Spring Break Part III

Have you heard of Hoagie Haven? To put it in context, I would say that Hoagie Haven is to New Jersey as the Shake Shack is to nyc. It's tiny with a comfortable no-frills vibe to it, and no one seems to know when it got as popular as it is now. After hearing Georgetown Princetonians speak about this place in awed tones for a couple of months, I decided to make a pilgrimage to New Jersey over spring break to see for myself.





Was this a chicken gyro?

The Dirty Sanchez- fried chicken cutlet, deep-fried mozzarella sticks, and french fries on a hoagie, drenched with special sauce. Derrick made his "extra dirty" with more sauce, which tasted suspiciously like thousand island dressing with a bit of spice added to it. I ended up eating half of it and feeling rather ill but content, like a man on his deathbed.

The Heart Stop - bacon, steak, cheese, and assorted vegetables on a hoagie. I hate bacon with a crackling passion. I didn't really like this one too much.

So you might be wondering what my conclusion is to the question, "Does Hoagie Haven live up to the hype?". It does in some ways and doesn't in others. This sounds way too ambiguous but let me explain... At its core, stripped of greasy accoutrement and creatively dubbed sauces, a hoagie is a sandwich. If your first time trying Hoagie Haven is after a house party, sitting with your friends on the curb, still half drunk and clutching at the fat hoagie trying not to let the grease drip off the paper wrapper onto your lap, there's definitely going to be a special place for these hoagies in your heart. Nostalgia makes everything taste better.

Here's a little side note to Hunterites...do you all remember the deli across the street from Starbucks? Everyone used to go there for their morning coffee before it closed (I think it was due to health violations? Eek!). There was something about the proportion of steaming hot coffee to milk that the Korean lady behind the counter got just right...Do you remember getting on the 6 hoping that it would somehow magically go express until 96th street so that you would have an extra couple of minutes to go swing by the deli and grab a coffee and perhaps a glowing green pistachio muffin? Or was that just me? Now that I think about it, I really miss those kryptonite muffins. I hate the sad excuses for muffins here at school...they're these limp, cupcake-like things with tops brown from food coloring rather than a crisp crust. I got off track a bit, but yes, nostalgia does make everything taste better.

And back to more fooding in Princeton.

This is the Bent Spoon, a quaint little ice cream shop in town.

The eerily-illuminated ice cream and gelato selection.

Cupcakes!!!!



For some reason, all of the photos I took of the ice cream post-scooping turned out like dairy mug shots...they look strange and unappetizing, so I won't force you to look at them here.

And for breakfast the next day, we went to PJ's Pancake House!


It kind of felt like a bar inside...but instead of serving drinks they serve flapjacks.

I have read the writing on the wall. haha I kid...

Armando's chocolate chip pancakes. He groaned and clutched his stomach after eating them.

Derrick's lumberjack platter.

And the hand of God descends to butter Derrick's pancakes.

My buckwheat pancakes. This was actually my first time trying them, but I've been curious about them ever since I read a mention in Little House on the Prairie. They were as rustic and delicious as I had hoped they would be.

Hoagie Haven
242 Nassau St
Princeton, NJ 08542
(609) 921-7723

The Bent Spoon
35 Palmer Sq W
Princeton, NJ 08542
(609) 924-2368

Pj's Pancake House
154 Nassau St
Princeton, NJ 08540
(609) 924-1353