Swanky Cocktails, Middling Food


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Adam Erace checks out Cherry Hill’s Swanky Bubbles for the Courier Post and finds the food as “middling” as its Old City counterpart.

How does a sushi restaurant mess up a tuna steak? I ordered the grilled yellowfin ($22) rare. It arrived well done, dry and that ugly gray-beige color of canned tuna fish. A foamy ginger-walnut butter tasted like neither ginger nor butter, and the walnuts were so finely chopped, it appeared as if some breeze-born dirt from the expensive Short Hills landscaping had landed in my plate. Worse was a pile of chopped tomatoes and yellow squash tossed in a hoisin-style sauce, an odd and clumsy combination.

Exceptionally gummy, edamame gnocchi ($12) sounded more interesting than they tasted.

The potion of pea-green pillows was quite large for an appetizer, but who would want to eat so much of something so heavy? Ditto on the Baltimore Roll ($9). I liked the filling of scallions and sweet fresh crab, but the thick jacket of sushi rice made this maki unpleasantly glutinous.

There were some highlights. Hoisin lacquered the stack of Fiji ribs ($13) in a rich mahogany glaze that left tangy barbecue stick on my fingertips. Deep and complex, the smoky baby backs pulled easily away from their bones, and a shower of sliced scallions and sesame seeds lent color and crunch.

Summer living is easy at Swanky Bubbles [Courier Post]
Swanky Bubbles [Official Site]