MJP

Yeah, that exit merge is AWFUL. I've seen Pollo Tropical in the shopping plaza just at 495 in Union City, but never been. I'll definitely give it a try if I find myself passing by and hungry.

*Practices threadomancy* I'm starting up my own little home-roasting operation, but I'm on a bit of a budget. Thus, I've ordered two half-pound samplers from www.coffeebeancorral.com (A half-pound each of Yemen Mocca and Sumatra Triple Pick Mandheling) and procured a cast-iron skillet from a Freecycle benefactor. I'm doing this inside, chaff be damned; most of the stovetop roasting primers I've seen have said that the chaff and smoke aren't bad. I'll be doing very small batches since I don't know how much I'll be drinking first off. Burr grinders have become inexpensive and prevalent; there's a $30 Krups model at Wal-Mart and another at Kohl's. Both seem to fit the bill as entry-level grinders. The beans should arrive today. The grinder will be a little bit longer in coming since it's gotta ship out. Ikea sells French presses. I'm fairly excited to start this and report on how much of a caffeind this turns me into. I may try the dog bowl/heat gun method next since those are somewhat inexpensive. It may be better for chaffy roasts as well. We'll see.

I went to the website and it looks like it's a placeholder or spam site... is the co-op dead?

On South Washington Ave in Bergenfield, there's a couple of places. Jason Perlow wrote about them in Off The Broiler, his blog, and posted them here... Mi Pueblo: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...&hl=Bergenfield Off the Broiler on Mi Pueblo: http://offthebroiler.wordpress.com/2006/03...lo-bergenfield/ OTB on La Batalla: http://offthebroiler.wordpress.com/2006/05...ing-la-batalla/ I definitely recommend you go to Mi Pueblo and make a lunch of it. The taco counter is worth the drive if you're going for groceries.

We did take-out from Greek Delights in Lyndhurst last night. We had spanakopita and a souvlaki in a pita sandwich. I was somewhat underwhelmed by the spanakopita, but I think that it had been done in by the ride home. After five or ten minutes wrapped in foil, it seemed to have steamed up and the phyllo was not very flaky, but a bit soggy. The spinach filling was flavorful and dense. I'd give it a try if we were eating in, but since it's more of a neighborhoodish place, if we're going out, it'd still be to Fortunato. The pita were a different story. I had lamb and my girlfriend had the gyro/doner. My lamb was a little overdone and tough but flavorful, but her gyro was very, very good. I don't know if the gyro meat was homemade or brought in from elsewhere, but it was nicely spiced and tasty. The tzatziki was definitely homemade and had a very nice kick of garlic. I would go back again and try some cold appetizers next time, or a hot appy that doesn't have phyllo. A great change of pace from the normal take-out offerings in and around Lyndhurst.

jpr: I haven't really seen any impressive Italian places in NA/Lyndhurst... I'm sure they're good, but not the greatest, and unless I've missed it, none are really chef-driven places. I'm open to be persuaded otherwise, though. ELA: E&V is still definitely open. I thought about mentioning it but I didn't want to expose my lack of Italian breadth by citing it. I thought everyone knew about it. :-/ IMHO, I don't consider E&V a "red sauce" place in a perjorative sense, but it does have the red-sauce menu. I will say this, though: do NOT let that dissuade you from going to E&V. Make sure that someone definitely gets the seafood risotto. It's worth the cash-only policy and lack of reservations.

Curlz, talk about timing. I'm taking a mental health day today and I was riding my bike up and down Ridge. I saw Greek Delights and stopped by, but the doors were locked despite this being amongst their open hours. I saw some takeout menus on the counter, but none were outside. I'll try to swing by and check it out. If they do takeout, they're going to be my new best friends - and it'd suck because I just moved upstairs from Foschini's! :-D

We were at Mitsuwa on Saturday with a friend and after some tribulation, I decided it was time to give in and try Tokyo Hanten. I have to admit, I was very surprised. I had a plate of spicy dumplings with fried rice, and if I didn't get the "spicy" (basically they dusted the dumplings with red pepper powder) I think it'd have been a really killer dish. The dumplings were basic gyoza/jiaozi, but they definitely tasted like they were just made. The filling wasn't too densely packed and had plenty of flavor, the wrapper was at just the right thickness (not very) and there was a soy-based dipping sauce that complemented the flavors nicely. The fried rice was quite good, very evenly coated with egg. It's probably up there with Hunan Cottage or any other good Chinese place in the area. There was a forgettable shredded radish salad that would have been better just as shredded radish, and a little dish of Chinese style broth that was clean, refreshing, and flavorful. There are tons of other styles for the dumplings (there's a plum sauce, a sesame salt dipping powder, etc) but I think I'd avoid trying those for the dumplings. They're too good straight up, IMHO. Next time I'll give in and try the hamburger steak. There was a fantastic scallion-based sauce for it. I have to admit it was really, really hard to peel myself away from the ramen. I think it's worth a try, but go right to Tokyo Hanten and don't even look at the ramen on display.

Good call on avoiding non-Sichuan and non-Hunan. We were just cold and hungry, and being huge xiao long bao fans, we jumped at the chance. Good to have an old favorite, but it was not the greatest ever. At the risk of devolving this into a Grand Sichuan topic, are there any must-haves that we missed out on and need to get at the next DS/Colbert taping?

Sneak: she does :-P Taboon is closed! We went by it and there was a sign stating that there was a fire and they would be closed for about three weeks. We went to Grand Sichuan and were mighty impressed, though. The crab and pork soup buns weren't the greatest, but we love soup buns so that doesn't hurt in the least. We had prawns in citrus sauce and one of the fresh-killed chicken dishes. Both were insanely delicious. The chicken had some sort of ingredient in it that numbed my tongue. I'd read about stuff like that before; it helps you to sweat more so it's supposed to cool you down. But to me it just felt interesting. We will be back after the next Daily Show taping!

Sneak: it's just me and my girlfriend. We're not averse to not-nice areas (she goes to school in Newark; this area is paradise by comparison) and we're not big on decor, service, etc. so long as the food's good. I mean, we'd like to not have to wait an hour for the food after we order, but we're not looking for white gloves, cloth napkins, and Jacques-Pierre here. :-p

Re: Taboon, Grand Sichuan, and Whym: are they OK if my girlfriend is in jeans and I'm in work casual? We're looking for a more casual/streetish place.

I know I asked about this a while back, but we're heading out for a taping of the Colbert Report located at West 54th. Is there anything decent in the area that's not too expensive (>$50 per couple) that we could go to tonight? One thing we've been dying to try was a meal entirely of appetizers, so anything that's got a good array of first courses would be optimal.

My girlfriend and I just went tonight. The seasonal menu is still present and delicious, with an emphasis on the side of different types of squash as part of the meat, fish, and poultry. We had the crispy goat cheese salad (amazing), she had pistaschio-crusted red snapper with a red wine and balsamic reduction over spaghetti squash, and I had risotto with peas and rock shrimp. I can't recommend the fish enough based upon the snapper; it was perfectly done and well-paired with the other dishes. Dessert was a lemon panna cotta, delicious. We weren't drinking. It came out to $79 with tax and around a 25% tip. The owner (I think it was him) came out and talked to us, which seems to be his trademark. The service was fantastic despite a packed house with two big tables and every other table filled. This really and truly is perhaps the greatest restaurant in this area of Bergen county, new chef notwithstanding.

It isn't much of a report, so I'll add on some further details: Mitsuwa's latest flyer is celebrating regional culture as shown through Japan Rail bento boxes. That might seem like a tour of the Midwest via the food medium of snack stands at train stations, but JR bentos are real, unique expressions of local cuisine. I don't have the flyer on me right now (it's at work) but there's several different airlifted bentos available, including seafood-stuffed croquettes, smoked mackerel, and what will hopefully be fresh-made okonomiyaki, a really great experience to try if you haven't yet. Hiroyuki, I know there's an actual term for these bento, but it escapes me right now. :-( It happens this weekend, I believe, from the 10th to the 13th. There's also new additions to the menu at the food court stalls: a "white" ma bo tofu at Tokyo Hanten, a tonkatsu (fried pork cutlet with Japanese sauce) rice bowl (tastier than it sounds!) and a special gyudon (beef bowl) and soba set. Ito En is also running a deal; buy two cases of their apple tea, get a third free (I think).

The chutoro was indeed good, but the otoro was amazingly beyond belief as normal... however, I couldn't get any decent photos since the charger for my camera is AWOL and my PPC-6700's cameraphone function is pretty awful. :-( Chihiran: I don't buy meat or fish at Mitsuwa; it's tremendously overpriced. I live in Lyndhurst and do my grocery shopping around there. I go for Japanese stuff that I can't get anywhere else, though, but I'm in East Hanover more and more and should really be going to Kam Man. Their seafood is hit-or-miss, but when it hits, it's the good stuff.

Sounds like a plan! I'll try to get in close enough. My camera doesn't do video too great, but I'll try to get some choice video of the process. It's really awesome to see them break down that huge fish. No image or video can convey the taste and the feel of the o-toro, though. :-(

dngovy: I have the flyer at home. I believe that it starts at 12 and 3 PM on Saturday and Sunday. I would DEFINITELY advise that you arrive early. Crowds start forming up to a half-hour before the cutting starts. They have plenty of special sushi ready (all chu-toro with a piece or two of o-toro) for $8 each. The normal food court has its normal goodness as well.

I personally have not heard of Spirotake so I wouldn't be able to tell you... googling yielded no info. Sorry! :-(

I guess I've assumed the unofficial thread-maintainer role... :-P Save the date! The tuna cut is the first weekend of November! Saturday and Sunday, the 4th and 5th. I just got the latest brochure. They're doing a big grand-reopening celebration this coming weekend, all the usual prize shpiels but nothing came up food-wise. There's a special curry udon limited to 30 servings daily between the 27th and the 2nd. I won't be in the neighborhood, unfortunately. :-( Anyway, the tuna cut is awesome. I'm pretty sure that I've talked about it earlier in the thread, but it's gotta be seen (and tasted) to be believed. There's no better, fresher tuna sushi to be had. Aficionados can bring home the good stuff to make their own. More info (including times) when it's available. If you intend to go see the tuna cut, arrive about a half-hour beforehand and bring cameras or recording equipment if you so desire. The crowds run pretty thick.

Where is the location in relation to Mitsuwa? I'd kill to be able to run over to Edgewater for ramen after work, hit up the driving range, and then get some groceries at TJ's... I have never been to Trader Joe's, but I've heard so many great things.

I actually did get to go to Ole Ole on Saturday... I got some olive oil (I think the same brand as you, Josefina) which I promptly broke on Sunday, thus sacrificing that. :-( I did get some Don Quijote (I think) chorizo which was absolutely delicious. It went into a paella and worked out nicely. Those going to the Meadowlands flea market, do go. It's a lot of fun. There's a Pennsylvania Dutch pickle seller who does some fantastic jams and preserves. Also, the food vendors have Ren Faire-style turkey legs. Delish.

I might not be able to make it tomorrow... a horse and parcel of land in Herefordshire to whoever finds out when the next sale is. ;-;

Worst-case scenario, we booked my prom only a couple months ahead at Headquarters Plaza. It's got a detached hotel but they don't require you to book hotel rooms to have a function there. It's a great space but the food could be a tad bit better. However, I was there in 1998 (Oh man, am I dating myself or what) so things have hopefully changed. Honestly, if the Venetian can take you, it'll be the night of their lives. BeerGut, just curious - what do you teach?

Yes! I'm so there. I live just across the river and my girlfriend and I will definitely be hungry for a free lunch. ;-)