ambrose's Recent Activity
Chowhound Post
Mother's new hope
Years ago, Mother's was THE place to go for breakfast in New Hope. We used to go there, sometimes for breakfast, but more often for lunch. We never had any complaints but when the restaurant changed hands we noticed a dramatic shift, and it was not for the better. Most reviews at that time were decidedly negative but I've heard recently that things had improved somewhat. Your comments suggest that it's still not a reliable place to eat.
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Princeton Restaurants
menton1, in your original post you say that you're going to a show in town. If you end up at One53 in Rocky Hill, make sure you allow enough time to get back to Princeton, park, and get to your show (it's more than 5 minutes, even on a week night). elements is closer to downtown but not within walking distance.
Of the two restaurant mentioned, I would choose elements. On the other hand, if I was worried about getting to the show on time, I would opt for The Ferry House, which is in the center of town.
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Bellisimo Ristorante
I have not been there but it is on my list of neighborhood restaurants to try. Just last month, the Princeton Packet reviewed Bellisimo. Sounds OK but the comments about service have me concerned.
http://centraljersey.com/articles/201...
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Arturo's, Maplewood
Here's the link to the Times' review:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/31/nyr...
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Polish restaurants
If you are interested in Polish restaurants in NJ, you definitely need to look at the following link (and the links in that link!).
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/605071
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Getting tired of beef, lamb and goat - ready to try something new
MGPaneer, for NYC restaurants you will have to post elsewhere. Here in NJ there don't seem to be many restaurants that offer much outside the ordinary. I doubt, for example, that you're going to find seal flipper pie here (when prepared properly, it's actually quite good).
Lambertville Station Restaurant has frequently offered wild game but I don't see anything on their on-line menu. Since on-line menus are often badly out of date, I suggest you phone them and ask.
Venison often shows up on menus but I have to say that I’ve never had venison in a restaurant that can compare with venison dishes prepared by a German friend of mine. I have found venison at the Frenchtown Inn and, as already noted above, the Sergeantsville Inn. Stage Left in New Brunswick also offers venison. Wild boar often appears in some appetizers but I've seen it in main dishes at the Fox and Hound Tavern in Lebanon and Origin Thai in Somerville. The Rocky Hill Inn also has wild boar along with a dish that combines bison, venison and rabbit.
As noted, bison burgers are fairly common but I had a very nice bison hanger steak at the Glen Gardner Inn. This restaurant also offers an ostrich steak.
Pheasant seems to be less common than I'd expect but I had it some time ago at the Harvest Moon Inn in Flemington. The Blue Bottle Café in Hopewell also offers pheasant though I've not had it there.
Finally, I had the most wonderful sweetbreads at the Pluckemin Inn in Bedminster late last year. However, the dish was a special so at any given time you may or may not find it on the menu. I'm told that Blu in Montclair has a sweetbreads appetizer.
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Maplewood (NJ) Restaurant Week
menton1, are you referring to the information in my link above, which is for 2009, or do you have some new information for 2010?
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Maplewood (NJ) Restaurant Week
I don't know if Maplewood is having a restaurant week this year. If they do, I would expect it again to be in March, in which case announcements should start to appear in mid-February.
Chowhound Post
Gordon Ramsay in Whitehouse Station
For those who are interested, the Kitchen Nightmares episode featuring Flamangos, now called The Junction, will air on February 2, 2010.
http://tvlistings.zap2it.com/tv/kitch...
Chowhound Post
Manon - Lambertville, NJ
KathyH, I have not been to DeAnna's since the restaurant moved several years ago. I really liked the old place but something apparently went wrong after the move. Check out the following link, which I hasten to mention is two to three years old. Most comments at that time were negative, and one of the positive comments came from someone who never again posted on Chowhound.
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/332648
I don't think you can go wrong with Manon or Tastebuds but for selfish reasons I'm hoping you will "take one for the team", go to DeAnna's and let us know what it was like! :-))
Chowhound Post
First post- BYOB hibachi NJ [Somerset/Middlesex County]
I don't know how many times I've suggested this place for people seeking hibachi but since it's in Somerset County I'll suggest it again! :-))
http://www.yutakanj.com/
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Princeton area BYOB
Excellent suggestions from njfoodies. I know you specify Princeton or areas south but I really urge you to think about the Blue Bottle Cafe in Hopewell. If I had to pick one place near Princeton, that would be it.
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Manon - Lambertville, NJ
I love Manon and have loved it since I first went almost twenty years ago. Thanks for giving it its own thread.
I know from a previous thread that you are a fan of Pure Energy Cycling and Java House, but the next time you're at Manon try their coffee, which is from Rojo's Roastery down past Bell's Tavern.
Oh, and one final thing. Starry Night is by Van Gogh, not Picasso (you may still have time to correct this! :-)) ). Some consider it Van Gogh's most famous painting. It is almost certainly the most reproduced.
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Lola's Latin Bistro Metuchen NJ
LOLA was reviewed in the Star-Ledger this week.
http://www.nj.com/entertainment/dinin...
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central nj valentines day
I agree that Sophie's Bistro in Somerset would be a terrific choice (earlier today, I recommended this place in another thread).
My favorite BYO restaurant in Somerville is da Filippo's. Girasole in Bound Brook is a close second.
http://www.dafilippos.com
http://www.girasoleboundbrook.com
Chowhound Post
Clinton's Old River House to Close
We were in Clinton today and learned that the Old River House restaurant will close on or about February 1. This restaurant is in a beautiful location that looks out over the South Branch of the Raritan River, very near the famous Red Mill. On a nice day in the spring, summer or fall, the outdoor dining area was nearly always fully occupied for lunch and dinner.
While I always enjoyed breakfast or lunch at the Old River House, the dinner menu never appealed to me. I always thought they could do so much better. Nevertheless, I shall miss this place as it was a 'known quantity' and very much a part of the downtown Clinton scene. And did I mention the fabulous location?
It will be interesting to see whether another restaurant moves into the space. It's hard to imagine any other type of business here.
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Want to help move threads? Check in here.
Yes, I would most definitely like to help.
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Announcement: New Board Breakdown for Chowhound
Absolutely delighted that New Jersey will finally have its own board! Thank you.
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Princeton to New Brunswick Corridor (Rt 1, Rt 27, Rt 130)
When it comes to French bistro, I think you would like Sophie's Bistro on Hamilton Ave. in Somerset. Nearly all the comments on this board about Sophie's have been positive.
http://www.sophiesbistro.net
For a bistro of a different sort, try Bobby Trigg's new place on Route 1 near Princeton.
http://www.btbistro.com
If you want to move upscale, go to Trigg's original restaurant, The Ferry House, in Princeton proper.
http://www.btbistro.com
Chowhound Post
Kaliente Mexican Grill - Princeton, NJ
Glutton, have you tried La Costeñita in Hillsborough? It's really a grocery store but they do have a snack bar in the back (be warned, it's small!). I would really like to hear your impressions of the food at this place.
http://newyork.seriouseats.com/new-je...
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Indian Restaurants Rt 27 Franklin Park NJ to Somerset NJ
Pho 99 is not closed. They are not open for business on Monday, which may explain why the restaurant "seemed dark" when you drove by.
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Yi En, New Asian in Hunterdon Co.
Yi En is a new Asian Restaurant. located on Route 22 East between Clinton and Bridgewater. It's in the space previously occupied by Jan's China Gourmet, and before that, Ixora.
The restaurant tries to cover all the bases, serving Chinese, Japanese and Thai dishes. For good measure, there are also a couple of Singapore dishes. Recently, they started doing hibachi. My experience with this type of restaurant is that it ends up doing no single cuisine really well and that's exactly how I felt after my first visit to Yi En.
Upon entering the restaurant, we immediately noticed the overwhelming odor of food cooking. Not a good sign in my opinion. Nevertheless, we proceeded and were greeted very cordially by either the owner or the manager (not sure which) and by our server, Jenny. The restaurant was about one-third full, which we took as a favorable sign since it was a weekday evening.
My dining partner chose an avocado salad to start, followed by Mango Shrimp, which was listed under the Thai section of the menu. She really liked the salad and while I had only a tiny sample I agreed that it was very good. The Mango Shrimp was judged acceptable though nothing out of the ordinary. One big plus was that the shrimp were not overcooked, which often seems to happen in many restaurants. I started with the steamed dumplings (6), which were fine but again nothing special. They were also not very hot. The big disappointment was my Cashew Chicken entree, which was also listed in the Thai section of the menu but turned out to be a very bland dish reminiscent of similar dishes I've had in mediocre Chinese restaurants. The chicken was utterly flavorless as were the cashews. We did not have dessert as we are both still recuperating from holiday excesses!
Service throughout was very good though there was a definite language problem with our server. She understood English fairly well but did not speak it well at all, either because she didn't have enough vocabulary or was self conscious.
I'm still debating whether to go back to Yi En. The first impression was meh but I might go back for lunch and try some dishes that I have particularly enjoyed elsewhere. If those are not up to snuff, my second visit to Yi En will most likely be my last.
Chowhound Post
Chao Phaya - just average Thai
I'm really disappointed to hear this. I used to go to the branch in Somerville but stopped after seeing a number of negative comments here. Seems the one in Somerset has also slipped. In Somerville, I now go only to Origin Thai or Splash of Thai.
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Kitchen Nightmares
Be careful if you want to see every episode. Fox has been playing around with the schedule and, while Kitchen Nightmares will be a Friday night show, the premiere is currently scheduled for Jan 26, right after American Idol.
http://tvbythenumbers.com/2010/01/13/...
There will also be a show on Tuesday, February 2.
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Restaurant David Drake - What's Up?
Interesting to note that David Drake might have been ahead of the curve in Asbury Park but his plans to open a restaurant there never materialized (reported by Bossa Nova in a different thread).
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/473275
Chowhound Post
Looking for a good Teppanyaki/Japanese Steakhouse Joint in Central Jersey tonight...
Central Jersey is a big place. If you're close to Somerville, try Yutaka. Not sure though if it has a liquor license.
http://www.yutakanj.com
Chowhound Post
Ana Beall's Tea Room - Westfield, NJ
After reading a positive review in the New York Times, a friend and I went to Ana Beall’s just before Christmas. Overall, I would have to say that I was disappointed. Perhaps, because of the review, my expectations were too high, or perhaps I was hoping for something like Teaberry's in Flemington.
Our first mistake was walking to the tea room from downtown Westfield. Do not do this unless you know Westfield like the back of your hand! It was farther than we thought and involved dashing across several busy streets near the infamous circle nearby. Even if you drive, consult a good map beforehand or use a GPS.
Upon entering Ana Beall's we had an oh-oh feeling because there were four young people slouched in chairs in the downstairs room. It turned out that two of them were servers while the other two were friends. There were no customers in this area. We were ushered upstairs to a fairly pleasant room but noticed that there were only two other couples in the whole place.
Our server was very pleasant, asked if we had ever been there before (no) and explained the menu to us. We had not had lunch but since we were planning an early dinner we did not want too much to eat. We therefore opted for the cream tea, which includes a scone with cream and jam. The price ($9.95) seemed high, especially since you can get a very similar tea, but with two scones, for $10.95 at Teaberry's. While waiting for our tea, I looked over the menu some more and noticed that if you order tea and one scone separately it costs less than $5.00! When our teas came, I asked the server about this and she hemmed and hawed something about the cream tea including cream and jam. So, am I to understand that if you order a scone by itself that's all you get? I did not press the point because the young lady seemed to know that there was no satisfactory answer to my question. I also got the feeling she had been asked this question before.
The tea and scone were fine but not particularly memorable. I doubt that I would return for any of the more elaborate tea services, which can cost up to $30 each. I might, however, be persuaded to have lunch here because a couple of friends have told me that lunches are generally good. On the other hand, I might just stay closer to the downtown area and avoid the hassle of getting to Ana Beall's.
As I said at the beginning, a disappointing experience.
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Restaurant David Drake - What's Up?
According to Rosie Saferstein's blog, Restaurant David Drake has indeed closed.
http://njmonthly.com/blogs/tablehopwi...
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UpRoot - Warren, NJ
RP McM, thanks for the detailed review. Ever since I read that Bucco had moved to Uproot, it's been on my go-to list. It just moved up the list several notches!
I read somewhere that they also do a mean burger. Yet another reason to go.
Chowhound Post
Restaurant David Drake - What's Up?
Hmm, I'm now starting to get a very bad feeling about David Drake's future - the restaurant, not the owner/chef.
Some time ago, I started a thread about David Drake cooking at Alice's, a restaurant in Lake Hopatcong. By chance, there is a review in this weekend's NY Times of Alice's and in it the writer notes that at one point Alice, the owner, needed a chef in a hurry and turned to David Drake.
According to the article, "She needed help in a hurry..........and Mr. Drake happened to need a full-time job. (While his Rahway restaurant remains open, he says it has been slapped hard by the recession and he has stopped paying himself a salary.)"
Clearly, this story is still playing out. I for one really hope that the restaurant in Rahway does relocate and remains a David Drake restaurant. Otherwise, I guess I'll be taking the long drive north to Alice's!
Here's the full review:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/10/nyr...
