It had been a long time since I had visited Bischoff’s Confectionery in downtown Teaneck, NJ and I did not know why I waited so long. They have the greatest assortment of homemade candies and ice cream and a wonderful lunch menu.
I have been coming here since the early 1980’s when in high school and I would come up to visit family in Bergen County. I love coming here for lunch. In the times I have been here, I have had turkey salad sandwiches, grilled cheeses with bacon and the Triple Decker turkey clubs.
On a recent visit I had a bacon cheese burger that was cooked to perfection. It was caramelized on the outside and juicy on the inside topped with sharp Cheddar and crisp…
I was finally to Del’s Dairy Creme after it had been closed for a few years for renovations and what a nice place to go after touring the area. The stand which had been established in 1960 has gone through a total renovation including new landscaping, new seating and a revamp of the menu due to its new owners.
The lines at Del’s are always long
They closed the established ice cream stand and gave it a complete makeover much to the delight of customers from all over the region.
I have to say that I have been very impressed by the food and service since I started coming here a few months ago. I did not know that they even had a lunch menu. They have a full menu of hamburgers, pulled pork sandwiches, hot dogs and even a crispy chicken sandwich on the special menu. Their ‘pint of fries’ are freshly cut and deep fried to perfection.
Del’s Dairy Creme Entree menu
The Ice Cream menu
On my first trip to Del’s Dairy Creme, I just came for dessert and needed a dish of ice cream after a long day of touring the Hudson River Valley on a hot day. I have to admit that their prices are not cheap (they have gone up post-COVID) but the quality of the ice cream and flavors are just excellent.
Pumpkin Ice Cream represents the Fall and Halloween season
Their flavors have the most unusual combinations that just work and the creativity in the flavor of the ice cream made them even more mouthwatering. I had the Blueberry Lemon Cheesecake made with fresh local blueberries and fresh lemon juice that just enhanced the flavor of the fruit.
The cheesecake base made it richer and creamier in texture and added to the complexity of the sweetness. The Honey Lavender ice cream is just mind blowing! The taste of the fresh lavender can be over-whelming but the fragrance of the taste mixed with fresh local honey brought the flavors together for an interesting sweetness. These two flavors were just amazing.
During a recent trip Upstate for the Sheep & Wool Festival, I stopped at Del’s for a dish of ice cream and tried their two seasonal flavors, Apple Crisp Crunch and Pumpkin Chocolate Chip. The Apple Crisp was sharp and tart with the sweet taste from the apples and the Pumpkin was rich and cinnamony with small chocolate bits studded into it.
The Lavender Blueberry Honey Ice Cream here is amazing!
I was so impressed by the ice cream that on the next trip to the Rhinebeck, I made a special trip to try it for lunch. The pulled pork sandwich I so much wanted to try on their ‘specials’ menu was not there but a crispy chicken sandwich was there instead. I decided on their plain “Roadhouse Burger” with fresh tomato, bib lettuce, homemade pickle and Del’s Sauce, a type of Thousand Island dressing that was also homemade. The burger was excellent.
The Roadhouse Burger is excellent
The beef is freshly ground locally and you could taste the richness in the meat and the flavors in the juiciness of the burger. The brioche bun that was freshly baked was toasted to perfection and held the sauces nicely. The combination of flavors of the caramelized meat and fresh vegetables was perfection. It was one of the best burgers I had had in long time.
The burger was really juicy
The ‘pint of fries’ was a little pricey at $5.00 but it was a generous portion and the fries were from freshly cut potatoes and deep fried quickly so that they were not a bit greasy.
The fries here are perfectly cooked and salted
The only disappointment was the soft serve Vanilla milkshake. It did not have the same flavor or consistency of the hard ice creams. My advice is to spend the extra $1.00 and create your own milkshake from the hard ice cream flavors.
On a recent trip to Del’s, I had the Fried Chicken Sandwich which was excellent. The sandwich was a large breast of chicken nicely deep fried and topped with coleslaw, pickles and lettuce and topped with a spicy honey sauce. Each bite had a crunchy sweet/savory flavor to it. It was also very filling.
The Fried Chicken Sandwich with fries and a Black Cherry Soda
One thing to order with your meal is the Boynton’s Sodas from the fountain because you will have unlimited refills and get to try all the flavors. The Cane Soda and Orange are the best followed by their Black Cherry. This was a nice treat on a hot day.
For dessert, I had a scoop of the Honey Lavender and the Lemon Poppyseed ice cream for dessert. I swear that their ice cream flavors are the best! They are so rich and creamy and the flavors just stand out. The Lemon Poppyseed is another excellent addition to their roster of flavors. Before the summer is over, I will try to go through their menu.
Del’s Summer Ice Cream menu
When I visited recently I had the Tasting Flight, a sampling of six small scoops of the their delicious ice cream. This is the perfect way to try all their flavors and it was wonderful. I really got to enjoy all the flavors they have to offer. I tried the Sweet Cream Vanilla, Lavender Honey Blueberry, Banana Cream Pie, Maple Snickerdoodle, Cherry Cheesecake and Multple Fruit Sorbet. It was delicious.
The “Tasting Flight” sampler of flavors-Yum!
The service here is excellent. The ladies that work here could not be more cheerful and helpful. They are quick to make recommendations and it is nice to be in a restaurant where they let the staff try all the flavors of ice cream and the food entrees. This way they know what they are talking about. They are also quick with the orders without rushing quality.
This is ‘must stop’ site when visiting the Rhinebeck area and if you are visiting Kingston, made the trip over the Mid Hudson River Bridge for a taste of their food. It is well worth the trip.
Del’s Dairy Creme in the Fall
History of Del’s Dairy Creme:
The business was established in the early 1960’s as a roadside ice cream stand and was a local establishment for the summer crowd in the Rhinebeck area. I could see by the reviews online that the place had gone through some ownership changes over the years and in the early to mid 2000’s the place had really gone downhill in both service and quality of the food.
The entrance to Del’s Dairy Creme
Enter Van Lamprou who bought the iconic business in 2017 from the original owner. A luxury shoe designer who just recently had sold his business for $60 million dollars, he wanted to set himself and family to a simpler life in Upstate New York. He bought the business and additional farmland from the original owner and established Dutchess Creamery where he specializes in the milk from the Guernsey cow, which produces a high butter fat, high protein milk with a high concentration of beta carotene. This is where the richness of the ice cream comes from (Hudson Valley Agribusiness Development Corp).
Life on the farm must be nice for these cows
This boutique farm business was established with a goal for the treatment of the cows in a humane way. Just looking at the pictures of how the cows get treated, they are pampered in a loving way. They are respected and look happy and the farm has set a tone for the Hudson River Valley especially offering free milk to local residents in the time of COVID-19 and people having some financial issues and offering free pasta meals to help local residents.
The seating area in the summer months
The sitting area in twight
It is nice to see a company take such sensitive role in people lives all while making locals and tourists happy with a road-stand business. It is nice to see that there are humane business owners as well.
The outside dining area is always a nice place to eat.
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