A lively, high-stepping menu and country-chic renovation in space at Camden County park.
Imagine the summer home you wish you had -- by a lake, filled with nature-inspired art, with an outdoor bar, a tap for local beer and a private chef serving up approachable farm-to-table gastro-pub cuisine. Or, better yet, head over to Cooper House, whereyour imagined escape awaits.
More than a year in the works, Cooper House opened in May, the love child of Haddonfield restaurateur Kevin Meeker and his business partner, attorney Michael DeBenedictis. The pair, working in tandem with the Camden County Board of Chosen
Freeholders, which oversees Camden County parks, spearheaded the nearly $3 million transformation of the dank Lobster Trap, closed since 2013, into this spectacular rechristened restaurant.
The place is a looker. Spacious dining rooms are divided by natural birch branches, with woodsy touches and inspired artwork throughout. A bank of windows reveals leafy views of the river. Although some service kinks were still being worked out during this visit (help seemed to vanish when water glasses needed filling), it's a safe bet that Cooper House will only get better.
Depending on the weather, you can bike or paddle to Cooper House, or simply meander along the walking/jogging path around the river. A seasonal 1,000-square-foot outdoor bar/beer garden taps local craft beer. Add a fine cocktail program and plenty of wines by
the glass, and the stage is set for a lazy social afternoon.
Come hungry.
CIA-trained Tyler Turner is Cooper's creative executive chef, a Stephen Starr alumnus who has crafted a fetching gastro-pub menu shot through with bold, global flavors and plenty of comfort food.
Deviled eggs ($5) arrive with flecks of smoked trout and translucent pearls of salmon roe, a blend of creamy and briny in every bite. A farro tabbouleh salad ($9) dishes a fresh-tasting plate of baby lettuce, parsley and watercress topped with a mound of the nutty ancient grain, all tossed in zingy lemon vinaigrette.
The well-priced menu is divided into soups/salads/grains; share; sandwiches/burgers; plates and sides, with portions fair to generous. The tuna poke ($14.75) is a winner; a hefty mound of glistening ahi lacquered with a sesame scallion aioli and a scattering of toasted macadamia nuts as a nod to the dish's island roots.
Five smoked oysters ($14) were on the meh side, without a hint of smoke and naked of any discernable topping. Nothing wishy-washy about the long hot flatbread ($10.50), though. The hand-pulled crust, with plenty of texture, is smothered in chopped long hots, bits of pancetta, fresh tomato and tangy provolone. The mussels ($14.50) also deliver a home run, a balanced umami of sweet bivalves, bits of garlicky broccoli rabe and the swine-loving goodness of smoked andouille sausage. The share section of the menu offers the most intriguing options, such as charred octopus with chimichurri ($15), seafood mixto ceviche ($15.50) and spicy avocado toast with Serrano pepper jam ($12).
For the main event, blackened mahi mahi fish tacos ($14.50), with plenty of crunch and flavor, won out over cauliflower-filled tacos ($13) that needed spice and crunch to rise above wan. Steak frites ($21) delivered a generous plate of thickly sliced medium-rare beef identified by our server as the teres major cut from the shoulder, but it was so tender it could have been a filet's poorer relation. Unfortunately, the house-cut fries "tossed" in butter were soft and greasy.
Salmon can be the Caesar salad of fish, on every menu but rarely memorable. Not this hunk of marinated fish ($21), seared to perfect rareness and served with a colorful succotash bright with corn and edamame and a daub of sorrel yogurt sauce on the side.
As good as the food is, dessert is a showstopper. A slab of apple cheesecake shot
through with salted caramel ($7) is mighty fine, but the Tandy Cake ($7), a loving
homage to Tastykake's peanut butter Tandy Kake, climbs over the top, a squared log of
sponge cake embraced in chocolate with a decadent peanut butter ganache center.
Cooper House is part of an ongoing $23 million redo of the 374-acre Cooper River
Park that dips into Cherry Hill, Haddon Township, Collingswood and Pennsauken. So far, it's the best part -- a welcoming destination restaurant with a view and a snappy menu with plenty of heart.