Rosie

Went in the middle of the week. Two other tables were filled.

I recently had a very different experience at French Quarter in Wayne. First impressions are made before you enter a restaurant and I thought the outside was dirty and unkempt. The entrance needed to be swept. The inside was dark, the floor dirty, crumbs were on the table and the rugs needed a good cleaning. The menus were stained and two of our dishes were brought on chipped plates. Specials were recited without the prices. Coleslaw was brought to the table with soggy tortilla chips. My friend ordered a beer. We don't know what she was served as it came in a very tall dark bottle that had been opened and the label was ripped off. I ordered a glass of wine. The bottle was brought to the table and opened. A bucket was brought to the table and I requested that it be removed as I was not drinking more than one glass. The premise is if you leave the bottle the customer will pour himself or herself another drink. I ordered a special of five meat gumbo which tasted like shreds of meat with some rice in a floury beef gravy. My friend had crab cakes which were dark in color and tasted heavy in breadcrumbs. Entrees were a crawfish ettouffe which smelled fishy and had to be spruced up with some hot sauce. I had an unappetizing chicken jambalaya that had globs of chicken skin that had fallen off of the chicken. The rice and sauce were bland and greasy. Desserts are made in house and the gummy key lime pie was inedible. The bread pudding was ok but certainly not worth the calories. All of my dishes were sent back barely touched.

If anyone knows the name of this new Thai restaurant in Hoboken let us know and I will add it to the list. BTW--I've been updating the list as names come in.

The rumor is NOT true.

Thanks for info. Isn't there a corn maze near there in the fall?

Monday is traditionally the chefs night off and if you want to dine out it is hard to find a place. Let's get a list together of restauants that are open on Monday in NJ. Open on Monday Updated 3/2/06 28 Oak in Ridgewood 973 Restaurant--Florham Park Al Dente - Piscataway Amanda's Hoboken Amazing Hot Dog, Verona An American Grill -Randolph Andiamo's--Haworth Assaggini Di Roma, 134 Clifford St, Newark 973-466-3344 Attilio's Kitchen , Denville, Augustino's, Hoboken beginning Baby Lou's--Clifton Bangkok Garden -- Hackensack Bayou Cafe - Manesquan Bernards Inn--Bernardsville Beyti Kebab--Union City Big Ed's BBQ, Route 34, Old Bridge. Binh Duong, Vietnamese, Bloomfield Brix 67 - Summit Buona Sera - Red Bank Carmen's Pizzeria, Neptune City Casa Comida - Long Branch Chakra, W 144 Route 4 (eastbound), Paramus. 201-556-1530. Cheesecake Factory-Hackensack China 46 -- Ridgefield. Ciao Bella-Cresskill Cifelli's--Harrison Cinco de Mayo -- Bergenfield Civile - Kenilworth CK's Steakhouse--Rutherford Cosimo’s Trattoria, Bloomfield Cubby's BBQ - Hackensack Dai Kichi - Montclair David Drake, Rahway Deja Vu - Montclair Dining Room-Short Hills Hilton Egan & Sons, Montclair El Cid--Paramus El Gran Mexicano - Bogota El Meson - Freehold Epernay, Montclair Fascino, Montclair (BYO) Fiorino's--Summit Fresco Steak & Seafood Grill, Milltown Frog & the Peach--New Brunswick Fromagerie - Rumson Giovanna's - Plainfield Girasole - Bound Brook (BYO) Highlawn Pavillion--West Orange Il Capriccio - Whippany Il Villaggio--Morris Plains Il Villino, Waldwick Jesse & David's, Manalapan Juanito's - Red Bank Julios-West Orange Kervan--Cliffside Park Kinara--Edgewater King of India - Eatontown (lunch & Dinner) Koreana--Fort Lee Krogh's - Sparta La Chalupa - Red Bank La Fonda--Highland Park La Fontana--New Brunswick La Griglia, Kenilworth La Tartuferia--Hoboken Legal Seafoods--Paramus Lila -- Frenchtown LouCas - Edison Maize--Newark Maketa - New Brunswick Marcello's-- Ridgewood McCormick & Schmick, Bridgewater Mall, Mei Thai--Woodbridge Metropolitan Cafe - Freehold Mexicali Rose-Montclair Minado - Little Ferry Mojave Grill - Westfield Namaskaar -Paramus Nauvoo Grill Club, Fair Haven Navesink Cafe - Red Bank (Seasonal, May - October) Nero's--Livingston Nusantara Asian Cuisine--Morris Plains Ora, Morristown Osteria Giotto, Montclair Panico's New Brunswick Park and Orchard--East Rutherford Pete & Elda's. Neptune City Peter's Fishery, Matawan. Pine Tavern, Old Bridge Ponte Vecchio, Old Bridge Portuguese Manor-Perth Amboy Primavera - West Orange Raymond's, Montclair Rays Seafood - Little Silver Richie Cecere's, Montclair River Palm Terrace--Edgewater, Fair Lawn, Mahwah Salt Creek Grille, Rumson Sea Shack in Hackensack Seabra's Armory - Perth Amboy Serenade--Chatham Shanghai Park, Highland Park and Princeton. Silver Oak American Bistro, Ridgewood Sirin--Morristown Solaris -Hackensack South City Grill--Mountain Lakes, Jersey City, and Rochelle Park Spanish Pavillion-Harrison Spanish Sangria-Newark Spanish Tavern-Newark Sri Thai--Hoboken Stage House Inn--Scotch Plains Sylvester's--Hasbrouck Heights T Thai-Hoboken Tapas de Espana Taro - Montclair Tassert's--Florham Park Thai Chef - Montclair Thai Chili, Spotswood The Fulton Crabhouse--Cliffside Park The Iron Monkey--Jersey City The Little Saigon, Montclair The Potrero Grill - Hackensack The Station at Mountain Lakes--Mountain Lakes Theresa's - Westfield Thirsty Moose - Jefferson Township (Lake Hopatcong) Tony Brothers--Oakland Torino, Warren Trap Rock Brewery – Berkeley Heights Trattoria Fresco--Caldwell Tre Vigne--Basking Ridge Umeya—Cresskill Venue, Hoboken Vila Nova Do-Sol-Mar. Newark Village Green.Ridgewood (BYO) Whispers - Spring Lake

Are you doing anything special this 4th? Going out? Cooking at home? Watching the fireworks?

Thank you for posting Peter.

It went well. Did everyone enjoy the Turley that I brought?? Too bad Tommy. We did miss you but it gave us an opportunity to talk about you all evening. Thank you =Mark for planning the evening. Had a great time and food was super. I'll let everyone post about the food. I had chicken chow mein and Lowell had wonton soup.

Fireworks will be in Red Bank July 3 not July 4.

We had a memorable dinner there. This is the only restaurant I have ever been to where the waiter gave me his business card when the meal was over. Be sure to give us a report.

Bella sounds Italian but they said it was an American bistro?????

Dinner at Blue Sky last night was scrumptious. We started off with a grilled calamari and watermelon salad that was presented as a tower wrapped with a long thin slice of cucumber. The tender calamari was "Thai hot" which contrasted beautifully with the cold watermelon. We also had a refreshing gazpacho served in a glass coffee cup and filled with finely chopped vegetables including corn, and a ceviche made with scallops, shrimp and other seafood. My entrée was the best ever-- two large panko encrusted soft shell crabs with bok choy. Lowell had yellowfin tuna perfectly cooked or not cooked--rare. Our daughter had a scallop/shrimp dish with risotto. The sea scallops were so sweet and the tremendous shrimp came with their heads on and were fabulous. Of course we had dessert and I don't know which was my favorite but we kept passing the plates around trying to decide. We had a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting; a chocochino mousse with crème anglaise; and fresh peaches with Muscato topped with whipped cream and beautifully served in an ice cream sundae glass. Phone: 973-746-2553. BYO.

Is that in Philly? What kind of menu? Who is the chef and what is his background? Thanks for alerting us but give us more info.

Any last minute Thai diners are welcome.

On behalf of eGullet.com's 3500 plus members, I would like to thank Lidia Bastianich for taking the time out of her busy schedule to answer our questions today.

If it's the one I am thinking about it was on Rt 46 and it has closed. It wasn't very good.

No, you just get to say: "Hey! Four other folks have ordered that!" I was talking about the wine not the food!

"Sharing Moderator" Does that mean I can call out pass to the left or pass to the right?

Lowell and I like everything and we can go mild, medium or hot. We're easy and very likable creatures! I would probably order what everyone else doesn't order so that there is some variety. So I will have to go up and down the tables and discuss what you are ordering. I'm sometimes difficult! But after I find out what you are ordering I may ask someone to move their seat so I can sit next to the person who is ordering something that I love but haven't ordered.

" Good place for a quickie." Now you tell us!!!

Does $30 include tax and tip? Rachel--I will sit with you .

Was this place called Roadhouse, The Roadhouse or Roadhouse Restaurant?

What childhood food memories do you have? Did you help your mother/grandmother with the cooking? What were your favorite childhood dishes? What about holiday feasts?

Let me know. Thanks.