MJP

Tell Carlos that Solar do Minho is one of my favorite Portuguese locations even considering Ironbound. I'll google it up and see what I find.

Not sure of the exact address, but it's catty-corner from the CVS in North Arlington, a few doors down from Fatso Fogarty's.

I drove by (formerly) Uva and the awning is up: it says Kaiten Sushi Restaurant. If this is what I think it is, this is going to be great! I haven't had real kaiten sushi in forever.

Practicing a little bit of threadomancy here; I'm doing the planning for our wedding and any further input is greatly appreciated. Also, adding the Newark Club; I met with their catering manager yesterday and I can vouch that to me, it's very reasonably priced for what you get, and what a view!

Akasya is closed? It doesn't surprise me, but I'll miss their shis kebab, it was superior to Sultan's. They never did much business that I could tell. ;-;

So I proposed and she said yes, and now we're in the planning phase. Since I'm an addictive planner, this is just feeding something that shouldn't be fed, but I digress. :-D We want to avoid doing a cookiecutter (and potentially very high-budget) catering hall wedding. We'll try for the reception elsewhere and we want to have the reception at a nice restaurant. Since we're very informal people, we don't want to do dinner and dancing, just a nice get-together for everyone. A cocktail-style dinner would be great, but we don't mind a sit-down multi-course. The culinary selection should probably include something for the not-so-adventurous since we might have a few non-foodies in attendance. Does anyone have any suggestions for a decent restaurant in the Essex/Bergen/Passaic Co. area?

I drove by last night and someone with a very expensive camera and a tripod was taking photos - here's hoping their publicity package works out!

I have a question: I'm doing my first batch with a bucket and a carboy I got on the cheap since my roommates contributed to the costs. I pitched my yeast at around 12:00 noon on Saturday and it's been bubbling away ever since. I want to rack out to a carboy for second fermentation. When should I do this? Should I wait for the bubbling in the airlock to subside or get specific readings before I do so?

I dunno, Wine Country is my local shop of choice; they have a wonderful craft beer selection. I'm not a wine guy, but they seem to have a seriously comprehensive stock on that front as well. How big is the new place? I can't imagine there's tons of square footage in that lobby.

Quick question: is Willie Mae's lunch-only or do they do dinner as well?

We'll be in NOLA this week and we want to hit up a few of the retaurants we've heard very good things about - Commander's Palace, Upperline, Galatoire's, Arnaud's to name a few. Should I have booked a few months ago, or are we safe if we make reservations now? Heck, is it even necessary since we're not exactly here during the height of Mardi Gras?

I went to Corrado's to get a homebrew starter kit and went to Papaya King for a quick lunch. Two chili dogs and a drink went for $4.99. I had mine with raw onions, kraut, and mustard. The owner chatted me up while I waited, apparently he just bought the business two weeks ago and he was looking to add more things to the menu (onion rings, french fries, all the usual jazz) as well as keep on expanding. For what it was worth, this was the best non-Rutt's Hut hot dog I've ever had. The casing was crisp, the filling was flavorful, and the toppings were all very distinct textures. The kraut was unbelievably crispy to the point where I wasn't sure if I was eating an onion or the kraut. The chili was the right balance of sauciness and meatiness and the mustard was nicely balanced. The papaya drink was very nice too, it was sweet and tangy without any extreme sugar rush. I don't think there was added sugar in it, period. My only complaint was that it was a little bit thin, it seemed to be more watered down than it should have been. I'm glad I'll be making a lot of beer since this gives me an excuse to stop by.

I had take-out today from Shanghai Cafe again and I'm pretty impressed. Their scallion pancakes were not the out-of-the-box kind you see around, but they were crisp and flavorful even after a ten-minute drive back to the office. I had the "88 Cafe Noodles" with pork, basically a stir-fried udon. This was a cut above and a really tasty dish. They seemed to do a pretty decent lunch business as well.

My girlfriend and I will be in NOLA from 1/10-1/16. I'm toying with the idea of renting a car and driving out to Avery Island to see the Tabasco factory and bird sanctuary out there. On the way out or back, is there anything interesting for culinary or normal tourism? I was toying with going to Lafayette but couldn't find too much of a draw outside of various Acadian cultural centers and such.

For a different, spicier spin on Chinese, check out King's Noodle in the Han Ah Rheum/H-Mart shopping plaza on Broad Ave. in Ridgefield. Of course, the food court at Mitsuwa Marketplace in Edgewater is still one of the best places for real Japanese food above and beyond sushi.

I was there a few months back. I forget what we had exactly, but I do remember that it was really tasty. There was a noodle with ground pork in a citrusy sauce that really blew me away. Worth stopping by if you're near.

What an awesome idea! I'd totally order from them if their page only had information on how to do so. :-P

I might have gone on an off day, but Ole Ole was just OK. Not great, but just OK. They had a lot of products that you can get at Seabra's or any other Latin American groceries or even Corrado's. The prices were just a bit lower, but my girlfriend and I intended to go and get enough food for lunch. We ended up going for Korean instead. They did have a good selection of extra virgin olive oil, and they had a serious variety of saffron, and smoked paprika, but everything else (olives, cheeses, canned/jarred Spanish products) was just a bit meh. I might go on Saturday and give it a look to see if anything's changed. I just wished they actually published dates they were open on their website since nobody ever seems to answer their phone or return my calls. D:

I was at FG last night. It wasn't my first time, but they saved my bacon with free, reliable wi-fi to do some remote reboots for work. The service was pretty good, I think. I just wanted some chamomile tea and they were going to give it to me in a teapot and a cup, but when they saw me setting up a laptop, they noticed and asked if I'd rather have it in a mug. It was nice of them to notice since the less liquid by electronics, the better. :-) It was pretty busy for a Monday night. Next time I go, it's going to be for the coffee. However, the Petite Café cupcakes are just as good a draw as ever. They were attentive and working pretty well for kids last night; I didn't really get a "rock star" feel. If nothing else, they could do with hiring someone else for sure.

We went to After Athens last night and were highly impressed by the food, less so by the service. We got there relatively early, 6:30ish, and we were pretty well waited upon since there was only us and one other table there. Our waiter was knowledgable and had some pretty good insight to our questions, he was attentive, not too doting-upon. Sure, no problem there. We ordered the goat cheese croquettes and tzatziki as appetizers and we were highly impressed. The croquettes were really flavorful; a little dry-feeling in the middle, but I liked the way it melted away in my mouth a little. The tzatziki was creamy enough but not too heavy, with just the right balance of garlic and mint. The pita were fresh and warm. When the mains came, we were very wowed by the food. After Athens didn't have a 100% Greek menu; it verged a bit into Italian and elsewhere but nicely so. I had a whole bronzino, grilled and delicious in basic Greek style, just olive oil and lemon. I don't think I've had a better piece of basic fish anywhere. My girlfriend had the lobster and shrimp ravioli in a white wine sauce. It was really impressive, a nicely thick sauce and the ravioli were definitely handmade. There were some chunks of actual lobster in there, which is a big plus. I think it was a bit cheesy, but it was well-balanced. After that, we were waiting for around 15-20 minutes, polishing off our wine and waiting for the plates to be cleared and a dessert menu. When we did order, the dessert came out really fast. I know most Greek desserts are premade, but this was really quick. The desserts were worth having, and I don't say that often about restaurant desserts. My girlfriend had ekmek, a custard and shredded-baked goodness; I had galactoboreki (sp?) which was utterly delicious. After that, though, it took about a half-hour to find a guy, request the check, and get it signed off. We're going to give it another shot for sure, but if the service falls off again, that's it. Still, it's definitely worth it.

Lorena's is fabulous. I was there for my parents' anniversary last year. It's a wonderful, intimate restaurant that really is up there amongst the best in NJ.

My lunch yielded "good, but not great" results as well. Better than a long (for me) drive to Bourbon? Yes. Better than Bourbon? Not directly. Although I think they're different styles, though; Bourbon was drier and more smoked, these were wetter bbqs as it were. Carolina style, maybe? Either or, good if you're in the area.

Second on Fine Grind. My girlfriend and I went there once and we have a friend who works there. She's learning how to actually put together the coffee blends and such herself. It's a real legit coffee house. Plus the cupcakes come from a bakery in Nutley whose name I forget, but they make a Nutella cupcake that is not to be missed.

Actually, they opened and were cited by the town for being unsafe for occupation, according to the citations they had posted on the doors. Good to know they're up and running, though, I was just wondering what to do for lunch today. :-D These guys probably can't compare to Bourbon BBQ but it's nice to get something slightly closer.

Oooh, how could I forget Penang in East Hanover? It's worth the Jersey trip for sure. It's not Nyonya, but they're the best (if not only) serious Malaysian restaurant in Jersey. The char kuey tiow brings tears to my eyes, it reminds me of the little noodle joint in Brisbane I went to while I was studying there for a semester.