Places to try in Hoboken

[SarahD]

I'm cat sitting in Hoboken next week and thought I might give some of the local reastaurants and pubs a try. Any suggestions?

[Curlz]

Sarah, there are LOTS of great spots in Hoboken! It would help to know what your kind of food you like and what your price range is, but here is a short list to get you started:

The Jefferson

India on the Hudson (On Wash btwn 12th and 13th)

The Jefferson

Margherita's (On Wash and 8th)

The Jefferson

The Frozen Monkey (On Wash at 3rd-4th)

The...oh, you get the idea!

Cucharamama (Clinton btwn 2nd and 3rd)

Elysian Cafe

And did I mention...

[SarahD]

I get the feeling you think I should try The Jefferson? I'll definately put it on the list ... any nights to avoid?

... what's the word on Hoboken's outpost of Grimaldi's as compared to the one in Brooklyn?

... Stumbled across this while I was nosing around the web, any good?

http://www.oddfellowsrest.com/

[Curlz]

Have to admit that I don't know Oddfellows, nor have I been to Grimaldi's. Hopefully some others will weigh in on those!

The Jefferson is just great, esp if you enjoy sitting at the bar with some good wine and good food. And don't let the outside fool you; you can certainly go CASUAL. If you check the thread that I linked to, you can read all about it!

Margherita's is very casual and is BYO...decent pizzas and reasonable prices for BIG portions.

Frozen Monkey is great for dessert or ice cream or breakfast (or dessert or ice cream FOR breakfast, for that matter)...

And India on the Hudson is serving some terrific Indian food, including on their (small) buffet. If you do a search in the NJ forum, there's a thread on that one too!

[plattetude]

Definitely check out The Jefferson. No particular night better or worse that I can recommend.

I'll also add a major thumbs up for Cucharamama. Particularly fine for lots of tapas-style plates many of which are simply out of this world -- empanadas, chorizo, grilled quail, escabeche, etc. etc... Great wines by the glass and some mighty fine South American cocktails to be had.

Similarly, and only a block away, Zafra has a lot of the same charm, but with a scaled-down menu and no liquor license. Same owners, same superb ingredients and excellent preparations.

Elysian Cafe is a cozy little bistro. French onion soup is a must-have. Great frites, too. And the cocktails are done right.

Elysian, it should be noted, is an outpost of the grandaddy of fine restaurants in Hoboken, Amanda's (link here). Always a great meal there. If you can get there early (5 or 5:30 seating), you'll get a great bargain of a limited-menu 3-course meal for $12.50 ($25 for 2).

The Dining Room at Anthony David's, at 10th and Bloomfield, is absolutely superb. Formerly just a catering biz, it opened as a BYOB restaurant a couple years back and never fails to delight. Upscale Italian, some fantastic pasta dishes and excellent mains, always with top notch seasonal ingredients. And save room for the bourbon glazed donuts. Worth their weight in gold.

Grimaldi's -- haven't been in a few years, but it never really sparked my interest the few times I went. Stick with the Brooklyn original, or with your NYC pizza joint of preference (mine's Lombardi's).

Oddfellow's is fun. Some decent cajun food to be had, nothing earthshattering.

A couple others to toss out on the cheaper end of the scale:

Satay - very good Malaysian (Washington St @ 1st)

Front Page - tops in take-out Chinese, also does sushi (Washintgon bet. 10 & 11)

Any further guidelines re: price point, cuisine, etc?

Christopher

[pnapoli]

I'll also add a major thumbs up for Cucharamama.  Particularly fine for lots of tapas-style plates many of which are simply out of this world -- empanadas, chorizo, grilled quail, escabeche, etc. etc...  Great wines by the glass and some mighty fine South American cocktails to be had.

i'll second that. it's hard not to have fun (not to mention a really great meal) here.

[plattetude]

So... where'd you eat, Sarah? Inquiring minds want to know!

Christopher

[colgibney]

I live near the Hoboken Grimaldi's, and I would say that it's comparable to the other one, but you have to eat the pizza on site to get the effect. It loses a lot in a take-out or delivery situation. I tend to get an extra garlic pie there.

[Tamara]

Oddfellows - is pretty good. Right now every Tuesday through end of May they are doing a live crawfish boil which is great - if you like that stuff.

If you like latin food - try La Isla. It looks like a hole in the wall but the food is consistently great!

On the higher end I've never been disappointed in the new Quays restaurant and 3Forty.

Tamara

Hudson Restaurant Week

Coming this summer: 7/25 - 8/5

[SarahD]

So far ...

Monday I ordered in from Satay (what struck my fancy in my host's menu drawer). I got the General Tso's chicken, wontons in spicy sauce and hot & sour soup. This is my version of comfort food. It was all tasty, and disappeared alarmingly quickly, though the sauces were more sweet and less spicy than I usually prefer.

Tuesday, using the lure of crawfish to entice a Louisiana born friend across the Hudson, we hit Oddfellows. She pronounced the crawfish boil very good and consumed 3 lbs. and has plans to return. I sampled one of her bugs and found it tasty indeed, but too much work in my opinion. I got the catfish special, which was baked with sauteed peppers and onions on top. We followed with the pecan pie and bread pudding, both giant portions but not quite good enough to entice us to finish them. I enjoyed the presentation of the bread pudding and the fruit stuffing, but thought it needed more gush to it. I'm all about the custard.

Tonight I'm planning on cooking at home.

Both Grimaldi's and Chucharamama are close to where I'm staying so they're high on the list of places to try next.

Edited April 27, 2005 by SarahD (log)

[Rosie]

Info on Chucharamama here:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...hl=Chucharamama

[markk]

the sauces were more sweet and less spicy than I usually prefer.

Welcome to Hoboken, home of Chinese food so sweet they could sell it as candy!

It's utterly revolting.

[jrichman]

For Pizza go to Benny Tudinos - Simply stated it is the best pizza around...

I'm cat sitting in Hoboken next week and thought I might give some of the local reastaurants and pubs a try.  Any suggestions?

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[SarahD]

Friday I tried Chucharamama. YUMMY!

I opted for 3 smaller plates (still too much for just me): the shimp ceviche, a tamale with duck, and a "salad" of grilled pinapple and pumpkin. I thought all were excellent, and it was very entertaining to sit at the bar and watch everything be prepared in the wood fired oven ... and make note of all the other dishes to try on subsequent visits.

After consulting with the staff, I opted for the chocolate bread pudding for dessert: nothing like any bread pudding you've met before, but gooey, dense, delicious, and rich enough that even the small serving they give you could be happily shared.

[Tom D]

Went to Chucharama yesterday after helping darling daughter move to Hoboken (hooray)

Been before and was expecting very good and got great.

Small plates of Mussels, Duck Tamele and Beef Empanadas.

Entres of Beef Short Ribs (unreal good!) and oven roasted free range chicken.

A couple of different glasses of wine and a SA beer finished off the 3 of us.

This is one of the best restaurants anywhere for the variety of flavors of all their dishes.

Could go there every night for about 6 months to sample everything.

Tom

[tommy]

it might be too late for this particular request, but Lau (Lua?) is a new place from the owners of the City Bistro (don't hold that against the restaurant, it's actually quite good).

latin influence, great view right on the water at 14th and the river, and pretty decent food in my limited experience. i stuck with apps, and was very pleased. service was friendly if not a bit over their heads. try the "strawberry margarita", which is a marg on the rocks with a piece of strawberry and some basil. it's actually quite good.

the enormous bar turns into a club of sorts a la south beach, from what i know about south beach. stay away from most of the bartenders unless you want to be treated like an a-hole by clueless young bartenders and ignored most of the time. apparently lots of people seem to enjoy that treatment though.

i'll second Benny's, but only by the slice.

[jrichman]

I have only been to Lua once, and it was excellent - amazing view as it is right on the water. The food was real good as well - next time I go there though rather than getting one big entree, I think I am going to go for a few of the smaller plates and appetizers to sample more of the menu - the place is a little pricy though - I mean we are still in NJ, not NYC! In regards to the weekend night scene there - it is always packed and a good time.

What do you mean Benny's on by the slice - are the full pies not good there - I have only gotten slices there???

it might be too late for this particular request, but Lau (Lua?) is a new place from the owners of the City Bistro (don't hold that against the restaurant, it's actually quite good). 

latin influence, great view right on the water at 14th and the river, and pretty decent food in my limited experience.  i stuck with apps, and was very pleased.  service was friendly if not a bit over their heads.  try the "strawberry margarita", which is a marg on the rocks with a piece of strawberry and some basil.  it's actually quite good.

the enormous bar turns into a club of sorts a la south beach, from what i know about south beach.  stay away from most of the bartenders unless you want to be treated like an a-hole by clueless young bartenders and ignored most of the time.  apparently lots of people seem to enjoy that treatment though.

i'll second Benny's, but only by the slice.

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[jwjojo]

I absolutely have to disagree with Benny's for pizza. Huge, bad tasting slices. On the other hand my list of decent Hoboken:

La Isla- Cuban

Augustino's - Italian

India on the Hudson (not as good lately)

Amanda's

Sri Thai

Ali Baba

Pizza place on 14th street near the Shipyard

I have not tried the Jefferson, Anthony Davids, or Cucharamma yet. I have tried Zafra and it is okay depending on what you order. We had a reservation there for a bday and they made us wait another 40 minutes for a table. Not good. More than that the food is just okay.

[jrichman]

Give Benny's another try!!! The pizza place near the Shipyard on 14th is Uptown Pizzeria - small place with no seats, just some good counter space - I agree that is a great place as well - while on the topic of pizza I heard that Grimaldis is fantastic, but I have yet to try it.

I absolutely have to disagree with Benny's for pizza.  Huge, bad tasting slices.  On the other hand my list of decent Hoboken:

La Isla- Cuban

Augustino's - Italian

India on the Hudson (not as good lately)

Amanda's

Sri Thai

Ali Baba

Pizza place on 14th street near the Shipyard

I have not tried the Jefferson, Anthony Davids, or Cucharamma yet.  I have tried Zafra and it is okay depending on what you order.  We had a reservation there for a bday and they made us wait another 40 minutes for a table.  Not good.  More than that the food is just okay.

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