201

I must confess... I'm interested. However, I'll also confess that I'm not a huge fan of Hoboken so I'm rarely there unless for some reason I have to take the train rather than drive into the city. So the VERY NEXT time I happen to be in Hoboken I'll have to try the food at... La Isla. But the time after THAT, I'll head over to Mission Burritos.

I've been there a few times on Wednesday nights, but I only ordered the All-You-Can-Eat special on the first such occasion. I don't really recommend it. I haven't noticed whether it brings in an unusually large crowd, but the restaurant is small anyway (about 10 tables seating 4 each) and tends to feel crowded most of the time. As I waited for my take-out order today I noticed how noisy it can really be. The owner(?) even turned up the stereo a bit so that the music could be heard over the din. In any event, here's the deal on the AYCE: 1) As thereuare suspected, it's NOT buffet style. That could be seen as a plus for fresh preparation, but since service here (specifically the kitchen) tends to be slow, it winds up being a negative since you'll have to wait a while for your food. 2) Nearly everything comes out as a complete dish with rice and refried beans, but you'll soon find yourself asking your server to make those sides disappear on forthcoming dishes. 3) As with most AYCE situations, the dishes are chosen from two categories... basic and boring. Obviously though, that's my competely non-objective opinion. 4) A friend of mine keeps telling me that the quality of the dishes in the AYCE menu has improved since I tried it a long time ago, but I'm still convinced that's all in his head along with his idea that paying $20 for dinner is expensive. 5) I believe it was $8 about 6 months ago, but it has now gone up to $10. Take that for whatever it's worth. 6) Also in the "take it for what it's worth" category, they did hire a new chef a few months ago. I don't know if he was replacing or supplementing the original chef. I haven't noticed any real change in the cooking, but the aforementioned friend of mine (see #4) says, "That must be it! This new chef is better!" Needless to say, I take everything he says with a truckload of salt. He's got this nasty habit of convincing himself that cheap food is ALWAYS better. To sum up, I very much enjoy Potrero Grill (even on Wednesdays), but I don't go for the All-You-Can-Eat.

is that the place that looks like a little house? right by the overpass thingy? Tommy- Yes it is. It looks as though it was probably an Asian restaurant in an earlier incarnation. I stopped by for a little take-out today around 12:30 and it was packed for lunch. Mostly a courthouse crowd blindly ordering quesadillas like there was no tomorrow. I HIGHLY suggest ordering off of the specials menu if you go. They've got a website where you can check those out: www.potrerogrill.com. Look under "menu", then "house specials". I have no idea what the "daily specials" item on the front page is about. Rachel - "sin queso" would be the phrase you were looking for. Tommy (again, but from another thread) - RE: Blue Moon in Wyckoff... I'm not a fan of this chain to begin with, but you'll be especially unhappy with the bloodless heathen hordes of munchkins running all over the tables, walls, and ceiling. Well, I might be exaggerating a WEE bit about the kid population there, but it's certainly a factor.

I have to agree on this showmanship theory. I can't imagine raw mice actually tasting very good unless one is starving to death. One time on a fishing trip I cut open a small fish (using pliers and a butter knife, no less!) to use as bait for larger ones. In the process of doing this, I extracted the little heart which continued to beat as I held it in the pliers. I don't even like eating fish, but I ate the beating fish heart just for the experience and the story to tell. It's a good thing that's all I expected out of it, because while it wasn't very tasty, the story is now here for the ages of eGullet to come.

Just felt like throwing in my two cents on this one. I'm a huge fan of Cuban sandwiches (and Cuban food in general), but I've found it hard to find a GREAT rendition of a Cubano outside of the greater Miami area. Havana Chelsea does make a pretty GOOD Cubano, but if it's the best in NYC (which I've heard), then I still have reason to be excited about my annual trips to Florida. Anyway, at Havana Chelsea I'll usually order the aforementioned "special" which adds chorizo, but I find it to be about the standard size for a Cubano (so I'm curious about the "small" size... maybe it's a 1/2?). The other food there is average, but I did have a particularly disappointing experience with a mango shake. It seemed as though there were lots of tiny splinters in the near-flavorless shake. In retrospect, I should've returned it, but I opted not to drink it instead. I'm anxious to hear about further Cuban dining experiences. Nina : "sweetness of the jambon"? Not to be obnoxious or anything, but did the French overthrow Castro and take over? In Spanish, it's jamón. It goes particularly well with Fresca.

the kid thing kinda throws me, as i don't have much experience with dining at places where kids are acceptable. however, baumgart's, in ridgewood, is a chinese place with a kid-friendly menu. they tend to have lots of little runs running about, so it might be something good to try. I really would not recommend Baumgart's (and I doubt Tommy would either) if it weren't for the kid-friendly aspect. I've never eaten anywhere with two kids and a baby, but as long as the kids are moderately well-behaved, I would think you have a lot of options in and around Hackensack. Of course, I don't know what sort of foods they (or you) like to eat, so that could be an issue too. In Hackensack I'd recommend: Potrero Grill (E. Mercer St) for Mexican : smallish place, but they probably won't notice the kids. Cubby's (S. River St) for BBQ : pricey and the sauce is sweet, not tradtional... I still love it though. The interior's pretty colorful too. Wondee's (Main St) for Thai : might be pushing it for kid-friendly menus/atmosphere, but they're nice people and I'm sure would try to accomodate. I saw a couple of kids in there on Saturday night. Brooklyn Pizza (Hackensack Ave) for pizza : it's already been mentioned here frequently. The Coach House Diner might work as well, but it really IS just diner food. I used to think it was better (maybe 4 years ago), but a few visits in the past year or so have made me think otherwise. Expect diner quality if you go there. Along with It's Greek to Me in Ridgewood, you might want to try the Ridgewood Country Pancake House (both on E. Ridgewood Ave). The food is VERY filling (heavy too) and I've seen plenty of kids there. Bring cash if you go, because while the prices are very good, they don't take credit cards. For some reason I'm blanking on anything else right now... I'm sure you'll get other suggestions though. PS - Nice quote in your signature.

AWEsome. Just when I thought, "Why can't this Cheesecake Factory thread die already?"... I'm glad I checked in to see Nick "Ball of Hate"* Gatti raise the gallows up to a truly dizzying height and let her rip! * The nickname is meant in the best possible sense!

If an upscale atmosphere is important to you, then I would second Mr. Shaw's recommendation of Rebecca's in Edgewater. Though likely even dimmer than the "very dark" restaurants from which you're discouraged, Rebecca's certainly provides an exceptional atmosphere. The rooms are small but elegant and there's also a patio for outdoor dining. It is primarily a Cuban restaurant, but they also serve a smaller selection of Caribbean dishes. The menu is mostly seafood, so I don't know how that fits in with your Caribbean expectations (again, I'm not familiar with that cuisine). I was there solely for Cuban food and it seems like most people on this board have ordered along the same lines. You can read about Rebecca's in no less than THREE topics (w/ some overlapping... most recent replies in the first link): Rebecca's in Edgewater Rebecca's in Edgewater (again) Rebecca's in Edgewater (one more time!) Again, it's probably a good idea to give them a phone call to get information about their menu rather than walking in with the wrong expectations. Rebecca's 201-943-8808

(tech. note: for some reason this topic didn't go to the top with the last two replies) Yes, they included a small note with the bill requesting the tip to be left in cash. I generally make it a point to leave a cash tip anyway and I was expecting the request after reading about it here. Oh, by the way... They use cloth napkins now.

Funny would be to get a crowd of about 30-50 people to occupy several tables on a Friday night and then make the staff wait around for an hour or so before even letting them take drink orders. Tell them to come back in 45 minutes to pick up their neon pink pagers. The diners of course would have to be armed with either books or terrific conversation. And I think it goes without saying that it would be unwise to actually consume any food during such a prank. It would just be an open invitation to the kitchen staff's inevitable counter-pranks.

They are basically your typical mall billboards for stores and such, but shrunken down to menu size. I can't recall any one specific ad, so I guess on the whole they either worked very poorly or very well (the latter being possible on a subconscious level... though I haven't purchased anything at the Riverside Square Mall in recent weeks).

Consider this VERY sketchy information, but I'm thinking that there's a small Caribbean restaurant on Main St. in Hackensack. I know absolutely NOTHING about it, but I do believe I remember walking past a small place thinking, "Hmm... maybe I should try some of that Caribbean food." (I'm uninitiated in that cuisine which is why this memory stands out a bit). I just did a search on Google for ("caribbean restaurant" + nj + hackensack) and came up with a couple of listings of Jamaican places in NJ. From JamaicanPride.com From EatJamaican.com The first page looks to be a little more recent, but both include phone numbers that I would highly suggest using to get information before you go. Neither of them lists the place I was thinking of on Main Street, but they both list a West Indian restaurant on Central Ave in Hackensack. If you're in the area and feel like a little goose chase, you might want to take a walk up the right side of Main Street between Salem and Camden Streets to see if I really did see a Caribbean place there.

Rachel - Generally speaking, on the average night this place has about a 1-2 hour wait. They don't give you the pager at the beginning of that wait, rather they tell you to come back for it when there's about 20-30 minutes left on your wait. That leaves plenty of time to go explore the mall since you'll probably wind up at the bar for the 1/2 hour you'll be waiting with the pager at hand. I'd also like to point out the various ADVERTISEMENTS within the Cheesecake Factory menus. I don't usually eat at mall restaurants, but just offhand I can't recall any other restaurant with full page ads in their menu. Here's yet another way in which this practice of not taking reservations caters to the idea of the restaurant serving the mall's concerns. A mall eatery wants to attract mall customers and window shoppers. That would be difficult to do if the restaurant were booked all evening and regularly turned away walk-ins. I believe that the Cheesecake Factory is more concerned with a high turnover than repeat customers. I agree with Mr. Shaw completely when he suggests that reservations would NOT be advantageous to this particular restaurant. I tend to think of reservations as a courtesy extended to the customers by a restaurant which values their business. Does anyone think the Cheesecake Factory cares that Mrs. Perlow, Tommy, and myself would rather eat elsewhere than deal with their ridiculous waits?

Ah yes... the Cheesecake Factory and all of its ridiculous hype. Here's my little tirade about the place: Basically, the food is nowhere near as good as the crowds waiting for tables would have you to believe. What the Cheesecake Factory does is to attach its restaurants to upscale malls, spend a lot of money on the interior, and then refuse to take reservations in order to create quite a long line out of the door. They're not looking to get the serious diner, they're aiming at mall customers who believe that trendy = good. It's a symbiotic relationship: the mall brings a lot of customers to the restaurant, but the restaurant's ridiculously long waits for a table also bring customers back into the mall. I've only been there twice (with months between the two visits), but the last time was about 2 weeks ago. It was for a family dinner (which invariably means I end up someplace that I never would under normal circumstances), so my brother and I headed out to get our name on the list before everyone else arrived. We were told there was an hour wait and to come back in 1/2 an hour to pick up our pager. Predictably, the wait turned out to be more like an hour and twenty minutes. Around that time there were people putting their names in for tables with 2 hours+ waiting time to look forward too. Anyway, I would rate the food at a step or two (at best) above Houlihan's, Friday's, etc... The menu generally reads much more interestingly, but the actual dishes are pretty lackluster. I had a frozen hot chocolate that was very good, but not worth returning to the Cheesecake Factory again. I would have been much happier if P.F. Chang's had attached themselves to the Riverside Square Mall instead.

< WOO-HOOOOOO!!! See you this weekend, Fink!

Regardless of how the mushroom's name may or may not be spelled, what we're talking about is the name of a restaurant which is (according to the Yellow Pages): Portobello 155 Ramapo Valley Rd Oakland, NJ 201-337-8990 Any further issues about the spelling of their name should be directed towards the restaurant's management rather than eGullet members who have no say in it. Ms. Wugmeister - If you actually do call them up to tell them how wrong they are, could you please call the Karma Kafé in Hoboken shortly thereafter? edit: was going to list Karma Kafé's number (just in case), but apparently they're too new to be in the phonebook...

Actually, you weren't in Passaic County anymore. Portabello's is in Oakland (Bergen County) where Route 202 becomes Ramapo Valley Road. Unless, of course, there's a second restaurant with that name somewhere in Wayne (which IS a large town).

Thanks, Nick... you got it! And just for the record, no one has to call me Mr. 201... just 201 is fine. edit: Come to think of it... Dr. 201 wouldn't be altogether objectionable.

El Gran Mexicano 64 West Main St. Bogota, NJ 07603 201-489-0905

Sorry, I just thought that a French restaurant was the appropriate backdrop for that sort of thing!

Rachel - I remembered SOMEone posting SOMEthing about Chez Dominique on this board before, so I did a search. It turns out it was Mr. Gatti mentioning it during a discussion about Wondee's and the lack of corkage fees... "I don't go to many BYOs. My loss. A few times to Chez Dominique in Bergenfield and a couple of times to it's former Incarnation, Chez Madeleine. Always on somebody elses nickel so I wouldn't know what fees if any there would be." Now, I admit that on the surface there doesn't appear to be too much information here, but if we read between the lines... 1. Mr. Gatti considers it a LOSS that he hasn't been to many BYO's, basing that opinion on his visit to Wondee's and a few to Chez Dominique. An extension of this statement could be that it would be a loss NOT to go to Chez Dominique? Furthermore, we might infer that Chez Dominique is to French cuisine what Wondee's is to Thai cuisine? 2. Mr. Gatti has been to Chez Dominique a FEW times. He makes no mention of gun play, so we might assume that he even went voluntarily and, most importantly, REPEATEDLY. Generally speaking, repeated visits are a good sign, unless of course the diner is the extremely optimistic/forgiving type who always decides to give a restaurant "another chance" no matter how much punishment the kitchen can deal out. 3. Mr. Gatti has only been to Chez Dominique on "somebody else's nickel". The implications of this phrase are twofold. Firstly, it confirms the fact that at least TWO people have in fact eaten at Chez Dominique on multiple occasions. This reduces the chance of having repeated visits due to the optimistic/forgiving personality (since it is a rare breed of diner at best). Secondly, it connotes that Chez Dominique's food is worthy of being a present... an unselfish presentation from one human being to another in a gesture of true friendship and/or a slimy business deal. However, if we look back to reason #2 (the multiple visits), I think we can safely dismiss the latter motivation for gift giving since business deals rarely stretch out over 5-6 dinners and two incarnations of a particular restaurant. Then again, perhaps there COULD have been multiple different business deals, in which case it would be QUITE the good sign that Chez Dominique serves one hell of a power meal! 4. Mr. Gatti has been to Chez Dominique more often than its previous incarnation, Chez Madeleine. This could very well suggest that the present incarnation is superior, having resolved those seating issues that Rosie has brought to our attention. In conlusion... I've quite obviously never been there and have entirely too much free time on my hands today. I have passed by the place though, on my way from Migdalia's to the pool hall next door to Chez Dominique. I'm not sure if they have menus posted outside, but I'm thinking they do for some reason. Anyway, if it looks very bad, you can always just walk 50 feet to Migdalia's. Oh, and you might want to bring some cash with you if you plan on visiting the pool hall. There have been times when a friend and I were the ONLY people playing pool, because about 20 other people were all gambling with dice on another table and we didn't have enough cash to join in the game.

Jason - I'm just curious about this "rendition" mostly because I just had a very interesting rendition of a Cubano over the weekend. Saturday night, I walked into El Prado in Ridgewood just so I could get a look at the menu, but spotted the sandwich and decided to order one to go. Much to my surprise, it was UNPRESSED! I couldn't believe it. All of the ingredients were right on, but without that finishing touch of cooking the sandwich in a press, it wasn't living up to its potential. After my initial shock wore off, I toasted the sandwich in my oven for a little while and it was delicious. Still, I can't help but think that this place could make a stellar Cubano if they'd only follow it up!! I'm hoping to get there for dinner this week, so I'll ask about the reason for their preparation then. Oh, but I forgot that this was the dessert thread... um, I've been to the Eros Café and found the atmosphere to be generally nice, but I agree that the desserts are rather run-of-the-mill. I prefer the interior to the patio, mostly because the latter's view of a parking lot isn't exactly my cup of tea... but it's nice to have the option of fresher air.

There were three seperate threads about Rebecca's, but I chose to post in this one primarily because of my slight disagreement with Rosie about the "very reasonable prices". Of course, the prices Rosie listed above were from three years ago so I should update them a bit: The meal tonight: Sodas - 3 dollars each Iced teas - 4 dollars each Chorizo quesadilla - 10 dollars Carribean conch chowder - 12 dollars each Ropa Vieja - 18 dollars Coconut shrimp - 25 dollars Red snapper filet (small size) - 29 dollars Personally, I find this to be somewhat overpriced. Don't get me wrong, the food was very good... the only complaints being that the iced teas were VERY weak in flavor and the chowder (which was the soup of the day) was lackluster as well. Overall I agree with everything Rosie and others have said about the quality of the food and the service, but you're certainly paying more for those aspects. Cut most of these prices down by 20% and I'd say it would be very reasonable. Still I'm sure I'll return to Rebecca's in the future, though not as often as I might have otherwise. Just my two cents... but I'm obviously a cheapskate, so you know how much I value a couple of pennies. P.S. - Standouts that I didn't see mentioned in Rosie's posts were the avocado and palm hearts salad (came as a side with the snapper) as well as the plantains which came with the Ropa Vieja. Both were superbly done.

Well, I finally conquered my mental block and visited Van Dyke's this evening around 10:30 as they were just starting to mop up. They've got friendly service and a nice selection of home-made flavors... what more could you ask for? Truth be told, while I thought Van Dyke's ice cream was very good... I still prefer the ice cream at Gelotti (in Totowa, also with good gelatto as well), but Van Dyke's will certainly ensure that I don't ever visit that Haägen Dazs in Ridgewood again!

Tommy, the key thing is that you need to reinvent the experience in order to better suit your needs. Try hurling some of that mediocre Chinese food AT the screaming kids. Moving targets make for great practice and if you actually land some food in an open mouth, you'll be solving two problems at once. What's the worst that can happen? You'll be banned from Baumgart's for life? Sounds like a badge of honor!