Adam P.

I haven't been to the Toros location in Paterson, but the location in Clifton - which is literally up the street - has some really nice ambiance and really good food (and parking). You may be disappointed with the ambiance at the other restaurants in Paterson, but you probably won't be disappointed in the food quality. Toros Clifton location website: http://www.torosrestaurant.com/Index.htm The Syrian bakery, Mondial, which I mention in a post above has those pastries you seek. It may not be Turkish, but they are really good.

I second that opinion. El Chevere has some of the best Peruvian food around. I find the original location (on Monroe street) to be a little better, but they are both good. I would also recommend their deep fried pork chops covered in thinly sliced garlic and cilantro/pork gravy.

I tried doing a walk-in this past Saturday at around 6 pm, but they were very packed. They said about a 45 minute wait for a table. I guess I'll have to try on a weekday or make a reservation. Judging from the vast amount of Mercedes and BMWs side by side in the parking lot, they seem to be doing great business.

Good point about the cuisines of China46 & lotus cafe. If i'm in the mood for Shanghai style food like the soup dumplings, zha zherng noodles (not sure what the english name of this meat sauce noodle is) , scallion pancakes, or any other shanghai noodle soups, and warm soy bean milk, I go to a shanghai restaurant like C46 or old soochow on 46 in Saddle Brook. If i'm in the mood for dim sum or cantonese style seafood & meatdishes i tend to go to a hong kong style place like China garden in clifton or the restaurant in fort lee on main st. that serves dim sum. The name escapes me. If i'm in the mood for chicken wings 'n fried rice or general tso's chicken i go to my local neighborhood ghetto chinese place. By the way, "Goody's" a chinese takeout joint in Paterson on market st. sells a mean 'n tasty half rotisserie chicken (pollo a la brasa) with yellow rice for under $5 . ← Authentic Hong Kong style dim sum in Clifton? I must have passed by China Garden a million times and never bothered to check it out. Now I definitely have to. I still have to check out Old Soochow. I've seen a few people offhandedly post about it, but I've never seen it make it into its own topic. How does it compare to China 46?

i keep picturing the pepper and salt pork chops, and that's getting me veeeeery hungry. ← Did you have to mention the pepper and salt pork chops? I'm drooling on my keyboard at this very moment and I had just eaten a very large meal.

I've been to Keoku a handful of times but never had a really great meal. Maybe I've just been ordering the wrong stuff... Have you ever been to that Korean specialty restaurant up the road at the intersection of Route 46 and New Road in Parsippany? I've had some really excellent meals there. They have about 10 items on their menu, but they are homeade specialty items, such as a giant pizza-sized scallion pancake stuffed with fresh seafood and bubbling cauldrons of tofu. The name of the restaurant is (really easy to remember) Hwang Bu Ja Soondobu Korean and Japanese Specialty Restaurant.

Has anyone been to this restaurant recently? I went recently after not going for almost a year and the place has changed. It's a dine-in restaurant now, rather than a take-out with paper plates and no-frills service. They now have non-vegetarian items, with one of the most extensive menus I've seen in an Indian restaurant. They literally have 18 types of Dosas and 14 types of bread! The food is also really good. The tandoori chicken is the best I've had anywhere. Extremely spicy if you ask for it - it sure tasted like they marinated it in habaneros. The chili pakora is done the traditional way, with those long, very hot Indian chilies. I also tried their goat masala which had a nice gelatin coming from the bone marrow with very tender meat. Another dish I tried was Chicken Lababdar, which was great as well - the blend of spices was very unique in this dish. They also have alot of items I've never seen at any other Indian restaurant, such as Stuffed Pomfret fish, Cabbage Pakora, Reshmi Tikka, Haryalli Tikka and several rice dishes that end in the word Bath. All in all, good stuff.

Their street address is 1068 Main Street, Paterson. If you're coming down Main Street from Clifton, once you pass Crooks Ave, the store will be coming up on the left side. The store is recessed from the street and quite colorful, so you can't miss it. It's an added plus that they have parking in that recessed area from the street. I asked about the traditional name of the bread, but had forgotten by the time that I posted above. I was also pretty lucky, because they had just brought them out and they are usually snapped up within an hour. Good price too - 3.50! I'm pretty sure you can call ahead and ask when they make it fresh. I'm also sure they will understand if you ask for the Syrian bread with Pomegrate. I would also recommend their pastries. The butter in them tastes similar to the butter in French pastries and they are not even that sweet. Their phone is (973) 247-0010.

Some recent snaps of goodies from Mondial: Fresh Baked Syrian Bread with Pomegranate Sauce - Yum!!! Syrian Bread Slice Assorted Cookies The bakery is coveniently recessed from the rest of the stores on the street and they have a few parking spots were you can park off the street. I still gotta remember to get their address, but the store is about a few seconds drive past the Clifton border.

Tomo's Cuisine 113 Route 23 (Pompton Ave) Little Falls, NJ 07424 (973) 837-1117 Had a great meal at Tomo's Cuisine last night. Here are some of the highlights of my meal: Oysters with Ponzu Live (or rather, recently deceased) Scallop Seafood w/Cucumber Salad Beef Muscle w/Bean Cake Soup Spicy Fish Roe Chicken Katsu (sauce on side)

Those pics look great! I haven't been to that restaurant in over a year. Does anyone know if the restaurant still has access to that parking lot? I thought that was a great added convenience considering the parking situation in the Ironbound.

For those out there craving arabic sweets, do head over to Mondial. I have to say they were absolutely fantastic. There are literally trays and trays of cookies and pastries and all sorts of desserts. I only sampled the Kadayif (shredded wheat with cheese), and some other cheese pastry and I could not stop eating them. What's great about the pastries I had there are the fact they are no sweeter than french pastries. Usually, I find the arabic pastries to be sickeningly sweet, but not so there. I also like the fact that the pastries are kept warm on giant heated trays. The place is also impeccably clean. There are tables were you can sit and order coffee, tea or fresh squeezed fruit juices and enjoy your pastries.

Thanks Tamar, for the recommendation for Tomo's Cuisine. I went there tonight and have to say I was really impressed. That was definitely some of the best sushi I've had locally. I've been looking for someplace close by and that really hit it on the mark. The oysters in ponzu were excellent as were the deep-fried shrimp heads. The sushi was really fresh and of top quality. I can't wait to try their specials, they seem to have quite a bit of them on the board.

I'm getting addicted to that little sandwich shop Alloush. Here are some recent pictures: Syrian Cheese w/Mint (imagine fresh mozzarella with mint instead of basil) Kaskawan Cheese w/Pasterma (imagine manchego cheese with a mild pastrami) Chicken Sandwich (turned out to be an excellent shwarma sandwich - roti-like wrapping was really nice - perfect balance of cinnamon) This was essentially a kiwi-strawberry smoothie with layers of fresh fruit, topped with fresh (not canned) whipped cream and sprinkled with pistachios and slivered almonds on top.

When did these open and will they allow you to bring in wine? ← I'm not sure when they opened up and about the wine situation. I'm going to try them both out soon and will report back.

Two new restaurant openings that are possibly worth checking out: Yakamoz - Specializes in Turkish Kebabs, Pide and homemade Doner. and Aleppo - Specializes in food from Aleppo, Syria.

I recently tried a Lebanese cafe called Alloush on the Paterson side of Crooks Ave. They have a full fresh fruit juice bar and also serve up some pretty tasty panini-pressed sandwiches. So far I've only sampled a few sandwiches and they have all been really good - especially the Nakanik, which are spicy beef sausage patties laden with pine nuts. Next time I stop in I think I'll try one of their grilled cheese sandwiches. They serve up a Syrian Cheese w/Mint and a Kashkawan Cheese w/Pasterma (Armenian beef jerky) sandwich. They both sound very intriguing to say the least...

Has anyone been to this restaurant recently? I went twice this past month and was very impressed. This is another one of those places with an extensive "Chinese" menu - that is, if you ask for it. So far I've tried three soups - Pork with Pickled Cabbage, Subgum Winter Melon and West Lake Beef Soup. They were all the best renditions I've ever had. For entrees, I've sampled their Salt and Pepper Pork Chops and Steamed Chicken with Ginger and Scallion Sauce. Both dishes were perfectly cooked and very tasty. I cannot wait to sample some of their seafood dishes. I saw a couple a few tables away with a very large bowl of steamed clams served on top of some sort of silver pedestal. The presentation alone made me want to order it on the spot.

Oops. I forgot to put double quotes around my phrase while searching for this topic. (My topic got moved to this thread) This restaurant seems like my type of place. I've been searching for a Malaysian restaurant that would serve up some of those dishes that had me salivating after watching the Malaysian episode on "No Reservations". This seems to take the cake. After reading the reviews upthread, I think I'm going to make a visit very soon...

Has anyone been to this restaurant yet? I've only seen a few editorial reviews heaping praise on this place, but nothing in this forum.

I also enjoy Toros at the Clifton location and would recommend it. The food and ambiance are great. I would say the food matches up in quality with Lalezar in Montclair and Samdan in Cresskill. I tend to stay away from going deeper into Paterson, but there is an excellent Palestinian restaurant just over the Clifton border on Crooks Ave called Assayad, which has alot of interesting items you don't find on many Middle Eastern menus.

Had a very good meal at Thai Essence tonight. I had to stop by and try it as I've been waiting for a Thai restaurant to open up close to my home. To start off I had the Green Papaya salad, which is a good rendition that included two squares of grilled banana-leaf-wrapped sticky rice that were toasted on the outside. I still prefer Wondee's version, as this version didn't have that nice funky tasting dried shredded shrimp added to it. It was still very good though. For entree I had the Wild Boar which was really good. The dish contained boar tenderloin with shiitake mushrooms, thai basil, really good quality pickled green peppercorns, slivers of hot pepper (suprisingly spicy), slivers of some sort of rhizome that tasted like a mix between galanga and ginger (very nice). Definitely a dish I would order again. I also ordered a spicy duck salad to go for my girlfriend which I later sampled and found it to be pretty decent - I've had better at River Kwai and Wondee's. All in all, it was a good meal and I would definitely return again. It seems the sort of fusion that they are attemping is similar to what Origin is doing. If you enjoy Origin, than you probably will like this restaurant. I took some take-out menus and can post them if anyone is interested.

It smelled and tasted like....dookie. It makes durian smell heavenly in comparison.

It's on Route 46 East in Parsippany across from Chilis and Taco Bell. I've eaten there many times for lunch and would highly recommend their "Spicy Beef Noodle Soup" (your choice with or without beef tendon). I've never had the duck blood - although I've tried their chou dofu which was probably the strangest thing I have ever eaten in my entire life. It's not listed on their menu at all. Most likely because of the putrescent smell that will make neighboring patrons gag.

I've never had a problem ordering anything off the Chinese menu. I do find it strange that they don't have a menu that includes both styles. There are two other Chinese restaurants in the area, Hunan Noodle House and Noodle Chu, that have mixed menus. They seem as busy - and usually busier - than Hunan Cottage. Plus, the Noodle House has some far more umm... interesting items on their menu that would put off most American customers, such as "Duck Blood with Leeks" and "Pig Intestine with Sour Vegetables".