What's your favorite restaurant in Hoboken?

[scarlet knight]

Please post and describe.

[tommy]

some existing links:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?act=ST...5&t=4343&hl=&s=

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?act=ST...0&hl=hoboken&s=

for me:

la scala - northern italian BYOB with homemade pastas and good grilled meats

ali baba - always good. casual, but good.

vito's deli - my favorite out of the 5 or so (everyone has their favorite, but mine's the best)

those places have all been around for close to if not more than 15 years.

[glenn]

I think Vito's is good but overrated. I like Lisa's better and the one on Hudson around 2nd or 3rd St.

Haven't been for a while, but Amanda's and La Isla are 2 standouts, but by far, my fave is Anthony David's Dining Room.

[thereuare]

I think Vito's is good but overrated.  I like Lisa's better and the one on Hudson around 2nd or 3rd St.

That one is called Biaggio's.

My list:

Margheritas: BYOB, red sauce italian

Saffron: recently introduced to Indian, this is my favorite, BYOB

Vito's/Fiore's/M&P Bianocmano: delis i like

Ali Baba: would never order a dinner, but the kabob sandwiches are great and best hummus i've ever had

La Isla: BYOB, Cuban, surprisingly MUCH better than it looks, but limited seating and usually too crowded

Mission Buritto: great Mexican take-out (stick with chix buritto w/ black beans)

[Msk]

Vitoa is my fave, but I'm a Fresh Mozzarella freak.

I liked Anthony's Italian alot too. HUGE portions with good wine values on the wine list (though its small). Its like 6th and madison I think, or thereabouts.

No mention of Benny Tudinos? Was my favorite Pizza.

I'll second La Scala and Margharita (but the lines are horrible). A good second is Cafe Michelina at 5th street and one block west of washington, and theres never a wait, and its less expensive.

Whats funny is I live in Manhattan now and am still looking for a replacement for Vitos and Bennys.

MSK

[thereuare]

No mention of Benny Tudinos? Was my favorite Pizza.

Was my favorite too... still the best in town, but not what it used to be!!

They are a victim of the town's growth. As you probably know they don't like to re-heat their slices, and since they never know when a crowd of people will suddenly come in, they've begun to keep too many slice pies on hand. The result is usually a luke warm slice that is past its prime. (NOTE: i'm not saying it isn't fresh, because it is indeed fresh, but it's often not hot anymore, and the requesting of reheating slices there comes with an unfavorable stare and a discouraging comment along the lines of "it's hot already")

I often only go inside now if i see a bunch of people waiting for slices to come out of the oven, as this is the only way to ensure you will get a good slice.

It really is too bad, because they used to have the best pizza in a wide vicinity.

Edited May 29, 2003 by thereuare (log)

[Rosie]

Dining Room at Anthony David's and Amanda's

[WestOrangeFrank]

I'd like to re-open this thread for Fiore's alone!!!

Fiore's on 4th and Adams is a great Italian deli most days of the week, but on Thursdays and Saturdays there is a lunch line out the door to the sidewalk.

People wait for up to half an hour for their homemade Italian roast beef and fresh mozzarella sandwich, drenched in the roast beef gravy. Their mutz is up there, I'm on the fence for whose I like most between Vito's and Biaggios.

ps - and I agree that Amanda's is a wonderful dining experience, great place for a special occassion

[glutton]

Best restaurant by far.... La Isla. Roast pork sandwich with garlic mojo on pressed bread....mmmmm. Might have to run there and get one today.

[WestOrangeFrank]

Might have to run there and get one today.

La Isla rocks, and they make a mean Cuban sandwich, but have you had the Thursday special fresh roast beef from Fiores? If I were in Hoboken right now, my ass would be on that line for a sandwich.

[WestOrangeFrank]

Might have to run there and get one today.

La Isla rocks, and they make a mean Cuban sandwich, but have you had the Thursday special fresh roast beef from Fiores? If I were in Hoboken right now, my ass would be on that line for a sandwich.

[glutton]

hmmm, I'll have to make a trip to Fiore's then.

[Susan]

The Dining Room at Anthony David's and La Tartuferia.

I have not been to Augustino's. How is that?

[Curlz]

Saffron: recently introduced to Indian, this is my favorite, BYOB

Where is Saffron in Hoboken? I had heard that there's a new Indian place, but don't know where it is.

Fwiw, I'm a fan of:

India on the Hudson

Margherita's

Vito's or Lisa's (9th & Park--my bro once lived above it!) are great delis

La Isla

And friends who live there really love Madison (?) on the corner of Washington and 14th (it's blue and sits across 14th from Baja)...I haven't been, but they've raved enough about their mid-week prix fixe/specials that I'm going to give it a try soon.

[tommy]

that I'm going to give it a try soon.

errr, don't.

[ghostrider]

A sidelight on Indian food in Hoboken:

when I want to the Hoboken Arts/Music Fest back in May, India on Hudson & 3 other Indian places (Saffron was likely one of them) all had stands out at different points along Washington St.

All 4 of them, despite the different names, were exactly the same, serving exactly the same food, even down to the color-xeroxed signs explaining what each dish was.

I was wondering whether this mean that they're really all owned by the same person, or they just decided to pool their resources for the day.

So I had a plate of pretty good Indian food that afternoon, and have absolutely no idea which restaurant's cooking it represented. As a result I've already forgotten the name of the one that sold, if not cooked, the food I had. (It wasn't India on Hudson, which I was looking for thanx to earlier posts here, but didn't find until I'd already succumbed to hunger.)

[glutton]

madison's a much better bar scene than food. nothing notable to speak of....

[thereuare]

Where is Saffron in Hoboken?

Don't bother... i was the original poster of this place and they have since sold (see note later in this same post) and it is now TERRIBLE! It was such a nice place with great food and the staff was so friendly... now the food is bad and the service is non-existent. Since they sold (a little more than a year ago) i gave them 3 chances and that was it. My wife and i were there about twice a week before they changed hands and now i will never go again.

My recant of my recommendation is somehwhere in the archives here but it involves: wrong dish being served and when i told him this wasn't chicken tikka masala he tried to tell me that is what it was (it wasn't), 2 out of the 3 visits we had customers sit down a good 15 minutes after us and get served their food well before us (and it wasn't that they were served fast... we were served excessively slow), another visit we asked if we could sit at an empty table (we were 3 and it was a table for 4) while the restaurant was about 20% full... was told the table was reserved but in the 90 minutes it took us to eat (note above about not getting served our food) nobody came in to sit at the table we had requested. OK, i'm done as it upsets me that this once sanctuary for us is now gone

when I want to the Hoboken Arts/Music Fest back in May, India on Hudson & 3 other Indian places (Saffron was likely one of them) all had stands out at different points along Washington St.

All 4 of them, despite the different names, were exactly the same, serving exactly the same food, even down to the color-xeroxed signs explaining what each dish was.

You've hit the nail on the head... all 3 Indian restaurants in town (Saffron, Karma Kafe, and India on the Hudson) are all controlled by the same owner. Both Karma and India on the Hudson were started by the same owner, but he bought Saffron about a 18 months after Saffron opened. I joke that the food at Saffron was so good that the owner of the other restaurants was afraid that people would learn what 'good' indian food tasted like that he had to buy out the new restaurant and make it bad to conform to his existing restaurants. With that said, India on the Hudson is a slightly different style of indian food than the other two. Karma is the busiest of the three and i don't understand but some people swear by the place. BTW, i hardly ever see anyone in Saffron ever since they changed hands.

I had heard that there's a new Indian place, but don't know where it is.

There is a new Indian restaurant, Bombay East, coming at the corner of 9th and Washington, where the now closed restaurant Vale used to be. They're not open yet but are getting close as i saw them putting the sign up earlier today.

Edited July 15, 2004 by thereuare (log)

[Curlz]

There is a new Indian restaurant, Bombay East, coming at the corner of 9th and Washington, where the now closed restaurant Vale used to be.  They're not open yet but are getting close as i saw them putting the sign up earlier today.

THAT'S the one I've heard about.

You are correct re: IOTH and Karma--that I knew--sorry! Just didn't realize that the owners also bought a third place. But am I nuts, or is there now a restaurant called Saffron in E. Hanover? I'm pretty sure there's a separate thread about it here somewhere...

As for the difference between India and Karma, I couldn't agree more. As I've mentioned before, I have an ex-bf who is Indian, and when HE told me that IOTH was as close to his mom's cooking as he had ever had, I knew that my (then-new-to-Indian-food) palette wasn't lying to me. I just love their cooking!! And of course, now I'm wishing I had some pasanda badami...and naan...or a thali...or...

Re: Madison--WOW, I'm surprised to see these comments! The friends who rave are usually on the mark when it comes to restaurants. If I get there, I'll certainly let you know my thoughts.

[richl2214]

Id have to say:

La Isla (Cuban) they are getting really slow though lately

La Tartuferia (Italian)

Robongi (Japanese) Great sushi but not intended for people who don't like larger size slices of sashimi/sushi

[ghostrider]

Thanks thereuare. That fills in the picture nicely.

Has anyone tried Satay Malaysian Cuisine, 99 Washington St? Well I guess if they had they'd have mentioned it. I picked up their menu after the Fest since I'm looking for a new Malaysian place after our (somewhat) local place moved decidely further away.

[Curlz]

I haven't been yet, but my mom LOVES the Malaysian place. If anyone has been/goes, please do report in!!

[JohnnyFlame]

Has anyone tried Satay Malaysian Cuisine, 99 Washington St?

I was just there for lunch yesterday. Very good low-priced lunch specials (though some of the dishes have been inconsistent, and wouldn't be considered necessarily Malaysian) for $5-$6 with soup. The poh-piah spring rolls are great.

Some of the more authentic dishes off the main menu (in the $10-$12 range) are good options. I haven't been there for dinner, but remember many of the things on the menu looking good.

Overall, it's a good place if you're stuck in Hoboken, though some of the food falls into the "Thai food, with fruit" category.

-j

[jwjojo]

La Isla- Cuban

Augustino's - Italian

India on the Hudson

Amanda's

Sri Thai

Ali Baba

Pizza place on 14th street near the Shipyard

I have eaten at the Malaysan place twice. Not great. Not even in the same ballpark as Taste of Asia formerly in Montclair. India on the Hudson has a coupon if you go on their website, and they validate parking. Can't beat that!!

[thereuare]

A few random comments regarding the above:

Malaysian - my wife recently returned from a business trip to Malaysia and said i would have LOVED the food. I suggested we try Satay and we did shortly thereafter. She said the food was nothing like what she had in Malaysia and we both agree it was 'ok'... we'd sooner go for chinese food. I will say though that the staff was very nice and tried hard.

Bombay East - my mistake... i think it's Bombay West (which makes more sense too)

Madison - not really sure if they know what they want to be... a nice restaurant or a bar. I did like the 'feel' of the main dining room, but they're trying too hard to be trendy. I thought my meal (filet mignon) was better than average but not great, my wife had some seafood dish (maybe a paella-like dish?.. i don't recall) and she didn't like it all... and she's not hard to please (as her marriage to me is proof of ).

Sri Thai - very good food and very reasonable prices. Place isn't much to look at (nor are their hand-written specials permanently tacked on the wall) but the service is good and we find ourselves there frequently. Best bet is to stick with the more 'thai oriented' dishes and less with some of the 'chines-type' dishes on the menu.

Uptown Pizza - this is the pizza place refered to above as 'by the shipyard' and they're certainly making a name for themself in town... one of the new(er) pizza places that i'm glad has come onto the scene. Thier pizza is very good and we've ordered heros from them too... their chicken parm is very good as well. If you want a meatball hero, stick with Leo's as nobody does it better.

Ali Baba - best hummus i've ever had (apparently they put a lot of tahini in it). I wouldn't order a dinner plate here, but we go frequently and get their sandwiches and they're well worth the $5 or so they charge.

La Isla - still great... although not the incredible deal it was before they just raised prices. Lately i've been walking to Jersey City and try La Conguita (recommended elsewhere on e-gullet). Food isn't as good as La Isla but at half the price it's more than half as good BTW, La Isla has the BEST chicken empanadas i've ever eat... amazing!

Margherita's - i still like and enjoy this place, although it's not as sophisticated as many e-gullet user's tastes. My friend and i were just commenting how they may be one of the most successful restaurants in town... always some sort of a wait, even during the week. On the weekend a wait of 'only 45 minutes' is welcomed (i don't wait that long anymore and we try to go early on the weekends or only during the week).

M&P Biancomano - one of the best sandwich places in town but never seemed to develop the following of many of the others (it's certainly better than Lisa's which has sadly gone down hill over the last 5 years or so). Their sandwiches are loaded with fresh homemade mozarella and a bargain at just over $5 for most sandwiches. The only downside is that they only make sandwiches until they run out of bread, which is usually just after 2pm or so. They make sandwiches on soft or crispy bread... stick with the crispy which comes from Marie's bakery.