zhelder
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Posts posted by zhelder
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Deciding to go on an adventure today, I went to both Balthazar and Patisserie St. Michel today. It was my first time at Balthazar, and I got some chocolate croissants and brownies. I then went to Patisserie St. Michel and got some pastries and chocolate croissants. I thought it would be fun to compare the two chocolate croissants with my brother, who is a chocolate croissant freak.
Well, I was routing for Andre, but we both agreed Balthazar won in the croissant category. They were both delicious, but Balthazar's croissants had a more intense butter flavor.
However, I don't think Andre has anything to worry about in the pastry department. The brownie from Balthazar was excellent, but it couldn't hold a candle to Andre's treats. This man makes perhaps the best pastries in the country, definitely the best I've had.
As far as pricing and selection, Balthazar has a wider selection of breads, but Patisserie St. Michel seems to have a wider variety of pastries. As far as price, both places are expensive. (Pastries at both places seem to be in the $3 - $4 range for individual servings, most full cakes and pies seem to be in the $25-$30 range.) But the quality is so worth it (and this is coming from a usually frugal no-frills guy who's used to buying $7 cakes).
I highly recommend a trip to both places, but especially Patisserie St. Michel. I got to meet Andre for the first time today, and he's definitely from France! Andre and Anne are so nice and they'll give you lots of samples of things to try. Andre gave me a free chocolate croissant because I waited patiently while two other women placed some rather lengthy orders. A nice gesture! I don't go to "fancy" places like this often (although the shop itself definitely isn't fancy looking, the pastries sure are!) , but it's worth the trip to go here. If you decide to go here, you'll be in for a real treat.
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This may be a real far out idea, but perhaps the old Shop Rite on the strip next to the Bergen Mall could be subdivided into a location for your bakery and some other stores? It's been vacant for years, and with the Bergen Mall planning an upscale renovation in the near future (including a gargantuan Whole Foods store) there may be a market for such a bakery.
BTW, does anyone know of any good quality patisseries in Bergen County besides Patisserie St. Michel in Teaneck?
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I remember one day about 5 years ago I went to the KFC on Forest Avenue for a quick lunch and it was mobbed. I remember peeking in Panda Forest and seeing one well-dressed gentleman in there enjoying what looked like a nice quiet lunch. After seeing that, I told myself that I'd get back there one day to try it, but I never got the chance. Is the new place good, and is it a sit down restaurant like Panda Forest was?
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Congratulations! I'll definitely stop by on my way home from work in East Orange when you're open. Bergen and Passaic Counties have a lot of good hot dog places but there doesn't seem to be any good places in Essex County. You're filling a void. Congratulations again and keep us updated on the progress!
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It's been well over a decade since I've eaten in Highland Park so I don't have any recommendations, but I suggest you check out the Shop-Rite in Edison. They have a "Kosher Experience" that's supposedly amazing.
What exactly is a "Kosher Experience"? Do you know of any Shop-Rites in Northern NJ that have this section?
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Minado is my favorite sushi place too. Although the one in Morris Plains is even nicer. (Although a bit of a ride from Bergen County. ) Apparently there is a chain of similar Japanese buffet restaurants under the name Todai, but none in NJ. There is one in White Plains, NY, and maybe one day I'll get there to try it. It will be interesting to comapre the two!
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There is a Cracker Barrel right off Route 80 West right past Rockaway.
172 Howard Blvd.
Mt. Arlington NJ 07856-1308
(973) 398-8404
Oooh yes. Forgot about them. One of my favorite restaurants and good hash browns. This Cracker Barrel is the only one in Northern NJ, and it is definitely worth the 45 minute trip (occasionally!) for me to go there. There are a few more in South Jersey.
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We need Waffle House in NJ! They have some mighty tasty hash browns, probably the best in the country. As far as NJ, IHOP serves hash browns, and they're pretty good. And although I hate to admit it, I do enjoy McDonald's hash brown patties (but I'm definitely not a fan of their burgers!)
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Great article. In search of a culinary adventure today, I went to Martino's Market to check out their lunch buffet. Let me tell you, it was absolutely terrific. They had about 10 different dishes: vodka penne, meatballs, cheese ravioli, Italian style chicken and potatoes, fried flounder, linguini with clams, chicken piccata, eggplant rollatini, pasta e fagoli, sausage and one or two other things I can't remember. The food was delicious, with the only slight miss being the chicken piccata, with the chicken being a bit dry and overcooked, but everything else was top-notch stuff, in some cases the best I've had in a long time (the eggplant rollatini, sausage, and vodka penne were particularly good. ) The place is very OLD SCHOOL, and about as casual as it gets. It's in probably what is a renovated house in a fairly gritty section of Hackensack and the crowd seemed to be real local, including a few police officers. There are a few small tables in the front of the store, and two larger tables with folding chairs in the back, and everyone sits together. I usually feel awkward with such setups, but I was pretty comfortable here after a few minutes. The owners, the Martinos, were as friendly as can be and very welcoming. Mr. Martino spent some time sitting and chatting with several of the regular customers, showing them some of the many family pictures adorning the back room. The buffet is $10. I wasn't sure whether to tip, but I thought I should (even though I got the impression that most people didn't) so I paid $13 for the meal, a soda and a tip. The meal was wonderful, the price was right, and the owners couldn't have been nicer. Very highly recommended.
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I don't get it. Restaurants charging $50 a plate for two salad shrimp and half a baby potato are thriving and good, cheap restaurants like this are suffering. I have to admit that I have been to this place only once, but it is a bit of a distance for me to go as often as I'd like. I will make sure I go there more regularly. The food is good and the prices are great. The highbrow Ridgewood Thai restaurants charge at least double the price of this place, and the food isn't as good, and they have no problem drawing business. What gives?
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We did eat there on Saturday night, but we didn't arrive until just after 7 PM.
Yeah, after thinking about it, my time was off. I was there from around 6:30 to 7 or maybe a few minutes past. I thought I recognized you both from the pictures on the site, but I wasn't sure and didn't want to make a fool out of myself. So here's a belated "Hi!" and thanks for running a great site.
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I went to this place for dinner a second time Saturday evening. This place rocks. I got a lamb/chicken combo, a chicken samosa, and a mango lasai. The food is delicious, although I could stand a little more spice. It's still outstanding. It came out to about $13 for everything and it was a great meal. There were several other people dining there as well. This is a great, original place. Check it out!
BTW, Rachel and/or Jason, were you here Saturday evening around 5 pm? Was I dining with royalty and not realizing it?
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I've been to this place several times. They've been around for probably close to 10 years. I like them. They had some growing pains a few years ago when they foolishly decided to make their entire buffet a Chinese food buffet (it used to be mostly Brazilian food) and I didn't go for about three years. Recently, they got their senses back and the buffet is now half Brazilian with maybe one or two "Chinese" dishes and the sushi section. The sushi is good and there's a pretty good variety. The rodizio meats are good as well, especially the beefs. The dining room is nice and comfortable and the staff is friendly. I usually go for lunch, as dinner is about twice the price without a whole lot more variety, but I've been there for dinner too. They're on Hackensack Avenue in the shopping center with Home Depot and Pathmark, next to Riverside Square Mall. There's a nearly identical rodizio restaurant in the Palisades Center Mall, although their buffet is still Brazilian without the sushi. They're both good.
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I love iced tea too, but it's hard to find good low calorie iced teas. Arizona diet peach iced tea may be the best diet iced tea I've ever had. No aftertaste, very realistic peach flavor (which I have found is a very difficult flavor to reproduce accurately in drinks). Turkey Hill's diet teas aren't bad either, and their regular teas kick major butt, but the Arizona diet tea is the best.
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I love Mongolian stir fry. While trying to see what places were within driving distance for me, I found some old threads on a place called Kahn's Mongolian Grill in Blauvelt, NY, on Route 303, close to the Palisades Mall, and, as I learned today, close to the Northvale, NJ border as well. The place was great. It looks like a cross between an old school Chinese restaurant and an old diner. They have a wide variety of meats, veggies, noodles and sauces to add to your stir fry, and then you pick an additional sauce for the chefs to add and they cook it on a huge round grill. They give you soup and some other small appetizers, including salad (actually just lettuce) with a peanut dressing, peel & eat shrimp and some delicious pork dumplings which are among the best I've had. They also give you a small scoop of ice cream for dessert. It's $15.95 for dinner, and you can go up to the grill as many times as you want. I'll be back!
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I had Brooklyn's Pizza once. It was very good, but I prefer Bricks, probably my all time favorite pizza. It kind of freaked me out not having cheese all over the pizza. It was still great, just different.
BTW, here's props to another great Northern NJ pizza place: Turvino's in Glen Rock, just a few feet past the Fair Lawn border. They've been there forever, and the place is certainly nothing to look at, but they make some great pizza!
Also, when I was a kid, there used to be a pizza place in Paramus on Route 4 where Wendy's is now called Pronto. I used to love that place! They made the best personal pizzas. Anybody else remember that place?
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Great article, John. It's funny how you mention how you hope your kid grows out of putting ketchup on his hot dogs. I used to love ketchup on my dogs as a kid too, but I shudder to think about doing it these days. I'm a mustard and kraut man now! Congrats again on the article.
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I'm looking for something that is fairly common on the Left coast and at mid-western state fairs but not so here in the East...
Cheese on a stick.. like hot dog on a stick but a stick of butter size hunk of cheddar dipped in a hot dog type batter and deep fried...with yellow mustard...delicious...
now if I could only find some on the East coast...any help out there?
A week too late. They were serving these at the Meadowlands Fair, but sadly the fair is over until next year. My friend got one, but I passed. It looked like a huge cube of mozzarella ( I guess it could have been cheddar or a mixture) in some type of batter. He enjoyed it. I don't know where else you could find these, but you can always try the fair next year!
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Well, I got to go to the River Vale farmers' market today and it is an improvement over last year's for the most part. They had a few new additions, including a seafood/pasta vendor named Panzarella's and a pickle vendor, Paul's Pickles. Panzarella's had some very interesting stuff, including crab cakes, frozen shrimp, and fresh pastas and raviolis in addiiton to mozzarella and fresh breads. I bought a small mozzarella, but I may buy some more stuff the next time. It was a bit expensive, but it all looked so good! The gentleman manning the pickle booth, whom I'm assuming was Paul, told me he used to work for Picklelicious in Teaneck and then left to start his own company. He has a store in Ridgefield Park and hopes to open a store in Fair Lawn. His pickles are nearly identical to the Picklelicious pickles, although he told me his were not kosher. (That's OK with me as long as they taste good, which they do, just like Picklelicious.) The Amish group is once again selling baked goods and they are selling cheeses as well this year. They had a few different kinds for $3.25 for blocks that look like they're about 12 oz. or so. (Very cheap!) I bought a cajun cheddar, but I haven't had a chance to try it yet. The produce vendors were OK, but there was nothing real special. One vendor was selling ferns, which a lot of people seemed to like. I bought a few things, such as grape tomatoes, white peaches, a couple of yukon gold potatoes, and a bunch of basil. The produce vendors in Ridgewood are much better though, and cheaper. Overall, it was a good trip, and I will most likely return, but overall I find the Ridgewood market to be the superior of the two. I do want to go back to get some more cheese and perhaps some fresh pasta and shrimp and River Vale though!
One other warning about the River Vale market: parking is brutal, so get there early. (They hold the market on Thursdays from 1pm-6pm.) The vendors are now set up over a large section of the lot, eliminating about half of the parking spaces from an area with inadequate parking to begin with. I had no problem getting a spot when I arrived at about 12:45, but when I left at about 1:15 it took me about five minutes to back my car out between all the traffic and people walking.
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I used to like a small place called Coffaro's when I lived in South River. However I am yet to find a good delivery place near my home town only one comes close and it's called City Pizza in Westwood... and Nellies and Kinchley's is the best if you drive locally (IMHO!) I'd appreciate it if anyone has any suggestions for a good delivery place up here I'd really REALLY appreciate it.
BTW to the earlier posts Starlite was the best after sledding down the golf course on a snowy winter day, nothing like their hot steamy cheese laden slices to cheer up a kid with a cold, snow-caked bottom!
I can sympathize with you. There are no standout delivery places by me in Waldwick either. However, if you're feeling adventurous one day and want to take a drive, Bricks pizza on Greenwood Ave. in Wyckoff (next to the DMV) may be the best traditional pizza in Bergen County. They also have locations in Montclair (they were featured on Fire Me Please last week), I think there's one in Tenafly, and a place in Glen Rock which is now called Aldo's, but it used to be a Bricks and they make the same pizza. Highly recommended, especially the barbecue chicken pizza. Delicious! I will also second the suggestions for Nellie's and Kinchley's for great bar pies (I find them to be comparably delicious, but since I'm only a few blocks away from Nellie's I usually order from there.) They would make a killing if they started delivering their pizzas!
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I am very tempted to take a ride down to check this place out. It looks really good. Does anybody know anything about prices? When do dinner hours start? What are the differences between lunch and dinner in terms of offerings? Finally, is there a "best time" to go to avoid the nightmarish traffic on Route 21? Thanks for any information!
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I believe I was once in a Cracker Barrel and they serve real Maple Syrup. (In a portion-control little container) (Or so they say) The stuff is probably too expensive to just lay out on a table and let the customers pour away. Colored sugar-water with artificial flavor is about 2 cents/gallon, so that's about 1000 times cheaper. I think there are some Cracker Barrels in South Jersey.
And yes, I think Cracker Barrel would be universally accepted as a "Chain". Now as for Alain Ducasse, better tell Michelin to get it out of their listings!
I love Cracker Barrel! And they definitely serve real maple syrup in those little bitty bottles! Most are indeed in Southern Jersey (I think Cracker Barrel targets more rural areas), but there is one in Mt. Arlington off of Route 80. Great food, big portions, and excellent prices. Be prepared for a long wait if you go during a peak time, but it's worth it.
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Still waiting to hear if anyone else feels as I do about the syrup issue. There is nothing better than real maple syrup, pure, no ingredients other than reduced-down maple sap. Putting colored sugar-water on great pancakes is like putting lousy mustard on a great hot dog. How can we get real maple syrup at these "designer" pancake places?. I mean technically speaking, Alain Ducasse is a chain.
Wow, that's quite a reach. Somebody must have spiked your syrup!!
Isn't the syrup at Country Pancake House real maple syrup? If it isn't, it's a very good imitation!
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How does this place compare to Country Pancazke House in Ridgewood? That place has been thriving for almost 10 years now.
Well, I've only been to Original Pancake House once, but IMHO, Country Pancake House is unbeatable in terms of value. While I found the food at OPH to be delicious, the portion was not real big and it was a bit expensive. For a comparable price, you get breakfast for two days when you go to CPH. They've been thriving because they offer delicious food, monstrous portions, and reasonable prices. That is a combination that is very hard to find in Ridgewood or in most other towns in Bergen County. They're both good, but CPH is my first choice. I do wish that OPH would sell their tropical syrup, though, it's the best.
Melt: The Restaurant
in New Jersey: Dining
Posted
I second that thought. I wanted to try this place very much, but it was too difficult for me to get to Jersey City. I'd love to see a location in Westwood, Ridgewood, or even Ramsey, but that would make it tough for the Hudson County crowd. Maybe a central Passaic County location (Clifton? Southern Wayne?) could provided reasonable access to everyone. I hope they reopen in a better location!