The original plan was to go to Raglan Road for dinner. We were wiped out though! We decided to stay closer to home and go out on the Boardwalk. We had enjoyed the Boardwalk our first night out (sans daughter), and we knew our daughter would love it too. So, the whole family headed to Spoodles.
We were a little early, so we dropped some $$$ on the carnival games outside. My daughter loved this! She ended up with 2 stuffed animals, but we probably spent $40! Oh, well, vacation memories are priceless.
We also chatted with the girls at the candy shop. We discussed what WAS and what WASN'T eligible to be a "snack". We ended up using a snack credit for a butterfinger and chocolate covered Mickey-head pretzel. Yum. There are a lot of not-so-good things about being an adult, but one GOOD thing is that you can eat candy before dinner if you want to.
DH and I ordered the four cheese flatbread and the mediterranean dips for appetizers. The little one didn't want anything.

She did want one of those kids' drinks with the light up tinkerbell on it. She enjoyed that.
Of course, you don't NEED to order appetizers at Spoodles because they bring you this delicious focaccia to dip in a spicy olive oil mixture. Now, lots of places do this. The chain that has nailed the concept, I mean REALLY nailed it, is Carrabba's. This mixture was not AS good as theirs, but it was really yummy.
The flatbread is described as 4 cheese flatbread with roasted garlic puree and sage. How could you possibly go wrong? You can't! It was delicious. VERY flat bread with a thin layer of melted goodness over it. I couldn't tell you what cheeses were used, but there was just the right amount. If they had glopped it up with cheese, it wouldn't have been as good. It was just divine. When I had a cold piece of it the next day (oh, yeah I did), it seemed as though the bread had a subtle sweetness to it. It also reminded me of pie crust, which I'm sure does not bode well for its nutritional profile.
We also had the mediterranean dips, which come with pita bread and olives. There were 3 dips: a feta cheesy dip, a cucumber raita-type dip, and a reddish dip that I've never encountered before and have no idea what it's made of. Of the three, the mystery reddish dip was the winner. I don't know how to describe it, really. It was kind of middle eastern tasting, definitely had exotic spices, it was smooth, with kind of the texture of hummus, but WAY tastier. I don't know, but it was heaven in dip form. The feta cheesy dip was good. It tasted like feta cheese, only transformed into a dip instead of a chunky cheese. The raita style dip was nice as well, kind of yogurty-y and cucumber-y. Our server also brought us hummus, although I'm not sure it came with the med. dips and I'm not sure we ordered it.

It was tasty as well, but totally unnecessary.
We took several bites of all this deliciousness and asked our server to box it up. We knew if it was sitting on the table, we would just keep on eating it, and we wanted to save room for entrees, and yes, dessert!
For entrees, our server STRONGLY recommended the shrimp pasta to my husband ... several times. Although he's not a big pasta guy, her enthusiasm for the dish pushed him in that direction. If she says it's THAT good, how can we possibly go wrong? Well, it wasn't good at all. It tasted like pasta tossed with a bit of olive oil and shrimp. Utterly unseasoned.

In retrospect, we should have noticed that she kept emphasizing how many shrimp you get in the dish, and how big they were. Her criteria for a good dish were just different from ours. We're looking for tasty, and she's looking for quantity of seafood. Anyway, I wouldn't recommend that anyone order that particular dish, unless you're partial to bland, unseasoned food. Oh, well. Live and learn.
I ordered the white bean moussaka. Sounded odd to me, but I like white beans, tomato sauce and mozzarella (as the menu described it), though I was not sure I'd ever had the three ingredients together. Well, it was pretty good. It was odd, for sure, but tasty. Layers of chunky, garlicky white bean puree, cheese, and tomato sauce. It was sort of like a layered bean dip cooked in a crock and eaten with a fork. (Come to think of it, I probably would have loved it if they had served it with some Fritos Scoops!) I would have liked some element of chewiness to the thing because it was all just really mushy. Not bad at all, just lacking a substantial texture. Our server warned me it was spicy and it was.
Given my vegetarian choices, I probably made the right decision. We had discussed choices prior to ordering. I could have the moussaka, the shrimp pasta minus the shrimp (no, thank you), or the rigatoni with sausage, tomatoes and mushrooms minus the sausage. If I went to Spoodles again, I might go with the latter option. I would eat the moussaka again, but it might not be my first choice.
The little princess had mac and cheese. This was Disney's mac and cheese, not like the kind at Big River Grille. It was some sort of cutesy shaped pasta, with melted cheese on it. It wasn't very tasty.
YAY! We saved room for dessert tonight!
SO glad we did, because these were the best desserts of the trip. I ordered the mascarpone cheesecake and DH ordered the baklava. My daughter had the ice cream with toppings she could add herself. I don't think she ate a bite, but she had a good time playing with it all.
Here is how the menu describes the cheesecake: Mascarpone Cheesecake - with a walnut crust served with fresh strawberries and a balsamic reduction. To be honest, I don't even remember the strawberries or a balsamic reduction, and I'm pretty sure the cheesecake doesn't need these things. This was GREAT cheesecake. It did have a walnut crust, because my DH and I both agreed that the CRUST tasted kind of like the baklava (which is a good thing). Needless to say, the crust was delicious. The cheesecake itself had a perfect cheesecake flavor, but a lighter than air texture, due to the mascarpone cheese. Just melt in your mouth, cheesecake-y goodness.
The baklava was good. Bless my husband's heart, he thought HE had THE dessert to die for, that is until he tasted MY dessert. If the cheesecake hadn't been on the table, I would have ooohed and ahhed over the baklava too. As it was, my fork and mouth were busy with the cheesecake. But seriously, it was really good baklava. And when you got a bite of baklava AND a bite of cheesecake? Ahhh -- dessert nirvana.
Ok, so, fun fact about Spoodles? Mascarpone cheesecake. Run, don't walk, to get you some.
I will definitely go back to Spoodles. I will stick with appetizers and desserts though!
Coming Up -- Day 4: Cape May Cafe, Akershus (Princess Storybook Lunch), and Beaches & Cream for dinner!