tommy

wow. nothing on that menu gets me going at all except for perhaps the "SALT & PEPPER CALAMARI". it just reads like a watered-down americanized version of chinese food, which i suppose means it looks like an upscale version of just about every chinese menu. i'm thinking Chin Chin and Shun Lee in NYC, which i wouldn't travel more than 4 feet to visit. (i suppose Chengdu falls into this category for me as well). i'll give it a shot, though. but i'm not expecting anything 1/2 as exciting as China 46. i'm confident that it will have its own place in the dining scene in this area, though. NJ2FLA, thanks for that link. you saved me the trouble.

yeah, but who can afford or find it!

do you mean you can't imagine the kitchen making a mistake? or you can't imagine getting something you didn't order because you aren't aware of the standards at Ruth's Chris. i'm a *slight* proponent of Ruth's Chris, but, if the plate is cooking my steak too much, then i think they have an inherent problem with their system. i've never experienced this, but i suppose it could happen.

i don't recall the ham necessarily in the versions i've had. but if there's ham, it ain't regular and it probably ain't virginia.

they're different, and i dare say you can't compare the two. and China 46 is by far a more interesting restaurant.

yes and yes. i'd also consider the shrimp with young chives if it's on the special menu. it's a subtle dish, though.

i didn't press the issue. the waitress was friendly (most of them are here, which is unique in and of itself). she said "some people like gas better. no smoke". she paused and added "i like the coal". and added that i liked the smoke.

no more coal.

not no more. apparently they changed over to gas back in december. i find it odd that they still have the rule of a mimimum of two BBQ orders. i can *almost* understand that when they're dealing with live coals, as there's a cost associated with the coals and whatnot. but now they're just turning on the stove. do i really need to spend 44 dollars just to get some (about 6 dollars worth if my estimate is correct) grilled meats? overall, this place is pretty expensive and next to impossible to have a well-paced meal. they just dump everything on your table at once and then they throw the meat on the grill. i suppose that's why i only eat like this once a year.

from what i'm seeing, it's where the Clinton Tavern used to be, which, if it existed, is probably the only bar in hoboken that i didn't go to.

oh jeez, i saw rascals the other night and it looked like it was *closing*. but that's pretty cool. i hope they have parking, or it's going to be tough to get people to come into town.

there are actually a couple of good spots in that area. i've been spending a lot of time down there recently. the a strong artist community, which is usually the first step in the process of revitalizing an area. the commute is great. the brownstones are beautiful. the warehouses are cool. now if we could just get people to move there. poke around the board for jersey city recs and pass them on to your friend. he'll think you're cooler than he already does.

that's a f*cked up curry. it should be called "pile of burning tires in the jungle curry". i love it.

that area of JC has seen a real revival in the last 10 years or so. it's looking up. hell, some day maybe it will be almost as cool as NYC.

233 Clinton St, Hoboken, New Jersey ( NJ ) 07030 Telephone - (201) 420-1700 who knew? http://www.prochef.com/peanuts/peanuts0305.html

i think egullet members fawn over lou more than lou fawns over them.

i think you said something right there when you suggest that the restaurant was hitting it and Lou wasn't there. that's a concern at a lot of places, but not the Grill as far as i've seen. bravo, and i'm jealous, as i had crappy fried chicken on my couch last night.

i'm still wondering about the logic behind not tipping on wine at all. has that been addressed? if so, i missed it, and i apologize.

i just tried the Fireplace's chicken last night. i'd been there before for various uninteresting reasons, and walked away thinking that it would be nice to go with a group of kids. mrs. tommy has told me that she remembers the chicken as being good, so i stopped in at about 8 o'clock. they were out of breasts. the chicken was obviously freshly fried, as i waited for 20 minutes. one piece was burnt, and the others were just ok. they actually had 1 breast left, and i gave that to mrs. tommy. she loved it, even though it was 2 hours after i bought it. perhaps that's the key with this place.

as far as i understand, some places base the amount that the report to the IRS for a server on take-out as well. so if you're taking out 40 dollars in food, there's an assumption, on the restaurant's part, that the server got a certain percentage of that as tip (perhaps 12% in some cases? restaurant accountants feel free to jump in), and therefore they're taxed on it. that's a very good reason to tip the server, aside from the other good reasons which have been mentioned here. at the end of the day, everyone should tip what he or she feels comfortable tipping. no one is twisting any arms. and i bet very few are spitting in food. the only absolute as i see it is that the guidelines seem pretty well-defined and are generally accepted.

steven shaw wrote something here that has stuck with me, particularly the last sentence. this might be US-centric, but i think it applies here.

not necessarily. but, for argument's sake, pretend i wrote 20 dollars and 35 dollars, which i think is a spread that is well-represented on many menus.

unless you're going to chop the lemongrass in a food processor or grinder of some sort, i'd leave it out. it's tough. and i wouldn't brown the meat. definitely more of a poach, like snowangel suggests. where did the sweetness come from? i didn't see sugar in your list of ingredients. to me, with larb, less is more. just a few ingredients quickly thrown together and that's it.

following that logic, you'd tip the same amount of money for a 10 dollar entree as you would a 35 dollar entree because the server did the same amount of work to bring it to your table.

has this happened even in the last 10 years? i'm thinking this practice is pretty outdated. i never quite understood it anyway as skate is much different than scallops. the indicators, to me, would be pretty clear.