So...where'd you eat this week?

[E.L.A.]

Some recent visits...O Lar and Velo, in Piermont and Nyack, respectively. A Mano in Ridgewood, Capital Grille in Paramus, El Cid in Paramus, Hanami in Westwood, Varka in Ramsey, and Rudy's in Cliffside Park.

[E.L.A.]

Jack's Cafe (Westwood), Varka (Ramsey), Sakura Bana (Ridgewood), Umeya (Cresskill), and Hiram's (Fort Lee).

 

Trying to get to Orange Squirrel, Laurel & Sage, and Bottagra...just to name a few.

[Rail Paul]

Can't go wrong with that list

[paryzer]

My wife & I had a nice dinner Friday night at a charming & very tiny restaurant named Le Salbuen, conveniently located across the street from the Walnut Street train station in Montclair. Chef Shawn & his wife Jenny, from Laurel & Sage, had their staff Christmas party there, and recommended it. We have been meaning to try it for a while, but it seemed like every time we tried to take a peak inside, after eating dinner at Corso 98 across the street, it was closed. Chef/owners John & Christina recently expanded their dinner hours, after serving mainly breakfast & lunch. They only have a few very small tables inside seating 25 people (and a couple of tables outside to be used for warmer weather). Chef/owners John & Christina work very closely with some local farms and serve seasonal locally sourced meals. We started off with three appetizers which included outstanding local Valley Hudson duck tacos (pulled duck, pickled purple cabbage, in a cilantro lime emulsion), a huge, crackling skinned, Portuguese chorizo with pickled red onions and sliced green peppers, and Cajun shrimp & grits (which were good but cannot compare to Tillie's). The highlight of the dinner were the duck tacos. They were very flavorful. The chorizo sausage also had a nice 'snap' to it & was tasty as well. For entrees, we were both in the mood for a burger. Unfortunately, they were out of the pork & bacon burger, so we both ordered the organic grass-fed dry aged beef burger with shaved truffles, gruyere, mushrooms, crispy bacon, pickled purple cabbage, shallots, & capers. It came with nice & crispy thick hand cut fries. It was very good. Next time we have to try their regular entrees which look very good.The menu is divided into two sides. The left side is for carnivores and the right side contains vegan and vegetarian interpretations of the carnivore dishes.

 

http://www.lesalbuen.com/index.html

[E.L.A.]

Maura's Kitchen (Nyack), Hacienda Don Manuel (Suffern) and Mantra (Paramus).

[E.L.A.]

Been spending quite a bit of time in Rockland...Maura's Kitchen, O Lar, and Sixty 5 On Main (in Nyack, which was very interesting and good "small plates" food, overall a very nice experience).

[Tubbs]

Been spending quite a bit of time in Rockland...Maura's Kitchen, O Lar, and Sixty 5 On Main (in Nyack, which was very interesting and good "small plates" food, overall a very nice experience).

does one need a reservation at o lar? They said to call day of, but nobody picks up, and they won't take voicemails.

[E.L.A.]

Yes, reservations needed...call day of, day before, try a few days before...no set rules, LOL.

 

Sometimes they pick up the phone, sometimes not. Depends if they are busy. They don't take/give reservations on the voice mail like you said. Sometimes, I"ve had to call back multiple times during the day.

 

Sometimes not easy, but worth it. Good luck.

[E.L.A.]

Biddy O'Malley's (Northvale location) Saturday night...very nice experience, very good food...happened to be in the area and was looking for something casual, laid-back, but very good food...and this non-Irish pub gastro-pub absolutely fills that want very well.

[Tubbs]

Made it to O Lar and also back to Viaggio this week. Halibut special at O Lar was A+, other things ranged from ok to very good. Viaggio was great, the herb pasta with lemon butter was different and delicious. Great bison short rib with an almost too-rich reduction. Sausage sugo pasta with fine but boring compared to the rest.

[paryzer]

My wife & I dined at P.F. Market for the first time Friday night. The PF stands for Pacific Fish. This is a combination fish market & restaurant. You can dine at the restaurant, and buy fresh fish from the market to take home. However, the market prices are outrageously high. The restaurant prices are very reasonable, and they serve humongous portions. This place was a lot nicer than I expected. They need to update the picture on their website. They have two floors for dining. The first floor also contains the fresh fish counter. We dined on the second floor, which is a lot nicer. They sell wine from Old York Cellars, but you can BYO. We started off with a very fresh yellow fin tuna tartar with seaweed in a soy sesame ginger sauce. We also had the PF Octopus special with Grilled Octopus tossed with Long Hot Peppers, Fingerling Potatoes, Vidalia Onions, Garlic & EVOO. This was the largest octopus appetizer I have ever had. It contained two huge pieces with tentacles the size of my face. It was very tender and could have fed 4 or 5 people. The leftovers made for a nice breakfast the next day. For dinner we both had the soft shell crab. They can prepare it any way you want (francese, milanese, deep fried, etc.). We had them fried with a puttanesca sauce, a fra diavlo sauce, and a remoulade sauce on the side. The order comes with 2 ginormous soft shell crabs, and includes boring sides of mashed potatoes, green beans, and carrots, for only $27.00 each. The website had them for $32.00, so this was even more of a bargain. The soft shell crabs were nice and crunchy. We liked the puttanesca sauce the best. There is nothing innovative about the cooking, but if you are in the neighborhood, and just want fresh, simply cooked fish, that is reasonably priced, with plenty of leftovers for another meal, then I would recommend this restaurant. You can also order lobster by the pound for dinner (at market price).

[paryzer]

My wife & I ate at Pairings, in Cranford, for the first time last Sunday. It's conveniently located across the street from the train station, and next door to the Cranford Hotel. The restaurant is beautifully decorated, with the most comfortable seats. My wife and I sat on a very cushy loveseat that you just sink into. It was the most comfortable restaurant seat I ever sat in. If they had a TV and an ottoman I would have stayed there all night Carol & Vincent (who are the owners & hosts) are the most hospitable people. The service was very professional. I really wanted to like this place, but the food was very overpriced for the small portions, and was nothing special. Supposedly everything is made from scratch. We started off with an appetizer of cajun crab cakes, which consisted of 3 tiny little crispy balls the size of a half dollar. It was very tasty, but all three 'cakes' put together wouldn't even make a half a crab cake. We also had an appetizer portion of an eggplant "tower" for a whopping $19.50. This consisted of two tiny little slices of eggplant in tomato sauce. That was the smallest tower I have ever seen. It was very underwhelming. I could have gotten a nice serving of foie gras at a fancy restaurant for that price. For entrees my wife had the sesame crusted yellow fin tuna with green onion wasabi. It was delicious, but you get like 3 or 4 little squares of tuna for a ridiculous $41.00. I guess somebody has to pay for the beautiful room and comfy loveseats. I had the honey lacquered St. Louis style pork ribs. You get 5 ribs for $32.00. It was very tasty. It's a real shame. We were looking for a replacement for A Toute Heure, but the food does not compare. If the prices were a little lower, or the portions matched the prices, I might consider coming back, just for that comfortable loveseat.

[rozrapp]

That's a shame. Sounds as though the portions are tasting menu-size. Perfect when having a tasting menu but not what one expects when paying upscale a la carte prices. How busy were they on a Sunday night? (We never went to A Toute Heure.)

[Rail Paul]

I suspect that suburban restaurants will be treading carefully as prices rise to "NYC" levels. Suburban people don't like to pay $35-$45 per entree, even with Painted Hills beef, individualized plating and painting, top notch glassware for BYO, etc.

[paryzer]

That's a shame. Sounds as though the portions are tasting menu-size. Perfect when having a tasting menu but not what one expects when paying upscale a la carte prices. How busy were they on a Sunday night? (We never went to A Toute Heure.)

They seemed fairly busy for a Sunday night. There was a large birthday party of about 10 adults near us, and a few other larger tables, as well as some couples. There may have been a few open tables when we left (which was pretty early around 7PM). They have a nice touch where they give you a personalized menu on your Birthday with your name & date. The owners are very nice, the room is beautiful, and the service is very professional. The food is decent, but not worth the exorbitant Manhattan prices for the small portions that you get.