scarlet knight
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Posts posted by scarlet knight
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We had fun with our niece and nephews at Daruma. The hibachi show went over well with the 8&9 yr.olds with us. The hibachi food is so-so, but we ordered sushi as an appetizer and it was above-average. This was what we were looking for.
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Can my wife and I order sushi if we sit at a hibachi table? Is it OK? Bad form?
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Thanks, hitmanoo!
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What's the name of the Japanese hibachi restaurant at the site of the former Toscana on Alvin Place in Montclair?
We're in Livingston and we want to take our 8 and 9 year old niece and nephews for entertainment's sake. We ate the regular Japanese food at this place and we were impressed.
I welcome any other suggestions in our area.
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The food looks very good. The raw egg dip doesn't appeal to me--taste and health concerns.
Is this restaurant typically crowded? How did they treat you as a Westerner compared to Japanese patrons?
We have some relatives in Fort Lee and I'd like to try this place.
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I like China Chalet in Florham Park. Not far from the Rt. 10 movies in East Hanover.
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We are regulars at Orbis and we had our usual good meal there.
I had the hanger steak described by Rosie above. Be sure to order it medium-rare or rare. The cut of meat tends to be tough. The thousand french fries served with it will ruin your diet, but you will be in french fry heaven.
My wife had a roasted chicken stuffed with mushrooms and fresh tarragon. It came with fresh spinach and cubed potatoes. It was great.
We hate to give away the secret, but it relatively quiet on weekdays and it has a very relaxing atmosphere. It is like being on vacation. The servers are generally young women who are friendly, bright and helpful. For weight watchers, there are daily fish specials that you cannot recreate at home. Chef Nancy pops into the restaurant frequently to make sure everything is OK.
Unlike Downtown Montclair, parking is easy. I think it's one of the best New Americans in the area.
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Rich, several of us attended an absolutely awesome tasting dinner at Fortunato on 1/20/06 and it's going to be hard to get any criticisms by us. Granted, the staff knew we were e-gulletters, but the food and service could not have been better.
I'm not a big fan of tilapia or short ribs, but both courses were great. A couple of other attendees said that they don't like eggplant, but they liked the eggplant course. All the courses featured fresh ingredients , flavor-packed taste and attractive presentations. There were no misses. Everything worked .
We were happy to attend because we first noticed chef Anthony LoPinto's talent at Sweet Basil's in West Orange. This place is first rate. We wish we lived closer, but we'll try to meet Bergen County friends there.
We prefer BYOs because of wine markups. If I'm not mistaken, most wines are marked up 100% or more at restaurants. If we think the wine list is overpriced at a restaurant, we'll order a glass or two. But if we really like a restaurant and it has a wine list, we just bite the bullet. Sometimes, the restaurant has hard to get, allocated wines.
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Thank you for many great suggestions. We booked Origin. I've had lunch there and I think it's good, but not great. But we'll give it a try for dinner.
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Any recommendations? Going out with 2 couples. Prefer BYO.
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Sounds like a disaster. We find that when we have high expectations, we are disappointed. It's true with restaurants and high-priced wine; they rarely meet our expectations. We've been underwhelmed at Ryland Inn, Le Bernardin, Jean George, etc. Maybe F&P has hit its peak and is on its way down.
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We had lunch there today. We were disappointed. The set-up is baffling. A server takes your order out of a deli case. However, many times they have to come around the front of the deli case and open it amidst the line of waiting patrons to get something out. I felt bad for the staff. It's a cumbersome task.
Most of the entree options were pasta or some sort of chicken. I ordered chicken francaise, my wife got chicken piccata. Neither were served with sauce, both were reheated in the microwave. My chicken was OK, but my wife's was gamy and tough. She couldn't eat it. I tried it and she was right. If it was cooked today, the store should get its money back. We didn't complain.
It has potential, but they have a lot of kinks to get out. It reminds me of Cullins in Florham Park. It looks good, but it doesn't really work.
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I hope it's the same restaurant. I was underwhelmed with the list of other stores, except for houseware store Sur La Table. They're putting in a Coldstone Creamery ice cream store with a Marble Slab ice cream store across the street. They went to a lot of effort and expense to build the place, but I'm not sure if the stores will draw people.
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I posted rave reviews of Anthony LoPinto's cooking years ago when he was at Sweet Basil's in West Orange. We don't live near Lyndhurst, but we'll get there to try Fortunato. No surprise his food is great.
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My wife and I have lunch at Andaman periodically. We prefer it to Origin in Morristown. The service is good, the food is distinctive and they are willing to ratchet down the spice if you so desire.
The restaurant has a nicer atmosphere than Origin, partially because it is much less crowded. We've only been there for lunch and it is rarely crowded. I wish them success. Most importantly, the food is very good.
Haven't seen service glitches that we've seen at Deja Vu in Montclair.
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Has anyone been to the Strip House in Livingston? I think that it is a branch of a NYC steak house. I've heard good rumblings.
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How about Lorena's, the former Jocelyn's, in nearby Maplewood?
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I agree with Wine library, Gary's and Amanti. If you want to go up another level and you go to NYC, the Italian Wine Merchant (near Union Square) and the Burgundy Wine Company (Chelsea) offer a great selection in their special areas and absolutely personal consulting in your purchases.
If anyone wants to check these out for Xmas shopping or just to see or buy some great wines, I recommend these stores. Both have websites and mailing lists for their e-newsletters.
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I hate to be negative, but I would focus on the economics of the bakery more than the location. Why are there so few bakeries? What are the characteristics of the ones that succeed? Do they have a niche (Kosher, ethnic, French)? Do they make enough money to warrant the horrible overnight hours when the baking takes place, along with the terrible retail hours? Finally, where can I locate so that I can succeed? Densely populated area or wealthy area? A place where many bakeries have failed before?We'd love a bakery in Livingston, but we've seen them fail and they fail faster than ever. Why would your bakery be different?
I don't want to be a Gloomy Gus, but we are so disappointed when our favorite restaurants fail and we know how depressed the owners and staffs must feel. Please make a detailed business plan and know why it will work. You can still fail, but do your homework before you spend money and effort.
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That stinks. We went quite a few times and we enjoyed the food , the staff and the owners. They received a good review in the NYTimes. We were in the picture in the article.
How come restaurants succeed in Montclair, but not West Orange and Livingston? Population density? Propensity to eat out?
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I think we will meet another couple from that area at Rebecca's in December. If they ask for the tip in cash, I'll report back. I think that's rude. Maybe I'll ask if they are willing to negotiate the price of the entrees.
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Anyone been here recently? I tried to use the site search to look for old threads, but it came up with unrelated topics.
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Sorry, Menton1, we didn't get your post until we returned. Next time!
On Friday night, we went to Valbella!! in Riverside. The food was great, service was great, we had a great wine at a fair price for a restaurant (miss NJ's BYOs). I had a veal chop with shiitakes. It was a little austere and it could have used a brandy sauce. My wife had a veal dish stuffed with Serrano ham that was just bursting with flavor. That was one of the best entrees we've tasted in quite some time. My wife like the warmth of the nearby roaring fireplace. Great atmosphere. I thought that it was quite expensive, even by NYC standards, but I can't complain, because it was so enjoyable.
For a change of pace, we went to Thali in the former bank in New Canaan. The food was flavorful and we ordered mild dishes and they were mild but fully flavored with Indian spices. We had Chicken Korma, a smoky eggplant dish, rice and naan. We liked it, but if any of you CT people are in northern NJ, we like Saffron in East Hanover better.
Thanks for the help, everyone.
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we went there several years ago. I had a $100 gift certificate which I left home. I asked them if they could process my credit card for the bill and give me a credit if I brought in the gift certificate the next day. They said no. Haven't been back. It was good, but a little too formal and pretentious for our taste.
I think that Il Mondo Vechhio is just as good and less stuffy, less expensive. It might have the same ownership as S.F.
Japanese Hibachi
in New Jersey: Dining
Posted
We had one tuna and avocado roll and a two pieces of salmon sushi. It wasn't enough of a sample to do a scientific study, but it was very good. I would prefer to eat at the less raucous Ariyoshi in South Orange. We do enjoy the sushi there, as well as Nabe Yaki Udon.
If you go to Daruma without kids and you do not want hibachi, ask to be seated on the side of the restaurant away from the hibachi tables.
I did enjoy the reactions of my nephews and niece to the hibachi show, however.