waves2ya

Great thread - plenty to, ahh, drink about...!

Indian food is near & dear to my heart, having spent some time in college in London, so I'm here to add to the chorus of folks who have found great Indian food in North Jersey (as opposed to, say, a mille feuille). Wazwan is wonderful - albeit Kashmiri cuisine - with subtleties differentiated from more commonly found Indian fare - and, another review. I'm here to bang a drum for Moghul... Moghul Restaurant Address: 1655 Oak Tree Rd # 195, Edison, NJ 08820 Phone: (732) 549-5050 ...in Edison. Meal a couple of weeks ago was simply amazing (this from an avid Indian hound - London, NY, Queens and always looking). Samosa's perfect, not greasy, and loaded w/ potato, peas, herbs, a bit of nut - crammed with taste. Main dishes were a signature goat dish, kind of like goat roghan gosht and a tandori chicken dish not on the menu (called, I think, 'tikka aca'); just heaven sent. Tandori dish reminded me of NYC's old Bukhara and goat dish - the best of any roghan gosht I could remember. Even the onion naan was perfect. Everything exceeded my expectations, thankfully - I can't wait to return. Btw got lucky w/ a table for two at 8p as restaurant had customers coming in all evening - many Indian - and I can only imagine how crowded it gets in season. Hey - they even served paan! ps - tried 'Karma Kafe' too... Karma Kafe Hoboken 505 Washington St. (bet. 5th & 6th Sts.) Hoboken, NJ, 07030 (201) 610-0900 Good food - but not Moghul (esp. not for service...)

My bottle of Tanqueray is 94.6, as well. I've been searching around for an article that appeared in the NY Times which was a round up of Gins; was a good read. Damned if I know what gin is the best gin - but I know some of 'em are skunky rot gut (juniper berry overload). And gin maniacs out there *do* wax poetic about Bombay's Sapphire... Yes - I fit the Stoli drinker but 'wants to widen horizons and get with a good gin once in awhile' demo. But I don't want to miss what devotee's would call the 'vrai gin' experience. Got any more suggestions (beyond slkinsey's Bombay 'normal' rec)...? Thks!

Thanks for the welcome... Great setup; really, a league up from me. But I used to beat big bikes with my Yamaha SECA 550 in the city, and it was because I understood how drive my engine/redline my bike. It's kinda like that with espresso machines; just because you've thrown a bunch of money at a setup, doesn't mean you'll get a godshot. But yer odds are much better, esp. if you're willing to learn a thing or two... And, unarguably, a good tamper was critical to my understanding dosing, post puck appearance and appreciating yet another aspect of the art of a great cup of coffee.

This may be beer heresy to the wise (& wiser than me, given threads I've seen) denizens of this Beer board, but... Like bread, beer is a complete meal. Now, I'm not saying that beer and various foods don't go great together - or that some beers are best with some foods... But, one of the tricks of great beer is that it can stand alone. It needs - nothing. It is a meal in and of itself. It's one of the remarkable things about really good beer. I find wine always needs a nosh of some sort - certainly liquor, too. But great beer can fill the belly, nourish the senses and round the palate in a way that leaves other libations wanting. Wanting something to eat...

Quick reply here - but a different take than the Chef... I agree with the sentiment that 'beer is like bread'. And that the best beer is the freshest beer (usually a local brew) and, then, poured from a tap. Beer goes bad fast. So - if you really want to spoil yourself for beer from a bottle, like, forever - find the best (word of mouth; where do you live?) freshest brew that's on tap. And taste. Now - whether it's cask ale or not, that's a different thing! (and not to say you can't play this game w/ bottled beer; but why begin with what is an acknowledge degradation in the product?)

Well - you've got a thread going on the Seneso, er, 'coffee system' - the current end game on homespun superautomatics... In fact, 3 years ago or so, in a visit to my Frano Italian buds in Chamonix they proudly displayed their new "Nespresso" espresso machine. Like a virus in the region; they were all buying 'em. Anyhow - the espresso was 'ok' but... The barista part of pulling a good cuppa joe (espresso, drip, vac - whatever) are the intangibles necessary to art. Coffee is a science (Mark's site is good on this) but take away the many subtle handcrafted permutations leading to a refined shot (I like mine 'seria'; short strong - plenty of creama) - yes, clean up is easier - the coffee much less inspiring. And roasting (no - I don't roast my own but pay for good roasting, a separate art)... I'm sure you know all this. The taps, methodology, etc. (very precise, btw) has been trial and error. So *I* tamped and 'no knocked', tamped and 'knocked' and have found (small sample size, agreed) - knocking is a good thing. I like the sound, the accent and pace it adds to the prep. I've another bud (backcountry skier, too!) who was lulled into Rocky & Silvia ownership. He hates it. Hates all of it. Couldn't pull a reasonable shot, called me over to complain and deride the unit/process/game - just was not into what it took to make Silva sing. It's not for everyone and that's where 'coffee systems' can be, well, 'ok'. So many things can go wrong cooking. Five hours into pulling ribs I burn myself every other time doing something stupid (beer consumption is a factor). And it's hurricane season. Typing on this keyboard... For a good shot, I accept the risk (and given the number I pull in a week!)

Eliminate all like variables (timing, etc.); get a godshot every once in awhile. Rocky and Silva owner school from Mark's old Coffeegeek site (prior to his new, nice - and slick - incarnation)... Here's my tamper: http://www.espressosupply.com/Merchant2/me...duct_Code=02335 May very well be the one you sent off to Siberia but I love it. Silva never got really cooking for me 'till if figured out the tamper (hard tamp; 2 knocks) and, as a confirmed gearhead, I could keep buying such lovely equipment. But this one's good. ~waves

Widmer Bros' Hefeweizen Sierra Nevada Pale Ale Anchor Steam Beer Bass Ale (hopefully, a good batch) Stella Artois (again, batch luck necessa...) ~waves

Thank you... But I forgot one recently added to the mix - champagne (kir royal, too) is often had in our home but we are fussy about the bubbly and Perrier-Jouet can really hammer your budget - I've found Boyer Brut Blanc de Blancs NV a great stand-in at about a third the price... A good aperitif is key to the chef's amusement and subsequent family dining experience. But, then again, we often have a cheese course!

Tho' this thread is old - seems like a rather timeless topic - so here's a round up of aperitifs around our house... Warm to hot day - steak/sophisticated eats after... 3 parts Punt e Mes 1 part Campari Splash of soda Lemon rind... When the day's not as hot it's... 2 parts Martini & Rossi Red 1 part Martini & Rossi White Lemon rind Cooler/Cold...? Port (20 yr Tawney) or single malt scotch (I prefer Lagavulin...) Snacks for above are usually an assortment of olives, roasted almonds and, sometimes, cheese twists. Finally - really hot day or spicy food/kinda simple eats... Drinking Widmer's Bros Hefeweizen pretty regularly and snack is corn tortilla chips w/ salsa and/or guac. Hey - I am a surfer, don'cha kno'... ~waves

Very kind, Rosie. What a rich site you folks have going here at eGullet. Everytime I visit, I leave hungry - which should be a criteria! I've penned a few posts at Chowhound but found NJ representation poor and, even more, the site *extremely* clunky. But I've tried to contribute and notes exist about eats from LBI to our 'nabe - most recently Moghul (which was incredible; think I remember you were pretty non-plussed about it) - don't know if I can link here or might cut & paste to your "Moghul" review thread... Which brings me to another compliment - thank god you redirect comments to existing threads. These message boards are ridiculous if every poster that posts a question starts, yet again, at square one! Forum communities have to have methodologies in place for retaining and accessing knowledge easily; then dialogues can moved forward instead of defining the basics over & over again. My favorite? Daytrippers to NJ beaches are despairingly referred to as "Bennies", an acronym that stands for 'Bayonne, Elizabeth, Newark & New York'. If I had a quarter for everytime I've seen that question in NJ beach/surfing forums - why, I could buy us lunch! ~waves2ya

Would like to second a few of these threads... I agree that Montclair's Nouveau Sushi is expensive for what it is (trendy sushi, good app's)... That Dai-Kichi has a great bar and really fresh fish - straight forward sushi... But I haven't seen any mention of Yoshi, in Montclair at Watchung Plaza; I thought the sushi was good - place is low key - but not a king's ransom, either... ~waves