emilyb27's Profile
Bombay Gardens, East Brunswick
I agree, the prices are high. Most of the vegetable curries are around the 13.95 mark where usually they are around 11.95. Though i have to say that after moving to nj from NYC I suffered sticker shock from the prices of Indian restaurant entrees, everything is much more marked up while quality is ok. I think Noor Palace is more in line with Monmouth county prices instead of being more competitive with Edison/iselin prices.
Bombay Gardens, East Brunswick
My husband and I stopped by one night after coming back from RWJ, we use to dine at Bombay Gardens, so we figured we would try it out. The husband and wife were very pleasant and accommodating, though we were the only customers there around 7:30 pm on a weeknight. We ordered a couple of vegetable curries, since we are trying not to eat meat for health reasons, and asked for everything to be made spicey. The owner checked in with us once we had tasted the food to see if the spice level was enough, and when my husband requested a little more spice he quickly wisked the dish away and was back
In one minute with a spicer dish. Overall, we were very happy with our meal, and the owners seem very eager to please. I live in Monmouth county where good Indian is not plentiful, and this was hands down better than anything I could get near me. Was it better that some places I've had in Edison and New York... No, but I hope people visit this restaurant because I think it deserves a try.
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Bombay Gardens
1020 State Route 18 Ste J, East Brunswick, NJ 08816
Restaurant.com Coupons [moved from New Jersey board]
Was this for Trinity in Keyport or Trinity and the Pope in Asbury?
Restaurant.com Coupons [moved from New Jersey board]
Just to let everyone know, if you use the promo code SAVORY until Sept. 6 you can save 70% on any restaurant.com gift certificate. So, a $50 gift certificate bought for $20 will actually cost you just $6, and a $25 gift certificate is ending up just costing $3. There seems to be more of selection up right now with the variety of restaurants.
Niko's Trapezi A Greek Taverna Long Branch NJ
As a native new yorker now living in Monmouth county, I think Nikos is excellent for the price point. My husband and I either dine in or get takeout at least once a week. From the grilled fish to the moussaka to the excellent cheesecake ( not technically Greek but so good) everything has always been fresh and well prepared. Yes, it may not be the best Greek food in the tristate/mid-Atlantic area, but i think it's one of the best affordable meals in the area, and that's why I think it gets so much love.
North of the Border Red Bank
Thanks equal_mark and MGZ. No worries, I am well versed in the differences! I lived in california for awhile and had my pick of the best tacos and tortas around. I live in Red Bank, and I only say Juanitos because there really is not much dining around. I grew up near Freehold and my family's "go to" place is El Meson, and continues to be my favorite in the area. This is perfect for me cause we can pick up our meals to go and eat at home since its only a couple of minutes away.
But because I was craving some mexican and reading the post I asked my husband if he felt like ordering in and trying a new place tonight..with a quick "yes!!" we were at North of the Border.
We got the Tacos de Cueritos and Tacos de Chorizo which were great and so flavorful. I also got the cemita al pastor which was AMAZING. I love anything that is a sandwich, and I am always on a hunt to find really good tortas but when i saw that they have cemitas on the menu I knew I had to give this a try. I highly recommend this cemitas, as an additional to tacos, its messy but delicious.
Thanks Chowhound, because I would have missed this place for some reason (even though I use to commute into New York everyday), I am so glad this will be in our menu rotation.
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North of the Border
176 Monmouth St, Red Bank, NJ 07701
El Meson
44 Monmouth Ave, Freehold, NJ 07728
North of the Border Red Bank
Do you know what their hours are? My husband and I really do not like juanitas and asporto changes owners, and really went down in quality. This just may be the ticket!!!
Downtown Cafe Red Bank
I went to the downtown for brunch a couple of weeks ago, because my friends from out of town insisted to we go somewhere that offered drinks. My one friend who is a vegetarian asked that the breakfast quesadilla hold the bacon. Their response was that everything is pre-made and there are non substitutions. It was weird cause she was not asking to substitute anything just take away one ingredient. It really shows that this place is all about the money and not a good product. I will never return!!!
Momofuku Ko or The Modern??
My husband's 30th birthday is coming up the following week and I have secured reservations for lunch at Ko and dinner reservations at The Modern (i will also be clicking promptly at 10:00 am this weekend to try to get dinner reservations at Ko). We only want to do one meal, which one should we go to, lunch or dinner at Ko or dinner at the modern. The lunch at Ko is pushing our expenses, especially if we get a couple of glasses of wine with the meal. Any opinions??
Seagrass Restaurant- Anyone?
Took my husband and my father here for dinner last night, and overall it was a great meal solid meal. For the $25 we were all very happy with what we got. I had the clam chowder which was little thick for my tastes, I like a more milkier version, but my husband and father both had the mushroom and artichoke soup which they enjoyed. I had a the almond crusted grouper served with sweet potato mash and roasted beets, while the presentation was nothing to holler about all the flavor points were there. My husband had the berkshire pork belly served with tomato risotto, he really enjoyed this dish especially the risotto. My father had the duck which was a very big portion. The desserts were good, nothing great, but a nice way to end the meal. The carrot cake was definitely the best.
I am happy that they are offering this meal on weekends and it is a great deal when you are looking to go for a meal out, not spend a fortune, and have quality ingredients. Will return!!!
Via 45 ~ Red Bank
I have to agree with equal_Mark on this. Most fine dining establishments in New York have cooks from all over Latin America. If you read "Heat" , Bill Buford memoir about cooking at Babbo (one of the best critically received Italian restaurants in New York) he speaks about the cooks he works with, and how most chefs prefer cooks from that region. Mostly they are following the recipes or orders from the Executive chefs or owners.
Chipotle
warning: look at the nutritional information of Baja fresh menu items. There sodium, fat, calories, were crazy high. And most of the items contained trans fat. They may not use microwaves but there stuff is not that good for you. I even did a comparison to Taco Bell based on nutrition and Taco Bell has less calories or fat (not that I like Taco Belll, that is the epitome of junk for me).
It just really opened my eyes.
Cape Cod: North Truro for a couple of days
My husband and I will be stating in the north Truro area for a couple of days this week before a wedding in Boston. What are the places we cannot miss? We really love lobster rolls, and would love to eat the best in the area. We would also like to have one really nice meal out, any reccomendations and would we need reservations??
Anniversary Dinner @ Nichloas
My husband and I just celebrated our anniversary at Nicholas this past weekend. It was a great meal. The service was outstanding as usual, though the server had forgot to get my husband coffee, but quickly realized her mistake and brought it out within minutes. There was no gnocchi on this seasonal menu, which was unfortunate.
I made my husband wear a jacket and tie, because I am a firm believer of dressing up when having a fine dining experience. He was upset when entering the dining room and seeing many people wearing sneakers and more casual shirts, he just felt out of place. So obviously if there are any rules, they are not enforcing them to an extreme.
Niko's Trapezi A Greek Taverna Long Branch NJ
this place sounds great, I love greek food and have been continuously disappointed with the Greek in the area. How packed do you think they will be on a friday night???
Osteria Dante is no more?
I am in agreement that the other Italian restaurants in Red Bank are not of a high quality. I have had a couple of okay to good meals at Gaetanos. But everyone agreed within my party who are all New Yorkers, this was a completely mediocre meal and nothing tasted fresh about it. But I do believe the service is probably very good when not in the weeds.
Osteria Dante is no more?
Last night 5 of my friends from New York were in town visiting my husband and I, and we were going to cook, but then last minute we decided last minute to go out to eat. Unfortunately the only place that could seat us at the specific time we wanted was TORCELLO. BIG MISTAKE.
Monmouth County is the land of mediocre Italian restaurants, but calling this restaurant mediocre is being a little too nice.
Two of us ordered appetizers to share, one grilled calamari with beans while the other was eggplant tomato and mozzarella. I thought the grilled calamari was good and had hopes the other was good, but then realized that the other dish looked half eaten. My friends just said it had no flavor and was gross.
For entrees, I ordered the butternut squash Gorgonzola risotto. The risotto was okay but really had no flavor of the two components. Other pasta entrees included spinach ricotta tortellini, pesto gnocchi, and a frutti di mar. The gnocchi were gummy and the pesto did not have a strong flavor, and the other two dishes were blah, not a lot of flavor and definitely did not deserve the high price tag.
The two pizzas were okay but were small. For brick oven pizzas they should have been a little larger (and again overpriced).
Probably the worst part of the entrees was my husband's tilapia with figs and rice. It was one the most measly pieces of tilapia I have seen served in a restaurant. He said the fish tasted nice but was a little dry and the wild rice just made the dish bland. I am not one of those people who demand big portions, I actually prefer to have a really nicely made smaller dish. But this meal left us completely unsatisfied.
I was the only one to have dessert, and I ordered the panna cotta. It was disgusting. It was just gelatin with a couple of berries in it. No flavor, just gross. Probably the worst dessert I have ever had out.
Service started good with the host pouring us our wine that we brought in and checking in. But service suffered once all the table were filled, and then everything went into the weeds. I knew they were in the weeds when I saw the owner push a panic chef (who was making the pizza at the time) back into the kitchen and started making the pizzas himself (I hope he washed his hands).
Overall, I felt bad that my friends who live in the city and have great dining options had to be subjected to this overpriced bad meal. I just recently was in Brooklyn visiting another friend were we went to one of our favorite restaurants Italian Fiore where nothing is more than $17 dollars and the meal is great. Just shows how New Jersey thinks they need to charge more, and tricking people to think they are going to get a great meal. TORCELLO claims to be an authentic Italian restaurant and to me, there is nothing authentic about it.
Valentines day dinner in Monmouth county..
Where ever you go I would make reservations asap. I called Drew's last night (which I love) and they had a seating at 6pm and I think 9pm. So most of these places are filling up quite fast!
My Dinner at Babbo - Report
I think it is interesting how varied the service could be. I was there too on Saturday night, except our reservation was at 6:30. We were seated 10 min early. This was our third time going and were seated downstairs. Everyone from our sommelier to our server were very courteous and professional. The only thing that made me raise my eyebrows is when I did not finish all the beans in the pigs foot Milanese, someone who was not our server quite snooty replied " I guess you do not like beans". Which is not true, I just did not feel like scraping up every last bean on the plate. I think babbo is a place where you need to know the right things to order because some dishes can be lackluster while other provide the opposite.
Who has better fried chicken -- Redhead or Egg?
I have to say Egg. I ate dinner there a month ago, and just dined at the Redhead this past weekend. Though Redhead was a great meal, the fried chicken was amazing at Egg. Also at the Redhead you get two pieces while at Egg you get three pieces for around the same price point. But the biscuits are amazing at the Redhead! Though my husband had the porkchops at Egg that come with pork belly and brussel sprouts and he is still raving about them. While I am still dreaming about my shrimp and grits at The Redhead. But both restaurants will give you a very solid meal!
Ps. Egg is byob, so you can save money bringing in your own bottle of wine.
East Village Saturday Night for six
My husband is playing a show in the east village on Saturday night and I am looking for a good east village restaurant that will easily take a party of six with not a long wait (need to finish around 8pm). Having lived in the east village years ago, I am some how having a hard time remembering the restaurants I use to love to go to.
Restaurant needs to be cheap to moderate..most of the party will eat anything except there has been a request for no asian influenced menus.
The show is located around 14th st between A and B, so we do not want to walk to far away.
Thanks!!
Champagne Chicken???
My father and I were reminiscing tonight about this Chinese place we use to go to in Hamilton that served our favorite Chinese dish, Champagne Chicken. The owners moved away around 15 years ago and since then my father has been craving this dish and has not been able to find it at any restaurant. Does anyone know any Chinese place in the Monmouth/Middlesex/Mercer county that serves it? I would love to take him out and surprise him with this dish.
I did find a place awhile ago that I think is in North Brunswick but I cannot for the life of me remember the name.
Best "Casual" ITALIAN in Toms River please.......
On Top of Spaghetti in Seaside is good solid italian food. In the winter some of the meals were less than stellar, but recently the food has been above par as far as "shore italian food". The staff there is what makes us keep on going back.
Brunch Near Red Bank-No Brunches at Molly Pitcher
As much as I try to avoid Mcloone's the rest of the year, this may be a good suggestion. My father is weighing ambiance and view over quality. Molly Pitcher get both right, but I think Mcloones will be good for view that he is looking for.
Brunch Near Red Bank-No Brunches at Molly Pitcher
My father is trying to take some of his old friends who are in town for my wedding out to a nice brunch, but to our avail, the Molly Pitcher is not doing the buffet brunches till October.
We then tried the Salt Creeke Grille but that appears not to be open, does anyone know about this?
Can someone recommend a restaurant that serves brunch that is a nice restaurant in the mid to expensive price range near Red Bank.
Any Good Indian Food in Monmouth County???
About once a month, I really start craving a good indian meal. Ever since moving to Monmouth County I have been trying to curb my cravings or make the hike up to Edison. Just this past weekend, my husband and I went to Neelam in Middletown and it was one of the worsts meals I've ever had.
First, we place our order, and I tell the waiter/owner that I like my food very spicy/hot. He says "you like to it hot", and I said yes very. In about 5 minutes, we were serve our main dishes, and had to wait another 5min for our naan, while our dishes were getting cold. My saag was as bland as you can make it, the waiter came and asked me how I was enjoying it, and that he told me that he made sure to make it very hot. I politely told him that it was definitely not hot enough.
Another Problem, I know the cost of flour and rice have gone way up in price, so I understand if restaurants raise prices, BUT that does not mean to give your customers the most meager amount of rice between two people. The amount of rice that was served to use was enough for one serving, for one person and I am not even a huge rice eater.
Anyway, after I finished half of my saag. I requested to take the other half home, I knew I could rescue this dish in my kitchen. I told the bus boy to wrap it up, and I was going to take it home. He nodded, took my dish along with the other plates, and I knew right away that he was going to throw it away. He did. I did inform the waiter/owner of this situation, and he did offer to reimburse me for this dish, but at that point I was so fed up, we just paid for the meals and left.
PLEASE SOMEONE TELL ME THERE IS ANOTHER GOOD RESTAURANT within Monmouth County!!
La Perla Oyster Bar- Red Bank??
Hmmm...then I will definitely check it out!! How were the prices?
La Perla Oyster Bar- Red Bank??
I just recently saw that there is an oyster bar part of 2 senze. Has anyone tried this place out. I am a huge fan of oysters and seafood, and thought this might be a nice stop when the weather starts getting warm and I start craving a raw bar. Any opinions?
Sushi in the Keyport, Matawan, Redbank Area?
I have to agree with aklein...I have been recently impressed with Aligado, and they usually have some interesting sushi specials on the weekends.
A GOOD THAI RESTAURANT ?????????
I recently have been going to Aligado on 35 in Hazlet. I like a spicy yellow curry and they will always adjust the heat for me. They also have Japanese, and my husband really thinks the sushi is amazing. The prices are a little less than Siam Garden.
