Would your friends enjoy unusually fine Japanese food?
If so, Fuji in Haddonfield might be closer to home, and might fit the till for good food, good beverages, and quiet, without
being rushed.

For a Douglass/Rutgers couple, we visit NB rarely, but it's a convenient
lunchtime meet half way for we in Philly and Hackensack friend. We';re picking her up at the bus stop near the train; don't want to travel too far,
but we would have to park.

Not picky--not fancy, but a quiet local place that good would please us
very much. What can you suggest? I'd bat zero on this, it's been so long.

Now that's really cool--exactly what I was hoping for.
Closeby, but none of these have crossed our paths before.
Will definitely try to hit as many as possible. Mid Cape is
where we will be spending most time. Thanks, Ch'ers.

It's been too long. Our Zagats is ancient and useless: we are staying
in Orleans this time. My focus is the usual run of local seafood: oysters, clam roll,lobster, chowda; hubby more of a landlubber.

Not looking for fancy: what can you suggest, open for just before Memorial
Day? Have car, will see a lot of the Cape in 5 days. Anyplace new for us to try?

Thanks much, from a Philly CH.

Found myself nearby at lunchtime; easy park, very pleasant, nice vibe.
Good choices on menu, reasonable: my frutti de mare salad was mostly
squid, some shrimp, some scallops , some clams, over nice greens, nicely seasoned with a lemony/balsamic dressing: $12.95 I think--large
portion for something described as an appetizer salad.

Friend chose bruchetta and a luncheon salad. We passed on dessert
or coffee; wouldn't hesitate to return. Mostly men at first, but women came in later. A tad noisy when full, but big crowd for a Tuesday lunch.

I took advantage of their trial enticements, $50 off the first two orders
over $125, plus free delivery for 2 months. I was pretty satisfied
with the fruits and meat that I ordered, and I saw there were a lot of
Kosher products that sounded intriguing (for my daughter primarily).

Has anyone tried the Meal Mart Brand Glatt Kosher rib steaks?
Price was very reasonable--$15.99 I think for boneless. The non-Kosher rib steaks I bought for myself were wonderful.

Can be pricey unless you are careful, but the specials are quite good.

That;s interesting, Barry. I'm in the zone alright; we don't live that far away. Whole Food quality if great, but quite
pricey on many items. I shop very very carefully there.
Meats and fish are good, but very expensive. Fresh Direct
had them beat on both steaks and fresh flounder.

Reporting in on the meat quality: pretty darn good.
Club steaks were well trimmed, at least as tender as
Costco Choice, and the same price basically: $12.99/lb.
Ground lamb @ $6.99/lb came pre-packed, made some mighty tasty lamburgers with a little chopped garlic, onion, parsely, soaked bread and egg beaters.

Split pea soup as tasty as the corn chowder, $3 for 16 oz of
store-made soup: perfect. Asparagus, bananas, Honeycrisp Apples all super. I liked the side entree of barley vegetable risotto, my husband didn't like it as much as I did.

No complaints from the entire order.Packaging excellent, delivery prompt and courteous. Ordering a case of Pellegrino was my idea of smart.

My order came at 8am sharp, in my 8-10 am window.
The delivery person was courteous and efficient; everything
in my order was right, and appropriately packaged, including frozen items in a small bag that was kept in a freezer in the truck.

Quality of the produce (honeycrisp apples, asparagus, bananas) looks great, and by appearance at least the meat
was as advertised: little fat on edge, marbled, a bargain of sorts. Ground lamb a tad fatty perhaps, but I can't get it'
in my local market, so it will be a treat. Soups look interesting, in 16 oz containers, which is about right. Only nit-picking complaint: no salt content listed on label for soups.

The best deal for me was delievery of a case of Pellogrino, right to the spot where we store it. I don't think my husband should be lugging this from Costco any more.

Not sure whether I will continue after trial period, but in terms of quality I was pleased. Will report later once I've tried more of the items I ordered, like vegetarian chili, a rotisserie chicken.

I tried to find a thread on this in Chowhound, but nothing came up.
I took advantage of two trial offers from Fresh Direct, and expect
delivery tomorrow morning at a convenient time.

Has anyone else used their services? In general, produce prices seemed higher than Whole Foods, but there were many specials.
Meat prices seemed quite reasonable. Will report back
on quality after I've had a chance to try things.

The trial offers were very tempting: $50 off the first two orders over
$125, plus free delivery for two months. Door-to-door delivery in a
two hour window also appealing. I'd been away for a week, had no
food in the house, and trying them out saved me a quick trip to Costco
for now.

Good ideas, paycheck, but we were hoping to get closer
to West Chester where the rest of our family would be
driving from. Tango is right by the train station,
so that is a possibility.

Not being able to drive at night is the pits. At least summer
is coming.

A second thought. Other than Media, is there another Westernish site easily reached by bus or train from Center City? Our family is driving from West Chester; we are trying for convenient for them as well.

Gotta problem for which I sure could use help. Next Saturday night,
we can meet our visiting family in West Chester for dinner, but we
are not able to drive at night. (From Center City)

We could get to Media by public transportation; what can you suggest
as a neat place that would please many tastes? Not looking for
high end expensive, but priority would be quiet enough to talk
easily. Doesn't have to be fancy, but Italian, seafood, Chinese
would fit the bill nicely, as long as its quiet. We will be meeting
fairly early, so that might help a bit.

Grateful for any suggestions out of our normal area that we are familiar
with.

Got the lazies driving home from NE PHilly to Center City.
Talked hubby into a quick stop at PHO75 strip, Adams AVe, right
off the boulevard.

Ordered a large # 12 to go, popped in next door to cafe where
they sell Vietnamese rolls, 2 for $3. Bought two packages. (Shrimp,
Pork, veggies, peanut sauce) And, for a three course meal, picked
out 2 donuts for dessert from the Dunkin Donuts in the same mall strip.

Result? A feast in five minutes for two, for a bit less than $16, including
taxes.

What are your guilty pleasures when you get too lazy to make dinner?

Parking is tough, but I snagged one nearby, and it was worth it.

Thanks to a tip from CH's here, I was able to get the bison tongue
I was longing for. And, when I asked about ground bison, the butcher
(duh, didn't even ask his name) pulled out a huge slab of gorgeous marbled bison, and asked me how much. Haven't seen that before.
He deftly cut off a slab that was a tad over 2 pounds, trimmed it a bit,
cut it into chunks and fed it through a huge grinder in front of me.

Same price, but oh, what a difference in the taste and texture of the meat. Same $9/pound, but this was worth it. No more pre-packaged
ground bison for me if I can help it, or meat that has been sitting around
for a bit either.

Actually, I would be willing to pay more to have REAL ground beef instead of what passes for it in markets. Thank you, CH's for a great
tip. I also got some bison rib steaks from D'Angelo's freezer that
I can't report on yet, but they looked great.

((Don't be put off by paucity of meat in the case. Most is kept in the back, and brought out by request))

Never saw Andriotties Viennese Cafe mentioned here. CH buddy told me
about their wonderful Sunday Brunch, which we could not make, but
took friends out to lunch yesterday (down Route 70 a bit--close to Turnpike).

Lovely Viennese decor, great service, interesting menu; all of us enjoyed
the surprisingly reasonable lunch choices, with Viennese pastry afterward.

Worth the trip over the bridge; quiet, fun. We will do this again. Even
more lunch choices Mon-Friday than on Saturday. My sirloin burger with
very crisp bacon on top was perfect, and the accompanying potato chips
must have been homemade. Not bad for $7.25 with the bacon extra!

Try Lakewood. Very good food shopping, with great service. Not as far as Baltimore.

I suspect there are Kosher butchers in NE PHIlly; will ask
daughter, but I know she doesn't shop at them herself.

My experiences at Shoprite's Kosher Meat dept in Cherry HIll
have been excellent. Quality of meat is high, and prices reasonable for quality.

Sshh. Do tell me: carol.vorch@verizon.net.

Our daughter is strict about supervision, but I am not, and we are always looking for a brunchy type of place.

You are right on, this time, Pretty Poodle. I love it there.
Unfortunately the lunch menu is really dinnerish, and we have
lux breakfast type food in mind.

Grandson's Bar Mitzpha luncheon was there, and they did
a grand job. It was fun, and food was great. Yes, kids
are most welcome there. Decor is a hoot.

What I need to do is have her check out the supervision at New Harmony. Our grandchildren have led a deprived childhood, with subminimal exposure to Chinese food.

Aside here: how would children react to seeing 'pork buns' on the menu in a Kosher vegetarian restaurant?

It's hamish. Not chow. Good neighborhood place.
It's fine actually, but I can't share your enthusiasm based upon
the menu.

Here's an example. I do love bagels and lox. But, bagels are
ordinary, even though lox is very generous. I have enjoyed the falafel in pita though.

Our family is still undecided. We may be going to HolyLand Grille nearby.

We've been to Espresso Cafe many times; it is fine, but
I was hoping for something different for this special occasion.
Can you tell me what the supervision is for New Harmony?
Our daughter is very strict when it comes to supervision.

Me, I love Mama's vegetarian, but it is far too crowded and noisey for this occasion.

I know the Mansion is pleasant, but I do need a strictly Kosher
place, as opposed to even 'Kosher style". That's the first
priority; some element of quiet would be the second. Fancy
isn't where it needs to be: great bagels and lox would be a good start.

All suggestions welcome!

Any suggestions for 'nice', some atmosphere, quiet? Family occasion,
7 of us, would travel a bit for something special.

A place a tad far, but I found them to have quality meat and good pricing: Shop Rite in Cherry Hill. And, I'm sure you are
correct about Acme not being competition. I only purchased
the 'ready to eat' Kosher food at that Acme, and never looked
at the meat department.

BTW, Pretty Poodle: where would you go for brunch/lunch
on a Sunday? I need a rez for 7, and would like relative quiet,
good food, and maybe some atmosphere for a family event.

That is so sad. Thanks for letting me know.

I had been there for items other than buffalo over a year ago,
and found the quality to be quite good. Always sad to lose
a reliable vendor. Maybe the Narberth Acme was too much competition?

Oh dear. I called them, at 610-660-9696, and learned that number
had been disconnected. Does anyone know whether they are still
in business? I was hoping to get buffalo, and am very disappointed.

CHs, you are the best! Thanks to this posting, and a similar
one on the Kosher Board, I now have no less than 4 possibilities to explore. And, I do plan to follow up on every one. Will report results after obtaining and cooking products.

Finding the tongue will be the hardest part, but the two buffalo
farms would seem to be the best possibility for that.

Our daughter used to the the Kosher Buffalo distributor for
Ocean County, but that was quite a while ago, and I miss
those treats.

In particular, where could I purchase buffalo tongue and ribsteaks?

I live in Philadelphia, but would be willing/able to travel somewhat to purchase these items, although NYC would be too far.