Review: Delta's in New Brunswick

(Credit: Jennifer Bradshaw)

Delta's, a Southern/soul food style restaurant, emits a warm glow from its windows, beckoning you inside with the promise of good smells, sounds and tastes.

Located in a residential area and next to the New Brunswick staple The Frog and the Peach, the building -- painted a cheerful yellow -- is easy to spot. Low lights and high windows and ceilings fill the sleek restaurant, and animal print carpets cover the floor.

A long bar runs the length of the first floor, offering in-house drinks such as one called the Godfather of Soul (a mix of Johnnie Walker Black and amaretto) and lots of custom martinis (which could be best sampled on Tuesdays, when an assortment are reduced in price to $5).

On a Thursday night, we were seated on the second floor in an area that overlooks the bar/dance floor area. From the starter menu, the collard green dip ($9.95) was a nice variation on spinach dip, made with mozzarella cheese, sour cream and chunks of chopped collard greens and served with tortilla chips and salsa.

The entrees include pork ribs, oxtails, several styles of chicken (including chicken and waffles), fish cakes and the curiously billed fried green tomato parmigiana. The smothered chicken ($18.95) is available with both white and dark meat, and the bone-in chicken is smothered in a rich, onion-filled gravy that is pleasantly flavored and not too salty.

All entrees at Delta's come with a choice of two sides, and I went straight for two of my favorites: rice and beans and stewed okra. Both were delicious, and while I scraped my plate clean of the beans, they were a tad on the salty side. Warm cornbread is placed on the table to sop up extra sauces and gravies.

My companion opted for Chef Ed's country fried steak ($18.95), which is covered in white gravy. It was a typical platter of chicken-fried steak, a thin, super-tenderized steak covered in puffy, fried batter. The candied yams on the side, however, were not typical, and they were sweetened with a mix of brown sugar, butter, cloves and citrus.

Also included on the large sides menu were macaroni and cheese, rice and gravy, fried okra, potato salad, mashed potatoes, coleslaw, collard greens and grilled asparagus. A pretty good meal could probably be made from just the sides alone.

Solid service
The servers at Delta's were friendly and extremely attentive, constantly returning to clear dishes and refill water glasses. Our server said that as soon as the evening's soul karaoke session got started, he would bring us a book of songs to leaf through. I laughed at the offering because as a former server in college, I remember the delight in watching while patrons forgot where they were and would dance or sing their hearts out, often with cringe-worthy results.

Dessert was offered, but we were too stuffed to sample. The offerings included sweet potato fritters, sweet potato cheesecake, fruit cobbler and bourbon pecan pie.

As for the atmosphere, there was music constantly playing, the Rutgers football games were on large-screen TVs that are viewable from pretty much anywhere you sit and the staff even appeared to be enjoying themselves.

If you're a fan of warming, filling food during the winter months, Delta's might be a good place to check out. If you're counting calories, then you might want to move on, but be advised that you're definitely missing something.

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