Poots
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Toro Loco is an Aztec looking restaurant serving decent mexican food. Chips and salsa are free and brought to the table after you sit. Frozen margaritas are kept in one of those slushy machines. Around 8 different tequilas. Plenty of mexican beers available by bottle, i stick to Dos Equis or Negra Modello. I don't know a whole lot about authenticity of Mexican food, but they seem to have the basic americanized choices as well as some more esoteric ones. Pretty reasonable prices, and no dress code to speak of. It's on Valley road, one block from South Orange Ave in the middle of South Orange. South Orange Grille just opened this week i think, and the restaurant is Not open, just the bar. Phone # is 973-275-0044 according to whitepages.com.
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Tommy, confusing the oranges could get you into some interesting neighborhoods
I'll have to try Gaffer's sometime. I think i'm doing dinner tonight at Toro Loco, so margaritas and mole here i come
good selection of tequila there too.
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Gaffer's? never heard of it. It's directly behind Toro Loco. Across the street from the South Orange train station. It shares the large parking lot behing Toro Loco and across the street from Cryan's.
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New bar/restaurant opening in South Orange. Took the place of The Stuft Shirt. Has been in the works for a couple of years. The bar is now open, which i'll probably check out tonight. I've heard that there's a raw bar that'll soon be open, so Tommy can come and try some Oysters(just finished reading the Legal Seafoods thread and that's an invite if you'd like, as i live blocks away and always open to some drinks and raw fish shell or otherwise)
Anyway, just checking to see if anyone's been yet, and will report later. -
i guess it's too mundane to think about, but there's nothing better than at 2 AM, grabbing some day old bread(italian, french, a bagel even), slicing in half, throw some tomatos/tomato sauce on it, some herbs and garlic, and some mozzarella(either the vacuum sealed block, or fresh if you have it), and into the oven it goes. yummmm. or even a grilled cheese
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thanks everyone, your advice all sounds great. Speaking of cooking for yourself, local markets are plentiful i assume? roadside produce etc?...
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As the title suggests, i'll be making my first sojourn to the motherland this summer. Will probably be for around 10 days starting the 2nd week in September. I speak nothing more than a few words of the language. I'll be staying here:
http://www.luccavillas.com/html/podere_cre...a_rental_i.html
Was looking for some tips/advice on things to see, places to eat, and vineyards to visit. Appreciate any and all help that i can get. I'm in my mid 20's, so any nightlife advice would be welcome as well.
thanks in advance -
menton1, never been to DiFara's and Nick's, but when I'm eating a pizza lunch i head to Roman Gourmet in Maplewood. Don't know how well it ranks up there, but friendly staff(order at the counter), and plenty of places to sit. Very small-towney(yeah, like that's a word) place. I like the plain cheese slices, but also enjoy baked ziti stuffed slice as well as some other stuff pieces, and also love their sicilian.
PS. Tommy, you should definitely try the Star. They serve beer too!
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Anyone here been to Star Tavern in Orange? I'm a fan, albeit not as huge a one as my parents. Mom and Pops go there every Friday(for the past 10 yrs at least). Very thin crust. While it may not seem like a family place, not a great neighborhood, and open room bar/restaurant, it seems that in the past few years many of the more well-to-do people have found it and swarmed it with families and the like. Still make some darn good pizza though. Asides from the pizza, there are plenty of edible things on the menu including a decent Caesar, a Mista salad(balsamic vinagrette(sp?)), cavatelli & broccoli, and the usual bar food of wings etc. if you haven't been give it a try.
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nothing compares to the fading memories i have of Grunnings Ice Cream in South Orange. They closed many years ago, and we started going to applegate farm after that, but oh that ice cream was the best i've ever tasted!
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Last night the 'rents asked that i meet them for dinner at Charlie Browns in Millburn(no yelling at me). Anyway, the wait was too long so i convinced them to try out Martini's around the corner. My parents do not like change. I constantly argue with them to try something other than their normal dishes to no avail(chix francaise, bland pasta, etc.). Martini's is located on a cross street off of Millburn ave(not sure of the name, same street that CBs is on). Lots of glass in the front to peer in at the bar area as well as the dining area. The namesake's menu is 2 pages long and runs you 8 bucks for a large variety of martinis. I had an Espresso martini to end the meal, but it was heavy on the sugar and light on the booze
Started with an app of BBQ'd duck spring roll, and the rents shared a chopped salad. They must really like the numbers 8 and 9, b/c those #s appeared many times with the afore-mentioned apps both being 8 or 9(not sure which). The kalamata olives in the rents salad were very good(only thing i tried) and they seemed to enjoy the salad(this i could tell by my father using the unpalatable foccacia to mop up the plate). My app came with 2 small crispy spring rolls on top of 'japanese' coleslaw and some kind of sauce scattered here and there on the plate(think it was chili oil, but it had little to no heat). Was straightforward, and a little disappointing, tasting like something i can get for $3 down at the all night chinese take out place, but edible. Well they pulled me down with them, and all 3 of us had the Sirloin Burger. Mine medium-rare and theirs medium. a decent burger, but i think i would have like just a regular mixed meat burger better(more fat)
. Fries were good, so that's a plus. Would like to try some of the other things on the menu, but the drawing point really is the bar. Happy hour, wealthy divorcees, young professionals, and the like crowd the over-priced bar. Last time i was there a 40-something mother of 2 was trying to take home my late 20s buddy. Interesting crowd, and a little high-falutin compared to over in my neck of the woods. -
Tommy, I agree, at best above average, but in Short Hill's mall you either wait for a long time and over pay, or you eat horrible food at Sbarro's, or you get a burrito. I didn't even mention Johnny Rockets b/c there's so many screaming kids around that i stay as far away from that place as i can. Also, you can cut down on the fill to food ratio by taking an active part in the preparation of your Burrito. They make it 2 ft in front of you and ask you what you want, so it's quite easy to say, "take it easy on the rice and light on the beans"
I also am a big fan of all the bottles of Cholula sitting around the tables in that place. -
Just to correct myself it's actually Qdoba.
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Rosie, Qadoba is relatively new at the short hills mall. It's a tex-mex very small lunch counter type place. Order at the counter, one person steams the burrito shell, the next asks if you want chix, beef, pork, etc, salsa.... You can also get other things, but i usually go for the two-handed burritos. It's located by the Apple store i think, definitely 1st floor, and on the opposite side of the mall from Joe's American. It also is pretty reasonable, so you don't have to spend 30 bucks on a mall meal. Must warn you though, the decor is nothing to talk about(actually the decor is absent, it's just a counter with some tables)
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baby sized burritos at Qadoba
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all i know is if I can't have my sweet smelling stogie while throwing the bones down in AC then there's gonna be problems!
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Don't forget Bunnies for a bar serving thin crust pizza, although i like it b/c they sell pitchers of beer. All bars should sell pitchers. Rachel, i think Gary's is what is now Verjus, although they have no resemblance to each other. Agree with the Verjus and American Fare reccomendations. Toro Loco is serviceable mexican food, and Cryan's is a bar that doubles as an irish steakhouse. Thursday night is karaoke night if i remember correctly(at Cryans), and i think there's live music thurs nights at toro loco(free chips and salsa in the bar). If you're just looking for a slice of pizza or a sandwich, there's Roman Gourmet in maplewood village that sells good slices. Around the corner from RG is the Trattoria(either Village or Maplewood, can't remember), actually i ate there last night. had manhattan clam chowder and a cheesteak w/onions. They make some very good chicken penne vodka though. I live in South Orange, so if you have any more specific questions feel free to PM me.
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Tommy, in the mood for some jersey microbrews? South Orange Ave, South Orange, The Gaslight. make their own beers on the premises. Service is sometimes shoddy, but they've got some aspirations for leaving bar food far behind. They've got a pretty diverse menu, and some very good seasoned waffle fries. They have a dining room as well as bar seating. Dart board, table shuffleboard, and beer, what else do ya need. No affiliation, although i Do live in the town, and can be found eating solo dinner there once in a while.
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Fat Guy, in the picture of the prosciutto-arugula pizza in the bottom right hand corner, is it a trick of lighting, or am i actually looking at see-through slices of prosciutto? i'm salivating either way, but wow
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Chicken Savoy is as i recall bone in or boneless(bone in much better in my book) chicken pieces in a balsamic and garlic sauce. Others can describe it better i'm sure. If you're talking about the Belmont Tavern on Scotland Rd in Orange, I've never been there, but it's not in the most beautiful and/or safe neighborhoods(i live around 2 miles down the road). It's got a sign that says "live entertainment" if that interests you
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Was wondering about American Fare in Maplewood, 07040. I dined there last night, and was very happy with my meal. Not a review, more of an account. Shared apps of mussels in white wine/shallot broth, and potato gnocchi with aged gouda, garlic, and sage. Mussels were ok, but didn't strike me as truly memorable. Not bad, just nothing i'd go out of my way to order again. The gnocchi on the other hand was delicious! I don't know how much i could eat as it was a truly rich taste, however i enjoyed every piece and dipped quite a few pieces of bread in the sauce
For an entree i had free range Duck prepared two ways, roasted(i think, bad memory, sorry) and leg confit. This was over some sort of wild rice and in a black currant(or blackberry-type fruit) sauce. Man, am i bad at this 
. The breast was nicely medium rare, although one larger part was almost frighteningly rare, and i was happy with this. The confit surprised me as i had never had this before(neophyte to french dining), and i could have eaten plates upon plates of the stuff. My dining companion had poached salmon, and seemed to enjoy, but as i've never been a large consumer of salmon(other than as sushi), i payed even less attention to their meal than to mine This is a byob, and the wine we enjoyed with dinner was a 1999 Domaine Les Pallieres, Gigondas. I'm even less experienced referencing wine tastes, however it was enjoyable to us both, however it tasted better towards the end of dinner than the beginning, so i assume we possibly should have let it "breath" a little before-hand. Realize this should have been at the beginning, but the setting was a small store-front restaurant located between a movie store and Carmelita's of Hoboken in the middle of town. Small, but not cramped interior with around 12 tables. Waiter was extremely attentive(not annoyingly so), and would definitely go back as well as reccomend to others. This evening started out as a trip to Le Jardin, however they were closed(i've never dined there). And my friend chose American Fare over Joycelenes, and i do want to try there(haven't yet). Will welcome any other opinions on the restaurant, or any critiques of my paltry attempt at writing
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My faves this year are mostly my go-to establishments:
Kyoto in Florham Park
Trattoria Toscana in Whippany
Verjus in Maplewood(although i really do mean to try Jocelyne's after all of Rosie's raves)
also have been meaning to try basilicos in milburn. oh well, guess they'll have to wait till the new year.
and i have tried ?uki Hana in madison(by staples, and i think it may be Yuki) and gave Kyoto the nod over them. they have similar rolls, and i was told that one of the old sushi chefs from Kyoto(Chris i think) had left and went to yuki hana(either helping start it, or very soon after it opened), but i think Kyoto has better quality fish.
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Sorry to cancel, and especially so late. Familial obligations have arisen, and as i told Mrs. Perlow, if there's any monetary loss i've caused i will happily reimburse.
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Lou, i'm glad you liked Kyoto. If it tells you guys how much i like this place, the name of my 11 month old Akita/German Shepherd mix is Kyoto
The I Spy roll is definitely named after the movie of the same name. The blackboard changes frequently with new rolls named after current events/movies/tv. There's been the Aol, Deep Impact, and the Austin Powers. I'm excited for next week.
South Orange Bar & Grille
in New Jersey: Dining
Posted
280 is probably easier, get to Scotland road and go straight to South Orange Ave. Scotland and Valley are actually the same street, just on different sides of S O Ave. Toro Loco is on the first corner in from S O Ave. From the parkway, if you know how to get there, you can get off down Newark at South Orange Ave, and just head straight up South Orange Ave towards south orange, pass Seton Hall U around 3 miles and make a left on Valley(don't know street or road), it's the first corner on the right.