"4 1/2 stars Sweet Melissa has been getting a ton of buzz over the past couple of years, to the point where I convinced my chum Jeffrey to drive out of his way on the way up for Thanksgiving last year to get one of their chocolate bourbon pecan pies I saw on their online menu. Literally the best pecan pie I've ever had, which is saying something given that a I've had a ton of pecan pies and b by the time I get to pie on Thanksgiving I'm usually feeling too disgusting to enjoy it. It's definitely not just me either, since this place is regularly appearing on a lot of top lists in the area and state overall. So when I realized I'd be less than 10 minutes from here at the end of my hike last weekend, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to visit and experience the sit down service as well. As a born and bred creature from the Kingdom of Hunterdon, I can tell you a lot of positives about the area. Its food scene is pretty abysmal though, and it's rare that I ever go out of my way to endorse one of its restaurants. As an example, there's a sushi place close to my hometown that is incredibly mediocre and has sky high reviews because the residents literally have never been to another sushi place. This place actually matches the hype though. I stopped by around mid afternoon, about an hour before the kitchen closed. (I was looking nervously at my watch during the tail end of my hike, knowing that time was not my friend for this one . It's very easy to find/spot, just off Route 31 S about two minutes past North Hunterdon High School. It's located in a newer strip mall with tons of parking available. Once I walked in, a waitress showed up within 30 seconds or so to direct me to a table in the room off to the right, away from the bakery area (which was probably a blessing in disguise . I can't find my main entree on the online menu, but it was an incredible breakfast sandwich, featuring a croissant, garlic aioli, eggs, avocado, gruyere cheese and thick cut bacon. Absolutely one of the best and certainly classiest breakfast sandwiches I've ever had, and it was enormous. The garlic aioli is a gamechanger for this, adding a delicious savory zest to the proceedings. As soon as I saw it, I knew it probably wasn't the best idea to also order the bread with raspberry compote that was perfectly fine but I wasn't able to finish it/do it justice. I think they could have put a LITTLE more avocado on this (I had to get creative to ensure it was in more bites , but that's a dictionary definition nitpick. The lavender latte was solid as well. The only blemish was a bit of a service issue. My waiter was VERY nice and stopped by frequently. However, he didn't bring over a pad to take down my order, which wouldn't have been an issue except he had to come back sheepishly to confirm what entree I wanted (not a huge deal, but verification that he should be writing the information down to avoid inefficiencies/potential mistakes . The bigger problem though was that I actually ordered a salted caramel tart, not the peanut butter one. I was honestly in an ambivalent mood about them (they're similar taste profiles AND look close to identical in the display counter , which is why I didn't give pushback on it, but it once again went back to the fact that basic hospitality 101 is getting the orders right. That goes to the core fundamentals of a restaurant, so it's something I'd emphasize in training going forward, especially since the other service aspects (demeanor, turnaround time, etc. were great. Especially given that the food I've had here on various occasions has been off the charts good, this is still one of the best places in the county I've been to. They're tantalizing close to a perfect experience if they just tighten the reins a little (yes, I decided to use a horse reference as a Hunterdon homage. You're welcome ."
