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Oh man, Eppes Essen stinks. Overpriced schlock. I've been to Irving's several times now. We've ordered the pastrami almost each time - and I have to say, it's close to Katz's -- but it isn't quite there. I love it - it's delicious, and highly recommend. The amount of meat on the sandwich is nowhere near Katz's if you know the routine there, but how much does one need to eat? :-) We're also huge fans of pastrami and egg - and we've ordered this for breakfast/early lunch a few times. The funny part is that it's come several ways - "pancake style", fried egg layered under the pastrami, and omelet style. It's always good. The only negative - they prefer to only serve eggs/breakfast foods until around 11am.. but if you beg, they'll do it. Really, it should be offered all day a la Hobby's. Their soups are rich hearty and tasty. Their fries are crispy on the outside and mushy inside. Very good stuff. The brisket is delicious too! The Matzoh Brie was tasty. A negative - not enough cheese choices. It'd be great to have Muenster. Not a major negative, but hey... Turkey is just okay, not anywhere near the order of Hobby's in Newark's. So far - it's a great new place! The guy there (not sure who it was) who helped us said they have Katz's beat. They do not, but there's potential. I'd rate their pastrami 2nd to Katz, and their overall NJ deli experience 2nd to Hobby's in Newark, but that's great company to be in.

Hey there, I just wanted to report that I tried the new Portuguese storefront in Caldwell called Euro Grill. Euro Grill is a simple but nicely decorated takeout/eat-in/delivery place that offers grilled BBQ meats (chicken, pork or beef ribs, etc), seafood (including Paella), and specials. A few other things as well. The interior has almost pizzeria style tables (complete with numbers on a stand!) that had BBQ sauce and hot sauce bottles (hot sauce was good). But the kitchen is open to the dining room, and its all steel and clean. The countertop is stone and offers some stool seating. We ordered the Portuguese Sausage to start, which I believe was a Chorizo but tasted more like a very good Kielbasa. Delicious. She had the half-order of BBQ chicken, which came on a plate with freshly made fries (think Spanish/Ironbound restaurant-style), delicious Spanish rice, and a tad of Giardiniera. It was delicious - outside was crispy, the meat inside was still juicy. I had a special - Portuguese Steak (a ridiculously generous portion of almost no fat steak in a garlic sauce with an egg fried on top), served with the Spanish rice, Giardiniera, and the potato chips (again, think Ironbound Spanish restaurant style). It was delicious. I ate all of it, I'm ashamed to say! Service was friendly, and the place was busy at 8:15 when we arrived, although no wait. If there's anything negative, is that they didn't seem to have the A/C on and it was a bit hot in there.. I was a bit misty at the end ;-) Price? The half-portion (I'd hate to see the full) entrees are about $8-$9 and the appetizer was $8. The full portion entrees are about $10-12. The special was $15. All in all, we paid about $33 before tip. This is definitely a place to check out. It's on Bloomfield Avenue in Caldwell, next to the gas station and near Shop-Rite Liquors. Apologies for the lack of pictures :-(

Joon - what place(s) in the area for Korean BBQ do you prefer? I really, really enjoy Keo Ku and don't get there enough. I love the meats, and I enjoy the sides, but I go there for the meats. I also like their "brown rice" which is this very sticky multicolored mix of rice.. delicious. If there's somewhere better I NEED to know where it is.

Not littlenecks.

Route 9! There are two listed: One in Forked River at Lacey road and one in Smithville at Moss Mill road. A list of farmer's markets: http://www.ams.usda.gov/farmersmarkets/States/NewJersey.htm

I like Baadshah in Parsippany in the strip mall on the corner of 202 and route 46. The tikka masala and shahi korma are divine.

OK, so I made a bunch of suggestions, and my mother decided that she wanted to go to Bahr's Landing in Highlands! I mean - first it was a fight to get her to go out for her birthday, and then she decides to drive an hour to Highlands! :-) Anyway, it was fine, we ate on the water, and most of us ordered Tilapia, which was good, if a bit basic. The Manhattan Clam Chowder was actually good, as were the fried full belly clams. The place was near empty, but the server kind of hurried us to order. Sighs.. family!!! :-)

Thanks, guys, I'll work off these and suggest them to my mum, and see what sticks! It's difficult to plan for family :-) Appreciate the suggestions!

It's my mom's birthday tomorrow, and we decided we'd be taking her out. All along I'd pushed for An American Grill, since I enjoyed it but haven't been there in a LONG time, and it's near her house (she lives near Route 10 in Randolph). So I went to make a reservation today for Sunday ... and ... the man who answered the phone said they're closed on Sundays! The web site and Zagat listing both show Sunday at 1pm as the opening time - they should really update that, since I took it as gospel all week in planning something. The problem is, my family is a pain in the rear to please (as are most, I guess!) My grandmother likes only pasta or simple, basic foods (preferably Italian). My aunt is on a diet (sort of) similar to Atkins so she likes meats. My girlfriend prefers something healthy, and my mother and I don't care, although we usually like things a little higher on the scale, but still casual. An American Grill was perfect. So now, where do I go? La Strada doesn't impress me - its web site makes it look oppressively "I-talian" (we're italians but come on) and anyone who serves chicken parmagiana or francese can't be serious. My mom would hate it.. I appreciate any help... ! Thanks!!!!

Hmm.. I haven't been too recently.. probably the last time was about 9 months ago. My cousin just went there two weeks ago and enjoyed it, however. I will have to check it out, though - changes in ownership can be disaster. Thanks for the heads up

Thanks, Pete! I'll give it a try!

dRock: Everywhere - all enclosed places of business, including restaurants, bars, bowling alleys, etc.. the only exceptions being Casinos (boo!) and cigar bars that existed and haven't moved/expanded since 12/31/2004, or places of business whose primary revenue comes from the sale of nicotine-products (like JR Tobacco's little bar)... I disagree with you 100% that it will have an impact on business, unless you're saying positive impact. Massachusetts, New York, and Delaware have had these bans in place with no negative impact (short term, but then there was a positive impact longer term, probably even overall). California has it, as well, with no negative impact. The fact is that smokers will just go outside while grumbling, but non-smokers will stay longer and come out more often.

Brasilia Grill is my favorite in Newark - it's about 100 times better than Seabra's, which I think of as Grade B meat. I really, really do not like Seabras and we've been there several times for work-related events, so its not based upon one or two visits. Brasilia Grill, we've done three times, and it's always been good. Service was accomodating, and the included alcoholic beverages for large parties are actually pretty good all things considering. Is it as good as Churrascaria Plataforma on 49th in New York City? No, not quite, but it IS very good. I need to try Fernandez, though... Is that the full name? Where is it?

Asian food is fantastic. Here's some of my favorites: Tuptim - Thai - Montclair (Bloomfield Avenue across from Midland) - just pure authentic Thai food without that messy French influence (lol!) .. no really, it's delicious, and I recommend just about everything on the menu. They have great Tom Kha Gai soup and Mussaman (#24 - get it hot, if you can stand it). I like hot food so I often have to convince them that I can handle Thai hot. I still don't think they believe me. Thai Chef - Thai (w/ French) - Montclair (Bloomfield Avenue west of Tuptim) - also very good, with a great duck salad and a fantastic chocolate souffle dessert that you have to experience. I prefer Tuptim slightly, but this is a religious war that has spanned years in Montclair! Diners are the winners. ASIAN DELITE - Chinese/Japanese/Sushi - West Caldwell (Bloomfield Avenue in Kings' plaza) - THE BEST CHINESE FOOD IN THE AREA. No kidding. They occasionally have "the real stuff" - Chinatown style fare - on the specials board. Ask. Right now they have "Suh Gwah", definitely not spelled correctly, a type of squash that is very watery, has a nice flavor, and has to have its skin removed. Just an example. They also have Japanese dishes, and a very very good sushi bar. There are even Mongolian and Fruity Marty style dishes. It's excellent and I can not recommend it enough. Enjoy!

Been to Los Tapatios several times for lunch and dinner over the past year. It's fantastic - everything we've had we've enjoyed very much. I'm bringing a group with me tonight... I'll post back on our experience. Update: Very good as usual. Food was consistent - we ordered the cheese and chorizo appetizer.. you really have to try it - it's simple, but its delicious.