Harry’s Ocean Bar and Grille 

On a somewhat chilly and rainy late Saturday afternoon in early June, my dining companion AnneMarie sauntered into Harry’s Ocean Bar and Grille and joined me at a four-top table in the main seating section of the restaurant. There were other options of course—covered seating next to the bar (and pool), bar seating, and the always-popular rooftop seating.

The rooftop area is an excellent spot, with picnic tables and umbrellas, Adirondack chairs facing the ocean, as well as bar seating. The rooftop is where you can see live music seven days a week. On this day, the rooftop wasn’t available due to the weather, so the music was relocated downstairs, seemingly just for us! Maybe not, but still—it felt personal.           

Our waitress Reese, a very friendly young person, arrived at our table immediately, providing us with a cold bottle of water and glasses. I love this thing that many restaurants are doing, circumventing the need for the waitstaff to keep replenishing a patron’s water glass. Very efficient. 

We each ordered a cocktail, one of Harry’s famous Orange Crushes for me and a Bloody Mary for AnneMarie. I’ve had their Crushes in the past, and they’re perfect and downright tasty.  

On to menu decisions! Harry’s menus are extensive, and having dined there for breakfast last summer, I can highly recommend the Challah French Toast. It’s epic. They offer the same menu for lunch and dinner and still, it’s hard to decide!

Under the Starters menu section, I was tempted to order their award-winning Clam Chowder, but was drawn instead to the Fried Calamari. For me, this dish sets the standard for the rest of a menu, a benchmark for any restaurant. The calamari arrived piping hot, with the complement of cherry peppers and two dipping sauces: marinara and Thai sweet chili sauce. Both were flavorful and the portions generous.

AnneMarie ordered the Bavarian Pretzel, also piping hot, served with ale cheese sauce and honey mustard. Why are these pretzels so amazing? Maybe it’s a Philly thing that most of us grew up with, but these were way better than the ones I used to buy from the guy at the bottom of the Tacony Palmyra Bridge that tasted slightly of car exhaust. Plus, he didn’t give you ale cheese sauce and honey mustard.

Note that a few selections from the Starters menu could make a whole meal, with options like Pulled Pork Nachos, Crab Dip, or Mussels Fra Diavolo.

So, since we were trying to sample a little bit of everything, we shared the Strawberry Arugula Crunch, a delightful salad with sliced strawberries, baby radishes, cucumber, arugula, toasted almonds, and crumbled feta cheese, with a honey Dijon vinaigrette on the side. I ended up taking away half of the salad (undressed and completely naked) and I enjoyed it two more times at home. 

Once we filled ourselves with the calamari, the pretzels, and the salad, our entrees were delivered just a bit later, and just a long enough interval so that we could digest a little. 

I couldn’t resist the Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwich from the Handheld section of the menu. I love these handhelds! The choices also include lots of other alluring options such as Blackened Mahi Tacos, the Shrimp Po Boy, or the Italian Beef Sandwich, topped with provolone and spicy pickled peppers. Yes, please!

AnneMarie, on the other hand, perused the entrées and couldn’t resist the Seared Scallops. The menu offers lots of grown-up meals like Chicken Milanese, NY Strip, and the Captain’s Stew, chock full of seafood in a saffron tomato broth. Everything looked delicious and the variety suits every taste. As for the scallops, they were served over Parmesan risotto, along with grilled asparagus. Really, I had entrée envy because the morsel I sampled was perfect in every way.

For dessert, we ordered the Reese’s PB Cheesecake because we figured it was named after our waitress. Maybe not, but we delighted in thinking so. It was rich and smooth and wonderful. We shared, but I selfishly got another serving to go.

So, the fine qualities of Harry’s (in addition to the fare) are ample parking, live music, the beach views, the on-site package goods store, the breakfast, lunch, and dinnerness of the restaurant (open daily), with the Montreal Beach Resort right there, all part of the Madison Resorts properties. Check their website for menus, live music schedules, a link for reservations via Open Table—even a blog. 

Go for the atmosphere and stay for the cheesecake…and the scallops and all the other things!