schmooty

Is anyone else attending this? I will be leaving tomorrow and returning Sunday. I am really excited to eat some competition quality BBQ. Plus, I have never been to Wildwood before. I will report back when I return. -Al

For anybody that has never been to Phoenix Garden, I would highly recommend checking it out. It has pretty much ruined me for almost any other chinese food. I have eaten there about 10 times in the last year, and never had a bad meal. The prices are reasonable, and the staff quite friendly. It's on 40th betw. 2/3rd. Some of my favorite dishes are the pork chops peking style, shrimp with lobster sauce, and the half crispy duck. You really can't go wrong when ordering here. The food is cantonese style, and much lighter than traditional chinese food. Every dish has it's own distinct flavor unlike many chinese restaurants that serve every dish in some sort of brown sauce. Also, no matter how much we order, the bill is always in the $20-25 range per person. -Al

This looks awesome...has anybody ever been? Anybody got some details for me?

My sister just moved to Hoboken last month and yesterday was her birthday. My dad left me in charge of a reservation, and I chose Frankie and Jonnies. They had gotten some great reviews from this board, so I figured why not. Let me say that if I consider myself an expert on any food it would be a Porterhouse for 2. We started off with some salads. The F&J salad was very good, but the caesar had way to much dressing on it and the lettuce didn't have enough bite. I always order my steaks medium rare at steakhouses, and unfortunately mine came out medium to medium well. I hate to return food, but I had no choice. I ate some side dishes while they remade my steak. The creamed spinach was excellent, but was served at room temp. The potatoes au gratin were really good, but the portion was a bit skimpy. The new steak that was brought out was cooked to perfection. Closer to the rare side, which is fine with me. Now the steak was good, but no where near as tender as some other Porterhouses I have had. It was also way to salty for my liking. On the plus side, my little brother was full by the time the steak came out, so I ate about 2/3 of it. All in all a decent experience, but far from extraodinary. I had a steak at Ben Benson's last year for my buddy's b-day that was as good as any steak I have ever eaten. I also think that the steak's I have had at Morton's were all better than my steak last night. -Al

Ate here again last night. Just to let everyone know, they changed their name to Batalla. Same owners, same great food. They just decided that the name was too generic. Funny that today is actually Cinco De Mayo! I had the mole last night and it was great. I don't think I have ever had it before, so I have no basis for comparison. -Al

Just wanted to write a quick review of last night's meal. The food was everything I was hoping it would be. I went with 3 other people who let me do all of the ordering. We started out with the Pork Chops Beijing style and jiozzi for an appertizer. The pork chops were exactly what I thought; pan fried in a sweet and sour kind of a sauce. They were excellent and I recommend everyone checking them out. The jiozzi were unlike any dumpling I have ever had. They were so tasty. For main dishes we did the chicken with Spicy Capsicum Brown Sauce wich was spicy, but not overwhelming. They had the lionhead's meatballs which were light, fluffy, and delicious. Than came the Shanghai Jumbo Shrimp (In Shell). The sauce was excellent and the shrimp were cooked perfectly. Cecil than brought us what he called a rice cake dish than was in a moo-shu type of a sauce. It had a smoky flavor and complimented our other dishes perfectly. I have never had a dish like that before and we all really enjoyed it. Last, but certainly not least was the Ruby Pork w/ the buns. It was so tender and tasty. I think most of my party was pretty full by the time it was served, but we still enjoyed it. We only ate half, so I will be eating the other half for lunch very soon. All in all a great eating experience. And as far as cost, it was $100 for 4 people with tip and tax which everyone thought was quite reasonable. -Al

Anyone ever tried Pork Chop Beijing Style? When we go to Phoenix Garden in the city we always order Pork Chops Peking Style which are pan fried and served with a sweet sauce. Are the dishes similar? 6 hours and counting! Any other MUST HAVE dishes? I think I just recruited another person.

I am looking to take a few friends here tomorrow night. There will probably be 4 of us total. We are definitely going to order the Ruby Pork. What would you guys recommend for a beef and shrimp dish? For chicken, Kong Po Chicken or Diced Chicken w. Spicy Capsicum Brown Sauce? I will also order the jiozzi and the meatballs if they have them. I can't wait for my first China 46 experience. -Al

I went to Sandy's for lunch today and grabbed a 6 pack...3legs/3 thighs...the chicken really is something special, especially the thighs...there is just something about dark meat fried chicken that makes me crazy! I spoke to Sandy, and unfortunately next week is their last week in business at this location. They will be moving to a Flea Market in Pennsylvania. This location will have chicken and all the fixins, plus lots of other food as well. Also, they have only carried fried chicken at the location in Garfield for a while now, so no side dishes at all. (doesn't matter what time you get there). I would recommend anyone in the area to stop by next week and grab some chicken. Go early, as they often sell out by mid afternoon. Fried chicken and a couple of Becks. It don't get much better than that. -Al

thanks tommy, we will have to get together for a meal sometime. I find myself dining alone a lot when I am eating local. Most of my "eating" friends live in the city.

After reading all the great reviews, I had to check this place out. I haven't had "real" mexican food since my college days in Colorado..that's about 4 years. I pulled up at around 8:30pm and took a seat at the counter. I mentioned egullet and than grabbed a pineapple drink. After seeing's Jason's picture of the Tacos de Carne Enchilada, I had to have them. They came 4 to an order (for $5!) and they were fabulous. I decided on the pollo poblana with a little help from the chef. It was chuncks of white meat chicken sauteed in a tomato based sauce w/ peppers and a big slice of a great white cheese(melted). It also came w/ rice and beans which were great as well. On the counter, they have a red sauce and a green sauce. I could put the red one on almost anything. I am so glad that I joined this site. Between Finks, Wondees, Cinco de Mayo and China 46/Tapas de Espana in the very near future, I have finally found some great local cuisine. -Al :

Thanks Jason, that's good to know for next time. I can't wait to go back and try more stuff there.

I am not exactly sure of the connection between Tony and the restaurant. I will find out from my dad when he returns from Florida

I tried Wondees after all the great reviews here. I had been to Bangcock garden a few times and thought some things were good, and other things to be mediocre. I really like Thai food, but many of the people I dine with regullary do not. Because of Tommy, I ordered the duck salad as an app. It was wondeful. The crispy duck complinted the salad so well. What a refreshing dish. It would make a perfect summertime lunch. For my mains, I did a shrimp in green curry, and a spicy beef dish that Jason had recommended. The shrimp were overcooked, but the green curry sauce was wonderful. I think it was the first time I have ever had a green curry, but definitely not the last. I will try it w/ something different than shrimp next time. The spicy beef dish was superb. EXACTLY the kind of dish I was looking for. The 2 dishes complimented each other so nicely. I will return again soon. What other dishes are not to be missed? I am always looking to try new things everytime I go to a restaurant. -AL

My dad owns a furniture store in Fairfield NJ (sofas plus). His main rep for a line called Klausner is Tony Bella Rosa. Tony's family owns the restaurant. I have eaten there twice, plus my dad had his 50th b-day there. I have nothing, but good things to say about the place. The service is great and so is the food. They make a spicy shrimp pizza that is to die for. I am glad E-gulleters enjoy this place as well. I would love to attend an e-gullet dinner there. -AL

I have been to both of them and prefer the Hackensack one. I find the burgers there to be much more juicy than the ones in Jersey City. Also they always seem to skimp on the onions in Jersey City. Plus, I live in Hackensack, so that one is much easier. When asked to describe the manna to out of towners, I say it's jersey's version of a cheesteak. I could go for about 3 doubles right about now! Plus, they just extended their days to Sunday. Can't wait for halftime burgers during football season. -Al

Hi Everybody. I figured this post was a good place to introduce myself becasue I have now eaten here 3 times becasue of E-gullet. I have been lurking on the site for about a month and finally joined a couple of weeks ago. My name is Allan and I live in Hackensack. I have lived here for about 3 years now. Thanks to this site, I can finally start to discover new restaurants. Let me just say that I LOVE food. I love to eat it, I love to cook it, and I love to talk about it. The first place I decided to try was Finks. I went there for lunch last week. I started with some chicken wings in the Cajun sauce. The wings were excellent (if just a tad small for my liking), but the sauce was exceptional. It was one of the best wing sauces I have ever had. A perfect spice with some great seasonings. I then had a cheesteak w/ peppers and onions that was probably the best NJ cheesteak I have ever had. Now, you must understand that I have lots of friends in Philly, so it certainly wasn't the best I have had. That nod would go to Steves Prince of Steaks in NE Philly. They don't use chopped meat like finks. Instead, they use large slices of beef. That being said, I was still impressed w. finks version. I also ordered the herbed cottage fries which were fantastic, especially dipped in bbq sauce. Now, for dinner that night, I wanted to try El Gran Mexicana. I have had no luck finding anything resembling good mexican food in the area. However, I must have gone too late, because when I arrived at 9:30pm they were closed. I figured why not go back to Finks and try the bbq. I order the taste of fink to. Because they were closing, they threw in a pint of extra pulled pork free of charge. I took it to go and had a feast when I returned home. The ribs, pulled chicken, and brisket were all tasty, but the pork was awesome! Some of the finest pulled pork I have ever eaten anywhere. The brisket was also quite good, if not a tad overcooked for my taste. I decided to really hold out judgement on the ribs until I ate at least a half a rack. 2 ribs are not a great indicator of ribs, plus it was like 9pm. I took my buddy to Finks last night for dinner, and let me say that this time I ordered the 1/2 chicken and ribs combo. These ribs BLEW AWAY the ribs I had there a couple of weeks ago. In fact, they were some of the best spareribs I have ever had. They were cooked to perfection. The chicken also exceeded all expectations. What a great combo. I also had my buddy order the pulled pork and he was in heaven. We also ordered a burger medium rare, but it came out well done. I refuse to eat well done meat, and Finks had no problem taking it off the bill which was really cool of them. Another order of cottage fries and a Dr. Brown Cream soda, finished the meal off perfectly. Finks will become a weekly staple in my rotatiom. Cubby who? haha.... Anyway, that's my Finks experience in a nut shell. I have tried some other places, but that's for another topic. I look forward to attending the next egullet dinner, and if anyone in my area wants to ever grab some food with me I am always down. -Allan