MJP

Sounds like some good advice, everyone. There's a Wine Country down the street that does give discounts on mixed cases. I'll be moving soon so I'll just start out with a bottle a week and then move up when I get settled. Last question: is a specific type of red wine best for getting the health benefits? Conversely, are there any types which are the least beneficial?

My dad's sworn by a thing called Vintage Keeper for years. It's basically a sort of pressurizing nozzle that you cover the bottle with and then hook it up to a little, cheap nitrogen canister. The nitrogen pressurizes the wine out the spout when you push a little lever. It's kept bottles fresh either in the fridge or a cool, dark place for around a week or so. I couldn't find it on the company's website, so hopefully this link will help you: http://www.beveragefactory.com/wine/preservation/index.shtml

It may be pricey, but maybe the Venetian in Garfield might be a good bet. For what it's worth, I talk more about the wedding I went to when I was younger at the Venetian than I do about my prom. I'm sure that you'd save a fortune since you'd not be serving liquor; an open bar can't be cheap. I'll bet the students will be a bit disappointed about that. :-P http://www.thevenetiancatering.com/ If you don't mind the location (a bit out of the way in Verona) there's the mainstay of the Temple Sholom of West Essex bar and bat mitzvah receptions, the Richfield Regency. Also a fine location. The food is decent, more so than most of the places I went to in the '94-96 season. http://www.richfieldregency.com/

I've heard so much about studies that talk about how a glass of red wine a day is good for you. I'd like to start learning more about wine this way, so I'd like to know what's a good way to approach the glass a day habit. I'd like a wine that doesn't require food, something to drink while I'm just relaxing. If it's inexpensive, that's a major plus. I don't mind something that's very dry or very sweet, just so long as it doesn't require food. Any advice is much appreciated; apologies if I didn't discover this in a thread search already. :-( Edit: I'm not a wine guy, isn't it obvious: I know some of the differences between the reds, but usually my strength is in whites. So do understand that I'm a total noob; I know which grape is a red, which is a white, and in general which white is drier by grape type. It's not much, but it gets me through the wine shop or the menu OK.

Hey Gulleteers, my girlfriend and I are going to the Nintendo World Store in Rockefeller Center on Sunday and we wanted to grab lunch. Are there any decent places that aren't too expensive that offer a decent lunch menu? We're not interested in Sunday brunch. Bistro would be nice, but we're open to anything, really. We're not looking to spend more than $60 on the bill (not including tip) and we don't plan on wine or drinks.

Well, I've never done a whole fish before and I figure there's always a good time to start... I might try to grab something from them this weekend.

Does he do whole fish? If so, are they cleaned/gutted/etc.?

Russian Dream is farther south than the deli. The deli is before Marlboro and Union Hill Road, almost halfway between there and exit 124 for Route 9 on the Parkway. Russian Dream is quite fabulous, though. Good for groups. My family all went there on Mother's Day and it was rampantly loud with a couple of singers and lots of family chatter. The food was absolutely delicious, though. Try the lamb chops or the salmon. The latter is served in puff pastry shaped like a fish. A really beautiful dish.

Well, there's the Russian deli on Route 9 South behind the Emporium gas station... that might be the best bet close to Freehold. There's also Pickleicious in Teaneck, Pickles & Olives in Lyndhurst... I don't know the Freehold area well enough. Hopefully we can find some sort of brine that reverses your illness. :-)

1) Go up Route 21 until you get to exit 9, River Road/Clifton. 2) Take a left off the exit, then another left. 3) Pull into Rutt's Hut. Order a ripper, onion rings, and a birch beer. 4) Never eat another hot dog again, for you will have reached Nirvana. (so long as you added mustard and their homemade relish) 5) Continue north on 21 and then take 80 West to Budd Lake, avoiding all the traffic and backup from 78, 22, and other westbound routes. Rutt's is right on the way and is THE ultimate hole-in-the-wall local place. I have such fond memories of their chicken soup with rice from my childhood.

We went to King's Noodle this weekend and weren't totally impressed. We had the diced chicken in pepper sauce and the noodles Jason mentioned. I couldn't get enough of the noodles, but next time we're ordering two bowls if we have more people. The chicken was... only decent. It wasn't really salted enough and it was rather plain-tasting. It was a bit on the oily side, although it was tasty oil. I think that it'd have been better if I'd asked for rice. We did not have the dumplings since we just wanted a lightish dinner in anticipation of some tasty pastries and bubble tea from the place inside Han Ah Reum. However, there is a new traditional Korean restaurant that replaced the old one, right next to the supermarket. We haven't tried, but looking inside, it's very nice-looking. Perhaps we'll scope it out with friends. I can also vouch for the food court in Han Ah Reum, too. Mitsuwa it ain't, but the kimchi stew I got was amazing and would be fantastic outside on a cold winter day.

He's indeed referring to Pickles & Olives on Valley Brook, just a block west of Ridge Road. I may have some time today before I go into the city with my girlfriend, so I'll see if I can swing by and grab something interesting.

Trust me, Raji... Mitsuwa hasn't had them in at least nine months. ;-; They used to have the chocolate chip variety (meh) and the cream-filled one (ambrosia!) but they haven't had either. Weekends, weekdays, holidays, food fair days... you name it. They had 'em at the Hokkaido food fair the other weekend, but we were too late for the fresh-made ones that were being done esspecially for the food fair. They had imported ones, though, which were quite tasty... but not the same.

I stumbled across Panya just a few minutes ago. I need to firm up my Google-fu. I'll report back on their offerings as soon as I can!

The town website reports that it grants "4 club licenses and 10 store licenses" annually. I don't know if restaurants have an exemption or are prohibited from having licenses, but P&O seems to stand in the face of that. *shrug*

The girlfriend and I will be in the city Thursday night for a Daily Show taping. The studio's on 11th between 51st and 52nd. What's decent in the area? Bistro is preferable, but we're open to anything so long as it doesn't require anything dressier than khakis. I've tried searching and it's given me stuff from all over... :-/

Do you know any names/locations of the Japanese bakeries? We'll be in the city to see the Daily Show taping on Thursday. They're on 10th/11th and West 54th, so the closer the better. Jason Perlow just did a post on OTB about a Korean/Japanese cafe that does desserts and coffee, etc. in Fort Lee, which isn't too far. They have Beard Papa stuff there, so I'll give it a check. This also may be a long, long, long shot, but do you know if any of those bakeries carry the Yakitate!! Japan breads and pastries that were licensed to the Lawson convenience stores in Japan? Yakipan is one of my all-time favorite animes and to eat the licensed stuff would be a massive coup. Failing that... know anyone who'll ship 'em from Japan? :-D

OK, I hope someone knows what I'm talking about, but either way, here goes. My girlfriend and I go to Mitsuwa in Edgewater a lot. They used to have fresh melon bread at the bakery there. However, it's been almost a year since they seemed to stop carrying it. I faintly recall seeing on Food Network that there was a place that did Hokkaido-style cream puffs, and that's probably as good a place as any to start looking. Does anyone know where this place is? Failing that, does anyone know a place in the city where we can get melon bread? A brief explanation: melon bread is basically cake dough that's baked, then filled with custard that's flavored with melon extract. The whole shabang is coated with cookie dough and cooked until it's a little crunchy on the outside. It's totally delicious and part of Japanese pop cuisine that nobody really finds out about until you watch too much anime like me.

Akasya is good, but not great, basic Turkish. Don't get me wrong: it's fantastic that we have a little Turkish take-out place in Lyndhurst. It means you don't have to head up to South Paterson for your doner fix. However, it's the Joe Friday of Turkish: "Just the sis kebab, ma'am." The menu is what you've seen at Toros in Paterson, but not Toros in Clifton. The three or four times I've done take-out from Toros, the meat has been just a little bit too well done for me. A good kebab to me is nicely pinkish/reddish in the middle, but Akasya does them to medium/medium well. The sis kebabs are quite tasty despite this, but it dries out the doner. My girlfriend likes the chicken kebabs (I know they have a proper name, but it escapes me) but I think they're just a bit too dry. We haven't tried the appetizers too much; usually we just get mains to take out. The yogurtlu kebabs are delicious as anything I've had with yogurt all over it. The baklava are tasty, but nothing like Mondial or Nablus. The food they do is simple and tasty, but if you want the best, you still gotta go to South Paterson. Curlz, you might be the one to ask about this. I see signs in Hangul up and down Valley Brook and around the corner of Ridge and New York. There's gotta be a good enough Korean population to support a Korean market in or near Lyndhurst; do you know of one? Han Ah Reum is all well and good, but my girlfriend and I are almost never in the area of that kimchi Mecca. :-(

I know the one; my girlfriend and I ate there. The tofu soup was amazing, everything else seemed standard Korean fare. We only had the tofu soup and the bulgogi. Since it was just two of us, it wasn't done at the table. Still good, but not the best experience, y'know? Next time we're going to hit up King's Noodle or the new Korean place right next to Han Ah Reum. HAR is the best on weekends in the winter. Lots of people, lots of tasty stuff to sample all over the market. The food court is delicious for a quick, inexpensive Korean lunch. Try the kimchi stew. Amazingly spicy and perfectly steaming hot.

There's a Greek place that looks really interesting... Eros Cafe or something like that. I also know of a Korean place, also looks interesting, but no experience.

Jason just did a pretty decent post on Korean, with one spot right on Lemoine off the Bridge. Don't discount Han Ah Reum, the Korean supermarket, which isn't far from the GWB. 321 Broad Avenue in Ridgefield Park, just shy of the Fairview border. The Korean-Chinese restaurant, King's Noodle, looks fantastic, and a new traditional Korean BBQ-centered restaurant just opened up last week next to the market.

Oh yeah, good point on the light rail! If you guys are going to be really hungry, on Monroe Street is Brasilia Grill. The rodizio there is amongst the best, and the salad bar is expansive enough to fill you up before you have your actual meal. It's got cafeteria ambiance, but the food is amazing.

If you have to walk and have zero transit access, Seabra's Rodizio is right across the street. I haven't been there, but we walked in once and decided to go to Ironbound instead. I don't think there's much else; all the good stuff in Newark is basically in the Ironbound.

I'm getting some work done on my car at Pep Boys at 65 Court Street in Hackensack tonight. I was wondering if there were any decent places within walking distance to grab something to eat while they get the work done? I checked out this article I dug up from a search and it's full of info, but I'm not sure what I want or what's nearby. Any thoughts, all you Hackensack-knowledgeable types? I'm not too up on the local geography and I don't want to Google-map every place on that list.