Lemons

This Friday my sister is closing on the sale of her home and would like to take my wife and me out to celebrate and thank us for our help during the process. She is leaving the place up to us but has told me that she would like it to be a "special occasion". My wife has limited taste and I am just the opposite. I used to go to Bellisimo's in Little Falls when I worked in the area but I understand that it is closed. My wife does like lobster so a restaurant like the Sea Shack in Hackensack would work but it’s a little too far for my sister to drive. (We are meeting her at the restaurant) She is in her mid 70's and doesn't like to drive very far so I would like it to be close to the Pompton Plains/Wayne area or at least not too far off route 23. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

You guys bring up a good point about the cost of food in that area. I would think that $100.00 per couple (plus tip) is about what I expected to pay for a meal and a couple of glasses of wine.

My wife and I are taking four out-of-towners to do the tourist thing on Monday the 22nd. We plan to see the tree, visit Saint Patrick's, look at the stores on 5th Avenue and then have something to eat mid to late afternoon. Everyone in the group enjoys good Italian, but we are not limited to it. A moderately priced restaurant would be nice and if at all possible, in order to be flexible, we would prefer not to make reservations. Is that possible at that time? It doesn't have to be in that exact area - we can walk a few blocks to find the right place. Any suggestions? Sorry if this topic has been discussed before - I didn't see any recent posts.

A friend and I had lunch there today and enjoyed it very much. We ordered the special appetizer (crab leg "pizza") and Shumai and they were both excellent. The pizza was about 8" and cut into 6 wedges. It had a number of tasty garnishes and was really delicious. The dumplings were also done to perfection. We both had the Sashimi lunch which came with soup and salad. The sashimi was served over shaved ice and was very tasty. The presentation was really unique. As RudeBuddha mentioned, the restaurant is really attractive and the service is very good. They opened August 8th and have a lot of interesting things on the menu. It's directly across from Dai Kichi which is another favorite of ours. We felt a little guilty looking out the large glass windows at Dai Kichi's entrance. My kids had dinner there last week and the owner was commenting about the negative impact that FAWA was having on his business. I remember him telling me a number of years ago that in Japan it was impolite to open a new restaurant in close proximity to another established restaurant. Obviously, that tradition didn't transfer to Montclair - there are a ton of Japanese restaurants in the area.

I live in North Arlington and am very happy to have a new restaurant in town. My daughter, wife and I went for lunch right after it opened and everyone enjoyed our meals. The owner recognized me from the Chinese buffet. Apparently he took back the business after the others failed. Sushi was pretty good. They redid the area and it really looks nice inside. The conveyor with various rolls passing by is fun. (they do pour a nice glass of wine for $5.00) I went back with my wife last week and decided to try something off the Chinese menu. The Japanese was much better. As I mentioned, it is very convenient for us and we will probably visit it often.

I have been going to Dai Kichi for many years and I do not recall that they ever had hibachi tables. I just had lunch there this week and the traditional Japanese food was excellent. I wonder if you have it confused with another restaurant.

Any suggestions on where to buy some cheese and crackers in the lower Bergen County area? We were invited to LBI for the week-end and would like to bring some nice cheese as a gift. Should we wait and find a shop there? Thanks

I am taking my 16 yo granddaughter to an appointment in Englewood next month and am looking for recommendations for a nice restaurant to have lunch. We will be in the Englewood Hospital locale, but we won't limit ourselves to that area. She is a big fan of Japanese food, but again, we are not limited to just Japanese. I understand that there are a lot of good restaurants in that area that she might enjoy. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks

My wife and I had dinner at Tina Louise, 403 Hackensack Street in Carlstadt. It is a small BYOB store front type restaurant and we thought that the food was quite good. We both had Shanghai Dumplings and my wife had Pan Fried Egg Noodles with vegetables. She was very pleased with the dish. I had Golden Sesame chicken. The chicken was tender and the sauce was delicious. There was only one woman greeting and serving (Tina?) and a bus boy, but everything came out promptly and the hostess was quite pleasant. Total bill was $27.00 before the tip which was quite reasonable considering the quality of the food. They are part of the Village Restaurant Group http://www.villagerestaurantgroup.com/ I understand that they recently had a very favorable review in New Jersey Monthly.

My wife and I enjoy having wine with our meals and we usually order a bottle with our dinner. Normally, we choose from a wine list and know the cost before we decide. We also enjoy having a glass of wine when we are at a bar instead of a mixed drink. A few days ago, we were in Atlantic City and during a break in the action we decided to stop at a bar off the casino floor for a drink. My wife asked for a glass of Cabernet and I ordered Pino Grigio. I had a comp for $15.00 which I assumed would about cover the bill and I gave it to the barmaid. She told me that the total was $26.00 and asked if I was going to pay the balance in cash. I was a bit surprised and she told me that many people had "sticker shock" when they got their checks. My question is, should have I asked the cost of the wine before I ordered, or should I have assumed that they would have supplied a list of premium wines and their cost? I don’t mind paying what I consider an average price but $15.00 for a glass for Cabernet is more than I would consider “normal”. I also would not be comfortable asking every bartender the cost of a glass of their house wine before I ordered. And there is also the question of the tip – do you tip more to have an expensive glass of wine poured? What are your thoughts?

That certainly was brought to her attention by her husband. In her defense however, she did have more of the fresh fruit than the bananas.

We had dinner at Taos last night and had an enjoyable meal. The menu was not as presented on their web site. Also bottles of wine prices were not all $20.00 as shown, but we all enjoyed what we ordered. I had General Tao's Chicken and it was as good as or better than I ever had. The chicken was tender and the sauce was delicious. It came with rice and some rolled egg plant. My wife had Egg Noodles with spicy pork and she also enjoyed her meal. One person that was with us had a shrimp cocktail and a salad (on a diet) and her husband had the Manhattan clam chowder which he really enjoyed. It was served with a cheese topping and toast points. His entrée was blackened seared tuna which he said was as fresh as he ever had. The ladies shared some Bananas Foster which in addition to the bananas had all sorts of fresh fruit and other goodies. The waiter flamed the bananas immediately before he presented them to the table. The presentation of each dish was really unique and everything was very tasty. It was a little noisy because there were no soundproofing materials in the room. Our waiter was nice but the service was only fair. There were not many people in the dining room on a Thursday night and I wonder what it's like when it’s busy. We spoke with the manager (owner?) who introduced himself as "Bobby. I don't know if he is related to Robert Wong who owns the Village Gourmet and Mignon but he was very personable and seemed quite knowledgeable. All in all a nice dining experience - we will be back.

After visiting Jerry's in East Rutherford last night, I went past Taos. Has anyone ever been there? After looking at their web site, it appears that they are affiliated with the Village Gourmet and Mignon Steak House. Not bad company.. The menu is unusual and all bottles of wine are $20.00. Has anyone been there?

Thanks for all of your comments. It's too bad, but I guess that we just don't have that many decent German restaurants in the area. The Black Forest Inn sounds great but it's a bit of a trip. I'll keep it in mind for a nice day when we want to take a ride. Thanks again for your suggestions.

We are looking for a good German restaurant in northern NJ. I read on this board about Kirkner's in Hawthorn but can't find out anything about it. Does anyone have any suggestions/recommendations? Thanks

I live in North Arlington and agree that there are a lot of mediocre Italian restaurants in the area but Angelo's on Ridge Road in Lyndhurst stands out. Normally crowded, cash only, but the food and service are very good. East Rutherford is nearby and has a lot of good BYOB restaurants. Montclair is not far away and also has some very good restaurants.

We have tickets for Light in the Piazza on Sunday, August 7 at 3:00. Does anyone have any suggestions for a moderately priced restaurant in the Lincon Center area? My wife likes French food when we are in Manhattan but it can be anything as long as the food and atmosphere is good. Thanks

My wife and I are going to see Sweet Charity at 2:00 on Wednesday, June 15. The theater is on west 45th street and we would like to know where we could get a nice dinner after the play. We like French food and stopped in Cafe un duex trois for a glass of wine the other day. We saw a few things on the menu that we liked but are not sure of the quality of the food there. Any recommendations of a restaurant in that price range (or slightly more) would be appreciated.