Lu Lu's Bistro

[PaulaJK]

Lu Lu's Bistro is a recent addition to Livingston's dining offerings. Located in a strip mall a stone's throw from the Northfield

Ave/ So. Livingston Ave crossroad. its exterior is invitingly attractive.

Its interior is warmly, if simply, decorated. It appeared to promise

an interesting venue for the upscale BYO "American w. a Continental

twist" dining it promised. ........but it failed to deliver.

The menu is ambitious with several interesting sounding offerings in each of appetizer, pasta, entrees and grill categories. It's BYO but the hostess states she's not good with wine bottles! Our waiter, while pleasant, was not up to the task. He could not describe the dishes and when queried, read the menu along with you, offering HIS translation " Breast of salmon....."

My friend ordered the arugola salad w. pear & blue cheese. The

serving was generous, the arugola fresh but the salad was dry and what little dressing there was did not appeal in its raspberry flavor. I nibbled along and thought the blue cheese tasted soapy but perhaps

it simply was different from the usual. Meanwhile, the folks at the next table were returning their soup because it was tepid.

My friend ordered the scallops. They neither tasted fresh nor

appealing. They were accompanied by the same mashed potatoes

& veggies that came w. my crabcakes. These lacked crab flavor

and spice and were so dull that I didn't bother to finish them. The

woman at the next table [now our new best friend] had also

ordered the crabcakes and said they tasted like cod. Entrees

are in the $19 + range...and this simply won't do!

2 of the about 6 desserts [ mousse & creme brulee] are made in house, but we passed.

After extensive inquires as to how they made their cappucino, we ordered this "traditional" preparation only to be served a very creamy concoction in an upright clear glass cup. It had little coffee flavor. [$3.50]

The only positive of the evening was the delicious green olive stuffed bread & the accompanying oil.

Unless this restaurant seriously pulls itself together and in line w.

its price structure, I doubt it will survive.

Edited January 25, 2003 by PaulaJK (log)

[scarlet knight]

My wife and I ate there and I have a similar view to the previous poster. However, since the restaurant is only open for a week, I would give them another chance to get the kinks out. Our mesclun, mandarin orange and brie salad was acceptable. We skipped the salad ordered by the previous poster because we feared that the raspberry dressing would be sickly sweet. However, the dressing on our salad was sickly sweet. My wife ordered a farfalle with crabmeat. It had an odd spice that I did not find appealing, but she liked it. I had a Provencal Fish stew. Unfotunately, it seemed like an amalgam of leftover fish parts that fell off of other people's plates (maybe I'm naive and that' s what fish stew is). In particular, the salmon tasted "off" and I only received two small shrimp. Some of the monkfish was tough, although there was a lot of it! We brought home a slice of Tiramisu cake. It was pre-fab and uninteresting. I would give this place 6 months to get its act together and give it another shot. It was very crowded, since Livingston is a restaurant wasteland. However, Il Ripasso, which is across the street from Lulu's, is much better and it appeared to be half-empty on the same night Lulu's was packed. Go to Il Ripasso and keep it going! They deserve it. I will review them after the next time that we go there.

[scarlet knight]

One other note on Lulu's. The service was very good. The waiter was familiar with the menu, unafraid to make suggestions and he was attentive. I alerted a busboy to my copious water consumption habit and he was there at the ready. I give them credit for great service when the restaurant is very new. They obviously practiced. By the way, I think that this is the crew of the former 3 Central restaurant in Madison.

[Rosie]

Yes, same owner as 3 Central.

[PaulaJK]

I join Scarlet Knight in allowing a restaurant time to get

on its feet....but also recognize that it cannot afford to

turn off newcomers lest they not return. And yes, this

geographic area is ripe for an upscale dining venue....so

let's hope it can succeed.

[scarlet knight]

Well, we returned to Lulu's after a year to give it another try. Our sentiments are the same as last time.

We ordered the spinach, gorgonzola, pear and walnut salad, but we asked for a substitute for the raspberry dressing. The waitress suggested a balsamic vinaigrette and the salad was very good! We have hope!

. By the way, the waitress was superb. She recited every special (and price!) from memory, which is impressive and shows effort. Of course, I can't remember anything she said and I would much prefer it if restaurants would just print this information on a sheet of paper and put it in the menu. I guess most restaurants want to trick people into ordering more expensive specials.

It was not the waitress' fault, but the service was too fast. The salad and entrees came out within less than a half hour.

In the interest of science (or by sheer stupidity), I order the same fish stew that I ordered last time I was here which I did not like. I did not like it this year for different reasons. The tomato sauce is sickly sweet! My wife thinks that this is from fennel, but I did not see the spice or the vegetable in it. The fish pieces were fine, but the sauce rendered it inedible.

My wife had red snapper. I tasted it, also. It was stiff, dry, tasted fishy (and those are its good points). The waitress said it was fresh when she read the specials, but I found this impossible based on its rigid, fishy state, unless it was just so overcooked. I don't know if you can get fresh snapper in NJ, it may all be previously frozen. However, we have had good red snapper and this was not.

We skipped dessert. We know when to quit, I think.

The surprise of the evening was that this place is jam packed with patrons. God bless them. Many better places have closed for want of customers.

Edited April 10, 2004 by scarlet knight (log)

[Rosie]

I also returned to Lulu recently and was unimpressed. Actually my Asian noodle salad with assorted greens, lemongrass and a ginger vinaigrette was so vile I couldn’t eat it and sent it back to the kitchen. It was graciously replaced with the Lulu’s salad of red cabbage, yellow peppers, field greens and goat cheese. I had another appetizer for my main course; diver scallops with tomatoes, basil, garlic and Kalamata olives which was fine but nothing special. The other entrée was a sesame tuna steak with ginger sauce which was good. We didn’t have dessert. There are other restaurants in the area that I prefer.