zhelder's Profile
Best BBQ in Bergen County?
I went here a few weeks back (thanks to a Groupon I had) and I also thought they were very good. The portions were generous, the barbecue sauces were great (especially the spicy orange-based one) and the owner (Suzy) came around to all the tables and was very gracious too. I'm planning to return as well.
Are There Any Good Szechuan Restaurants in Bergen County?
Thanks for the replies. I've been to Chengdu 23 too, and they're also very good, but they're essentially in the same area to me as Chengdu 1. Maybe four miles apart on essentially the same road. Neither is really crazy far from me, I was just hoping to find a place I could get to in 5-10 minutes (preferably off highways) instead of 20-30 minutes.
Oh well. Guess I'll have to keep making the trip!
Are There Any Good Szechuan Restaurants in Bergen County?
As much as I love Chengdu 1 in Cedar Grove, it's a bit far from home for me. Does anyone know of any places in Bergen County (preferably Central or Northwest, but anywhere will do) that serve good Szechuan cuisine? You know, a place where I can get Dan Dan Noodles and Ants Climbing a Tree. I've come up blank on this. Thanks for any info!
The Fresh Market coming to Montvale - Thoughts?
Well, this is bittersweet news. Yay to Wegman's but Boo to killing a family farm market to build it. Why do they have to take something good? They can't take over any of the horrible Pathmark, A&P, or, the worst of all, Stop & Plop locations in the area?
I've never been to Dipiero's, but now I have to make it my mission to get there before they're gone for good.
Superlative food in Bergen County?
Nice to see a shout out for Chicken Kebab. I love the place. The place is small and casual inside, and the menu is moderate in offerings, but Naim and his crew offer up some great food at very reasonable prices. Try the doner gyro with hot pepper sauce mixed in the meat. $6.25 very well spent.
As for Thai, please check out Siam Ruby Cafe in Rochelle Park. Limited menu and hours, but Tammi is a wonderful woman who makes some great food. Wondee's in Hackensack is also very good.
As for steak, even though some might consider it too low brow for their fine tastes, Christian's in Garfield is awesome. $15 for a GOOD steak dinner? Try to find that anywhere else. Just bring cash and be willing to pick up your dinner from Cosmo when it's ready.
The Fresh Market coming to Montvale - Thoughts?
THREE YEARS?!? That's quite a while to wait. Still, great news!
The Fresh Market coming to Montvale - Thoughts?
Now that one I heard. Good news for that area. They're also opening in West Paterson (that's right, West Paterson, not "Woodland Park") early next month.
The Fresh Market coming to Montvale - Thoughts?
How/where did you hear this? When's it coming? I searched online to see if anybody else knew about this, and I found a really brief post about this from someone else on a really obscure message board. Other than that, I found nothing! If this is true, it would be INCREDIBLE news! Now bring on Stew Leonard's!
Best Chicken Wings-Northern NJ
Buffalo's Chicken Shack in Wood-Ridge. Best wings in the area, hands down. They have a variety of saues/flavors, and a lot of other southern/soul food favorites,
www.buffaloschicken.com
Fairway Coming to West Paterson!
More good news! Need a job? Check their most recent post out:
http://jobs.northjersey.com/Jobs/Detail.aspx?jobdetailid=17214229-0003258462-02
Did you get a look at the last sentence in the post?
"All applicants must be over the age of 18 as our location will have a Wine Store inside of the supermarket. "
The news just keeps getting better!
Fairway Coming to West Paterson!
Here's an article about it:
http://mouthfulsfood.com/forums/index.php?/topic/25413-woodland-park-fairway-market-on-the-way/
And for anyone who wants a job there...
http://www.simplyhired.com/job-id/4u5k5btkb3/grocery-manager-jobs/
And just to be certain, I asked one of the managers in Paramus about it this morning and he confirmed it, They're shooting for a June 1 opening. (Unlikely, but we can hope!)
The Fresh Market coming to Montvale - Thoughts?
No offense, but the contest is tougher in NJ, for sure. (I had family live in Florida for many years so I know what the food scene there is like.)
Don't get me wrong, as I said in my post I did like the place. While you're here, check out Fairway in Paramus too. I'd like to see how you think the two places compare.
Fairway Coming to West Paterson!
Yeah, that's right, I said West Paterson. Bump that "Woodland Park" nonsense. Anyway, Fairway is apparently taking over the old Pathmark space on Route 46. A bit surprising, as I would've thought that area might be a whisker too lowbrow for Fairway, but great news! They have raised their prices a lot recently, but the stuff is still cheaper and better quality than at most other places.
The Little Falls Shop-Rite has to be very nervous.
New AYCE Sushi in Verona
This place looks to be a sit down AYCE sushi place, which seems to be the latest trend. You pick what you want from a special menu, and they prepare the food to order. There are some good places like this in Bergen County. I've been to Sushi X in Ridgewood and Sushi Village in Westwood and both were very good.
I may have to check this place out myself, especially since they have some Grand Opening coupons on their website:
http://eastgatesushi.com/
Awesome Thai - Ruby Siam Thai Restaurant - Rochelle Park, NJ
This restaurant has such a wild and crazy history. Tammy is the original owner. She stepped away from the place for several years, but came back to open again in October 2011. She stayed open until around late November/early December, then got ill and closed for several weeks. I thought she said she just reopened a couple of days ago, but maybe she's been in an out for brief periods.
All I know is she's a lovely woman who makes some great food. She's a one woman operation.right now, and with the slow business she probably can't afford advertising. That's why I'm making it my mission to hype this place as much as possible. I can't lose it again!
Awesome Thai - Ruby Siam Thai Restaurant - Rochelle Park, NJ
Tommy, you da man for reviving this thread. I thought Siam Ruby was closed for good, but because of your post, I decided to see whether Tammy (the owner) was back in business.
Well, she is... and we need to keep her in business! She was closed for several weeks due to a long-term illness. She reopened the other day, but business has been very slow.
So, once again, I'm asking all my fellow Chowhounds to please check this place out, as she may be closing up for good soon if more people don't start coming. Go in with $7.50 and enjoy some of the best Thai food you'll ever have. This place is a true little gem, so please give it a chance.
Siam Ruby Cafe
184 West Passaic Street
Rochelle Park, NJ 07662
(201) 880-8227
Best Bakery in Northwest Bergen County (i.e. Ridgewood area)
19-09 Fair Lawn Ave., in the small strip with Petak's and The Brunch Club.
Paella in Northern NJ
Segovia in Moonachie makes a good one. You'll have dinner for four days from it too.
Indian restaurant near Ikea Paramus, NJ
Bhoj on Market Street in Elmwood Park. Good prices, great food, and they do a daily lunch buffet. From Ikea, stay left on Route 4 West/Broadway, through Fair Lawn, into Elmwood Park. Turn left on Boulevard, then about a mile down, turn left on Market Street. It's in a tiny strip mall on the right about 1/4 mile down from where you turn, and probably right inside that 3-4 mile range from Ikea.
www.bhoj.us
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Bhoj
430 Market St Ste 5, Elmwood Park, NJ 07407
DOUBLE HUZZAH! ALDI EAST RUTHERFORD IS NOW OPEN!
I used to shop at Food Basics regularly. I still stop there once in a while. But now, being familiar with both stores, I can honestly say that I think Aldi blows Food Basics out of the water. Then, after Food Basics is up in the air after being blown out of the water by Aldi, Aldi blasts it with a machine gun just for good measure.
Aldi and Food Basics are similar in concept. Aldi to me looks like a Food Basics 25 years in the future after hazmat and efficiency teams have given the place a thorough once over. But, Aldi's food is MUCH MUCH MUCH higher quality that most of the junk that Food Basics sells, and the prices, in most cases, anyway, are still a bit lower than Food Basics. Aldi is cleaner, and run much more efficiently. Lines can get long, but they move quickly at Aldi's. At Food Basics, you might have to spend a whole afternoon checking out on a real busy day.
You can think of Aldi's as one of two types of stores: the revised edition of Food Basics that I described above, or the 'hood's Trader Joe's (really, there are a lot of very similar items between the two stores, it's just that Aldi's versions are a lot cheaper). Either concept works for me!
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Trader Joe's
725 River Road, Edgewater, NJ
Wyckoff - Bourbon BBQ Take 2 Review
As a semi-regular customer of the old Bourbon BBQ, I was looking forward to the return of this restaurant. As most of you know, they had a bad fire almost two years ago, which destroyed the restaurant. The place has been completely rebuilt. They opened last Monday, and on Tuesday, I decided to check out the new Bourbon BBQ.
It was a disappointment,
OK, let's start with the good. The place is really nice inside. Much nicer than before, in fact. But I couldn't help but feel that despite the seemingly "down home" appearance inside, Bourbon BBQ 2 is a restaurant targeted to an affluent crowd wanting a casual meal. (It's a highbrow "down home" appearance.)
Prices, in almost all cases, have been significantly increased, in some cases, more than 30%. Now I know rebuilding a restaurant in Wyckoff can't be cheap, and I knew prices would have had to go up some after nearly two years, but I wasn't expecting the prices to go up as much as they did. The most glaring example: a pound of brisket is now $16 instead of $12.
And while Bourbon BBQ 1 would sometimes give you a little extra meat, B BBQ 2 must have scales that measure to the thousandth of a ounce, because the 1/2 pound portion of brisket ($9) and the 1 lb. portion of pork ($12) I received were definitely no more than the advertised amounts.
So how was the food? Meh. The pork was lousy, not smoked at all, just a bunch of stewed-like meat in a soupy glop. The brisket was better, but not quite as good as it used to be. It was a whisker tough, but had decent smoke/ flavor. I also ordered a large mac and cheese ($6), which was a very large portion. But it was also incredibly bland, with virtually no seasoning. The best part of the meal was the fries, which tasted fresh and not frozen, although they were a bit limp by the time I got home.
For the prices charged, I expected much better. Maybe the food will get better as time goes on, but I can't see myself going here too often when I can go down to Buffalo's Chicken Shack in Wood-Ridge and get a mind-blowingly good pulled rib/pork sandwich for $6.49 (which not only includes probably close to a pound of meat, but a delicious buttery bun as well) or some real good mac & cheese as well as other similar items of better quality for significantly better prices.
Oh well. Bourbon BBQ 2 didn't do it for me. But thank goodness for The Shack.
DOUBLE HUZZAH! ALDI EAST RUTHERFORD IS NOW OPEN!
1. $.99. (Clifton's had them for $.89 before though.)
2. I believe so, but can't remember for sure.
3. East Rutherford had some available. They had marzipan logs/candy bars for $.99 each (absolutely awesome). I also got some Christmasy non-pareil chocolate wafers. They also had a cherry stollen which I picked up for $4.99, but I haven't tried it yet.
DOUBLE HUZZAH! ALDI EAST RUTHERFORD IS NOW OPEN!
OK, Passaic County got its first Aldi at the end of January, and now, finally, Bergen County gets its first Aldi in East Rutherford. I've been going to the Clifton Aldi nearly weekly since they opened. I love them. Good quality food at dirt cheap prices. I was excited to check out this new East Rutherford Aldi store. The store is at 59 Route 17 South, in the Liberty Commons strip mall.
What is Aldi's? Well, I'll put it this way: it's pretty much a no-frills Trader Joe's targeted to lower-middle-class people instead of upper-middle-class people. They sell only the basics, and the stores are small, like Trader Joe's. There is a lot of similarity in products (potato chips, nuts, dried fruits, dairy items, frozen foods) between the two chains. The difference is the packaging is more no frills at Aldi's, and, in almost all cases, the products at Aldi's are way cheaper.
So, how does the East Rutherford store compare to the Clifton store? Well, it's bigger. Quite a bit bigger (maybe 25%-30% bigger). This probably means they'll have more items available on a regular basis. But...
The layout in Clifton is MUCH nicer. The Clifton store is basically four straight lines of items, with the freezers/refrigerators along the back and side of the store. The East Rutherford store flows in the opposite direction of the Clifton store. It was like Bizarro Clifton. There is also a cross "aisle" dividing the merchandise, making things a bit more chaotic with people going in different directions. The store was busy, but not quite crazy.
The other problem with the East Rutherford Aldi is the location. It's in a fairly recently built, fairly large strip mall with a whole lot of stores on a very busy highway. The parking lot is crazy. The Clifton Aldi is located in a much older, smaller strip mall, in a bit of an industrial area, and there isn't a whole lot else in that area. It gets busy there, sure, but I don't think it will ever be the circus that this East Rutherford store is sure to be.
They had some nice grand opening specials: white bread and hot dog rolls for $.25, fresh pineapples for $.49, and South African (???) navel oranges for $.99 per bag.
Will I be back to the East Rutherford Aldi? Absolutely. But based on my initial impressions, I'll be sticking with the Clifton store as my regular store. You won't go wrong with either one, though.
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Trader Joe's
725 River Road, Edgewater, NJ
Awesome Thai - Ruby Siam Thai Restaurant - Rochelle Park, NJ
There was a mostly favorable review of Midland Thai in The Record today:
http://www.northjersey.com/food_dining/110411_Restaurant_review_Midlands_Thai_Kitchen_in_Midland_Park.html
And I'll be darned, the manager's name is Louis! Well, this is one coincidence too many. Same voice, same mannerisms, similar menu items, the 1-10 spiciness scale, and the great willingness to make things right (throwing in a free item when the wait is long, etc.) when there's problems. This has GOT to be the same guy!
But honestly, he looks a lot younger now than he did three years ago! And why such firm denials that he had no association to Siam Ruby? Heck, he ran a kick-butt place for a year or so. (In fact, even though Midland Thai is very good, Siam Ruby, in all its incarnations, but especially Louie's, was better. ) Too bad not enough people found out about it.
I'm also puzzled as to why, if this is the same guy, why he acted as if he'd never seen me before the first time I went to Midland Thai, as I was in Siam Ruby on a nearly weekly basis when he ran it and had some very long and interesting conversations with him while waiting for my delicious food. I'm a pretty unique looking guy too.
This is really a mystery. Oh well. At least the food is good, and Louie's back!!!
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Siam Ruby Cafe
184 W Passaic St, Rochelle Park, NJ 07662
Midland Thai Kitchen in Midland Park
Decent review in The Record today:
http://www.northjersey.com/food_dining/110411_Restaurant_review_Midlands_Thai_Kitchen_in_Midland_Park.html
On a side note, a few of us have been having a little debate in the Siam Ruby of Rochelle Park thread (which has reopened on a trial basis) about whether the manager of Midland Thai was the guy who ran Siam Ruby about three years ago. This review has now convinced me it's the same guy: same name, similar menus, same voice and mannerisms, and very gracious. But Louie sure looks a lot younger now than he did a few years ago!
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Siam Ruby Cafe
184 W Passaic St, Rochelle Park, NJ 07662
Awesome Thai - Ruby Siam Thai Restaurant - Rochelle Park, NJ
"Midland Thai Louie" looks a lot younger than "Siam Ruby Louie", like 15 years or so. If they're the same guy, the guy has discovered the fountain of youth.
Besides, the food is different enough for me to think they're not the same guy. (But there's gotta be some connection.)
Awesome Thai - Ruby Siam Thai Restaurant - Rochelle Park, NJ
I actually thought this myself, but apparently they are not related, as I asked the manager at Midland Thai about this a couple of months back. He has mannerisms and a voice similar to Louie, and there are some similarities in their menus (for example, they both offered the beef fried in chili flakes as an appetizer), so I assumed they were related. (I really thought the guy could've been Louie's younger brother.) He claimed they are not, although he seemed to have some knowledge of Siam Ruby. (Who knows, maybe it's a ruse?)
I've gone to Midland Thai a few times already, and while they are good, all three (well, I guess four now) incarnations of Siam Ruby (the original owner, Louie, and Real Thai Cuisine) were better, cheaper, and offered larger portions.
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Siam Ruby Cafe
184 W Passaic St, Rochelle Park, NJ 07662
Awesome Thai - Ruby Siam Thai Restaurant - Rochelle Park, NJ
WELCOME BACK, SIAM RUBY!!!
Well, as I promised myself, I made it there today. And there's good news and bad news. (But, for right now anyway, more good than bad.)
As Ducky said, the original owner is back, the one who was there before Louie and the Real Thai Cuisine people. She's a very nice woman, and a good talker. We chatted quite a bit, and I told her how happy I was that her place was back in business. She told me that she is opening for three months on a TRIAL basis, therefore her menu and hours are extremely limited. (Mon. - Sat. 11 a.m. - 6 p.m., closed Sundays). The place is also CASH ONLY right now. She told me if she experiences success, she will expand her hours and menu. She is stuck in a long-term lease on the place (the Real Thai Cuisine people and perhaps Louie were friends of hers that must've worked out some kind of deal to run the place during their times there), and has lost a lot of money trying to make the restaurant succeed. She also told me that if she can't make the place succeed this time, it's going to be gone for good.
Although there are only about 15 items available on the menu right now, the food is pretty much like I remembered it (real good), the prices are great (most items are $6.99) and the portions are MASSIVE (for now, anyway).
The pad thai was great, and so were the massaman and spring rolls. Although it wasn't on the menu, I asked for pad see ew, and although it was good, it came out more like drunken noodles than pad see ew (more spicy/peppery than sweet). Good, but not what I expected. I also asked if any soup was available, and she had some tom yum available. I don't know how she made this soup, but it was loaded with meat and it was delicious.
There were quite a few Grand Reopening hiccups that I hope the owner will work out. Right now, the owner seems to be by herself and it's been tough on her. She forgot my pad see ew, but happily went to the back to make it afterwards. She also goofed on another customer's order while I was there, making her an order of pad thai when she ordered fried rice. (Guess who got a free extra order of pad thai?) The containers she's using to hold the food are a bit flimsy, which presents a challenge for massive portions of food. As a result, the soup leaked some and broke through a bag. She got a little frustrated by this and said she wasn't going to offer the soup any more because it caused too many problems. (I hope she reconsiders. The soup was awesome. She just needs to get some stronger containers.) And the cash register seems to be somewhat defective. (My order kept ringing up $888 dollars.)
BUT WHO CARES? The location is convenient with parking, the food is great, it's dirt cheap, the portions are huge, and the owner is extremely gracious. This is our last chance to keep this place around, gang. Please give them a shot. You won't be disappointed.
Awesome Thai - Ruby Siam Thai Restaurant - Rochelle Park, NJ
GREAT NEWS!!! I got a little optimistic a few weeks ago when I saw a sign in the window featuring different Thai dishes that I didn't recall seeing before. But, having had my heart broken on multiple previous occasions, I didn't want to get too excited.
I will definitely get there some time this weekend. Thanks for the exciting update!
Best Thai in Bergen?
I'm not an expert on Thai food, but I know I like it. Wondee's in Hackensack is my favorite, but I've also enjoyed most of the stuff at Midland Thai in Midland Park.
And we need some more mid-range Thai restaurants in mid-range towns in Bergen County. Most of the places we have are either in Hackensack (good places, good prices, but sometimes rough driving and parking and inconvenient locations) or super fancy towns like Ridgewood (some good places, some so-so, ridiculous prices and again rough parking). Midland Thai is a good start, although the prices and town are a touch higher/fancier than what I would consider true "mid-range". Siam Ruby Cafe in Rochelle Park was the perfect mid-range place in a decent mid-range town, but just couldn't succeed despite multiple owners and great food and prices. I'm still hoping for it to make a comeback. There's also Thai Lao Pho Kitchen in Maywood, but the one time I went there I was very disappointed with the food. Others have posted here and said they enjoyed it, however.
I'd really like a Thai restaurant in Fair Lawn or perhaps in Saddle Brook.
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Wondee Cafe
296 Main St, Hackensack, NJ 07601
