After the gym on Saturday we head over to Fort Monmouth where, in the midst of the mammoth Netflix studio construction project, the new RiverWalk Center brick strip mall has materialized where before was just scrub brush.
In the midst of kickboxing, sushi, a hair salon and a chicken shop is Maple House, a tony new breakfast, brunch, and lunch spot. There’s a small indoor section with an olive tile chair rail wall, a pickup coffee counter, and seating for about 50. You can grab your coffee and peruse “a pastry case that steals the show,” as the website puts it.
But the big draw is their covered, heated patio, full of wooden two tops with wicker cane chairs, plus a few outdoor couches. Sunlight streams into the balmy tent, which currently boasts two decorated Christmas trees in the far corner, though it’s not yet Thanksgiving.
No matter; the spot is half full already at 9:15 a.m., and the menu reveals why. Bougie babies and the Hollywood set are going to live for Maple House’s $8 Banana Bread Latte, Pistachio Latte, and more—and their wide selection of matcha-based drinks in flavors of honey, lavender, and vanilla. On the seasonal coffee menu, there’s a Pumpkin Churro Latte, a Caramel Apple Cider Latte, a pumpkin Spice Matcha and the like. (I’d not be surprised for candy cane flavors to surface soon.)
I got a regular coffee and J tried the Salted Caramel Latte, served in a clear, space-age Flur suspension cup with a leaf design swirled into the foam. It’s salty and caramely, ‘what it’s supposed to be’ says J.
We perused the huge menu, with breakfast on one side and lunch on the other. With a name like Maple House, you know the pancakes are gonna be the main event. There’s all kinds, from banana to cookie butter to healthy protein pancakes. I get the Lemon Berry Patch Stack: blueberry pancakes with warm berry compote fresh strawberries and their signature lemon vanilla cream, plus a side of bacon. J gets the Maple House Stack, classic buttermilk pancakes finished with whipped butter.
There’s also French toast (I’ll try the Churro flavor next time), a waffle flight, and some creative takes on Avocado Toast—one with burrata and Mike’s hot honey. There’s a few hand-held breakfast sandwiches and burritos on offer for those too busy to stop work to eat. There’s also a section with omelettes, Benedicts (short rib and caramelized onion!), and egg white omelets for the Hollywood set.
Our pancakes come out and they’re huge, oversized and over fluffy! My pancakes are covered in berries and the lemon cream is thick and tangy, like nothing I’ve seen on pancakes before.
I like my pancakes but J avers that they’re too dense. She’s our resident pancake expert so I will defer to her. And as I reach the middle of my first pancake, now I see they’re a bit claggy on the inside, like they could’ve done with another minute on the griddle.
My thick-cut bacon is perfect but J says her turkey sausage is too real, i.e. too much meat and chew, and that she prefers Trader Joe’s chicken sausage links. A busser walks by with a “Come Hungry Leave Obsessed” T shirt on, and I ask about the provenance of their tasty real maple syrup. He says it comes from a wholesaler from Vermont.
We’re not even halfway through—J doesn’t appear to have made a dent at all—and we’re both already stuffed. It’s enough to bring home to bribe the dog and have for breakfast again tomorrow. I don’t imagine that the Hollywood talent will be able to eat this kind of stuff, but the film crew is gonna love it.
For late risers, Maple House also has a huge lunch menu, featuring club sandwiches, wraps, chicken croissants, pitas, salads, and the like. I imagine it will soon do a brisk lunch trade for the adjacent studio where three huge soundstages are currently under construction.
The bill is $58 for breakfast—ouch!—without a Bloody Mary in sight, as J quips. Oh well. The rich folks who are coming will hardly balk over $8 lattes. And they’ll have a great time Instagramming their fancy, pricey pancakes before they chuck them in the bin. For the rest of us, it’s a spot to indulge your breakfast sweet tooth before hitting that six mile hike around the Manasquan reservoir. We’re off!
Maple House
RiverWalk Center
700 Oceanport Ave.
Oceanport NJ
732-984-6317
https://maplehousenj.com
Monday–Sunday 7 a.m.-3 p.m.
Save a Few Clams
No current money saving items are available, but Maple House has a loyalty program you can join to get ‘the occasional treat that’s just for the list.’ Visit https://maplehousenj.com/#join
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