vsasson

Try Madangsui in Fort Lee, a BBQ restaurant that says all its meat is fresh. You might be able to get the front room to yourself, but would have to sit at several tables because of the sprinklers, in-table grills and so forth. I think it's gas before 6 p.m. and charcoal after. I recently visited So Moon Nan Jib in Pal Park for the first time after a renovation and service has really fallen off, so wouldn't recommend it. That used to be the best place I knew. There's also Woo Jung, near So Moon Nan Jib, but can't recall the layout. Good food, though. Get phone numbers by Googling the names.

The Hackensack Costco didn't have Copper River salmon last year, just wild salmon from Alaska, if I recall correctly. Is this the first time you saw Copper River salmon at your Costco?

I drove by Sunday, on the way home from a good dinner at Baumgart's on Palisade Avenue. Rose's is in a location in Englewood that has long proved fatal for restaurants. I did takeout once from the Fair Lawn original and although the food was good, I didn't feel I got enough for the money. I have always gotten better meals at the Lebanese and Syrian restaurants in Paterson's South Paterson neighborhood, such as Assayad, which is on the Clifton side of Crooks Avenue.

Whole Foods will open first, with a Middle Eastern food stand, to boot. I've started a blog about food shopping that you might want to check out: http://doyoureallyknowwhatyoureeating.blogspot.com/

been to mompou 4-5 times. Good for tapas and drinks. Nothing earth shattering, but good. Atmosphere reminds me a bit like the bar in Adega Grill, though bigger. Have also heard good things about Vivo for tapas, a block or so up ferry st. ← Strangely, they do not have any sherry, which is great with tapas. Might be Portuguese-owned, judging by the ports listed on the drink menu. The food is good, though not up to the dishes we had at Casa Mono in Manhattan, but compared to the cramped and noisy Casa Mono, there is plenty of stretch-out room. We will try Vivo, a tapas place a few blocks down Ferry Street, next time.

Cafasso's Fairway in Fort Lee dates to the 1920s (the exact date was on their plastic bags) with the motto: "Where U.C. the Finest Food" or something similar. Anyone who thinks the lawsuit is a joke hasn't shopped the Fort Lee store, which was expanded about five years ago. Part of the expansion was many more parking spaces, adding to a previously adequate lot.

I'm a little late to this thread, but in defense of Cafasso's Fairway in Fort Lee (and that's the name of the store), it was around for decades before the store in New York stole its name. It was and remains one of the top food stores in northern New Jersey; in the Fort Lee area, I don't think any store even approaches it. The produce, the prepared food, the bread from many bakeries, the fish and meats are all top-notch. The store was cramped until the owners finally got permission after many years of opposition to expand. Indeed, it's a smaller version of the New York Fairway, but different enough to have its own identity. It's too easy to dismiss everyting in New Jersey as inferior to food stores and restaurants across the river or border.

I guess I put this on the wrong thread earlier. Costco in Hackensack had gutted sections of whole Copper River sockeye salmon for $6.99 a pound today. My nearly two-pound section yielded six small steaks and a nice tail section. They cooked quicly in the oven and were terrifc, with sea salt, lemon juice, allspice and Aleppo pepper.

I dropped in at Costco in Hackensack this afternoon and found wild sockeye salmon fillets from Alaska for $9.99 a pound and sections of wild sockeye salmon from the Copper River for $6.99 a pound. Copper River was written on the label. The nearly two-pound, gutted section I bought yielded six small steaks and a nice tail section. I seasoned them with sea salt, lemon juice, allspice and Aleppo pepper, and they cooked in about 10 monutes at 375 degrees. Delish.

Just took another look at a Web site I had saved in my favorites. It lists Korean restaurants, but more importantly has lots of great photos of main and side dishes, with their Korean and English names. Here is the address: http://www.trifood.com/gimbop.html Enjoy!

There are almost too many places to recommend. For twice-fried Korean fried chicken, try Boom Boom Chicken on Main Street in Fort Lee. Madangsui on Palisade Avenue in Fort Lee and So Moon Nan Jip on Broad Avenue in Pal Park are two restaurants that use charcoal in their table-top grills, but have extensive menus that allow you to have a satisfying meal without ordering meat. The Lighthouse near the Han Ah Reum in Ridgefield is good for combinaiton lunches such as spicy tofu stew and short ribs.

You can find terrific Peruvian food at Pollos El Chevere at 228 Washington Place in Passaic. The ceviche is beautifully plated and the rotisserie chicken (pollo a la brasa) is moist and aromatic. The owners are Japanese-Peruvian. A smaller place, Jaimito's, is at 389 Lexington Avenue on the Clifton-Passaic border, and the owner is Chinese-Peruvian. The green spaghetti, in a pesto-like sauce, can be ordered with fried fish on top, and they also have stir-fried dishes.

Try the Brenda Lee Taqueria at 76 Market St. in Passaic. It does lots of business so the food is always fresh, the tortillas are handmade, and they have a half-dozen or more kinds of soft tacos. Plus, there is a great jukebox there.

There's a small, family owned place that has never failed to please me: Hiura, on Main Street near Anderson Avenue (there's a Korean restaurant on the corner). Hiura has great sushi as well as bento box dinners and other cooked items. It's a BYO. Parking is in a lot just around the corner on Anderson. Yamaguchi, which has a branch in the city, has had half-price sushi on weekends, and when I visited with friends in the summer, they offered free draft beer and sake as well. It is housed in a no-luggage hotel, and there is the Cheap Beer Depot next door.