Randi

It's just around the corner. The restaurant is 3 doors in from the corner of Irving and Lewis Streets. You turn onto Lewis and the parking deck is immediately on the right. A *very* short walk.

We went to David Drakes tonight and we absolutely loved it! The food, the atmosphere, the service - all as good as everyone's been saying. The only negative is the location - although I suppose that will be changing as they continue to revitalize the neighborhood. The parking was convenient - a very short walk to the parking deck. I did end up taking pictures (since no one responded to my above post and said "Noooo! Don't!". Here's what we had: An amuse of Shrimp and Carrot soup. I got both - my friend doesn't eat seafood. Really delicious. Makes me want to go back and try their other soups. Her appetizer was the Salad of Tender Bibb Lettuce with walnuts, grapes, celery, pear, dijon-roasted garlic vinaigrette. She said it was perfect! I got the Charlotte of Maine Crab with papaya and cucumber salad, curried celery root remoulade and tomato gelee. Her entree was the Braised Short Ribs which she adored. It was served with a gratin of sweet potato, surrounded by autumn vegetables. I got the Deep Sea Diver Scallops which were AMAZING. They sat atop an endive, lobster and scallop tart. There was a carrot-orange reduction and a popcorn shoot garnish. For dessert she chose the Banana Mousse with milk chocolate cream, coffee caramel, brownie and candied walnuts. It was wonderful, but I think she was too full at that point to enjoy it completely. I got the Carmelized Apples with molasses marshmallow, creme fraiche ice cream with sweet rosemary emulsion. The ice cream and the rosemary were outrageous! The little balls you see were scoops of apple, topped with the homemade marshmallow. Oh, and the Happy Birthday message was a nice touch. We made our reservation on Open Table and noted that it was a 50th Birthday celebration, and the waitress cleverly said something like "Neither of you looks like you could be 50" to which my friend replied "oh, she definitely is, not me!" So now they knew which dessert plate needed to have the Happy Birthday message. We both decided that as much as we loved Restaurant Nicholas, we think we like David Drakes a bit more. And we'll definitely be going back (especially since it is only 10 minutes away!)

OK, we are going tomorrow night. Would it be totally tacky to bring my camera and take pics of the food? I go back and forth on this..... Is it really out of place in a nice place like this? I did take pics last year at Restaurant Nicholas. And I was sheepish about it. So...what's the verdict? Pics or no? (and I know taking them without the flash is an option...but they just don't come out very good that way)

Cornellrob, thanks for the great (and timely) report. I will be going there in the next week or so for my (belated) birthday dinner! I was contemplating going somewhere else, but you've brought me back to David Drake's. Thanks!

Thanks Melissa and Stacey. I am optimistic now! I'll report back. The wedding is this weekend.

I am attending a black tie wedding at the Woodcliff Lake Hilton and I am wondering if anyone has been to an elegant function there, and can tell me if the food is above average. Or maybe even...great? Or does it vary from function to function (and I am asking an impossible question?) Anyone?

In 5th grade I tricked a classmate into eating a piece of candy from my "Chocolate Menagerie" As he was chewing it, I mentioned that he had selected the chocolate covered bees. Needless to say, he freaked and spit it out. The chocolate covered grasshoppers were yukky looking (with bits of legs and stuff sticking out.) The chocolate covered ants tasted like Nestle's crunch to me. I believe there was a 4th kind, but I can't remember what it was. The only other trickery I recall was when my 2 year old nephew was visiting (eeek he is 25 now) and I gave him a realistic looking chocolate chip cookie magnet. He tried to bite it, and I felt really bad, since he didn't understand, and I didn't even have a real cookie in the house to make it up to him.

Mizducky is right. Years ago I visited Newport and the clam chowder was neither red nor white. It was more of a clam broth base. I was really disappointed (I adore New England-style, the creamier the better.) It was explained that this brothy version was Rhode Island-style.

Had anyone tried "Whims"? They are (taken from their website): "a scrumptious fusion between cookie sweetness and crunchy texture, providing a delightfully delicious munchable snack. Their poppable, small size makes them easy to eat at work, at home, or on the go. Whims come in two different product forms, Crispy Waves, crispy-thin snacks with just the right amount of chocolate or toffee; and, Crunchy Clusters, combinations of favorite cookie ingredients — chocolate, nuts and crispy bits — all rolled up into bite-sized poppable clusters." I tried the toffee Crispy Waves. Not bad. Very small, light crispy bits.

Hey...you didn't tell us "why"!

I'm with you on this - that was the first thing I thought!

A marshmallow, as I am round, and soft and very sweet.

I loved Lana's in Clark (Chef Campos' last gig) so I am not surprised to hear that you love Lorena's! Rosie, did you ever make it to Lana's when he was there?

Glenn, I am curious - how well does grilled cheese travel? I would think it is best fresh and hot - and I am wondering if customers get the full gooey inside/crispy outside effect when the sandwiches are delivered. Is it a problem? Randi

I've been equally shocked by the quality of the fried chicken at the Stop N Shop on Inman Avenue in Edison. Better than any other place in the vicinity!

Do you happen to know what their delivery area is? I am 5 miles from there, and it is VERY tempting!

I too went to Moghul this weekend. But it was the Saturday lunch buffet at the Edison location. I don't generally love Indian food, but it's ok, so when I suggested some lunch ideas and mentioned Indian food, my friend said YES, she wanted Indian. So we went to Moghul. I've got to say - it was so good I was craving it again by dinnertime! My favorites were the 2 things I got from the cooking station where they prepared vegetable samosas and aloo papri chaat. They were sauced and topped with chick peas. Man! They were good!! From the buffet, I found some things that rocked, and some that I found to be so-so, but that's the nature of any buffet, really. So as long as I can get excited by several dishes, I am happy! I would mention the items I liked, but I am so new to Indian food that I don't really know what they are called. The only reason I knew the 2 dishes above was that I found them on their menu on their website. Does anyone know if the Sunday buffet is different from Saturday?

oops! what? we should have tipped??

I saw it but didn't check to see if it was crowded. I have added it to my "future lunch spots". Now that a friend of mine works with me we go to lunch all the time! I should be an expert on restaurants in the Cranford/Westfield/Clark area in a few months! Thanks for the recommendation.

Went to Wild Noodles in Westfield today for lunch. Our intent was to go to Thailand in Clark but it was closed, despite the fact that their takeout menu says they are open on Mondays. (Didn't Tommy say that every time he's tried to go there it was closed??) Then we headed to Westfield to go to Panera's. But it was packed. We parked nearby and noticed Wild Noodles across the street. We should have known it was a bad risk when it was EMPTY (except for 2 people at one table). My friend got a salad and thai rice noodles with chicken. He claimed it didn't suck when he put the hot chili paste on it. But it wasn't good. My meal was just plain BAD. I got the beef stroganoff - half of the beef actually was very tasty - a nice char-grilled taste - but the other half tasted old - and should have been thrown out the day before, in my opinion. The sauce was unpleasant. The egg noodles mushy. Bad, bad, bad.

After reading this I located their farm and took a drive there today. Got some nice tomatoes, peaches, corn, and more. My only issue was that the gal at the register didn't really know what she was doing. She was going to charge me $2.50/lb for peaches instead of $1.50 and 99 cents a lb for tomatoes (the price of the ones in the "imperfect" bin) instead of $2.49/lb. I should have let her. She also couldn't really answer any of my questions. It wasn't worth the trip, but it was nice out and we were up for a drive. Next time I will head over to the Metuchen farm market on Saturday and get my produce there. Our favorite farm markets are on route 206...but...too far for a special trip. P.S. the bi-color corn from Von Thun's was way better than the white. (they had both)

Yes, they are different owners. And the Edison location is FAR superior! I believe Edison's is owned by Harold himself.

They closed last year. here is an article about it.

EEEEEK! I just found out that they closed in April!

As usual, I will suggest The Hard Shell Cafe on Rt 73 in Marlton (near the Rt. 70 Intersection) I love their crabs!