Help a friend

[richw]

Hello All,

My good friend is spending this week at Felician College in Lodi/Rutherford attending a seminar. He's staying on the campus with limited transportation and isn’t at all familiar with the area. Can anyone please recommend some nearby places to grab something to eat that's “egullet approved”? Anything ethnic is fine as well as any good sandwich shops.

TIA,

Rich

[Rosie]

Mignon 72 Park Ave Rutherfod 201-896-0202 BYO

Cafe Matisse 167 Park Ave. Rutherford 201-935-2995 BYO

Paisano’s 132 Park Ave. Rutherford 201-935-5755 BYO

Spring Grill, 4 Glen Rd, Rutherford (201-933-4143); BYO.

Village Gourmet 73-75 Park Ave. Rutherford 201-438-9404 BYO

[kimmyb72]

village gourmet right on park ave is great. they serve lunch and dinner and have a variety of sandwiches, soup, chicken, fish, beef, and pasta. there are also several pizza and chineese places on park ave, names escape me at the moment. paisanos's or trattoria corrado for italian and mignon for steak, all on park ave.

[tommy]

there's that korean place in rutherford. i'm not sure of the name, but it's not bad and a bit different than other options in the area. it comes complete with cold, dismissive, rude service just as any good korean place should.

[Curlz]

I think it's called Daruma (the Korean place, that is)...it's Korean and Japanese, but the main idea is that it's Korean BBQ. Been there twice, but it's been years. I second Tommy's comment re: the service, but iirc, it also seemed pricy for what it was. It's not ridiculously expensive--just for what it was. And it's also a little bit further out from the center of town than where he is.

The other places mentioned (Village Gourmet, Paisanos, Mignon, Spring Grill, Cafe Matisse) are all in the 'center' of town.

[richw]

Thanks to all. This should do it. I'll pass on the info as soon as there is a session break.

Much appreciated,

Rich

[tommy]

I think it's called Daruma (the Korean place, that is)...it's Korean and Japanese, but the main idea is that it's Korean BBQ.  Been there twice, but it's been years.  I second Tommy's comment re: the service, but iirc, it also seemed pricy for what it was.  It's not ridiculously expensive--just for what it was.  And it's also a little bit further out from the center of town than where he is. 

The other places mentioned (Village Gourmet, Paisanos, Mignon, Spring Grill, Cafe Matisse) are all in the 'center' of town.

←

it's expensive. but most korean places are expensive for some reason. regarding the "japan" part, do they have japanese dishes? or is it just the sushi that makes you think that. probably for another discussion, but sushi is part of korea's culture as much as it is japan's. i think at least. that confused me for a long time.

[Curlz]

Iirc, they do have some Japanese dishes as well as sushi--but I didn't know that sushi was part of Korean food culture...very interesting. Thanks for sharing, oh wise Tommy!

The place may even say Korean and Japanese on the signage, for that matter.

[wfnugent]

Sushi is very much part of the Korean menu. The pieces tend to be larger than in Japan and less artfully presented, at least in the mom and pop shops I went to in Korea and Japan. The top end places at the good Korean hotels were on par with Japan.

Something I did not have in Japan that was served in Korea was live octopus. They chopped the tentacles off in front of you and you eat them while it is still wriggling. I have a photo somewhere of the tentacle wrapped around my nose. I did that once - that was enough.

[Rosie]

Daruma 324 Park Ave. Rutherford 201-507-9066 Japanese/Korean

[ghostrider]

there's that korean place in rutherford.  i'm not sure of the name, but it's not bad and a bit different than other options in the area.  it comes complete with cold, dismissive, rude service just as any good korean place should.

←

LOL!!!!

Only been there once. Service seemed OK but they'd just opened, probably hadn't hit their stride yet.

Is your friend staying on the Rutherford campus? If so, all of the above are an easy walk away.

There's also Trattoria Corrado, right on Station Square; After Athens, a decent Greek place a little before that on Park Ave (cafe upstairs is cheaper than the full restaurant downstairs, has some good hot sandwiches & a fine Greek salad); and Cafe New York, a little before THAT on Park Ave, which to my palate has the best pizza in town.

All your friend has to do is make an initial choice of Daruma or Matisse vs. all the rest. For the former, turn right on Park Ave. at the post office; for all the rest, turn left.

P.S. If your friend is staying in Lodi, none of the above is easily accessible w/o a car, and we're back to square one. Lodi is 7-8 miles north of here.

P.P.S. If Rutherford, your friend will quickly find that it's a great walking town, lots of folks out & about strolling or exercise-walking. One of the charms of living here.

Edited October 18, 2004 by ghostrider (log)