New Chef, unfortunately
I've lived in the Medford area for years and Braddock's has always been consistant and a wonderful place to dine. So I was looking forward to the evening out. When I made the reservation I was informed that they were launching a new menu and that the appetizers and entrees were all half price... bonus!

We shared the crab cake appetizer which was nicely presented and very tasty... so far so good.

I had the Scallops Napolean, which is scallops sautéed in Grande Marnier and served with mandarin oranges over a bed of wilted spinach, usually appetizing to look at as well as taste.
My dinner arrived and it had 5 to 6 scallops placed in a circle on a virtually empty plate with a small pile of mandarin slices in the middle. It made Nouveau cuisine look like a feast. It was truly laughable. I questioned the waiter and he said "oh we're not serving spinach, with the scare and all". Hellooo... that's California bagged spinach. Good old NJ fresh spinach is suppose to be just fine! And if you're not serving it you really should mention it to the customer when ordering. When I noted this to him he told me that "the spinach was really just a garnish". I personally enjoy spinach and was looking forward to it as part of the meal I ordered. And if it was only a garnish, why wasn't there a substitute garnish or at least the traditional orchid. In adition the scallops were gritty.
They use to have wonderful bread... it was standard fare. My date ordered a special of stuffed chicken, the chicken was tender and tasty but the whole thing was entombed in a deep-fried 1/4" coating of corn bread... picture 3" diameter corn dog sliced on a bias like a wrap. There was a reason they cut it in the kitchen, it was hard as a rock. Needless to say everyone in the place who had it, had the shell casing still on their plate after consuming their chicken. Braddock's has always had a nice selection of side vegetables, usually potatoes and snow peas, sometimes it varied, but always fresh. The garlic mashed potatoes were great, the mixed over cooked flavorless veggies were just disappointing, I would be hard pressed to determine whether they were fresh or frozen.

For desert we had the Creme Brulee.

I guess we'll have to wait for the next chef change...    [10 Oct 2006 11:54:42]

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     ­K. Kramer, Medford Lakes   

New New Chef at Braddock's Tavern
I myself had a similar experience in November of 2006 at this restaurant. I had heard that the chef had been replaced. I grew up in the cherry hill area, and I have been eating at braddock's a couple times a year, so i decided to give it another chance. My wife and I arrived around 6:30 on april 7th. We were seated promptly and had a very nice server. We ordered a variation of a tuna nicoise salad that was presented as a napolean. It was absolutley delicious. The tuna, still warm from being seared was a very nice way to start our meal. Our server told us that the kitchen was offering a tilapia special. We ordered the the special and and the mahi entrees. Both dishes were very tasty and obviously very fresh cuts of fish. While we certain miss the days of being able to get game and harder-to-find cuts of meat, our meal was a complete turn around from last November. Our server informed us that there was a new chef at our prying ;) My wife and I are glad to see that Braddocks is on the upswing again

Cheers...    [09 Apr 2007 18:56:13]

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     ­Anonymous