tommy

rachel, it may not specify "in bloomfield," but rather "the area." i'll check the menu when i get a chance. regardless of what it says, these claims are worth whatever value you lend them. defining "authentic" is impossible. and those who think otherwise are probably looking for a huge debate/discussion. my claim is that the food is very good.

several experts on circulation have PM'd me and the consensus is that people will mingle when they first get there, decide who they like enough to actually each with, and then circulate towards the end, as a natural progression. there's nothing worse than being forced into conversation with a group of people half-way through a meal.

he burned it?

cool. so i get to wear jeans and paint the egullet logo on my face? fair enough. charming, maybe. quiet, doubtful.

cabby, are everyones faces intentionally blurred out?

which main dining section? you mean they'll close half of the restaurant for little ol us? who am i going to have to sit next to or with. i'm very particular. are these small tables of 4 and 6? oh dear.

there's a cheese shop in ridgewood that is supposed to be pretty good. however, it's always so crowded that i stay away. cheese shop of ridgewood 134 e ridgewood ave 201.445.1777

it was two of us rosie, and we only had 4 dishes, just as you guys!! i just used a lot more words i suppose. do try it again though. it's closer than wondee's for you i suppose.

grant, do try to make it at home. it's simple and hard to mess up. the ingredients are available *anywhere*, which makes it even more special.

i had a notably different experience than rosie tonite at brookside thai... it was monday, and i was jonesing for some larb. i figured we'd try this place, as mondays are throw-aways as it is. cutting to the food: tom yung koong - this famous thai hot and sour soup is a benchmark dish for me. if it's good, they're on to something. if it's bland (which is hard to do with this soup), then you're probably in for a bland/americanized meal. this soup was *good*. we ordered a large, which was about 7 bucks. it came loaded with shrimp. the broth was hot and sour and had a little more sweetness than i was used to. i'm not sure where this sweetness came from, as the broth is pretty straightforward and doesn't generally contain much sweetness. there were a lot of shrimp, but it seemed to lack other ingredients. this soup often comes with some slivers of red pepper, but none were here. just mushrooms (fresh, not canned) and some herbs. a good version overall. larb - i was dying for this stuff tonite. the menu listed chicken larb (as opposed to pork), which at 4.95 is a great deal. the plate was piled high with ground chicken mixed with red onion, scallion, mint, cilantro, etc, with some lettuce on the side. although it was a good dish, it lacked that acidic bite that i've come to associate with larb. in fact, i prefer a very acidic larb, so this dish fell a bit short IMO. i ordered it "thai spicy," and received a moderately spicy dish. but, as i've said, it takes a while to get to "know" a place and by extension know how to order heat. chicken with pepper garlic cilantro sauce - this is the black pepper and garlic dish you'll see at many thai restaurants. served with chopped cilantro and steamed broccoli. this dish is generally straight forward and satisfying, and it was no different here. lots of garlic in a slightly sweet sauce. and about a ton of chicken. pad thai - another benchmark dish. they did not let me down here. this was a non-gloppy version of this dish. those who have pad thai often know that it can sometimes come out too sweet and gloppy, but this was just the opposite: crisp, both in flavor and texture, with a deep dark flavor. just enough sweetness to balance it all out. i'd say overall the place isn't as good as wondee's. wondee's has the advantage of having a much larger menu first of all. second of all, wondee is the queen of thai food. however, i think this place is better than some of the options in hoboken, and actually gives just about all of the places in NYC a run for their money. the 4 dishes above and 2 diet cokes were 22 dollars before tip. you gotta be kidding me, right? i spent more than that alone at smith and wollensky's for lunch today. byo. it might be important to note that they don't take reservations on friday or saturday. also, this restaurant is related (owned? chef?) to the thai grocery in belleville.

jeez, cathy, that's one of the hors d'oeuvres that i currently make!! add a little parsley and cut 'em in small circles, and there you have it. a *huge* hit at parties, if you can believe it.

i'm pretty sure that no one will ever get those Foy brothers straight!!! LOL.

holy cow. i think i want to marry jaybee. i stopped at S&W, going against the promise i made to myself (and only on the recs from you people), and ordered the burger. and what a fine burger it was!! yaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy!!! jaybee did a nice job of describing it (crust, beefy). it's just the right thickness as well. i asked for raw onion. the plate came out with raw onion and tomato. no lettuce contrary to what jaybee suggests. didn't bother me as i don't eat lettuce on burgers, but you might want to not make any assumptions when ordering. the service at the bar is most likely more consistent than in the dining room. it's your typical old-school new york ruddy-faced bartender. quite efficient. burger was about 12 bucks and a glass of suitably fruity and pleasantly tannic cotes du rhone was 10 or so. note: you can go broke drinking wine by the glass here. the cheapest was 10, and the others were more like 12, 14, 22, and 27. i'll be back (but at the bar). note: the bar at the grill is non-smoking, which might appeal to some people. thanks to all reminding me of this option!

nesita extends a generous offer. i say let's go for it!

hell, *i* might even go to that.

so shermar's a chick?!? i don't think i'll ever be very good at guessing gender. sounds like you guys had a wonderful time.

orecchiette with broccoli rabe and sausage. green salad with a lemon garlic vinaigrette and homemade croutons. i think i'll cook the sausage separately next time, letting the EVOO play the biggest role in the sauce.

thanks jinny. i'm going to try this. tis the season for short ribs i suppose. last night night i prepared beef short ribs braised in red wine. basically the recipe from NYC's Ouest's Tom Valenti (found here). i've always had great results with this extremely simple approach. i trim the excess fat before plating. served with with horseradish mashed pots and braised spiced red cabbage.

jinny, in what do you marinate the beef??

i stopped into anthony david's today for brunch. i was very, very pleased. we sat in the front room, which used to be the retail space. they've added several tables and it's quite cosy yet roomy. i had some of the best steak and eggs i've ever had (although it might be important to note that i was very hungry). hanger steak and eggs. the steak was perfectly cooked to order (med-rare), and was juicy, well-seasoned, and had a great grilled char. the scrambled eggs were fluffy and perfect. the "bruch potato" was served with onion and peppers, and had an indian flair. a nice addition. two bottles of oregon pinot noir hit the spot. the new back room, which if i recall used to be, what, a shoe repair place? a tatoo place? i dunno, whatever, was nicely decorated and seats about 16 or so. we took a look at the dinner menu, and we saw that it was a a prix fixe at about 56 or 60 dollars. quite pricey for hoboken, but from what i saw, well worth it, especially factoring in the BYO aspect. i'm sure that they offer a la carte as well, but i didn't get a chance to review that menu. from a strictly food aspect, i could see this place giving amanda's a run for the money. amanda's, in my eyes, is one of the only "fine dining" spots in hoboken, which is a sea of burgers, pasta and chicken. the website p.s. it might be of interest to note that the prices on the website are outdated. however, 2 sodas, steak and eggs, and the chopped salad came in at about 24 dollars. about as cheap as the malibu diner as far as i can tell.

can't confirm that. but probably. and everyone *should*!

jpk8216, i assume you're referring to the priming of the wine glasses, which is meant to remove any off odors/flavors from the glass. there has been some discussion on it here, so searching on "priming" would probably results in good results. welcome, and, i'm glad you enjoyed babbo. i don't go there nearly enough considering it's one of my top 5. i suggest to everyone that they try the pasta tasting at least once.

i am now officially a huge fan of the box. but it'll never happen.

hmm. i'm buying it now. i'm trying to think if the bag that we're talking about would have different properties than a ziplock in this situation. the ziplock, however, will not completely empty. that's my guess. i'll try tonite, although i doubt that a zip-lock is completely air-tight. but it's close enough for this experiment.