Our first visit to Dolce Fantasia, and it will not be the last. My wife and I attended the Beer,…read moreWine and Spirits event in Asbury earlier in the day and decided to stay in town for an early dinner. Even though they only opened at 5pm, there was already a lively crowd at 5:30. We started with Polpettine Di Pollo, organic chicken meatballs with bell pepper, garlic, spinach and pomodoro. The order was large and delicious! Piping hot as well. Carol chose the Pappardelle al Telephono Nostro, house made pasta, mozzarella, tomato-cream sauce and fresh basil. this was a large order and my wife loved it. I chose the Tortelloni alla Bergamasca, veal tortellini with black truffle and rosemary veal reduction. Excellent as well! Dessert consisted. of a shared Pistachio Creme Brulee that was perfect. The restaurant is BYOB and I recommend making a reservation. Our server, Khrystna, was superb

Asbury Park is one of my favorite food towns, and a huge reason is because it still has the ability…read moreto pleasantly surprise me. Case in point - this restaurant has apparently been in the downtown area for several years and I had no idea. I stopped by here for lunch on Memorial Day with the Millennial Chum, and in a totally risky move, didn't make a reservation anywhere and just decided to wing it. The Millennial Chum's only requirement was that it be a place neither one of us had been to before, so after a very quick search/walk, we noticed this place and also decided we had a hankering for Italian. Done. I don't know how to describe the interior, but "yellow" and "modern" comes to mind. This isn't a stodgy white tablecloth kind of place; it's vibrant and hip, I'm sure trying to capture that classic Asbury demo. Really unique. The weather was a little meh, which worked in our favor - although there was a decent amount of foot traffic in the downtown area 70% of which were pooches, only one other table was occupied in here. We were able to sit down and were served very promptly. We were both very intrigued by one of the apps on the verbal specials menu - mango burrata, which sounded like sort of a mess, but also worth a try. Definitely more of the latter. Never would have thought to combine these two ingredients together, but it was really excellent and an interesting palate pairing. The presentation was solid as well, and this...didn't last long, although given that we both ordered entrees perhaps we should have been more responsible in that regard. Something I'd recommend for the regular menu in the future for sure. A lot of the entrees looked interesting and pretty authentic; this isn't just spaghetti and chicken parm (I'm not actually sure either was even on the menu). The one that emotionally spoke to me the most was the Pappardelle (one of my fave pastas and always pleased to see it) Al Telefono Nostro. Really hit the spot, and as you can see a really hardcore portion. The tomato cream sauce was light and flavorful, and the only nitpick I had (just a personal palate preference) was the inclusion of the sliced tomatoes. I'm sure a ton of people love those, and it basically adds a level of authenticity to the dish that a barbarian like me just can't quite appreciate. I made sure the Millennial Chum had a few tomato pieces though. Really good dish and would order it again. Honestly not sure what possessed us to even look at the dessert menu much less actually order from it, but I thought Oreo Tiramisu sounded interesting, despite the Millennial Chum's yowling that she despised tiramisu. It turns out she doesn't, because once this dish arrived she happily helped herself and decided that her opinion on tiramisu was likely based on a traumatic/misleading childhood incident. Bare minimum, this place gets solid marks for rewriting history for her in the Italian dessert department. But it WAS delicious, which was a theme of our meal. The service was top-notch; our waitress was over regularly and had a strong command of the menu (which I think deserves bonus points, given that this was not Americanized and it helped to have a metaphorical lifeguard helping us navigate some of the trickier stuff; I studied abroad in Florence over 20 years ago, but you'd never know it). Very pleasant. BIg recommend; not a ton of establishments under the radar in Asbury, but this might be one of them.

PROS: Staff was friendly, loads of indoor and outdoor seating, menu variety was plentiful, prices…read morewere good, food was great, and atmosphere was quaint CONS: The booths were very cramped as the benches were slightly under the table making it hard to slide in and out OVERALL: As long as you don't mind cramped booths I do recommend coming to this restaurant to eat

Food was good; good portions…read more It took us a while to get in- at least a 30+ minute wait so we walked around for a bit. Service was excellent- they were very attentive and friendly. We had a booth and were able to comfortably have a conversation as noise level not too bad. Would come back to try different things.

ASBURY PARK: The latest addition to Asbury Park's vibrant scene, The Berkeley Backyard is a stylish…read morenew restaurant located inside the historic Berkeley Oceanfront Hotel--and the best part? Leashed and friendly dogs are welcome both indoors and out! Open for lunch, dinner, and weekend brunch, the space is beautifully designed to bring the outdoors in, with green floral backdrops, hanging string lights, and framed flower displays that create a fresh, modern ambiance. The outdoor patio offers views of Ocean Avenue, Convention Hall, and the iconic Berkeley Oceanfront Hotel--which is also dog friendly! Be sure to check their social media for the latest hours and upcoming events.

Excellent service, very good drinks. I tried the Coco Lychee Martini . This place is also…read moreconnected to a pool area where day passes are available for purchase. Serene ambiance

Totally delightful. My wife and grandson went yesterday. The food was a little off beat but…read moreexcellent. The service was attentive and caring. It was a very pleasant surprise because we hadn't been to Asbury in a long time. And we only live minutes from it. We will be going back for lunch. The place reminded me of a restaurant in Boston where I ate when in law school there in the 60's

I fall more in love with this place each time I go!…read more Grabbed a Vegan Cesar and vegan hot honey pizza. Unreal! The Cesar salad was amazing - I'll be dreaming of it the next visit. The pizza, as always, a FAVORITE. Truly the best place ever!!!

Adorable hipster bar with the coolest looking people. The bartender was awesome and I saw they…read moreserve food! Came here on a Saturday night and there was a DJ. The music was good and the vibe was awesome. I had a good time here with my party of 4.

This place was GOOOOOD. Honestly blown away by this establishment…read more Was in town for work & everyone from the area to told me to come down to this area for dinner. Walked around & landed on this place. Such a swanky cool kind of new age hipster but also vintage vibe? Lol No idea! But I sure was digging it! The bartender was super sweet in helping me make a decision for dinner, because I wanted to try it ALL. I folded on the Lemony Shrimp & Bean stew (absolutely spectacular and this is coming from someone that doesn't like being or vegetable type soups) the leeks were so yummy but the shrimp was the star, just look at how huge they were. Sliced Flat Iron - SO JUICY. Such flavor! Literally haven't had any steak til this day that could replicate that flavor of the scallion chimichurri and celery root purée. It has been over a year now since I've been here, and I still CRAVE, I'm talking I have full on dreams about having this place again. Can confirm, I AM Homesick.

ASBURY PARK: after all these years hanging out in town, we finally visited Toast, a breakfast,…read morebrunch, and lunch destination right downtown. They have tables out front that are friendly to leashed dogs while enjoying the buzz of Cookman Avenue. The menu is full of omelettes, pancakes, toasts, burgers, bowls, salads, and more! BYOB and enjoy a summer day with excellent food!

Okay experience. Upon arriving we were met with a friendly but a bit frantic hostess. The place was…read moreby no means busy and she was acting as though they were swamped. Once we sat down our server arrived who seemed less than pleased to be serving us, he was nice enough but barley spoke with us and seemed to not want to be there. For food I had the Mediterranean omelette which truthfully was not very good, it was borderline flavorless. Additionally our server barley checked in with us. Ambiance is fine, its your typical casual brunch spot - don't expect anyone dressed well or an elevated experience. I definitely don't think this was the best showcase of Toast as I have heard great things so they may have just been having an off day. I would definitely give it another shot.

We are here for a brief vacation at asbury park breach and we are with dog so found chat and…read morenibble in our search for pet friendly dining. Don't sleep on this spot. It's not in the typical boardwalk or Cookman location. It's about .8 miles in the opposite direction from the board walk but we enjoyed our stroll with the pup.. the food was fantastic. My daughter got the asbury special which was two eggs, toast and a choice of potato and I got the Mediterranean omelet with feta, spinach, onions and tomato, toast and home fries.. and of course a pancake order for the table.. service was fantastic and the outdoor seating was nice.. they might benefit from some shade or umbrellas, but at 8 am it was not an issue.. if you're looking for a fantastic breakfast, dog friendly is a plus, but I'd recommend even without a dog.. very glad it came up in our search

Wonderful place for breakfast. Quaint and tidy the choices don't disappoint and the service is very…read moregood. Huevos rancheros seems to be the favorite so it's was ordered and it was very good.the gooey chocolate chip pancakes were also a hit.

Saw a 1 star review saying "one and done" , "dessert was good", "all atmosphere", "just okay"…read more As much as I disagree with that assessment and personally feel that Pascal and Sabine is way better than "just okay"... that review should not equal 1 star. You're only review, you've only been once and decide to go onto a public forum and give 1 star. Anyway off my soapbox. Pascal and Sabine not only has some of the best cocktails and bartenders in Asbury but possibly NJ. I have been countless times with my wife, my kids, large groups you name it. My favorite way to experience Pascal is to sit at the bar get a couple cocktails (The Jackal is a staple), the Madame Smith Burger (my wife gets the Mr Smith) the fries are amazing, and maybe the escargot and just enjoy. It's up there with some of the most perfect nights out in Asbury you can have. Hope this 5 star review balance out a ridiculous 1 star review. - YH

Came with a very large group. Service was very good given the group size; drinks were quite slow to…read morecome but that's understandable. They let us order a la carte despite the size. Food seemed decent but personally my steak was a fair bit overcooked from medium rare. The tuna tartare was also pretty plain. It seemed like a busy/popular spot.

We happened to be in the area and stopped into the Black Swan for brunch. I had heard great things…read moreabout the place and was eager to give it shot. From the moment we entered the pub, we were transferred to the United Kingdom with its tavern-like decor. They had a quaint dining room, a bar area with soccer team schwag hanging overhead, a dainty tea room, and a dimly lit space inside what used to be a bank vault. We were seated at a high-top table in the bar, which was fine, as there was a large party with rowdy children in the dining room. Thankfully, the layout allowed us to avoid the majority of their loudness, though their sheer party size clearly held up the kitchen, since it took a while for us to get our food. There was a specific brunch menu with some breakfast-forward items like Loaded French Toast, but we were also given their full-day menu with many more options. I decided to get two smaller dishes to count as my complete meal. First, I had the Chipotle Chicken Chili, which was apparently a recent addition to the menu. I omitted the scoop of sour cream that was supposed to sit on top of the mound of soup, but I did not feel like I was missing anything by doing so. The smoky broth was packed with kidney beans, stewed tomatoes, and chunks of ground chicken. I thought it was delicious, but a bit thin and oily. I also sampled a side of the Sweet and Sour Brussels Sprouts, which were similarly greasy, but crunchy and well-flavored. In fact, they could have used a bit more marinade to really pop. My companion had positive things to say about his burger and fries. We really enjoyed the casual atmosphere, friendly service, and tasty food at the Black Swan, and I would certainly return to try some of their other traditional, European dishes.

Quick and friendly service. A bit expensive but good food…read more Tater tots & scotch eggs: probably the biggest tater tots I've ever had. Crispy and hot. Scotch eggs were good. Pasta: can't remember the name of the pasta I got but it's the one that was recommended by the waiter. It comes with burrata which made the dish so so good. I would get this again.

Cocktails and share dishes. Excellent service and dog friendly!excellent staff ! Also great outdoor…read morespace

REYLA was an incredible first dinner in Asbury Park and set the bar high. From the moment we walked…read morein, the staff was welcoming, attentive, and genuinely friendly. The service was excellent throughout the entire evening, and every cocktail we ordered was fantastic. We started with a few appetizers, which were the perfect way to kick off the meal before diving into our mains. For dinner, we ordered the Duck Rice, Schnitzel, octopus, and mushroom skewer. While everything was delicious, the Duck Rice and Schnitzel were the clear standouts. Both were packed with flavor, and the Schnitzel was an especially generous portion without feeling over the top. It was perfectly cooked and incredibly satisfying. To top off the night, we headed downstairs to their cocktail bar, Laylow, and had an amazing time. The atmosphere was fun, the cocktails were just as impressive as dinner, and it was the perfect way to end the evening. If you're in Asbury Park, I definitely recommend checking out Reyla and making a stop at Laylow afterward. Great food, outstanding service, amazing drinks, and an all-around memorable experience.