lano

had dinner/drinks at mompou tonight. As I previously stated that the atmosphere was similar to Adega bar, I stand corrected-- atmosphere was much better than I remembered. Very lively, if not a bit too loud. A packed room thinned out around 7:30-8 to just a few tables very quickly. Was a guitarist who started around 8-- very good. Onto the food-- ordered the following: 1. Meiga salad-- so-so mozz, unripened cherry tomatoes, very ripe avocadoes and watercress with a tasty vinaigrette. Unforgettable. 2. Chorizo slices served in a spicy garlic broth with a couple toasted slices of a dense portuguese bread. Delicious. 3. Chicken Meatballs with an almond garlic sauce-- also had some wild mushroooms, touch of garlic, and sauce was slightly creamy, though was not a cream sauce. Possibly finished with a creamy cheese. Good-- meatballs were surprisingly moist, though garlic used was definitely jarred variety-- had the acidic taste of jarred garlic and later confirmed by viewing a jar in semi-open kitchen. 4. Tortilla Herminia--Spanish tortilla with Yukon gold potatoes, onions, spinach with a stilton bleu cheese sauce. Sounded much better than it was. I thought Stilton sauce would be warm, as I have had many divine warm bleu cheese sauces, but this was much closer to a Stilton Bleu Cheese dressing. Sauce was not good. 5. Griled Lamb Chops w/ Wild Mushrooms, butter and garlic. Very nice tasty crust on the lamb chops and cooked to a nice medium rare-- very simple, yet was executed well. Overall, the food sounded much better than it was. Again, garlic was not fresh and there was a slightly acidic taste to dishes with it. Good atmosphere. Dessert was "Creme Catalan", which was supposedly Creme Brulee with Chunks of Chocolate. Awful. No Crust on top and was apparently not torched, though was supposed to be. Did not finish it. Meal and a bottle of wine came to $110, no tip. Overall, was good.

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.

Anybody have any opinions on Oteri's Bakery on North 5th Street in Philly? Not from the area, but thinking of using them for pastries and cakes at my wedding. A friend recommended them to me. Any opinions? thanks

Where is this place?

I live a few minutes away and we either get takeout or dine here once a week. It's a veritable bargain and a very solid Thai place. By far better than any other Thai places in the immediate locale.... never been to Wondee's though.

just outside princeton, in hopewell, are Blue Bottle Cafe & Brothers moon. If willing to travel outside of Princeton try either, although I have had a few outstanding meals recently at Blue Bottle.

Speaking of Holsten's, according to last nights Soprano's episode, they have the best onion rings.... anyone ever try anything other than ice cream here?

Linda's Chicken was my first job in high school. If I remember correctly, they had 3 stores at the time and the West Caldwell location was their best performer. Food was on par with Boston Market.

Is the restaurant officially open yet?

Just went last night. If i said that I was unimpressed, that would be generous. Service was mediocre at best. waited by the front door for several minutes before someone came over. The entrance is a little awkward as there is no one in the front of the restaurant greeting or handling diners. Service throughout the meal was slow and unattentive. Waitress had the warmth of an iceberg. Service aside, I can forgive and overlook service issues if the food in a restaurant is good. In fact, unless I am out with friends, clients or family, i don't really nit pick over service and really only care about the food. To start, my wife ordered pork spring rolls that were bland, as was the dipping sauce. I ordered for an appetizer "down town dumplings" with peanut sauce and chili oil. Again, very bland and tasteless. On the menu, this read like a good dish, but was completely lackluster. For main coursea, I had the shrimp pad thai. This was not pad thai. There was not a hint of tamarind, tofu or nor even any cilantro. Instead it was sauteed noodles with red and green peppers and 3 large shrimp. It had a hint of spiciness, but was not as hot as mentioned before. Really, this dish was a tragedy. I cannot believe that this was called Pad thai. Pad thai is flavorful, this was not. My wife had some japanese Ramen noodle soup with chicken tonkatsu (breaded chicken). Bland and boring, although I'm not sure that even at its best, this would be a great dish. We also ordered a bottle of Pellegrino and a couple sodas. Total Came to $40 not including tip. If you can tell, I was extremely disappointed in this meal. I think the conept is a good one, but the execution was poor. It was not a surprise to me that the restaurant was very empty on a friday night. I certainly will not return to this place. In my recent memory, it probably one of the most disappointing dining experiences i have had.

there's a butcher on 1st street, just a couple blocks off washington that ive used that is pretty good. on the south side of the street. can't remember name...

You're absolutely right!! I know this isn't exactly on topic, but why is that?!? When my bro moved to Montclair a few months ago, we went searching for Chinese food, and the only thing in town that was decent was Sesame. Truly surprising in a place with so many dining options. ← the best in the area is sesame or chengdu, however, i'm not a huge fan of either. if i dont feel like trekking out to fairfield, i usually will just have thai. brookside thai is really exceptional and cheap, to boot.

genearally, I'd say that the seasonns is mediocre take-out chinese food. overall, very bland and few, if any, interesting dishes. the montclair area is a wasteland of mostly "order by picture" chinese places. while the four seasons is a cut above that, I'd say it's only a slight notch above.

I called last night for a reservation. Apparently, the are no longer serving entree's. Too bad, dinner was very good there...

anyone been here recently? thinking of going for lunch....

while it doesnt change into a club, per se, but south city grille on RT17 is very clublike. place always seemd a bit odd-- food is good, place is loud and gets very crowded. a little too NYish for me, esp for being literally on route 17.....

the only PF Chang's I've been to is in Cleveland, several times. Cleveland is a culinary wasteland. As far as chains go, it's pretty good. there are certainly better options as curlz has pointed out.

my pick would be Fat Boys deli in Madison.... I'm not sure if they are still around, but I interned in the area for a few summers and ate a roast beef "joe" every day from there.... I was a little younger then, so the calories didn't catch up to me..... they were absolutely delicious..... everything a sloppy joe should be. 3 slices of Soft Rye bread, rare roast beef, tangy cole slaw, runny russian dressing and swiss. If they are still open and someone works there, go have one and report back!

Yes and it was frighteningly horrendous. So much so think I didn't write about it anywhere (er, till now) because I wanted to give 'em a second chance. But everything - service, food, prices - really... I guess the place itself is kind of cute... But that second chance is looking far off. ← yes, have eaten at the mexican place twice and each time vowed never to go back. maybe i'll actually never go back this time.

i would check with Caldwell Seafood market. Typicall, I've found seafood markets to have fish/lobster stock. 390 Bloomfield Ave. Caldwell, NJ 07006 Tel: 973-226-2031 Incidentally, I bought a nice sushi grade tuna there for about $17 per pound recently, which was quite good. Selection of fish seemed small relative to a few places in NYC I've been to, however, freshness seemed impeccable.

ate at the trattoria on Wednesday. Started off with a passable caesar salad and an order of "stinco di riso"-- which is leftover risotto, with assorted bits of meat and cheese mixed in, rolled into balls, breaded and fried. Served on top of a very fresh pomodoro sauce. Next, split a Rigatoni with Funghi and sausage. Surprisingly light sauce, that was very tasty. For my main course, had the braised lamb shank served with polenta cake. My wife had some Tilapia dish. Overall, a very good meal. There doesnt seem to be a lot of dishes on the menu, but that's ok as I'd rather a restaurant focus on what it does well, if that means it is only a few dishes. Food seemed to be not your typical northern NJ italian, but rather reminiscient of recent trips to Italy. Bread was very good, which I'm assuming came from their bakery on Bellevue. Service was attentive. Total bill for 2 came to $75 before tax, tip. Will certainly go back.

Those are phenomenal bagels. Number two on my list for best bagels West of the Hudson. ← Having grown up in Fairfield, for me these are the bagels to which all others are measured by. Another favorite is the Hot Bagels Abroad at 1129 Broad St in Bloomfield.

Had a phenomenal dinner at Fascino the other night. First, we were presenmted with an amuse of wild mushroom puree with truffle oil that was served in a shot glass-- flavor was incredible. I started with the Salmon Tartare-- great preparation. was chopped with a light vinaigrette topped with thinly sliced red onions and watercress. My main course was the veal shank with gremolata, served on top of a squash puree and some type of red wine based sauce/braising liquid. Veal was perfectly cooked and paired well with the autumnal squash puree. also had an order of polenta "fries"-- these were ok, not so exciting. while generally i'd say anything fried is good, these need some type of sauce-- whether it was some sort of creamy sauce or a spicy tomato preparation. Anthony mentioned that in the past they've tried a mascarpone sauce for them, which they are contemplating again. fried polenta would hold up to a lot of flavors and I'd recommend that they try something to jazz them up a bit. My wife had the canelloni appetizer and chicken breast main course-- sorry, I can't be much more descriptive, but I had a couple too many glasses of wine... Service was very attentive, as well as did well recommending dishes. Only thing that was a touch off was the speed at which appetizers came out of the kitchen-- we hadnt even finished the amuse when appetizers came out. all in all though, it was a great experience. came out to about $85 + tax/tip.

gotcha... guess i'll have to give it a try trhen. i'll report back.

i could be wrong, but someone told me that this place is a dreadful japanese "hibachi" type place, like Mt. Fuji. Is this true?