Next Door

[Susan]

The owners of Blu restaurant in Montclair have opened a new restaurant next door appropriately called "Next Door." It has a more casual menu and style than Blu. I have been there twice since they opened this week. The first time I was there, I had the buffalo mozzarella, which I have had at Blu and loved. It is probably the best buffalo mozzarella I have ever had. We also tried the seafood salad that evening. I can't remember everything that was in it but I do remember it had shrimp and I believe calamari in it. Delicious! For dinner we tried one of the pastas, which are not on the menu at Blu. The fettuccini with asparagus and mushrooms was delicious. None of the pastas are over $12. My husband had the meatloaf (also not on the Blu menu) and it was definitely the best meatloaf I ever had (and I make a pretty mean meatloaf). It is not covered in any kind of sauce. It is actually kind of crispy on top.

Last night we went back to try a few more things. The mushroom barley soup was great. If you have ever had the mushroom risotto at Blu and enjoyed it, you will love this soup. For dinner, my husband had to have the meatloaf again and this time I tried the tuna with ginger sauce and asian greens. This was a large piece of tuna prepared rare. It tasted somewhat similar to the tuna I have had at Blu, which of course is always great.

Next Door is also open for lunch 7 days a week. There are salads, sandwiches, and burgers on the menu which I believe is the same menu used for lunch and dinner. If you have ever been to Blu and enjoyed it, you might want to give Next Door a try.

[Curlz]

I saw it on Rosie's list of December openings, but didn't realize they had opened this week--thanks for letting us know! What are the prices like? And are they offering takeout, or just eat-in options? I can't imagine that stuff travelling too well.

Congrats to Zod and crew! Looking forward to getting in there--but I must admit that it will be tough not to go to the other next door.

[Susan]

I don't think there is take-out yet. The prices are pretty reasonable. I happened to have taken a paper menu. The soups are $5, and the seafood salad and buffalo mozzarella are both $10. I have not had any of the sandwiches yet, but they are either $7 or $8. I did see the 100% beef burger go by and it looked great ($8). The salads are all $8 - add $1 for chicken, $2 for steak and $4 for shrimp. I did get a small taste of the napa salad with peanuts, crisp wontons, snow peas and carrots. It was really good and had an asian flare to it. The five pasta dishes range from $9-$12. The most expensive entree is $16 for leg of lamb. They also have salmon, chicken, hanger steak and pot roast along with the other items I had previously mentioned. It is also a BYOB like Blu.