nizza

Hi, I'm a New Jersey member and will be coming down tomorrow night, with a few friends, for a long weekend in the Wilmington area. Can you recommend some places in and around Wilmington? Thanks!

Thanks everyone. I do think we may be going on a "roadtrip" to Staten Island!!

We used to go every October to a place called Rock Oak Lodge in Milton. It was a nice place, great food, good entertainment, but, they closed awhile ago. Would love to find another place with good German food and entertainment. Any recommendations?

Rich -well your latest answer is the one you should have posted to me and not the one telling me that he sold the place when you knew he was at Papillon. You did not say that you spoke to him last year about a specialty cake. That's all you would have had to say and I would have said Oh, Ok. Good Luck in your search! P.S. My next suggestion would Calandra's in Fairfield. I also agree with the Gencarelli suggestion.

Rich - re -read my reply I said that he (Joseph Cerreto) owned St. Honore cafe and the bakery, sold it , and then opened his own restaurant Papillon. If you did eat and enjoy his cakes at St. Honore, and that exactly what you are looking for now. all you have to do is go over to Papillon because that's where he is! P.S. There were two chefs/owners at Papillon and I don't think there are any longer. One wasfor the cooking and one for the pastry. Now there is only one and he (Joseph) is the one that owned the cafe and bakery.

In Nutley there is a restaurant called Papillon and the owner Joseph, besides being a great chef, is also a serious pastry chef. He graduated from the CIA and was a pastry chef at The Plaza hotel. He had his own pastry cafe and also a bakery in Nutley called St. Honore (she is the patron saint of chefs) and then opened up Papillon. I think if you are serious about the best then I don't think you can get any better. Here's a link to Papillon website - I suggest giving him a call or stopping by and having dinner and/or just dessert and coffee and check it out. I have no association with them - this is just my suggestion to you. Papillon Restaurant

Jmoryl - Thanks for posting about Saffron as that is the next new one that I want to try. There is also another new one (for me) called Caffe India. Has anyone been to that one??

We went to Namaskaar twice in the past 6 months and both times the food was very good. Their lunch time buffet is also good. We haven't been to Taj Palace (thought over the past few years have had many delicious dinners there), but, the last time we were there it too was less than stellar. Have been out to Raagini a couple of times (not recently though) and it was very good - have only been there for their buffets.

Curlz - thanks for posting the website. I meant to do that, but I would not have been able to as pretty as you did! Yes, the buffet is worth the trip.

The place to go to in Parsippany is Chand Palace. They have a vegetarian restaurant that has wonderful dinners and buffets. Then, next door they have a beautiful banquet room and only on Tuesday night they open up the banquet facility and have THE BEST Indian buffet including various meat dishes. You really have to go and try it. We have been going there for years and it has always been consistently great. Also, in Wayne (near to the Willowbrook Mall) we go to Jyoti Exotic Indian Cuisine, (973) 890-2224, 24 Us Highway 46, Wayne, NJ. They have just an ok buffet, but, we always go for dinner there and their food is delicious.

I too had eaten there several times when it first opened. Then the owner left and opened another really great restaurant in Lyndhurst called Vivo. It's on Valley Brook Avenue near the corner of Stuyvesant. The food is delicious. Curlz - there are just so many good restaurants to eat in that sometimes it takes a good while before you get back to trying them again.

glutton - Thanks for mentioning the Thai restaurant. I've only recently had Thai food twice at Penang in East Hanover and just loved it! So, to have a good Thai in Bllomfield would be great. I'll definitely try it on your recommendation. Can you suggest any particular dishes as I am really not that familiar with the names of the dishes, yet! Just give me some time - that's how I started with Indian food and now just love it and can definitely recommend certain dishes of that cuisine.

glutton - really? The pies that we have had have not been oily or over cheesed. How long ago did you have one of their pies because the ones we have had recently have really been good.

Jason - I agree because of reading about San Marzano tomatoe's on this board I tried them a few months ago instead of the tomatoe's that I was using to make my "gravy". Well, there is a big difference with the San Marzano - I have also use the Redpack and they make a pretty good sauce too!!

Wow Tommy - I have to agree with you. I thought I was the only one in North Jersey that thoughts that Ralph's was just ok. Twice I took out whole pies and they were really just ordinary, unexciting plain tasting pies. The first one I thought maybe it was a bad night so I stopped and actually ordered and waited the second time and again just ok. Also, my husband and I stopped in once to have dinner there because everyone raves about their restaurant and again their food was just ok. Recently I have found a great pizzaria. It's called Mamma Mia's at 1035 Broad St. in Bloomfield (973-893-9292). Now, they have really good pizza. They make it with a thin crust with lots of taste. We've ordered plain and with toppings such as fried eggplant, meatballs and onions, roasted peppers, pepperoni. It happened one day we wanted to order pizza and we have tried all the them in the area and their all so boring with no great taste. So, that day we had gotten a packet of coupons in the mail and there was one for this place called Mamma Mia's and what made me give them a try was on their coupon they said "Italian cooks, owned and operated" - or something similar to that and they delivered to our town. Well, we were very pleasantly surprised and happy with the arrival of a very hot pizza and have been now ordering from there for the last few months and they have been consistantly good.

Here's a two excellent ones in Bergen County: If you liked Picasso then you'll love Segovia. Segovia Restaurant 150 Moonachie Road Moonachie, N.J. (201) 641-4266 http://www.segoviarestaurant.com/ I also highly recommend an exceptional Brazilian-Spanish restaurant. Solar do Minho 15 Cleveland St., Belleville (973) 844-0500 Hours: 11 a.m.-11 p.m. seven days a week It's located right off Washington Avenue and easy to get to from Rt 21. They serve up the very best rodizio, the grilled meat platter is delicious it's a very large sampling of the rodizio meats, their filet mignon is wonderful and for a treat the sizzling steak on a shingle is a conversation piece. I have not tried it, but, their octopus appy is supposed to be the best! Really, you should try it and I also recommend making reservations if your going on the weekend as they are busy every night of the week.

I don't know what area you are in, but, for the best rodizio (and I've tasted a lot of them) hands down is: Solar do Minho 15 Cleveland St., Belleville (973) 844-0500 Hours: 11 a.m.-11 p.m. seven days a week. Also, if you are taking people there it is really an attractive and conversation generating restaurant. I would highly suggest making a reservation because they get very busy no matter if its a weekday night or a weekend night. Hope you try it and I'm sure that you'll enjoy it. Besides the rodizio, the grilled meat platter is delicious (it's a very large sampling of the rodizio meats, their filet mignon is wonderful and for a treat the sizzling steak on a shingle is a conversation piece (especially for people from Cleveland- lol). Don't just take my opinion read what the Star Ledger crew had to say about it in 2002 by just clicking on the link that Pete Ganz posted above. That's how good they were in 2002 and now it's 2004 and they are still serving up delicious rodizio.

I would definitely suggest the new Shop Rite in Lyndhurst. It's brand new, huge, airport hanger type with wide aisles and within 30 minutes of NYC!!!! I found a webpage with their info along with source for a map and directions. http://www.shoprite.com/locator/storeout.a...3&type=pharmacy Good Luck and let us know which store get permission to shoot at.

We'll be taking my MIL again to the Friar Tuck Inn - Cedar Grove for their wonderful Mother's Day buffet. It is never a zoo there. You show up on time for your reservation. they are ready for you and usually seat you within 5 minutes. Their food is very good, plentiful and desserts are wonderful. They never rush you, service is usually excellent and we always have an enjoyable time.

I just ate at Solar Do Minho in Belleville and no one was smoking in the restaurant. They have the best rodizio - it is not salty at all - just delicious.

Well, thanks for clearing that "milder" statement up. I hope to get there this weekend or if not the next. We have been eating Indian food for several years now and just love it. We usually go to Chand Palace on Tuesday night for their great buffet. Thanks for the info and will post when we do get up to Saffron.

I am looking forward to going to this restaurant to try their lunch buffet, BUT, something dflylilkid said has me worried. "Food was milder than usual" Did the reviewer from the Star Ledger mentioned something about the taste of the food besides the service and now the Owner is going to "Americanize" and downplay the wonderful spice and flavor of what sounded like delicious Indian food. I hope not!

We'll be going to Lina's Restaurant in Bloomingdale. We went there last year and it was really lovely. They put out a bountiful and delicious buffet at a reasonable price of $22.95 plus tip and tax and it too was not a mob scene. Happy Holidays to all!!!

The last time I was there the food was just wonderful though I haven't been there in a very long time. I found their website http://www.goodfellasnj.com/

In Lyndhurst - Vivo on Valley Brook Avenue - just attended two parties recently and the food was awesome and they have a private room for parties. In Nutley - Papillion on Passaic Avenue across from Capalbo's fruit basket place. They food is wonderful, but, I don't think they have a private room. In Totowa - Amore on Union Blvd. - just went to party that was catered by them and the food was delicious. I've eaten at their rest. and food was great. Again, not sure about a private room - if that's what you need.