Cape Cod it known for a beautiful Summer vacation spot, but it is even nicer during off season in Winter, with much less people. However, it can be a bit of a challenge to find a restaurant that is open year-round sometimes. Also, not all restaurants are very good during off season… We are always looking for a good place to eat during off season in Cape Cod, somewhere new, with great food.
After some research, I found this new spot that opened up about 3 years ago, called Pickle Jar Kitchen. After checking out their menu, and made sure that they are open during December month, we decided to check it out. It had very cute and clean exterior with with pickle jar sign, and nice big windows. It had some outside seating, but it was a bit too cold for that…
As we entered, it was very open, bright, and nice large space. Lots of seating in various styles; counter seats, square and round tables with chairs, high bar tables & chairs. My favorite was a cute little window bench seating, a nice little nook. I was happy to see one side of the window seat was open, so of course we sat there! The entire restaurant was nicely arranged so that it had nice flow, and more than enough space to walk around between the tables.
The other side of the restaurant had many tables and chairs, and bookshelf all the way on the back if you wanted some reading going with your food/beverage. I also spotted some antique furniture, great decor and at the same time, very useful! It seems that the owner collects some antique stuff, and incorporated them into this restaurant. Speaking of decor, I really liked their light fixture as well, they are made with mason jars! Just like the pickles jar they have… And the calk board on the wall were nicely designed, very neat and clean. I really liked everything about this restaurant interior!
They also brought our water in the mason jar, which was very cute. I always liked drinks in the mason jar…
Now I am thinking, “if they take this much time and care into the restaurant itself, then they have to do the same with their food as well, right?” Needless to say, I was very excited. We started off with some appetizers: The House Fry ($10) and Fried Pickle Chips ($7). First, I have to mention, we were planning to order more than we can handle, and take home the leftovers. So, The House Fry has 2 options, “Urban Cut russet potatoes fried crispy and served with spiced ketchup ($6)”, or “loaded with bacon, pulled pork, and smoked cheddar sauce ($10).” We got the latter version, loaded baby! It was huge, and our waitress made sure to warn us about the size, in case we were thinking it will be a small portion. This could be a meal on its own. The potatoes were more like thin cut chips, which was unexpected. I usually like regular fries, soft and potato-y, but this one was very tasty and went well with the rest, making it more like a nacho-type. The pulled pork had sweetness to it, super juicy and tasty, and cheddar sauce was not too strong, just enough to compliment the pork, and everything really worked perfectly together. Really great item! Then the Fried Pickle Chips, which was shaved house made garlic and dill pickle chips, served with house Tellicherry ranch. It was amazing! I am not a huge pickles fan, but this one was great! I think this has been THE best fried pickles I have ever had. Thinly sliced, lightly fried so that they are not greasy, still holding on to its juicy-ness in the inside, and the ranch dipping sauce brought them to another level. It was so addictive and tasty above and beyond expectations!
Then our main dish: Open Faced BBQ Boneless Pork ($14) and Nobska Light ($10). The BBQ open sandwich was served atop a toasted cheddar scallion scone with a side salad, pickled red onions, tellicherry ranch and smoked cheddar bbq sauce. There was a mountain of BBQ pork on the bread, and I assumed it taste exactly as the pork on the fries, but somehow these pork on the sandwich were even more tasty, tender, flavorful, juicy, super delicious! They were so good, each bite was even better, just melt in your mouth… And the scone was really awesome too, very tasty and buttery, light and crunchy but not too crunchy, perfect companion to the pork. And the salad with pickles on the side were really fresh and tasty too, it was kind of a pallet cleanser against the rich bbq flavor, which was nice and refreshing. Everything was really high quality.
The Nobska Light comes with pastrami cured salmon sliced thin and placed on grilled lavash with herb yogurt dressing, mixed greens, pea shoots, and shaved fennel. Nobska Light is also the name of the lighthouse nearby, with a red roof, cute little spot to visit. So, I was very curious about this dish, I have never heard of “pastrami cured salmon” and couldn’t imagine what that would be like. The waitress told us that it is a sashimi grade salmon with pastrami spice on it, which sounded really good. That was very intriguing to me, so I decided to give it a try. It came wrapped in a cone shape, with nice fresh slices of salmon and lots of greens.
The salmon had great color, and as I bit into it, I could see it was a good thick slice, and high quality, and the pastrami spice went really great with the salmon. The greens and pickled veggies added extra freshness to it, they were so fresh, it made that crunchy sound with each bite. The salmon slice was not just towards the top of the wrap, but it went all the way to the bottom, never losing that great salmon taste from the first bite to the last. How awesome it that?
Overall, we were super happy, full, and happy to have some leftover to take home to, for some more delicious snack at home later. Everything was great, packed with flavor. Each item was made with care and all high quality. The service was ok, could’ve been a bit better, but, very friendly and helpful. We will definitely go back to Pickle Jar Kitchen for some more amazing food. If you are ever in the area, you should give them a try as well, you will not be disappointed!
Pickle Jar Kitchen – 170 Main Street, Falmouth, Cape Cod, MA 02540