Jason Perlow

Amended, thanks.

45 N. Dean Street Englewood NJ 07631 201-567-9600 Rachel and I had a very nice meal at Daruma, a brand new sushi place on Dean Street, next to Tapas de Espana (also a very good place, which we had mothers day dinner at yesterday). Ownership is Taiwanese/Chinese, with one of the main sushi chefs being Japanese (Hiro-san). We had the privelege of being their first customers this evening. Its a very attractive restaurant and has traditional sushi bar seating, tatami as well as regular tables to sit at. Service is -very- attentive. The sushi style is self admittedly "contemporary japanese" and some of their dishes are copied directly from the menu at Nobu in NYC, such as the "New Style Sashimi" and "Sake Black Cod". There's a nice selection of fancy sushi rolls and a la carte standard nigiri's and makis, in addition to chirashi and sashimi platters. Started off with a beef tataki, which was very thinly sliced rare/barely seared beef in an acidic/citrus marinade of sorts, with thin lemon slices and bonito shavings. Very good. Rachel ordered a chirashi sushi platter which had a nice variety of fresh sashimi fish on top of a furikake-seasoned bed of rice, fish was clean and of very good quality. I had a "White Dragon Roll" which is their spin on a spider roll, which is soft shell crab along with spicy tuna and avocado and I think one other kind of fish, wrapped up in a white seaweed. Very Good. I liked this better than a standard spider roll because it didnt have any of that cloying sweet sauce. I also had a "crunchy spicy tuna" which was like your typical spicy tuna roll but had crunchy tempura bits outside. Nice, but not quite as spicy as I would have liked it. Also had a Baby Futomaki which was your standard futo, but well executed. Towards the end we were still hungry so we ordered more appetizers -- "harumaki" was their take on a shrimp spring roll, outsides are nicely fried and crisp, inside was a mixture of shrimp, mushroom and a mushy vegetable, probably cabbage of some sort. came with a tonkatsu-style dipping sauce, which I think it could have done without. I liked it. We also had a Miso Eggplant appetizer which was a split japanese eggplant that had a miso sauce on the top and then broiled, where the eggplant becomes almost like a custard and has to be spooned out of the skin. We liked this one a lot. Total bill -- $78 before tip. Certainly not a cheap sushi place but not rediculous either. Fancy rolls are betwen $9-$13, regular rolls $5-$10, a la carte nigiri peices $3-$5, Sushi platters $16-22. I reccommend this place highly and its definitely a nice addition to an already burdgeoning restaurant neighborhood. The place is BYO, open on mondays, and has free delivery.

Closed as in temporarily, or permanently?

Oh, don't get me wrong, I like belacan. Especially in vegetable sautees, like Kangkung Belacan. Or with convolus or string beans. But the idea of burying something in belacan? SHUDDER!

The Zardetto is a good buy -- but the one I really like is the Nino Franco. Both wines make for great Mimosas as well.

Nah, typically, the Chinese saute them, usually in black bean sauce. I think that Malaysian fermented shrimp paste would kill ANYTHING...

Snails exist in Chinese food as well -- and it could be said the Chinese have had more influence on southeast Asia than France has ever had. Hell, I just had some this afternoon at a Shanghainese restaurant. EDIT: I see ECR has the same thoughts as well.

Well said.

For some reason, I don't really regard Boddingtons as a macro brew. Its still one of my favorites, though.

We are delighted to announce Shaun Hill, chef proprietor of The Merchant House, Ludlow, England will be running the first eGullet Culinary Institute Interactive Cooking Clinic. Shaun will be online to answer all your culinary queries in this special Q&A session next week (May 10-14), so join us then to take advantage of this unique opportunity. N.B. - this Q&A is limited to questions directly related to cooking. Please see Shaun's previous Q&A for his answers to more general questions about his life and work as a chef/restaurateur. To read my recent Daily Gullet interview with Shaun and see an extract from his new book click here. About Shaun As you will see from his CV below, Shaun combines the running of The Merchant House with writing and consulting, and has over 35 years experience in the restaurant trade. Shaun caused quite a stir in 1994 when he left the luxurious and internationaly renowned Gidleigh Park hotel and restaurant (where he also won a Michelin Star) and moved to the then culinary hinterland of rural Shropshire. The AA guide compared the career change to being like Damien Hill giving up formula 1 racing for driving a bus! Since the opening of The Merchant House however, Ludlow has become a mecca for "foodies" and professional chefs alike. Shaun's presence has attracted other high flyers to the historic market town which is now home to no less than 3 Michelin starred restaurants and an annual food and drink festival. Courtesy of those lovely people at Mitchell Beazley, we have a copy of Shaun's most recent book How To Cook Better to give away. The winner will be drawn at random from those taking part in this weeks clinic. Read my recent interview with Shaun on The Daily Gullet. Shaun Hill's CV : born 1947 London Irish Cooking experience 1967 - 71 Carriers restaurant London 1972 - 74 Gay Hussar London 1975 - 76 Intercontinental Hotel - Souffle restaurant 1976 - 77 Capital Hotel - working Head Chef 1978 - 80 Blakes Head Chef - setting up new restaurant 1980 - 82 Lygon Arms Head Chef 1983 - 85 Hills Restaurant Stratford upon Avon Chef patron 1985 - 94 Gidleigh Park Chef and MD 1994 - now Merchant House Awards and similar Egon Ronay guide Chef of the Year 1993 Caterer and Hotelkeeper Chef award 1993 - Catey Caterer and Hotelkeeper Restaurateur of the year 2001 21 in Restaurant Magazine's 50 Best Restaurants in the World awards senior academicien Academie Culinaire de France Outside interests Research fellow Dept of Classics Exeter University Menu consultant to British Airways Books Shaun Hill's Gidleigh Park Cookery Book - Random Century 1990 (reprinted in paperback 1995 as Shaun Hill's Cookery Book) Quick and Easy Vegetables - BBC Books 1993 Cooking at the Merchant House - Conran Octopus 2000 How To Cook Better - Mitchell Beazley 2004 (with Dr J Wilkins) Archestratus the Life of Luxury translation and commentary - Prospect Books 1994 Forthcoming (with Dr J.Wilkins) Food in the Ancient World - Blackwell

Shrimp Toast. Also, home made pigs in a blanket. Rachel makes these by cutting good quality hot dogs on a bias into like 4 peices and wrapping each peice in a small triangle of pastry dough (like the ones you get out of the Pillsbury can to make croissants or biscuits) and baking them. They go like crazy everytime we have served them

Is China 46 the one in a big strip mall, Jason, or is it on Route 46? On route 46, right near the Grand Ave exit. Literally 300 feet from the overpass in a converted diner. http://china46.com or use our new Google eG button and search on China 46.

Bring it to a boil for a few minutes, it will kill the bacteria.

Classic Stubby Bottles

Red Stripe (from Jamaica) is in a stubbie, right? I can't think of any others.

The Stubby Is Back

Slice up the hearts, eggwash with parmigiano and black pepper/salt, coat with breadcrumbs, pan or deep fry them in pure olive oil. Procure some Prosecco or Pinot Grigio. Any questions?

Oh hell, stop complaining. You get cheap pineapples. We gotta pay anywheres between $3.99-$5.99 apeice for them, and most of them arent properly ripened.

For me it has to be Lutece, during the Soltner years. Lutece is what essentially exposed me to fine dining as a kid.

BTW the manager/owner of the restaurant, Andrew, is a really nice guy and if he's around, he's a really good person to talk to explain all the dishes to you in case you have any questions about them.

If you are especially nice to eGullet member AlanZ, he'll show you his. I understand he is a dealer as well.

Yes, thats a really good dish -- we had that last weekend at the brunch.

You guys are forgetting the obvious - Brazilian Rodizio. I mean come on, its traditionally served on a huge spike or saber for crying out loud.

Felafel balls.

and definitely deep fried batter dipped Oreos.