May 2, 2019

Perfect Princeton Date

Princeton always evokes a sense of nostalgia for me. My first job out of college was in this lovely town. Years later, when I began migrating for my career, I found myself returning to Princeton for drunk nights, weaving in and out of bars, and ending up at Hoagie Haven in the wee hours of the morning. Although I now live too far from Princeton to have regular outings there, the town’s always on my list of options for a day trip.

So, on the first warm day of the season, Luis and I decided to make a date out of it. We tossed aside our winter coats for tanks and tees, and made our way to Mountain Lake Nature Preserve, which we hadn’t yet explored. With Luis being the hiking buff that he is, he naturally chose the red trail.

Mountain Lakes Nature Preserve - Princeton, NJ — Forgot to take pictures during our hike, but here’s an image from Yelp and if you click on it, you can see more of what the trail looks like.

We walked through tree-lined dirt paths for quite some time. There were fun sights along the way, one being a woman who hiked with her geckos! I kid you not. She had one chilling on her chest, with a few others in her ventilated backpack. Of course we couldn’t ignore this and immediately chatted with her. Apparently, she goes on hikes with them all the time and even films their walks for her YouTube channel. I’ve heard of people taking their cats for walks and that already intrigues me, but geckos?! It was great.

After our almost 3-mile hike, we surprisingly weren’t starving but made our way to Downtown Princeton for some small bites and good ol’ day drinking. We wrestled between a few options but agreed that Agricola would be an exquisite choice (we had eaten there for our anniversary brunch last year and the food and ambiance are just amazing). Unfortunately, it was mid-afternoon and seating was limited to the bar. It wasn’t entirely crowded, but many didn’t seem to want to share the communal tables, so we left to check out Mistral. Again, no luck there.

But among these failed attempts was an opportunity for us to walk through the Princeton University campus to get to our 3rd choice, The Dinky. It’s not in the typical stretch of bars and restaurants in Downtown Princeton, but with the gorgeous weather and the Hogwarts-like architecture being our backdrop, we had no complaints to trek there.

Drinks and truffle fries at The Dinky in Princeton

Another location from last year’s anniversary date, The Dinky is a super fun, no-frills bar and kitchen. It was converted from an old dinky train station, hence the name. The service is attentive and they always mix drinks just right. Truffle fries are also a nice choice from the bar bites. I started with prosecco, my new, go-to spring-time drink, while Luis had his regular whiskey sour. Following that, I spotted the woman next to me with a cucumber gimlet (not on the regular menu). Being a HUGE fan of refreshing, citrus cocktails, I just had to give it a try. Trust me when I say that it was one of THE BEST CUCUMBER GIMLETS OF MY LIFE. It was so good, I convinced Luis to take us back to The Dinky Bar after dinner just so I could have another one (granted, we got too full later on to return, but he was on board). 🙂

Cucumber gimlet from The Dinky in Princeton

No Princeton trip is ever complete without stopping at The Bent Spoon. Officially my favorite ice cream shop, they use only local ingredients to make the most unique flavors. We stumbled to the shop and waited in a line out-the-door and down the block. It was well worth it. They always change up the flavors, but my favorite Lavender Mascarpone was available. Ecstatically, I ordered that along with their green tea. I was in heaven. Lavender Mascarpone may sound like a bizarre flavor, but it’s incredibly rich from the cream cheese aspect, yet lightened by the lavender. Soothing and creamy, and just oh-so-delicious.

Bent Spoon ice cream in Princeton NJ - Lavender Mascarpone

As if we didn’t eat enough, we chatted where to go for dinner as we enjoyed our ice cream on a bench near our parked car. I recalled that one of my favorite ramen shops from Philly had opened a location nearby. Despite it being such a warm day, we were sold. We drove to Terakawa Ramen and waited patiently for our table. Luis ordered their signature ramen with pork-bone based broth, along with a mini curry bowl. I opted for their Mayu Ramen, which still used their tonkotsu broth, but topped with a dark roasted leek and crushed garlic oil. The charsiu was just right, half lean half melt-in-your-mouth fat.

We rolled out of there – bellies full, hand-in-hand, happy as can be of our day in Princeton.