fitz

Hmmn... What my husband neglected to mention was my specific objection to Asia Market's pan-fried dumplings: they both smelled and tasted like acrid tobacco. In a word, horrible. At the same time, there was none of the usual good stuff I'd expect in a dumpling; the only positive comment I can make is that the skins were nice and light and the filling was heavy-handed and dense. Unfortunately, they were so godawful that I literally wound up spitting the last one out. If that means I've got an uneducated palate, so be it (though I don't think so)--but this place is definitely not among my favorites.

Hey, I'm a New Jerseyan in exile in Texas, but can I cast my vote for Galloping Hill?! Love that place... went there all the time as a kid back in the 60s. This year Thanksgiving's here in Austin; it'll just be me, my husband and our new little twin sons... (they'll be doing turkey too, though). P.S. Hi, Rosie--good to see everyone in NJ's still eating...

Dunno. Haven't heard the same buzz you have I guess. I might check it out some time. Or anyone that does, they should report back. ← There was a thread on this topic this summer: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...9881&hl=Andiamo Definitely an oversight to miss out on trying Andiamo, even if it's an unassuming place in a strip mall.

I'm assuming that you want to steer clear of chain restaurants--in this particular part of town there are many, but there are others, too. Right off the top of my tired head, a few come to mind: Andiamo, for wonderful Italian (see their web site at www.andiamoristorante.com) as well as the other thread in this forum on Italian restaurants. There's also North by Northwest at Capital of Texas and Stonelake, a stone's throw from where you're staying--a very comfortable place for family with a surprisingly varied menu, moderately priced. And somewhat less moderately priced, Cool River on Parmer Lane, though lunch is quite reasonable and a nice break in the middle of the day. Hmmn... what else? Kerbey Lane right on Research Boulevard for a very reasonable, casual place for tasty, healty food... Of course, if you DO want the chain food, a quick drive up and down Research Blvd. will reveal all... Have fun...

We love them... The Wagyu's terrific, and we've found that you can actually get great buys sometimes, particularly if you ask them if they've got anything interesting that's already cut...

It's funny, but that actually worked well for us. We had a seven-piece swing band and there was a devoted group of folks who pretty much danced all night. At the same time, we had a few tables of older guests who requested ahead of time to be seated "away from the music," and by putting them at the tables toward the ends of the "T" everyone was happy. I confess that I was a bit worried about it ahead of time, but my fears were groundless. I suspect it would've been more of a problem if we were having one of those receptions with non-stop announcments by a DJ, or were trying for lots of group participation. As it happened, everything was fine, at when at one point I was coerced into getting up and sitting in with the band, all of the older folks who'd been parked at their tables the whole evening finally got up and gathered around the dance floor. And actually, that setup made for a damned fun hora... it's hilarious to watch the video of it and see these throngs of people sorting themselves into more and more circles... By the way, Rachel, I don't recall whether I ever told you what a great suggestion Harold's was for our rehearsal dinner, either! They were unbelievably gracious, did a beautiful job the evening of the dinner, and pretty much comped everyone they knew was a guest of ours during our entire stay whenever we grabbed breakfast or lunch there. Really lovely people! P.S. Thanks for the good wishes, Rail Paul!

Thanks, Rosie!

Yeah, we actually investigated the cruising option when we were planning our wedding almost two years ago, and not only did it seem that the quality of the food would be questionable at best, but even back then, to get a halfway decent boat alone was going to cost $18,000 + at least another $8,500 for the food and liquor. Considering that we were only talking about 100-125 people, we thought it was a pretty nasty price tag, especially before music, flowers and all of the usual extras. We did Highlawn Pavilion instead--got an absolutely gorgeous spring day with phenomenal views that everyone loved, and our base price was $85 a head. Gotta love it... (The whole day went off without a hitch, they couldn't have been more gracious, the food was terrific and people are still raving--plus we're still married with twins on the way, so we consider the whole business a success... ) Fitz

Either time works for us... Fitz

Do we have a set time, and is someone making reservations? Just wondering, lest we all turn up and scare the other patrons... Fitz

Hey, I think we're in for the 17th, too... Fitz

We have no clue whether we'll be in town on the 10th, but if that date works for everyone else, go for it and don't worry about us... FitzLuggage

I was just wondering when we'd all be invited over... Have never tried to make one of these suckers for msyelf!

Everything Tommy says is true... I was introduced to the Notch back in '95 when I was booking music and events for the local Borders and someone said I needed to get over there to hear John Monnecka, who was sort of the "house band" at the time. (One night he'd be there with his band, one night it was just John doing singer/songwriter duty with his guitar, and the rest of the time it was visiting blues bands, mostly.) Heck, I even hit the stage myself a few times playing bass with my singer/guitarist friend Dave--the one night I remember particularly well, the place was jam-packed with the usual odd mix of locals and things progressed into a nice little ska-fest--fun for me since it wasn't the sort of music I usually played. Anyway, the owners are lovely people, the atmosphere is much more laid back vs. scary biker; it's a pretty laissez-faire kind of place. And sitting inside during a heavy winter snowstorm is just as pleasant as being out on the porch with a cold one in summer... I miss the place and am sorry I didn't have time to take my husband there when we last visited NJ. Next time... Fitz

I want that... right now!!!

Hah, Sharon... this is getting to be like that Groundhog Day movie! That question you posed was exactly the impetus for the Turkish potluck we had back in January!

Our Meyer lemons didn't fare anywhere near as well as the others I've been reading about. It seemed fine pretty much up until it snowed, and then it dropped all its laves and never recovered.

Luggage and I tried Alborz two summers ago, I think... We liked it just fine; we did the lunch buffet to try to get a decent sampling of their dishes, and everything was perfectly enjoyable. Too bad it's been so long that I can't remember anything in detail! We'd definitely be up for another excursion there, though...

Hey, somewhere in between the beer and barbecue, weren't we discussing the possibility of doing the Sunday brunch at Fonda San Miguel? We actually haven't been there in more than two years, so we'd be more than up for it. As for La Fogata, I guess we don't get any points for noticing it as we drove by when we were in San Antonio a few months back, but I think it's on our list for our next visit...

We were just there a couple weeks ago for lunch, and everything was wonderful, just as it had been the last time we were in NYC in April 2003. Our table started with the herring plate; two folks ordered the salmon for lunch and loved it; I had the Beef Rydberg (which was kind of fun, since I'd just made it at home in TX several weeks before and wanted to see how close mine was to Aquavit's version...). Don't remember what my husband had, but everyone loved their food, and the service was excellent as usual.

Sorry Casey, Apologies... I was venting and letting off a little steam, there! I haven't been in Metuchen since fall of 2001, but my sarcasm wasn't completely unfounded, as my ex-boyfriend's father and wife did, in fact, think of The Cornerstone as a hot night out! But I digress... It was Dan's on Main that I remember fondly, and also the Metuchen Inn, though my last visit there was absolutely horrendous. Is the Inn still around? Must confess that I never made it to Culinary Renaissance...

I remember the tea house, and am assuming that this place replaces something equally uninspiring. There was only one place on Main St. that I recall as being decent; aside from that, just kind of bad Mexican and a really loud, obnoxious Italian place. In my head, I just remember Metuchen as the sort of place where most folks think of The Cornerstone as a really hot night out... Is there any hope?

We'll hold you to that. Right now, I've got a pretty good idea as to what would make an otherwise damn fine cheesecake masquerade as a Turkish one...

Hey Richard, What the heck were you doing driving through the wilds of Motown (my old haunt!!!) to get to diners? If you play nice, we could have some of that great NJ sort of cheesecake at the Austin Turkish pot luck... (You can take the girl out of NJ, but you can't take the NJ out of the girl...) Fitz

Indeed. I remember seeing Roast Baby on a menu quite a few years back (fairly sure it was a place in the Rutherford, NJ area). As it turned out, it was duckling, but the image has always stayed with me. For more fun of this kind, by all means visit engrish.com, which posts photographs in only the best-spirited way... (they welcome your submissions, too!).