If you know me, you know that I rarely go out for Italian food, but I was invited to a workISH dinner at Dina’s Bistro in Toms River and enjoyed everything we ate (which was a LOT)! Full disclosure: someone I work with knows the owners, so we received bonus items over/above what may be on the menu.
The three of us ordered a few apps to share: Burrata w Avocado salad, Bang-Bang shrimp, calamari, and the chef’s award-winning meatballs, which are served in a parmesan (?) cream sauce that my colleague was lapping up to the very end. For entrees, I went with the Bolognese (when in Rome…er…), which is served over what I estimated to be a full 3/4 lb. of penne with an ice-cream-sized scoop of ricotta on top. DELICIOUS. Someone else had the crabmeat-stuffed shrimp over lobster risotto, and the third person had the huge pork chop with spinach and asparagus as sides (he eats a Keto diet so he chose not to get the potatoes that were listed on the menu). Desserts were a pistachio cake that was light and tender, a banana cake that I didn’t taste but others enjoyed, and decadent, fudgy brownies - and fantastic coffee (a rarity in restaurants these days). We each took home half of our dinners, as portion sizes were more than generous - and that had nothing to do with us, as I surveyed the FULL (on a Wed. night!) dining room - the kitchen isn’t skimping on anything.
I rarely get down to that part of the world, but I suspect that TR isn’t full of neighborhood gems - I think Dina’s may be one of the few - and bonus is it’s BYO. Anyone else been?
