Cape May Cafe

FOOD

Dinner begins with the seafood that gives Cape May its coastal identity. Peel-and-eat shrimp make a hands-on cold starter, while Cape May clams belong to the hot seafood spread. The steam-boil selection brings clams, mussels and shrimp together with corn on the cob and small red potatoes. Shells and all: this is a meal that gives your fingers something useful to do. Individual selections change, including fried seafood, sides and desserts.

New England clam chowder carries the supper theme into a bowl. Caesar salad provides a familiar leafy starter, and seafood pasta salad offers another way to include seafood before the hot entrées. The latter is mayonnaise-based, useful to know when choosing between it and the greens. Parker House rolls and mashed potatoes give the meal its dinner-table comforts alongside the shellfish.

Slow-roasted strip loin is the substantial land-food choice, carved for guests at the serving board. Medium and medium-well slices can be available. Mashed potatoes and gravy make a natural roast-beef plate. Oven-roasted lemon chicken brings another full entrée to the selection, so seafood enthusiasts and roast-dinner people can share a table without assembling identical suppers.

The fried seafood selection offers a different preparation from the boil, with fried shrimp and calamari among the choices; spicy marinara accompanies the calamari. A seasonal catch adds a fish entrée, with roasted salmon among the selections. Seafood paella puts the sea’s contribution into a rice dish. Snow crab legs are an optional per-pound purchase; the base shellfish buffet itself is unlimited.

Small desserts continue the Disney touches, from signature bonbons to flourless chocolate Mickey domes. The assortment can also include lemon-blueberry doughnuts and chocolate-banana tarts, giving fruit-and-chocolate people a few distinct directions to consider. A seasonal fruit bake with berry sauce brings a spoonable finish to the selection. Dessert has a separate display toward the front of the restaurant, so those little sweets get a space of their own.

Breakfast starts its sweet conversation with salted-caramel beach buns and vanilla cream. The buns are served at the table, adding a sharing pastry to the self-service meal. Salted caramel and vanilla already make a fairly persuasive case for sweet breakfast; coffee is perfectly reasonable company. The spread continues beyond that welcome basket, with fruit, oatmeal and grits offering simpler morning choices.

Made-to-order omelets let guests choose fillings and have the eggs cooked in front of them. Cheese, tomato and mushroom are among the filling choices for a breakfast tailored to your own egg preferences. Scrambled eggs remain available too, with bacon, sausage and seasoned potatoes for a familiar hot breakfast. There’s room here for both customized eggs and the dependable breakfast staples.

Mickey- and Minnie-shaped waffles give the morning its unmistakable Disney flourish. Chocolate-chip pancakes carry that sweet-breakfast interest further, while crêpes provide another choice beyond the character shapes. Potato barrels sit among the children’s favorites, but the waffle ears are hardly an adults-keep-out sign.