Chief B.
Yelp
I so very much wanted to like the Charlesworth. The service is excellent. The views of Delaware Bay are spectacular. Lovely tables.The food and therefore the prices were the disappointment.
It is indeed pricey; nothing under $10, and entrees about $26-$44. I had the $12 caprese salad, one okay tomato (It's summer, I thought?) with thin slices of mozzarella sandwiched in between, and balsamic vinegar drizzled over it. Eh, nice idea, but $12? Although you're in "The Weakfishing Capital of the World", with plenty of crabbers and fisherman nearby, there's actually a minimum of seafood offered. I had the $36 "crab stuffed flounder." It was edible, but seemed to have come straight from Sysco and the freezer. There was a stuffing, but if there was crab in it, it was undetectable. My compatriots all got the $44 sea scallop special; four sautéed scallops on a bed of pasta with a very good sauce. Creme brûlée was pleasing to two of our party, my peach cobbler was just okay. Good coffee. Again, the service superb.
We met the owner, a super nice, hard-working and ambitious man. Wish his restaurant's menu would be less ambitious, though, and concentrate on maybe five solid entrees and a special, along with a few good salads and soups.
Unfortunately, Fortescue is part of Downe Twp, one of the hypocritical towns in NJ that are dry. Charlesworth House, like so many independent restaurants in NJ, could truly benefit from the being able to sell alcohol with its meals, to allow them the extra funding to pay for the best chefs, staff and ingredients and the overall bottom line; to keep them in business! They are making a valiant effort despite this draconian, backwards, Prohibition-era regulation.