Robert’s Place

While I was out on a job in Egg Harbor Township, one of the guys there threw me a “dude, you gotta try Robert’s in Margate.” But it wasn’t until I was back in the Philly area that I heard the same thing. This made more of an impact on me due to the fact that it was now a more widespread source for this one little place on the Jersey shore, and if they know about it an hour away in Philly, it must be worth checking out. Rest assured, the next time I was in the Atlantic City area, I made it a point to stop by and give their wings a whirl.

I walked into the bar and quickly found out that is was a cash only facility…so HEADS UP on that one. Good thing I had some because in this day and age I use the card for everything.  After I placed my order of “Regular” style wings with the waitress, who was not only super nice but very quick in getting our drinks, I had some time to gaze around the room and absorb the decor. One of the things that stood out to me was a sign from Philadelphia Magazine that read “Philadelphia Best of the Shore 2006 for Wings.” This got me excited that Philly Magazine recognized this small bar for great wings, but also left me wondering who got the Best of the Shore from 2007 on… hmmmm? All of that doesn’t matter at the moment as I only care about the wings that show up on MY plate.

But it wasn’t a plate that these babies arrived on; they came on a lunch tray (yup, a lunch tray). At first this seemed like a spectacularly unique idea because I am always looking for extra room to put bones or whatever else I have (plus it looked cool), but then halfway in I realized that choosing a tray over a bowl may not have been the best choice as it leaves a very shallow area of sauce not suitable for dipping when the wings need that extra boost. Each wing came in two pieces: a drum and a wing/tip combo and were slightly breaded which made it nice and super awesomely crispy. I don’t eat the tips but just the fact that I could pull them off the rest without any hesitation shows how tender these things were.

The meat of the wing didn’t really have any flavor, but was very hot in temperature and was nice and juicy. It’s obvious that it derived all of its taste from the sauce which was kind of familiar to me. I don’t know if it was a Louisiana Hot sauce or another brand, but it reminded me of something store bought that I have had before. It was great in the flavor, but it seemed that the Hot, Regular, and Mild were all the same sauce just cut differently with butter (the more butter, the more mild the sauce). I would’ve liked to have seen each sauce have its own spice and style to make them stand out from one another, that way each sauce would be as unique as the tray the wings were served on.

Overall, the wings were super tender and great in almost all aspects. The sauce seemed like an altered store bought brand that carried a nice flavor and good heat. The Regular sauce was my favorite though they were all so close to each other I don’t think it really matters which one is ordered. Needless to say, when I am done critiquing, I sit back and think “did I enjoy eating these wings?”… and the answer is “heck yeah.” With the crispness of the skin and tenderness of the meat, I would recommend stopping into Robert’s Place and picking yourself up some great wings if ever in the Margate City area.

Robert’s Place
7807 Atlantic Ave., Margate City, NJ 08402
(609) 823-5050