Antique Bar & Bakery Review

I’m going to start this off by saying this is one of, if not the best restaurant in Hoboken, New Jersey. My friends and I come here all the time, and I recommend this place as a must try to anyone traveling to Hoboken.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s get into it.

This restaurant can be found on the cute and lively Willow Street. Just a couple blocks off Washington, it is hard to miss this place. The beautiful colored lights paired with the sound of music that pours out of the doors of this place, do everything to pull you in.

You walk in and immediately are greeted with happy chatter, music, and beautiful décor hidden throughout the restaurant. I have yet to come to this place and it not be at full capacity, regardless of the day of the week.

Note: You NEED reservations for this place, and you need to make them a few weeks in advance, that’s how fast this place fills up.

Now, when we frequent this place, we usually head over after dinner for a night cap to enjoy their espresso martinis and famous bread pudding. This time happened to be different since it was my sister’s birthday, and we were able to get a reservation for dinner.

Even though we called and made a reservation almost a month out, we got the last spot, and it was in their enclosed outdoor patio seating – still really cute but the real reason you go to antique is for the vibes inside.

What makes Antique unique, is that it is al la cart and when you are seated in the restaurant, you can see the kitchen and watch your food being made on the stove or in their beautiful 30-ton porcelain brick oven. But, because of this they make you order all your food at once, so apps, dinner and dessert get ordered right from the jump.

We decided to try a triage of food and share everything, and this is what we got.

Spaghetti Squash Carbonara

Exactly what it sounds like. Spaghetti squashed served in a carbonara sauce with pancetta and a crispy poached egg to top it off. Served in a hot cocotte, this was my favorite dish of the meal.

The spaghetti squash was soft, not chewy, and cooked to perfection. The sauce was rich, thick, and seasoned perfectly. Although carbonara traditionally isn’t usually a thick white sauce, I think it was done quite nicely for this dish since spaghetti squash is much lighter than normal pasta.

Not to mention the crispy poached egg on top was such a nice touch and a unique and deconstructive way to incorporate the egg into this carbonara dish.

Nicole’s Rating: 9.2/10. Sooo good, easy to share, and filling.

Plantain N’duja Croquettes

These tasty morsels can also be found under the shareable section of the menu, so we had to give them a try.

These little guys were filled with plantains, fresh mozzarella, N’duja sausage then fried and topped with toasted mint, oregano, and orange and served with a type of hollandaise sauce on the side.

These were good but probably my least favorite of everything we ordered. The inside was not what I was expecting and compacted all the ingredients into one brown filling. I think I was expecting it to be cheesy and pull apart like a mozzarella stick but hey every country makes these differently.

Nicole’s Rating: 6.5/10. Not for me personally but some people might like it.

Crispy Artichoke Salad

If you like salad and you like artichokes, boy do I have the dish for you. The crispy artichoke salad consists of baby kale, parmesan cheese, and of course, crispy artichokes and generously dressed in a creamy garlic vinaigrette.

When I say these are the best artichokes I’ve ever had, they are the best artichokes I have ever had. The outside had a beautiful crunch, but the inside was still warm and soft and exactly what we all know and love artichokes to be. The kale was also prepared nicely and was not crunchy or bitter (big thanks to the creamy garlic dressing on that one).

Such a simple salad but done perfectly.

Nicole’s Rating: 9.0/10. Get this salad.

Gemelli Pasta with Sausage and Broccoli Rabe

This was a dish from the weekly special list and boy did it live up to the name; special.

While you can most likely find a sausage and broccoli rabe pasta on most Italian menus, Antique knocked this one out of the park too.

Served in a garlic white wine sauce and packed with broccoli rabe and N’duja sausage, the gemelli was the perfect pasta for a dish so hearty. The sausage was a type of crumble sausage (not a link) and was phenomenal. It was packed with amazing flavors that somehow you couldn’t taste in the croquettes.

This dish was great to soak up the drinks that had and continued to be consumed that evening.

Nicole’s Rating: 8.6/10. So good and very hefty portion size that 5 of us were able to split and still have leftovers. So sad it was only a special and not on the menu permanently.

Jenga Fries

This dish was special not for the flavor, but the presentation itself.

These thick cut steak fries were literally stacked into a Jenga tower and topped with garlic and parmesan.

Now while the presentation lived up to the name of “Jenga fries”, this posed a problem since most of the parmesan only landed on the top level of fries and as we made our way towards the bottom, the parmesan was severely lacking.

Additionally, I personally am not a fan of thick cut fries and prefer them to be thinner and crispier. These lacked crisp and were a bit too starchy for me. But if that’s something you’re into, you will love these bad boys.

Nicole’s Rating: 6.9/10.

Antique Bread Pudding

If you are going to antique, ordering this is nonnegotiable.

The act of the dessert being brought to the table is an experience in itself. The waiter makes his way through the crowd, parting the sea of people like Moses and in doing so, breaking the necks of every guest it passes as it makes its way to its final destination.

This absolute unit of a bread pudding is put on your table in a hot cast iron skillet that literally makes your jaw hit the floor. The irresistible smell hits your nose almost immediately and will make you start to salivate. But don’t grab your fork yet it’s still not ready for consumption.

The waiter whips out a ramekin and proceeds to cover this bad boy in a sweet caramel drizzle that makes your eyes well up as you watch edible art be made right in front of you. There is barely a 5 second pause between the waiter walking away and your eyes rolling into the back of your head as you take your first bite.

And while it is probably the best dessert you will ever have, it is so rich and filling that if you can finish it, props to you. It so rarely happens for us.

Nicole’s Rating: 9.8/10. You simply cannot go to Antique and not get this dish.

Espresso Martini

Like every white girl in America, of course I drink espresso martinis. But the ones from Antique are special. They don’t add any secret ingredients, unless you count using vanilla vodka and let me tell you, what a great decision that is.

This sweet and bitter combo is made so perfectly, and the bartenders look like they are going to break a wrist from how hard they shake this before filling up your glass with the most perfect and beautiful froth you have ever seen.

Espresso martini + bread pudding = the best antique combo.

Nicole’s Rating: 8.3/10

Spicy Margarita

Of course, you know me and know how I’d KILL for a spicy margarita always, so I had to give Antiques a try.

While you can’t find this drink on the menu, the bartenders will make accommodations and whip one up for you. Now, I’ve had plenty of spicy margs in my life but this one is not for the faint of heart.

That first sip nearly knocked my socks off and my lips were in danger of going completely numb. Good god I think they literally put a whole jalapeno into this drink, but your girl is a masochist, and the burn was too good.

I proceeded to knock back two more of these but at a slow pace as I had to let my mouth cool down between sips.

Nicole’s Rating: 8.7/10. Don’t get this if you don’t like spice.

Overall Ratings

My overall rating of this place is a 9.0/10. I recommend this place to anyone who visits Hoboken and looking for an amazing dining experience.

The ambience is amazing and the way the place is decorated is second to none. It also has some of the friendliest and best staff of any restaurant I have ever been too.

I will say the only reason this isn’t a 10 is because it is more on the expensive side and very hard to get a reservation, but it is so worth it.