tommy

oh my goodness. that's, so, um, JERSEY!! i thought that cheese fries were a jersey diner thing. usually ordered post midnight. although, now that i think about it, "gravy" is usually included along with the cheese (called "disco fries" in some parts of jersey, i'm sorry to say). but the bacon, now *that's* a good idea.

kumo in ridgewood has consistently provided me with fresh fish. but, it's about 15 minutes south of mcarthur ave. which may or may not be an issue for your particular needs. aside from that, in the mahwah area, and totally unrelated to sushi, do make a trek to Kinchley's for pizza. go for lunch, or late in the evening (after 8 as it's very crowded before then...family friendly). this was a standard stop for work lunches and after-work get-togethers when i worked in that area. and do go to the mahwah bar and grill, sister of the allendale bar and grill, for one of the best hamburgers in bergen county. and the fried chicken basket is nothing to sneeze at. the mahwah outpost has outdoor seating, unlike the very close and similar allendale outpost, which might be a plus. there's also a brew pub right up there across the NYS border, but i forget its name, and if i tried to start a thread about it it would probably be moved as it's more a "new york" type of thing. but you can PM me for details on anything just across that very close border. this was another one of our after-work/lunch stops when i worked in mahwah. curlz, above, mentions ginger and spice, which is a lot of fun (BYOB), but they've apparently lost their chef. honestly that doesn't bother me, as i presume they can keep cooking at the level they were on my 2 visits. but perhaps i should revisit to see what's what. worth a shot though, and very close to mahwah. there's also that japanese "steakhouse" up on the hill right when you get on the NY thru-way. mount fuji is it? i've never been, but it has been there for years and i'd like to hear about it. i'm thinking it's more of a japanese steakhouse sort of thing, bennihana style, but hey, with a group of people from work it could be a lot of fun.

set the tare, and raise the price of everything 1 cent per pound. everyone's happy and no one will think their butcher or fish monger is out to screw them.

it's my understanding that it's very difficult to prove claims of food poisoning. my general rule is to not throw speculation like that around because it can hurt a restaurant and perhaps for no good reason. that said, i've eaten at taco bell perhaps 100 times. it doesn't always "agree" with me, but i do like it every now and again. but only the hard tacos. supremes.

i tend to frequent restaurants that offer what i like. whether that's baby back ribs (which is, in fact, what they're commonly known as), or other types of ribs. i don't have a hard time finding what i want. and i don't get down on those restaurants that choose to offer items that i don't like so that they can cater to their client base. let's face it, restaurants have to make a profit, and it's one of the most difficult industries out there as far as profits and success go. there's plenty to go around. pick the places you like and don't get down on others' preferences. there's no right and wrong answer in matters of taste, and god knows there are more important things to get "ticked off" about...like a place that serves red wine too warm or white wine too cold. i like baby back ribs and i'm mildly offended when it's suggested that i'm somehow faulted. no baby back rib i've ever made tastes remotely like pork chops...or a standing rib roast (each are beautiful and unique when done correctly). mabye i'm just an excellent cook, though.

my understanding is that baby back ribs are basically the end part of the rib. whether or not that could also be described as a "pork chop bone" i'm not too sure. as far as people wanting to eat leaner meat and choosing baby back ribs over the obviously more fatty versions, i don't see why that's not reasonable. what's not reasonable to me is to suggest that people who want to cut back on fat eat only near-fatless foods, like skinless chicken breasts. i'm never ticked off at what other people put in their mouths. maybe my expectations are too high when i expect the same from others.

who wants to pay dr. fowler for another 8 years for a follow-up study?

seems to me to be a classic case of confusing causation with correlation. it sure does sell papers and website hits, though.

for some reason posters soured on Pimaan. i find it pretty good. they have some out-of-the-ordinary selections. one that stands out is a steamed fish with an acidic broth . i forget what they call it, but it's a great summer dish. Siam Ruby is certainly nothing to look at. But it's good. It's literally an old luncheonette, if i even know what that means. they have a very good duck salad. Give it a shot for take-out at the very least. i'd say if you find yourself at the mall that it's a much better option for a quick bit than anything there (although i know you're partial to your beloved Napa Grille).

thai. my thoughts on urine and jackensack's Bangkok Grill here.

(201) 291 - 1144. 184 West Passaic St Rochelle Park, NJ 07662 this place opened and then closed for a while and now it's open again. it's an old luncheonette, and nothing much has changed on that front. the food, however it's quite good. given the atomsphere i don't know if it's worth a special trip, but it's certainly as good as Malee and has a more extensive menu (although the menu does seem limited to the usual suspects). and it's dirt cheap. it's right near the shoprite, which has a liquor store, which has a suprisingly decent selection of cold wine, including some riesling, which is a good thing. it's about 1 minute off of exit 161 of the parkway (northbound) and 1 minute from 4 or 17. closed monday and tuesday.

the M&S at Riverside square is so dark in the bar that i can't imagine it being very happy-hour like. when i think "happy hour", i'm thinking bright and festive. hell, even the cheesecake factory fits that bill! but, M&S has a big bar and plenty of room for some egulleters to throw down for an hour or two. the friend calamari can be decent at times as well. but not as good as Legal's version.

maybe it (sopranos book, show) helped spread the word, but 3 generations of my italian-american family have been using those pronunciations (though yes, never thinking it is "hip"). we're from baltimore, northern jersey, and ny. i don't think anyone in my family who uses those words thinks they are speaknig italian. i sure don't. but it's part of my heritage. it's part of the way we speak. and i'm quite proud of my heritage. also, i don't think we're knuckleheads. and i pronounce the t in Moet.

probably not as good as varka, right? as far as the sashimi salad, to me it doesn't make much sense to me to compare it to a version with soba noodles and seaweed salad, two items that aren't int this dish. my take on G&S's version is that it's very light and refreshing, with its hints of citrus, and quite good indeed. unless they've changed it since the last time i had it.

although i took from the experience a giddy sense of satisfaction, i'm afraid it took every ounce of will-power that i have to not order the shrimp cocktail and the creamed spinach. i'm afraid i have none left for even me, much less for the rest of you folks. but i wish you luck and strength. we'll all need it.

i stopped at a steakhouse last night for a steak fix. instead of the usual app/entree/sides/dessert, we just ordered the porterhouse for 2 and a bottle of wine. it came with baked potato and a salad (which normally wouldn't deter the ordering of an app or 2). i was amazed at how perfect the meal felt when we were done (leftover steak included, of course), and how inexpensive it turned out. usually a steakhouse might come to almost 100 a head. this was only 110 or so before tip. i think i'm on to something. it only took 15 years to figure this out.

it might be too late for this particular request, but Lau (Lua?) is a new place from the owners of the City Bistro (don't hold that against the restaurant, it's actually quite good). latin influence, great view right on the water at 14th and the river, and pretty decent food in my limited experience. i stuck with apps, and was very pleased. service was friendly if not a bit over their heads. try the "strawberry margarita", which is a marg on the rocks with a piece of strawberry and some basil. it's actually quite good. the enormous bar turns into a club of sorts a la south beach, from what i know about south beach. stay away from most of the bartenders unless you want to be treated like an a-hole by clueless young bartenders and ignored most of the time. apparently lots of people seem to enjoy that treatment though. i'll second Benny's, but only by the slice.

shameless bump. i need some recs for a friend visitng bermuda, as far as restaurants (duh, of course), and also whatever other "action" bermuda has to offer. that goes for activities, and local culture and sights and anything else. good thing this thread has become active as of late. hoping for more ideas though! one additional thing that i won't bring up here because it's probably not right, but this guy is a cigar lover and is consider picking up and bringing back of few of those that probably aren't allowed. if anyone has *recent* experience with that feel free to PM me. thanks in advance for any food/sight seeing/activity ideas.

john, just so i'm clear, are the Best's dogs i see in the supermarket any good? thanks.

i would argue that the ABC's verbiage on that point is suggestive, rather than authoritative by nature. Regardless, my initial question was really "does a restaurant have the right to stop you from taking left over wine." They can't say "we can't let you take it because you might put it in your backseat rather than the trunk and the ABC says just that" because that's just ridiculous. Even the ABC's verbiage mentions local laws when touching on that point, rather than its own. i say that you have the right, or at the very least it's not against the law to take your left over. and by extension, i don't think the server has a say in it.

i'm not interested in "gotchas", although i do have an odd need to temper opinion-masquerading-as-fact with some actual fact. why doesn't their website work? i'd love to see some wine selections/pricing.

i'm not so sure you're right. art reviews

you and i would. but most don't. hence the red flag. i don't mind a little shilling. but when it's so obvious that it's actually offensive, i get bothered. this one, to my mind, isn't so offensive given the circumstances, and i'm hoping to hear a bit about Etsy Street, even if it is from a cook's friend or a manager's second cousin.

' You know, Curlz, that's a good point-- by re-reading Weissman's post, it does have that type of "self-promotion" feel to it, but we might be wrong... ← compared to this? nah. not even close. (had a very excellent meal at Varka recently, for the record). my "red flags" in general: 1) first post ever 2) overly gushing 3) knows the name and history of all the players at the restaurant (applicable here to some extent, but this flag is reallly only applicable when the other conditions have been met). 4) immediately defensive when the restaurant or the post is questioned 5) a certain style of posting that suggests that the poster doesn't really spend a lot of time posting in public forums about restaurants (or much else, given lack of etiquette, spelling and grammar skills, etc). hard to explain, but easy to pick up on i think. no blips on my radar here given those flags as my baseline, but i'll say that my interest is now piqued in Etsy, so i'm thrilled about the thread in general.

where did it get "3.5 stars", or is that just a figure of speech. i hear so little about this place that i had no idea even what county it's in. soudns like it's worth a visit, though.