Bert & Ernie`s

Bert & Ernie`s restaurant opened in March and already the word is out about their "All You Can Eat Friday." The place gets packed. For $15.95 you can feast on crabs, wings and fries.

The invitation to "BYOB" is taken literally by diners, some even bringing coolers of beer to sit next to their tables. The menu says "Fun Food for Fun People" and so it is. Ernie and Bert are real characters, albeit not the ones from Sesame Street.

My friend Matt and I visited on a recent Thursday evening and ordered from a very appealing menu. All the food is homemade, even down to the croutons on top of the generous salads. Matt decided on the "Combination Platter," which consisted of fried flounder, crab cake, fried shrimp, fried oyster, steak fries and cole slaw ($8.95). Our waitress had dissuaded Matt from ordering his original choice, the Shrimp Platter, because she wanted him to try the crab cake claiming "shrimp is shrimp, but our crab cakes are the best around!" She was not exaggerating.

After sampling the crab from Matt`s plate, I know I won`t need a menu on my next visit. It will be the Crab Cake Platter for me. Or maybe I`ll have the Crab Cake Sandwich ($5.00), two crab cakes with lettuce and tomato served on a hoagie roll. And what a roll it is - it is one of the reasons people come to Bert & Ernie`s. The special rolls are brought in daily from the same bakery that serves the renowned White House Restaurant in Atlantic City. Bert & Ernie`s is the onlly restaurant in Camden County that offers them. I`m sure the quality of the roll and hand-sliced beef are why my cheese steak hoagie ($4.50) was exceptional.

For dessert, we each had a slice from two exquisite cakes. I enjoyed the White Chocolate Mousse cake and Matt savored every bit of the Chocolate Frangelica with hazelnuts and chocolate chips (each $2.95). The restaurant has a big catering and take-out business and offers free delivery with a $10.00 minimum order. Call in advance for live crab orders!

349 East Clements-Bridge Rd. Runnemede 939-3989 Hours: Open 7 days for lunch and dinner

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Author: Geraldine Treacy