Avon Pavilion – Dining at the New Jersey Shore

If you’re at the New Jersey Shore and are looking for a casual place to eat at the beach, you may want to try Avon Pavilion, an ocean side restaurant located in Avon By The Sea at 600 Ocean Avenue (Tel.: 732-775-1043). It’s an enjoyable place to dine with a view of the Atlantic Ocean, beach and local housing, serving seafood, pasta, chicken, steak and ribs along with some great specialty dishes. While they don’t have a liquor license, Avon Pavilion maintains a B.Y.O.B. (bring your own bottle) policy, which reduces the impact on your wallet if you plan to enjoy a bottle of wine at dinner. Its doors are open for business annually from Mother’s Day until early September.

Keep in mind that it is ocean side. If the weather is cool and windy, you may want to bring a sweater or try another establishment as they do not often roll down all of the plastic curtain shields.

In terms of food, they kick off the dining experience with their version of bruscetta, featuring a zesty mixture of tomatoes, black olives and onions with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Off of the menu, we tried one of their house specialties–Crab Cakes–for an appetizer. The generously-sized crab cakes were delicious and are also available served as a main course. The black pepper crusted tuna, sashimi-style, was also a tasty appetizer. For dinner, we had the dover sole and halibut. However, our favorite was the San Tropez shrimp, a bow-tie pasta dish with spinach, black olives and a smoky garlic flavor. The pistachio-crusted halibut was a special-of-the-day, served with a raspberry sauce and slices of strawberries provided a nice contrasting flavor. Served with our main courses, we also had a vegetable melody and a choice of saffron rice, red bliss potatoes and linguine. And while we were pretty full after our main meals, the dessert tray was too delectable to pass up. We ordered a selection of desserts. My favorite was the apple shortbread tart served with a warm caramel sauce. Yum!