Hotel Tides – a boutique hotel with bed-and-breakfast charm!

Just a few blocks from the legendary Asbury Park Boardwalk sits one of the city’s best-kept secrets.  Hotel Tides is a boutique hotel that echoes the contemporary elegance and luxury of stylish New York hotels, but also exudes the charm and warmth of a favorite local bed and breakfast.

Inside this quaint, charming exterior is a chic, modern lobby that leads to an ah-MA-zing restaurant! 

Before I get to the food-oriented portion of our program, I wanted to show you around the hotel a little:

The quaint-but-chic guest rooms feature Egyptian cotton sheets, flat-screen TVs, and bathrooms with rainforest showerheads and river rock floors.

Hotel Tides also features a heated, in-ground pool and a fabulous spa!

Now we’re getting closer to the main event – the Hotel Tides bar has its own very cool menu with new twists on the usual bar food (fried calamari with scampi sauce, anyone?)

The restaurant at Hotel Tides is my absolute favorite spot in the whole hotel, and not just because of the fantastic food!  During a 10-month renovation, the tin walls and ceiling from the 1920s was restored, giving the room unique character and charm.  When I am in the dining room at Hotel Tides, I just can’t help checking out every detail of the warm, cozy space!

Of course, a beautiful dining room would be nothing without fabulous food!  Mr. Random and Li’l Random joined me for dinner at Hotel Tides, and we left full and deliriously happy! 

Li’l Random ordered the pan-seared tuna and scallops with Napa cabbage, mango mache salad and ponzu syrup.  The tuna and scallops were cooked to perfection, and the tart ponzu syrup was a perfect complement to the sweet mango salad. 

Mr. Random loved the crab cake, which was served with a smoked paprika remoulade.  I absolutely loved that smoky, spicy remoulade!

I ordered the quail – and was in absolute heaven!  The quail was stuffed with apples and bacon, served over a silky butternut squash puree, and drizzled with an apple balsamic reduction.

For dinner, I ordered one of that night’s specials – a 16-ounce herb-roasted veal chop served with parmesan truffle orzo and a mushroom-asparagus ragout.  I always love a good veal chop (this was a GREAT veal chop), and the parmesan truffle orzo put the dish completely over the edge and into fabulousness!  Li’l Random opted for the bouillabaisse:

Perfectly-cooked clams, scallops and shrimp, served over linguine in a comforting, delicious broth – what’s not to love?  I only had a small taste of this beautiful dish, since Li’l Random loved it so much she wasn’t giving much of it up!

Mr. Random ordered the pan-seared tuna with soba noodles, roasted Japanese eggplant and ginger-miso vinaigrette.  I have to admit – if there hadn’t been a veal chop special that night, I probably would have ordered this dish…and I would not have been disappointed!  I LOVED the ginger-miso vinaigrette – so much so that I kept trying to steal Mr. Random’s soba noodles!  (Which was just fine, since he was busy eating half of my veal chop!)

For dessert, Li’l Random stuck with a tried-and-true favorite – chocolate gelato (frozen chocolate anything usually makes Li’l Random happy!).  Mr. Random selected the orange creme caramel, which was silky, creamy perfection!

I ordered another special that night – homemade Italian ricotta cheesecake with chocolate whipped cream!  The cheesecake was light and fluffy, but still completely decadent!  And did I mention CHOCOLATE whipped cream?  Do I even need to tell you how amazing a combination this was?  Just to be sure – it was unbelievably, insanely perfect!

Whether you stay for a week, a weekend, or just stop in for dinner, you will absolutely love Hotel Tides!  The hotel is charming and beautiful, and the staff is warm, friendly, and intent on making sure you are content and happy.  Even though I live less than ten minutes away, I can already picture the perfect weekend getaway at Hotel Tides – with leisurely walks to the beach, and fabulous dinners at the Hotel Tides restaurant!

Tags: Asbury Park, Dessert, Food, Restaurants, Reviews, Seafood