The Cafe on 26

Came as a group of 3 for dinner. Our server was Sean, who welcomed us with a variety of specials. The chilled peach soup was divine. The salmon with peach glaze was just as divine, the scallops were perfectly cooked, and the Caesar salad exceptionally crisp. We all had dessert, and the key lime pie with chocolate chip cookie crust, the chocolate mousse with strawberries, and the cake laced with peaches were delicious. Our drinks were well-crafted. When I return to the area, I will definitely come back to The Cafe on 26.

Delicious food in a cozy intimate restaurant off the beaten path. We didn’t eat outside, but the outside is absolutely stunning. The duck breast was to die for and it is great that you can select from 2 different sides. Marian was an absolute sweetheart! Will definitely be back!

While staying in nearby Ocean City, MD, we had a conversation with a gentleman from Staten Island, NY. A few days before we were leaving this area we ran into a neighbor staying at the same condo complex where we are. Because he was from Staten Island, we asked him about the restaurant Nonna's which is the subject of a recent popular movie. Nonna's is a destination restaurant in Staten Island. He said he's has dined atNonna's and it is great but then he told us about a restaurant where he had an amazing meal...and it is only a half an hour from where we were in Ocean City. It's called Cafe on 26 in Ocean View, Delaware and it is a reservations only restaurant. He said reservations could be hard to get and it might be too late to get reservations before we were leaving...but I decided to try anyway. I phoned and left a message. Shortly thereafter I received a phone call from Maria, the owner of the restaurant and she told me she did have a table for two for a 5:30 seating on Saturday! We were so delighted because we are celebrating our 53th wedding anniversary during this trip. We arrived a little early and did not have to wait long to be seated. There is ample parking in back of the restaurant. We walked up a lovely garden path, past the patio seating and we went inside the restaurant which is in a former home. On the glassed-in porch, which also has table seating available, we were greeted by a friendly maitre d, Christian. Maria was there and welcomed us and thanked us for choosing her restaurant. The interior of the two story home is a series of small dining rooms and there is plenty of space between each. It is intimate and quiet. There is a wine room upstairs also.There is soft dinner music playing and the sound level is one of the quietest in any place we've dined in a very long time! Hannah was our server and what a good representative of her restaurant, she is very knowledgeable with the menu. She went over the specials and one of them was tempting me, but when Hannah learned this is probably going to be our only opportunity to dine at Cafe on 26, she highly recommended the house signature dish: Potato Parmigiana Encrusted Salmon. I hesitated because it is served with dill cream reduction. I'm not a huge fan of dill. But I decided to take Hannah's recommendation. Best decision ever!!! The chef has created the absolute BEST salmon dish I have ever tasted. It was perfectly prepared, has unique compatible textures in the mashed potato and potato chip topping and I was so happy I listened to Hannah! My husband had a spectacular crab stuffed flounder with lump crab and house made Imperial sauce. The sides we had were the delicious twice baked potatoes, green beans almondine, and house made applesauce. We ordered the French onion soup and the seasonal summer salad before dinner. We took a piece of the fresh peach cake back to our condo as we needed to wait awhile to eat that! It was fabulous! We just had one of the best meals ever at Cafe on 26. Kudos to the chefs! So happy we had this experience! Thank you Maria and staff! I took a lot of photos but I'm having trouble attaching them. I'll work on that when I get back home!