Rosie

Someone was going to plan an Indian eGullet dinner in the fall.

UPDATED LIST 7/13 28 Oak in Ridgewood 973 Restaurant--Florham Park Al Dente - Piscataway Amanda's Hoboken An American Grill -Randolph Arthur's Downtown - Newark Attilio's Kitchen , Denville, Bangkok Garden -- Hackensack Bayou Cafe - Manesquan Bernards Inn--Bernardsville Brix 67 - Summit Buona Sera - Red Bank Casa Comida - Long Branch Cheesecake Factory-Hackensack China 46 -- Ridgefield. Ciao Bella-Cresskill Cifelli's--Harrison Civile - Kenilworth Cubby's BBQ - Hackensack Dai Kichi - Montclair Deja Vu - Montclair Dining Room-Short Hills Hilton El Gran Mexicano - Bogota El Meson - Freehold Epernay--Montclair Ferrari's Ristorante, 3475 Route 9 North, Freehold Fink's Funky Chicken & Ribs - River Edge Fiorino's--Summit Frog & the Peach--New Brunswick Fromagerie - Rumson Giovanna's - Plainfield Harlequin--Wharton Highlawn Pavillion--West Orange Il Capriccio - Whippany Il Villino, Waldwick Juanito's - Red Bank Julios-West Orange Koreana--Fort Lee Krogh's - Sparta La Chalupa - Red Bank La Fonda--Highland Park La Fontana--New Brunswick Legal Seafoods--Paramus Lime-Westfield LouCas - Edison Maketa - New Brunswick Marcello's-- Fort Lee Mei Thai--Woodbridge Metropolitan Cafe - Freehold Minado - Little Ferry Mojave Grill - Westfield Namaskaar -Paramus Navesink Cafe - Red Bank (Seasonal, May - October) Nero's--Livingston Nusantara Asian Cuisine--Morris Plains Panico's New Brunswick Portuguese Manor-Perth Amboy Primavera - West Orange Rays Seafood - Little Silver Seabra's Armory - Perth Amboy Sirin--Morristown Solaris -Hackensack Sonoma Grill - East Rutherford Spanish Pavillion-Harrison Spanish Sangria-Newark Spanish Tavern-Newark Sri Thai--Hoboken Stage House Inn--Scotch Plains Sylvester's--Hasbrouck Heights T Thai-Hoboken Taro - Montclair Thai Chef - Montclair The Blue Marlin - Bradley Beach The Iron Monkey--Jersey City The Potrero Grill - Hackensack The Station at Mountain Lakes--Mountain Lakes Theresa's - Westfield Thirsty Moose - Jefferson Township (Lake Hopatcong) Tony Brothers--Oakland Trap Rock Brewery - Berkeley Heights Tre Vigne--Basking Ridge Umeya--Cresskill Whispers - Spring Lake

Restaurant reviewers write about their experiences at a restaurant. Two reviewers may be at the same restaurant the same night and have two different opinions of the food. I have always enjoyed Mr.Corcorans reviews and find him to be very thorough in his descriptions and most of the time I agree on his appraisal of the restaurant. Actually, I have returned to restaurants that I initially didn't care for after reading his reviews and found them to be to my liking. I value his opinions and have enjoyed many good meals because of his reviews. goodngood4u are you in the restaurant business?

Lidia Bastianich did a Q&A on eGullet a few weeks ago. Check the fridge.

Moghul in Edison (same owners) is excellent also. Love your name. I glanced at it quickly and at first I thought you were deep throat! Welcome to the NJ board.

Medina is open. I am going to try to get there tonight. 9:20 PM--Well it is a good thing I called because Medina is opening tomorrow night. I called to see if we needed a reservation and they told me they weren't open. "You're not open" I cried! The woman said "no." "But I called early in the week and someone told me they were open," I said. "I am so sorry," the woman said " they must have been talking about our grand opening party." Plan # 2. Go to Tingo Taqueria a new Mexican place in Upper Montclair. We walked in and we walked out. The place had dirty tables. Plan # 3. We would go to Corso 98 which we love. Got there and they were closed for vacation. Plan # 4. "I can make salami and eggs for dinner," I told Lowell. That was rejected! We went to Stretches in Livingston and had a very good dinner. Stretches salad, pasta with their special cheese, flounder and an eggplant parmesan. Tomorrow I will cook!

Candied carrots.

"I've finally given in and acknowledged that she's really my "girlfriend" - I suppose that's occasion enough - she sure thinks it is). " Sounds like you have a very understanding patient woman who deserves a dinner at Cafe Matisse! Be sure to make reservations a few weeks in advance for a Sat. night or dine there during the week. If the weather is nice dine in the garden. It's VERY romantic.

Boatman--"Other BYOB’s I know of pull out the Reidel stemware. " Which ones??? There are not many high end BYO's in NJ. Lou--You are certainly entitled to your mark-up and you have a very reasonable wine list and a very pretty bar area. You are not in business to lose money. I don't think anyone has a problem with that. Which restaurants store wine for their customers? I have only seen this done at Shumi, Somerville.

Lou--There's room for both in NJ. I have no problem dining at your restaurant and ordering a bottle of wine from your reasonably priced wine list. However, I also enjoy BYO as I have some interesting wines that I would have to pay from $60 to $100 for in a restaurant. Ironically, people in NJ don't flinch when they go to NYC where there are very few BYO's. Same when traveling. I know the corkage fee in CA is low but I wouldn't think to BYO there.

They can't open wine. They can't have wine delivered from a local store.

Are they open on Mon?

I assume AP means Asbury Park. You may want to talk to the owners of Moonstruck and see if they can give you some helpful advice. Also, get rid of the frog's legs. Rabbit may sell on a Sat. night but not during the week. Potato crusted anything has been overdone. Now let's talk about the desserts!

Bunny--What type of prices are you going to charge and will they fit in with your food costs? You have raspberries, foie gras, truffles and lobster on your menu. I'd omit the frog legs unless you know that your patrons will order them more than once a month. Will you be using fresh baby artichokes? Veal T-bone--love it. Will you be using prime meat? Blue fish is a seasonal dish and not everyone's favorite. I'd use it as a special. I would also put a chicken dish on the menu. Will you have a liquor license? Are you planning on opening in a large city?

You can also call the day you want to go and see if there are any cancellations. I know people who have done this.

Make your restaurant reservation first and then get the plane tickets! Be prepared to stand by the phone a few hours hitting the redial button! Yes, it's worth it.

Thanks for your report. Do you remember what was on the dessert menu? Did you have any dishes that you would want to replicate at home?

Thanks for your report. I am drooling! When we were there we got such a kick out of the plates. They were white but a different size and shape for each course. The bill was presented on a laundry tag.

Thanks for the report. Another Malaysian restaurant in the area is A Taste of Asia in Montclair and Chatham.

Thanks Tom. Sounds great. Will see you soon. And how was that Turley????

Ocean King 27 Livingston Ave. Livingston BYO

Dinner at Cafe Matisse, 167 Park Avenue, Rutherford (BYO) is always special particularly in the summer when their garden is in full bloom. If you are looking for a romantic restaurant then this is the place to go. Chef Peter Loria offers a three course prix fixe dinner on Saturday nights for $60. Other nights you can have the prix fixe dinner, order a la carte or have a grazing menu ($55). The dining room is delightfully decorated with colorful chandeliers and chairs and whimsical Matisse pictures. The service was outstanding and maitre d' Larry Falcone kept an eagle eye on the room to make sure everyone was happy and our waiter Ivo thoroughly explained the menu to us, intelligently answered questions and kept our wine glasses filled. For appetizers we had a honey glazed celery root napoleon and steamed lobster tail medallions with ginger apricot butter and fresh chives; poached portabella mushroom with sweet garlic panna cotta, asparagus, shaved Parmesan Reggiano and roasted red pepper syrup; marinated crabmeat, lobster and shrimp with lime melon sauce, minted couscous sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds and my favorite of pan roasted scallops and lobster dumpling with grilled baby bok choy, sweet garlic chili coconut broth and crispy shiitake mushrooms. Entrees were: cactus pear and chipotle marinated shrimp with guacamole, spiced sunflower seeds, sunflower greens, jicama and toasted tortilla; bronzed tilapia, shrimp and scallops with mango, pineapple and lobster fried rice topped with ginger sorbet and shaved coconut with guava syrup and coconut curry milk sauce; miso wasabi marinated beef tenderloin with ginger accented scallops and prawn, asparagus, wasabi mashed potato, hoison demi glace and orange chili syrup; and filet mignon of peppered rare tuna loin with chili rice paper rolls, Thai cucumber salad and wasabi drizzle. The chile roll was cold and contained crab, lobster, shrimp, julienned cucumber, serrano pepper, sesame, mint and ginger accents. I enjoyed everything but the steak was particularly tender and tasty and the wasabi mashed potatoes were the best I have ever had. As you can see Chef Loria uses interesting combinations of tastes and textures. Desserts are made by pastry chef Paula Hayward and are as beautifully plated as the appetizers and entrees. We had a chocolate orange cream sickle with macerated orange in Grand Marnier and a macadamia nut cookie; a rich chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream and raspberry sauce; lemon-lime pudding cake with kataifi crisp, pistachio baklava and passion fruit sauce; and a banana macadamia nougat glace with chocolate sauce. Coffee was excellent. Phone: 201-935-2995.

Had salt and pepper soft shell crabs which were excellent and lobster in a ginger/scallion sauce. The lobster was very good but I would have preferred a black bean sauce.

We are going to Cafe Matisse tomorrow night. Don't know where we will end up on Sunday. Yesterday we feasted at Ocean King in Livingston. And you?????

Farmer's market in West Orange or Verona. Or if we take a ride we brake for farm stands.