentiful gluten free & dairy free buffet options.The last time I dined at Cape May Cafe was well over a year ago. That visit proved to be disappointing compared to all of my other experiences there. The seafood was overcooked and the options weren't as exciting. Our family decided to give it a try, since it had been so long since most of us had dined there. My brother had been in recent months and had said that the quality was still very good.

Seating area

It's funny because we almost always get the same booth whenever we come to Cape May! And this time, we got the same booth. I think they should put our family's name on it! It is conveniently located to the buffet and means we don't have to go far to get our crab leg fix on!

The feasting begins as guests head to the buffet stations

Chef Allison assisted me on this trip, and she has helped me in the past. She's friendly and helpful and seems to be pretty knowledgeable about special diets. One thing I will say is that she wasn't very forthcoming about foods that I could have from the back. I knew the drill, but if I hadn't asked she might not have offered me rolls or made a salad in the back for me. The nice thing about this buffet is that there are plenty of gluten free & dairy free options--many of them conveniently located next to each other which always makes me feel more confident in cross contamination standards. I personally like to visit a buffet right at opening b/c I can get all my plates quickly and try to avoid that as much as possible and also arrange for the chefs to make me items in the back. Cape May though has so many options that I feel slightly less worried about getting sick.Probably the area that has the most potential for cross contamination is the salad area. They have a huge cheese board now (just stay away dairy free diners!) which is on a corner. They now have kalamata olive and roasted red pepper hummus (my weakness), and it's next to some baked or fried lavash. I grabbed that immediately when no one had looked like they'd gotten any which was good. I would have asked for it from the back otherwise b/c later I saw people slathering the hummus directly on their bread (ay yi!!). Some of the salads have dairy in them. They have balsamic glazed asparagus which is not dairy free b/c evidently the glaze had dairy in it. Bummer because I'm a huge asparagus fan. The peel and eat shrimp are safe, as is the seafood salad, and cocktail sauce. Neither of the salads are safe as is, but I always ask for the Cape May House salad to be prepared in the back. It's made with candied walnuts, cranberries, and an orange citrus vinaigrette and it's amazing! One of my favorites on property. Usually the soups aren't safe but they had a sausage kale soup that was made gluten & dairy free. Happy day!As far as the other buffet components go, stick to the far left side (you can get crab legs on both sides of the buffet) b/c almost everything is GF/DF all the way down the row. Crab legs, clams, mussels (in a sambuca sauce), steamed red potatoes, baked beans, on the cob, and chicken cacciatore were all safe. On the other side of the buffet, stick with the clams, crab legs, and vegetable medley. Pretty much everything else is a no-go (they put dairy in their paella). On the kids buffet, you can score some roasted chicken drumsticks. The carved beef is also safe. My strategy for buffet dining is to get all of my plates at once, which looks a little crazy but makes me feel more confident throughout the meal. Let's just say, I had a LOT of plates!

Cape May House Salad

Chef Allison brought out my salad and some GNI rolls. The salad was amazing as usual. Love the walnuts, love the cranberries, love the vinaigrette! The GNI rolls were really really tough (like overheated tough). But, I added tons of hummus to them and they tasted just fine.

GNI brand rolls

Up next was the soup. It was really good. Very flavorful and perfectly seasoned. I love kale so I enjoyed all the greens in this. The diced potatoes were also nicely cooked. The chorizo was a little too spicy for me to eat but the flavor it added to the broth was just perfect.

Sausage and Kale soup

Then it was onto the appetizer plate. I grabbed tons of peel and eat shrimp (my favorite) and some seafood salad. The peel and eat shrimp are now being prepared differently than they used to be. They now cook them in some type of seasoned water (taste slightly resembled old bay but very mild). They were excellent. I may or may not have gone back for seconds on these... :) The seafood salad was a huge winner. I loved the big pieces of crab, bay scallops, and shrimp. This also had some type of citrus marinade to it. Another one I may have gone back for seconds on! The other big win was the olive medley. Omigosh, these were amazing. I love olives and these were marinated perfectly. They kind of kicked the ones from Tangierine Cafe's butt!

From left to right: Peel and Eat Shrimp with Cocktail Sauce, Seafood Salad, Marinated Olives, Kalamata Olive & Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

Then it was onto the crab and clams. Steamed to perfect and both quite delicious. Clarified butter for this is soooo overrated! You don't need the dairy!

Steamed deliciousness!

Up next, I went for the other buffet items

From left to right: Baked Beans, Steamed Red Potatoes, Roasted Chicken Drumstick, and Vegetable Medley

As you can imagine, I was getting pretty full by this time. But, I soldiered through! The food is so good, I couldn't pass it up. The baked beans I liked a lot. They could have been cooked a little longer but otherwise sweet and tasty (note these are not vegetarian friendly beans as they contain some type of pork). The red potatoes here are so good. Steamed to perfect and extra salty. The chicken drumstick was surprisingly flavorful. The vegetables? I'll be honest, they were a bit of disappointment. Very bland. I'd skip that the next time.

Remains of the day...Let's just say we ate a lot of crab and mussels!

By the time dessert rolled around, I was pretty sure I needed to be rolled out of the restaurant. I ate a shameless amount of food. But, it was all so good. Chef Allison had told me that they carried Babycakes desserts here, and that was music to my ears!! I knew they had their mini cupcakes in the quick service location at Beach Club but not at Cape May! She brought out a big platter of four mini cupcakes and two chocolate chip cookies. This was a welcome treat compared to the OMG It's Gluten & Dairy Free Cookie they usually serve (and that I don't really like). I ended up taking the cupcakes home because I couldn't even eat them I was so full. Of course, I managed to get the cookies in my tummy (yes, there's always room for a little dessert).

Mini cupcakes and cookies from Babycakes

As far as other allergies or special diets go, I'm not sure this would be a really great option for guests who are vegetarian or vegan but maybe they can prepare some dishes I'm not aware of. Also, if you have a fish or shellfish allergy, I would just avoid this restaurant. There seems to be a high risk of cross contamination from the buffet, so I'd either have them prepare all your items separately or just look for another restaurant.Overall, I found this be vastly improved for over a year ago. There are some new menu changes that are OK and some old ones that I miss (oh the sauteed cabbage and bacon), but in general I found the menu to be really good.I'd give this a solid 8 out of 10 for this visit, and I hope to visit again much sooner than one year later!