James S.
Yelp
I honestly couldn't find the reason this place is loved by so many.
We have been coming down to Cape May for about 7 years now and I'm definitely all over Yelp always looking for the best spots to eat in the area. For some reason Britton's alluded me until this summer. We heard they made a great crumb cake, so my wife went over on Father's Day morning to buy one for my father-in law. The line, as it always is we would find out, was down a block or two. Unfortunately my wife didn't realize it was cash only until she was in line without cash and had to leave with purchasing anything.
This just built our anticipation to return on our next trip to the area. I woke up early (6am) a few Fridays ago and decided it was perfect for me to get over to Britton's before the line and get my family and my sister's family a variety of "gourmet" baked goods. I pulled up right at 6:30 and to my surprise and disappointment, there were already about a dozen people in line in front of me. What the hell could cause a line like this at 6:30 in the morning I wondered? Again, anticipation heightened.
After about 20 minutes waiting in line with a local chatting the ear off of anyone who would listen, I made it inside. A beautiful site. So much to choose from. Every item looked better than the last. I just went for it and tried to get a little bit of everything. I got 4 apple fritters, 2 pieces of crumb cake, a Boston creme donut, a chocolate glazed donut, a cinnamon roll, a blueberry scone, a blueberry muffin, a strawberry and cheese croissant, a chocolate croissant, 2 plain bagels, and 3 everything bagels. I wanted to get the sticky buns, but they have to be ordered in 4s or 6s I believe and my order was getting excessive. Spent about $35. Not bad because I was prepared to drop $50 on a place with reviews like this one had.
My thoughts on the food:
-Apple fritter: Amazing. Nice thin layer of glaze on the outside. Little crunch to it. Great soft texture inside. Terrific flavor. If I ever go back, I will get this again without a doubt. Can't say I've had more than 5 different apple fritters in my life, but this is now my number 1. My sister on the other hand felt it was overcooked, but that's the reason I liked it.
-Crumb cake: The original reason I came. Literally just tasted like a plain cake with crumb topping on it. Makes sense right? I guess I was expecting something special and it really wasn't. I'm only in my 30s and don't drink coffee, so I'm hardly an authority on crumb cakes, but this is not something I would buy again or buy for a crumb cake lover because it didn't seem like anything to rave about.
-Donuts: Both were fine. Nothing that put a smile on my face. To be honest, and this is probably going to be considered blasphemy, but I'd rather eat a Dunkin donut than this. Sorry.
-Cinnamon roll: Great size. Beautiful to look at. The top 50% was delicious. I thought the icing was outstanding. The bottom 50% was very dry and lacked any reason to keep eating it.
-Scone: Good. On the dry side, but most scones are. Not much to say here.
-Bagels: My family said they were good, but they could have just been trying to find a positive in a disappointing order. Made pork roll, egg, and cheese the next morning (not ideal, but they were kept in a plastic bag). I honestly had to toss about 30% of mine because I didn't like the texture or chew of it. Again, my family thought they were pretty good.
-Croissants: Both the strawberry/cheese and the chocolate croissants were very good. I guess croissant, strawberries, cheese, and chocolate are all great things on their own, when you put some of them together, they just work. I would eat these again for sure.
-Blueberry muffin: This was unfortunately left for last, so it wasn't eaten until 2 days later, so I can't really speak too much about it. It was decent for 2 days later. Obviously dry, which is to be expected I guess after that time frame, but I know I've had two day old muffins from Dunkin and ShopRite that were still moist.
Would I wait in line again? Only if I was with a group dying to eat the apple fritters. I'd like to try the sticky buns, but Madison's Bakery in Cape May already makes outstanding sticky buns, so why wake up early to get them in another town?
This is obviously a special place to many people. I think it's one of those things where it's been apart of tradition and family memories for so long you overlook the short comings. I have those places too. If you're into old-timey bakeries with traditional offerings that people say are done the right way, try this out. If you're looking for something that's going to make you want to run and tell your friends about, I just didn't find it here. But who am I? A food lover? Absolutely. But a bakery connoisseur? Absolutely not.