scarlet knight

We have really enjoyed Sweet Basil's under the current chef. I hope that some of the e-gullet readers patronize this place. After the demise of Blue Sky and 28, these New American restaurants need regular customers. As an aside, we drove past 77 Walnut last night and it was dark. Vacation or closed?

Caldwell Seafood has a restaurant in front and a fish store in the back. The fish is very fresh and the preparations are inventive in the restaurant. The atmosphere is lacking and it's cash only, but they have a friendly waitress who tries hard. Good seafood is hard to find in Nj. I also recommend Orbis in Upper Montclair. It's better on a non-weekend night,

Try Shanghai Jazz in Madison. Also, A Taste of Asia in Chatham is good, but Malaysian, not Chinese.

Super Duper Bagels in Livingston has the best bagels. It is somewhat across the street from Shop-Rite, in the same strip mall as Lulu's Bistro. Note: it is not open on Saturdays. Also, tread lightly with the owner.

Very classy of Balthazar to repond to Joanne's inquiry. I am tired of businesses that treat their customers like an inconvenience rather than the reason that there is a business. Glad to see Balthazar make the effort to turn it around.

Thanks for the advice, Rachel!

We are taking my in-laws to China 46. They are traditional in their tastes. Any recommendations as to what to order? I'm open to suggestions.

If he wanted to keep you as a customer, he would have explained the violation to you and what the bakery did to correct it. To take his attitude that he doesn't have to tell you makes one wonder how bad the violation is. Perhaps another e-gullet poster knows what they did. If you are curious, call the Englewood health department and I'm sure that they will tell you.

We went to Hunan Cottage, Fairfield on Tuesday night. Despite monsoon-like rain, the place was packed. It is overwhelmingly attended by people of Asian origin, which I consider a good sign. Vegetable dumplings were the best we ever had. An American menu item of fried shrimp, walnuts and broccoli was quite good. Slightly less popular with us was bean curd threads with mushrooms--it got to be repetitive. We drank a Chimay Belgian Ale--great match at this BYO restaurant. Bill was $35 with more than enough to eat. Rosie, this is a find!

Does anyone know what the violation was at China 46 to get the conditional rating?

We tried to go to Hunan Cottage on Sunday night. We did not make reservations. We thought things would be quiet on an August Sunday night--wrongo! It was packed with families and we were told that there was a 25-30 minute wait. We'll go back on a weekday. We went to Tuptim, an old favorite in Montclair that we took out of our rotation for a poor service experience that we barely remember. It is Thai and it was very good. We had a special of taro fritters that tasted like potatoes. Good plum dipping sauce. The entrees were BBQ chicken and a noodle combo plate (pad thai, vermicelli with broccoli and chicken and broad noodles with chicken and vegetables). We really enjoyed the food and we regret that we haven't been there in a couple of years. Entirely new staff and good service. I think it's better than Thai Chef and the service is better than Deja Vu. Bloomfield Avenue, Montclair.

I've eaten there. The restaurant is very good and the grounds are pretty to walk, but why the unappealing name for the restaurant?

Liberte is on Bloomfield Avenue, across the street from Deja Vu, Aozora, etc. It's on the same side of the street as Blue Sky was. I think it's good to very good. Fascino's food is better, but their tables for 2 were too close together. I'd try it on a weeknight. I couldn't believe Tim Schaefer was charging $30 for fish specials that are worth $22. Maybe they haven't heard about the recession.

We were there on a weeknight a couple of months ago. I thought that the preparations had too many ingredients--over the top. Also, I thought that the prices were over the top. Wish I knew that they took the entertainment card. Frankly, I forget to check it because we find that most of the restaurants that accept it are sub-par. Better restaurants with the same theme: Fascino, Sweet Basil's, Liberte.

Rosie, I think that the owner of the restaurant would appreciate it if you would tell him about your experience. If one of my employees treated one of my clients like that, I would want to know and I would take the appropriate steps to improve or remove the employee. Also, I'm curious if you left a tip and, if so, why?

I agree with the last post. Only warning: have altoids ready to combat the garlic and onions!

This restaurant is between Diva and Lackawanna Plaza on the same side. The food is what I call "New American" and it was very good. My wife had red snapper on romaine and cherry tomatoes. I had salmon with artichokes and spinach. Both fish dishes were cooked perfectly, tasted fresh and were served hot. My only complaints, which can be solved, were that the air conditioning was underperforming and the tables for 2 were too close together (six inches apart). The people at the two tables next to us were lovely people and we enjoyed talking to them, but sometimes you want some privacy or you may be situated near a blabbermouth. Finally, the service was great and we were "comped" desert because of the A/C, I presume. A worthy successor to Blue Sky-- one door closes and another door opens.

I agree, Wiener. The atmosphere is worse than the food at Mexicali Rose. There is no accounting for people's taste.

I noticed this new restaurant listed by Rosie. Is this where Saporito was? Anyone gone yet?

Does anyone know why Mexicali Rose is so popular? I don't think that their food is special at all. Agree?

We ate at Girasole on Thursday night. Check out Rail Paul's comment on the Sweet Basil postings.

Rail Paul, my wife had potato-crusted chicken breast on Thursday night. Is that what Dee had? Perhaps Girasole should be contacted.

Actually, I reviewed my first post and I said "likely." We don't know what caused it . If anyone has another theory, I'm happy to consider it.

I said "probable" because one cannot be positive. However, my wife threw up and had "extreme problems" from the other end in the evening after we got home from this restaurant. It was the last place that she ate anything and she was not sick from anything else. Generally, she has a strong constitution and rarely has any stomach problems. I offered to take her to the hospital, but she didn't want to go and she gradually got better the next day. I don't know if she ate something contaminated there, but I think that it is more probable than not.

We were not that impressed. We ate here a few days ago. My wife became quite ill overnight--probably food poisoning. Even without that, I didn't think that the entrees were imaginative. My wife had a chicken dish, I had veal crusted with pistachios. Neither was out of the ordinary. Both came with the same prefabricated zucchini/carrot mixture and mashed potato in a shell. The service was lacking and the place was very loud. We were at an event in that area, so it's a jaunt from us. A much better restaurant is Aquila in New Providence. Just don't go on a Saturday night--it's mobbed. We also ate at LaLocanda on 50th and 9th in NYC last weekend and that was much better, also.