Cafe Serene

[FaxMachineAnthem]

My wife and I ate at Café Serene recently and I want to highly recommend it. It's a fairly new BYOB in a strip mall on Rt 10 in Livingston. We ordered off the specials menu--

Mushroom Explosion appetizer— Shitake, Portobello and Button Mushrooms sautéed in a Ginger Cream Sauce with Chopped Tomato, Scallions and Whole Wheat Angel Hair

Entrees:

Garlic Roast Pork Loin with Bourbon Glazed Fruit and Nuts served with Sweet Potato Latkas and a Baked Stuffed Apple

Fish of the Day: Snapper with Basil and Crab Crusted in a Garlic Fennel Broth over Roasted Baby Yukon Gold Potatoes

Dessert:

A kind of oreo cake/brownie.

The mushroom appetizer was fantastic. I would have been happy to have it as an entrée, it was so good. The snapper dish was excellent as well. The pork dish was good in that the pork loin was very tender and lean, but I wished the fruit flavors blended a little better with the pork. Still, it was enjoyable. And the oreo cake was awesome.

It was very slow there for a Saturday night. I hope it gets more traffic soon as they probably can't sustain such a high quality and interesting menu otherwise. We'll be back.

You can see their menu on the web Cafe Serene

[scarlet knight]

Which other restaurants do you like in the Livingston area?

[FaxMachineAnthem]

I'm actually a Morris County guy, so I don't get out there too often. The nearest place that I'm a big fan of is Penang in East Hanover.

[Rhys Ord]

Thanks for the tip! New member here, looking to learn about places like this I may have overlooked in the area. I looked for Cafe Serene yesterday and almost drove right past it. I'll hope to try it soon.

If you're familiar with East Hanover, I'm sure you've been to Benvenuti's, a personal favorite of ours.

Rhys

Florham Park

Edited June 27, 2007 by Rhys Ord (log)

[scarlet knight]

In Livingston, we Like Cocobella on S. Livingston Avenue. It's Italian with a New American flair. If they have the half duck special, get it!

[Rosie]

Coco Bella is BYO. The duck is delicious but much higher in price then the other menu items. I think it was $29 when I had it.

[scarlet knight]

Rosie, you are exactly right. The duck is $29 and I must admit I found it initially shocking. But it was very good. They rotate different sauces. I had it with a blueberry-based sauce and it was great. But I agree, it is overpriced.

Note that many of the regular menu items are in the $14-16 range. Their typical fare is fairly priced. We've been there quite a bit and we get a rousing welcome from the staff; we're treated very nicely (maybe because I order the duck?!).