Rotondo's Liquor, deli and fine food in Clark, NJ

Recently I was in Clark and we decided to have a quick meal. So we went to Rotondo's that is a deli, a liquor and fine food store.

The place is big, but it is not surprising considering what they sell. I only went to the deli side of it and did not look anywhere else as we were in a hurry. The deli offers already made sandwiches, but you can also make your own. They have a pretty large selection that can satisfy any appetite. They also have bagels, already made salads (potato, macaroni...), chips, fruits, cookies...

I was clearly not on a light lunch mode when I picked the Sonoma sandwich...

It is a triple decker sandwich made with seedless rye, russian dressing, swiss cheese, Roast beef, turkey, ham and coleslaw. On the photo, you only see half of it! It was very good! Although, the roast beef part was quite thin...I loved the different layers. The only thing that I would have changed is probably the bread: I wish they were proposing different types like Italian or baguette.

We also ordered a cheese and mustard sandwich on a whole wheat bread.

This one was pretty straight forward, served with lettuce and tomato. Good, but they put a bit too much mustard.

At the end of the day, Rotondo's is not the best deli ever (in fact, in term of sandwiches, my reference is Sorento's Subs in Freehold, NJ - best subs ever!), but they have some good sandwiches at a very reasonable price!

Enjoy (I did)! 

The Windmill in Hoboken, NJ

When Lucky Burgers closed in Hoboken, I was a bit disappointed: I liked that place. They had good burgers, onion rings and fries and offered different types of sauces such as the chipotle mayonnaise. The Windmill defines itself as a gourmet fast food that serves award winning burgers and hot dogs. 

This chain restaurant originated in Long Branch, New Jersey in 1964 (the restaurant had the shape of a Windmill). It was later bought by Ed and Leo Levine who opened since then several locations in New Jersey.

The location in Hoboken opened in May 2012 and got the visit of celebrities for their Grand Opening: Comedian Artie Lange, actor Danny Aiello and actor Alex Corrado. You can even see them on a big painting in the back of the restaurant, along with Frank Sinatra (Hoboken native), Dean Martin...On the side, you can even see Snookie from the Jersey Shore...

When we entered the restaurant, we saw the owner (second on the bottom right on the painting...) who was very nice. As it was the first time we were there, he told us that we should try the foot long hot dog. In fact, the hot dogs have constantly received awards since 1998 from the Readers'Choice of Mommouth and Ocean County. So I decided to go for it. 

Instead of going with a chilli and/or cheese dog, I just asked for some sauteed onions. I really liked the Hot Dog. The sausage is from Sabrett and had a delicious taste: it was tastier than the hot dogs you would buy from a food cart in the City and even better than the one at Five Guys.

The burger however was not as good as Five Guys.

Don't get me wrong: it was good and the patty tasted like meat, but it was too thin (I should have probably tried the Big Ed who has a double patty) and the meat was not that juicy.

As sides, we ordered onions rings.

They were crispy and not greasy. They were made to order, so very hot. 

Then, they serve crinkle cut fries.

I really liked them: crispy and not too thick (Sorry, I do not like the fries from Nathan's!).

So, if I had to pick, I would go to Five Guys for the burgers and to The Windmill for the hot dogs and sides (Five Guys only offers fries). But I was a bit disappointed by the burger that I heard was delicious and got awards. 

Enjoy (I did)!

Love and Yoghurt in Hoboken, New Jersey

I am not sure how many Frozen Yoghurt stores Hoboken needs! There was already Mon Cheri Yoghurt Bar (pretty good) and Koa Koa (I do not like it). Then, Red Mango announced that it will be coming soon, replacing the Homemade Pizza Company that closed earlier in the year. You would think that it is enough! No! Love & Yogurt is a new one that opened on May 25th 2012. The location is in fact perfect as, although not located on Washington street, there is quite a lot of foot traffic in front of it. 

The place looks pretty neat and is a self serving yoghurt bar. So you can taste whatever flavor they offer: there is no limitation! 

The flavors are: Original Tart (pretty standard), Local Mango, Peach Tart (delicious), Thin Mint, Alpine Vanilla, Red Velvet Cake, Cake Batter, Local Coffee, New York Cheesecake (good but I would not have a full cup), Cookies N’ Cream (Love N' The good Stuff) and Local Chocolate. Items marked "local" are made with Ronnybrook farm ingredients, a third generation family farm in New York's Hudson Valley.

After my tasting, I decided to go for the cookies and cream. Once I filled up the cup, I went to the topping bar. 

They have quite a lot of toppings: Pineapple, Cherries, Mango Bubbles, Strawberry Bubbles, Oreos, Sugar Cookie Dough, Brownie, Chocolate Chip Cookie Doug, M&M, Reeses Piece Mini, Twix, Snickers, Peanut Butter Cups, Gummi Bears, Butterfinger, Sour worms... They also have Chocolate Syrup, Marshmallow Sauce, Caramel Topping and Whipped Cream. 

 So, for the toppings, I picked: 

twix, mochi and non-pareils chocolate. I added some marshmallow sauce...too much in fact...This was delicious! I love the cookies N' Cream yoghurt! 

I also got some of the peach with toasted coconut, strawberries and mango bubbles.

I really liked the peach yogurt that I tried for the first time! I also enjoyed the mango bubbles that exploded in my mouth when biting on them, liberating a delicious flavor.

Love & Yogurt is definitely worth to try. I love the variety of flavors and the large selection of toppings. But of course, frozen yoghurt is as healthy as the toppings that you put on it! 

Enjoy (I did)!

Love & Yogurt

54 Newark Street Hoboken, NJ  07030

Mamoun's falafel in Hoboken, NJ

Did you notice that there are more and more restaurants proposing falafel as the main specialty? There is Maoz, Taim and Mamoun's falafel, Moishe's falafels. Yes, falafels are definitely good when well done, meaning for me: good chickpea taste (not too many breadcrumbs please), cooked all the way through, crunchy and not oily. People debate about the benefits of falafels. The pros:

• it is only chickpeas, no meat.
• low calories: 50 to 60 per ball.
• High in protein, iron and fiber.

The cons:

• it is deep fried.
• a falafel pita can contain up to 550 calories and 32 grams of fat.

Anyway, I love Middle Eastern food, falafel of course, but also Shawarma. So we tried few times Mamoun's falafel. They have several restaurants in the City and opened several months ago one in Hoboken. The flagship restaurant is in Greenwich Village: it was opened in 1971 and was the first falafel place in New York City, as well as one of the first Middle Easter restaurants in the US. I like their menu that offers dishes not only to meat lovers, but also vegetarian.

On the vegetarian side, I love their hummus (chickpea spread) and baba ganouj (eggplant spread). We tried the tabouleh, but I do not know if it is because they make it with bulgur, but I did not like it.

The falafel are good, but I had better. They are sometimes overcooked.

On the meat side, I love their shawarma and meat combo!

The lamb shawarma is delicious! The meat is usually tender and has this great grilled tasted combined with the strong taste of the lamb meat. You can have it in a plate or a pita. With salad and olives, it was perfect.

Last time, I chose the meat combo: I picked a sandwich with chicken kebob, falafel and olives. I loved it! The crunchiness of the falafel worked really well with the chicken that was quite moist.

Another thing to try there is the mint lemonade: it is so refreshing!

I like Mamoun's falafel. Their falafels are good, but I would not name them the best though!

Enjoy (I did)!

Monday May 28th is National Burger Day: don't go to Sonic!!!

I tried Sonic because I was told that they have good burgers. I have no preconceive idea, so why not: you may end up with a big surprise!

Sonic is an old fast food chain founded in the 50's in Oklahoma. The one where I went was a drive-thru: as you can see on the photo, drivers park and will order from their car, through an inter-phone. Problem is that they had difficulties understanding my accent...but I ended up with the correct order! If you do not want to eat in your car, the only solution is to eat outside, on the patio, as there is no dining room. 

On the patio, it is the same principle: you order on the inter-phone.

Once your order is ready, a person on rollers will come to bring your order, napkins and sauces.

In term of menu, they had the classic: cheeseburger (with one or two patties), chicken sandwich, hot dog...So I went for the cheeseburger, one patty.

First, there was more lettuce than meat! And the meat looked grey! Not very appetizing.

Clearly not the best quality! And tasteless! Fortunately, I had the taste of the mayo and ketchup to give some flavor.

So, the cheeseburger was a miss. I was hopeful that the sides would be better. They had this great idea to propose small portions of sides for $1. It gives you the opportunity to try several. So we picked: onion rings, tater tots and fries.

The onion rings are supposed to be hand made. They were crispy, but had this weird sweet taste. I thought first that it was because of the onions they used, but there was definitely something in the batter that was throwing off the taste!

The fries were uneven: some were good and crispy, other were not. Fortunately, out of the three sides, the tater tots were good! A bit of crispiness, tasty and not greasy!

Last, I tried the milk shake. If was supposed to be hand dipped (meaning they use ice cream rather than a mix).

I chose a vanilla one. They definitely try to give a diner feel by adding whipped cream and a maraschino cherry on top. The milk shake was thick, but a bit tasteless. They probably did not put enough vanilla syrup in it. So again: a miss.

At the end of the day, I did not like what Sonic was proposing. I would go there only if there is no other option!

So, Monday May 28th being National Burger day, do not go to Sonic! Try more BLT Burger or Five Guys!

Enjoy (the post)!

Zylo Tuscan Steakhouse in Hoboken, New Jersey

It has been a while since I wanted to try Zylo in the W Hotel in Hoboken (it opened in 2009). They call themselves a Tuscan Steakhouse. Knowing that we like Steaks and Italian food, there was no more hesitation!

The restaurant was interesting: it looked more like a lounge than a restaurant with the low leather chairs and couches. We went on a Tuesday night and it was packed!

The service was perfect: efficient and extremely courteous.

Now, the most interesting thing about Zylo is the menu.

There is a wide variety of dishes that can satisfy every palate: pizza, pasta, fish and steaks. This time, we were there for the steaks! All steaks are prime meat, dry aged and finished with Tuscan olive oil and sea salt. They are all served with a watercress salad (nice, but I do not really care about the salad!).

So we tried the filet mignon.

We asked for the meat to be cooked medium and it came at the correct temperature. 

We also tried the bone-in ribeye.

We asked for medium rare. Both steaks were perfectly cooked, juicy and you could definitely taste a hint of olive oil and sea salt that made it delicious. The ribeye was 20 Oz and there was only the bone (and the salad) remaining at the end of the dinner on my plate! There was a bit of fat, but I love that, especially around the bone as it gives to the meat and the fat a stronger taste (in fact, when ordering a bone in filet mignon, the taste of the meat close to the bone will be between a filet mignon and a ribeye). It was so good that I think I devoured it!

Then we picked some sides. At the beginning, we thought about going for an appetizer (the tuna tartare) and a side. But then I saw that they were offering the pasta in small portions!

So we had the ricotta gnocchi.

The gnocchi were pretty good. Not the lightest I ever had, but good. The sauce was an heirloom pomodoro sauce (tomatoes, garlic, olive oil and basil) that had a nice thickness. All of this was topped with some parmigiano reggiano.

The other side was French fries. 

They were just ok for me. I like them more crunchy and would have loved truffled fries!

Last, was dessert. Yes, I know: you are surprised that after that we were still able to eat dessert. Well, as we were in a tuscan steakhouse, we went for the tiramisu.

It came with some white chocolate decoration and an expresso ice cream that were very good. But the most surprising thing was the tiramisu itself: it was immersed in a chocolate fudge. This was simply delicious! Not a traditional tiramisu, but a very interesting and amazing twist on it! Definitely something to try!

We really had a great dinner at Zylo and will definitely have to try their lunch and brunch menu that are mouth watering. It is great to discover another great restaurant in Hoboken!

Enjoy (I did)!

Mie Thai Restaurant in Woodbridge, NJ

We went with my colleagues to Mie Thai, a Thai restaurant in Woodbridge, New Jersey. I like the place as it has a nice decoration with art representing Thailand. The service was efficient and very courteous.
For lunch, they offer different traditional dishes at a very reasonable price.

As it was the first time in that restaurant, I decided to go for the Penang curry. Usually, to test a Thai restaurant, I will either go for the Penang or Massaman curry.



First, they served us a salad.

The star was not the salad, but the peanut sauce that was delicious.

I asked to have Chicken Penang Curry mild: I am glad I did that. It was slightly hot and I am wondering what it would have been if regular. This dish had a lot of flavors and they served a nice quantity of it. I loved it and finished the bowl.

I also tried the Pad Kee-Mao that are sauteed wide rice noodles with shrimp, chicken, fresh chili, onions and eggs. It was also delicious.

Overall, I really liked Mie Thai: the food was good, flavorful and well seasoned. Definitely a good Thai place.

Enjoy (I did)!

And remember: I just want to eat!

Stacks Pancake House and cafe in Hoboken, NJ

I love pancakes and French toasts and when Stacks Pancake House & Cafe opened in Hoboken, New Jersey, I was very excited. Usually, you get pancakes and French toast in diners and restaurants, but the choices are limited. Not at Stacks! And it has been crowded from day one with people craving for it!

I went few times. I have to confess that at the beginning, I was not a big fan: although the pancakes were good, they did not give that much of toppings. I went back anyway and loved it!

First, they surprise you with homemade corn bread that is really good.

In term of food, they do not only have pancake and French toast (made with homemade Challah bread), but also waffles, sandwiches, wraps (made with pancakes!) and eggs. 

Then, they have more than 20 different pancakes! It can be with chocolate, with Banana and strawberries, apple and cinnamon or chocolate chip!

This time, we tried the strawberry fields that is served with farm fresh strawberries.

The portion was huge and the pancake was awesome! Not doughy at all!

We also tried the Chocolate chip french toast.

There were a lot of chocolate chips. At first, I thought the sugar would make it too sweet and noticed that the bread was not fully dipped in batter. But it was in fact delicious. I finished my plate! 

I really like Stacks Pancake House and Cafe in Hoboken and would definitely go back! I just wish they had a build your own where you can pick different toppings, the same way you do for pizza.

Enjoy (I did)!

And remember: I just want to Eat!

I tested the Homemade Pizza Company - CLOSED!

Update March 25th, 2012: this place has closed! I guess people prefer not going through the hassle of cooking the pizza and considering the number of good pizza joints in Hoboken, this is not surprising!

Original post:
Imagine the concept: you like pizza, but do not know how to make one or do not have time. You still want to feel as if you made it yourself. You pick the ingredients, they prepare it for you and you bake it. That's what Homemade Pizza Company is all about! This is a great concept! 

When you go to their store, of course, there are no tables! You either pick from their own recipes (4 cheeses, mushroom...) or create your own. If you create your own, there are different steps:

1. Pick a size: cutie (serves 1), Medium (serves 2-3) or large (serves 3-4).
2. Choose a crust (regular or whole grain). 
3. Choose a base (ruby red tomato sauce, olive oil or fresh pesto). They usually come with tomato sauce and cheese.
4. Add ingredients: they propose 41 different ingredients (fresh herbs, cheeses, meat or fresh produces).
5. The last step is to bring it home and bake it! For this, they package the pizza for you, similar to the fresh pizza you can find in supermarkets and give you instructions on how to cook it. The pizza is on a parchment paper and on a cardboard, very convenient to slide and remove from the oven. You are supposed to cook for 10 to 15 minutes at 425 degrees. Ours took longer.

So we tried 2 different pizzas: 

• one with blue cheese, aged parmesan, asiago and fontinella: it was delicious! 
• the second one with goat cheese, caramelized onions and crimini mushrooms. The goat cheese and caramelized onions work so well together: it was full of nice flavors!

The pizza were really good: the crust was thin and they were not cheap on the ingredients! They also serve salads in case you want one to accompany your pizza.

Definitely good and fun to pick the ingredients! You should try it! They have restaurants in different areas of the states of New Jersey and New York.

Enjoy (I did)!

Restaurant Review: The Clam Broth House (Hoboken, NJ) - CLOSED

Updated on 3/18/12 - The Clam Broth House CLOSED!
I am not sure I am that surprised considering how the food was when I went there! See the original post below!

Original post 10/1/11:
So we went to The Clam House in Hoboken. Or shall I call it The Cr*p Broth House based on the experience I got??? It was bad, bad bad: service, food and noise level! 

I was thrilled to go: first because I LOVE seafood. Second, because when it reopened in Hoboken earlier this year, there have been a lot of buzz. The restaurant originally opened in 1899 and catered to dock workers. Apparently, the restaurant's floor was full of shells. Interesting enough, it was forbidden to women until the 70's. The restaurant closed in 2003. New owners decided to reopen it this year, taking advantage of the status of landmark of the old restaurant.

I looked at the menu the day before and already decided on trying several appetizers instead of having an entree. I could already smell their specialty: the clam chowder! So we showed up to the restaurant and I was surprised to see that it was not that crowded for a Friday night. They apparently have a jazz band on Fridays. Good idea, but unfortunately very loud! When I have dinner and there is a band, I like to enjoy the music and the conversation!

Then, the service was bad: the food took forever to come (remember that it was no crowded) and the waiter keep disappearing! When the food came, I was thinking: I hope it is worth it and at first sight, it looked very appetizing! Well it was not...We tried:

• New England Clam Chowder: homemade, one of their specialties. The cream was good although a little too liquid for clam chowder. In the bottom, there were a lot of clams. Unfortunately, they were too chewy.
• Clams oreganata (gratinees): few clams were a little tough. Not bad besides that.
• Crab cakes (of course): it was served with Chipotle aioli. At first, when splitting the crab cakes, I was pleased to see the jumbo lump crab. But it was totally bland!!! And the aioli was so spicy! So sad!
• East Coast Halibut with Crispy potato pancake, zucchini, cherry tomatoes, capers. The crispy potato pancake was very good. Unfortunately, the fish was overcooked, so dry!

So, imagine: after all of that, the only things I liked were the bread and the potato pancake!!! They should probably change their menu and name to stick to these 2 items! The Potato Pancake House....

Not worth it....

Edison Quick shop: that was some experience!

One of my colleagues, Benny, used to talk about a “sandwich place” near Edison called Edison Quick Shop. He kept saying, “We should go there, you have to try it”! So one time, we decided to go.

From the outside, it looks like any small deli you would find, with “Try our cheese steak” written at the window (let me rephrase: that you could easily find at a gas station). We entered and I have to say that it looked pretty interesting. First of all, you cannot miss the different ways they display their menu: posters, but also paper plates. 

It Is all over the place and with all the choices they have, you could think that they have 20 cooks preparing the food. The menu was huge! Could be funny to see Gordon Ramsey go there to film an episode of Kitchen Nightmare!

Then, you see the tables: no, this is not a communal table you see on the photo! This is not the genre here! In fact I had the impression to be in somebody’s backyard.

So, as I was there, I went for the pastrami reuben. Benny asked, who I believe was the owner, to have some lean meat. He told us that he only serves his reuben with the leanest meat. The sandwich came few minutes after: it was served with some coleslaw that I think was homemade. The meat was definitely packaged slices that you would buy in the supermarket. Clearly, not cooked and cut at the Quick Shop. You could barely taste it, as it was very thin (of course there were several slices) and overpowered by the coleslaw.

According to the cashier (probably one of the owners), the pastrami reuben is, with the cheese steak their specialty. I cannot imagine what the cheese steak tastes like!

So, it was not the best food experience and I am not sure anybody would go there just for the food. This is more a Mom and Pop’s shop that serves quickly made and cheap food. At least the owners were very nice…

When I asked Benny why he brought us there, he said that it was because of my blog and because he wanted me to have some interesting experience. Well, mission accomplished.

Enjoy (meh)!

And remember: I just want to eat!

Great Japanese food at Yeung II in Hoboken, NJ

It as been a while that we noticed this small restaurant located uptown Hoboken. Each time we passed by, I have noticed that it was packed. I love Japanese food and my favorites are the sushi and sashimi. For those who do not know, sashimi is raw fish (you will always have on a sashimi plate a piece of tuna or salmon that are very tender) and sushi is made of raw fish on top of sushi rice. The difficulty in making a sushi is to   put the rice well together so it does not crumbled as soon as you pick it up with your chopsticks. Often, there will be wasabi between the fish and the rice. My least favorite sushi is shrimp: usually cooked, it is too bland. 

So we go there for lunch (all Japanese restaurants have lunch specials that are usually good deals). At first they seem a little stressed out. We ask for green tea and they tell us that the water was not yet hot. Interesting! I guess it does not take that long to boil water, no? Then it took several minutes before they realize that we do not have any menu. After that, everything was fine.

I guess they were a bit late in there prep work and all stressed out! Minutes later, the restaurant was packed and there were a lot of asian customers, that is a very good sign for a Japanese restaurant! But note that they serve also Chinese cuisine; for instance, they have the General Tso Chicken or Lo Mein.

So we went for the lunch specials. They came with a miso soup and a salad.

The salad came first as the miso soup was not ready (what is going on with the hot water today?). It was a nice portion. Of course, the salad was a traditional salad you would have for a lunch special: lettuce, carrots, tomatoes and a carrot and ginger sauce that was very good.

Then came the miso soup that had a great smokey aroma. It was pretty good and...hot.

For the main course, we had the avocado rolls. They were pretty nice. Of course, it all comes down to the ripeness of the avocado and it was perfect.

The Sushi and Sashimi plate was awesome: colorful and the fish tasted fresh (I hope)! It came with 4 pieces of sushi (tuna and salmon of course), 6 pieces of sashimi (tuna and salmon also in the party) and a salmon and avocado roll. The avocado was ripe enough and the salmon delicious!

This was definitely a great lunch for a very good price. I loved it and will probably go back there. You should too!

Enjoy (I did)!

Fabulous Donburi at Ubu Sushi in Hoboken, NJ!

Ubu Sushi is a Korean-Japanese restaurant located in Hoboken, NJ. This is the place for Donburi, a japanese rice dish (means bowl in Japanese) that I tried few years ago. When I go to this place, it is not for the sushi (i tried them once and they are good), but for this affordable dish that is Donburi. They have different type: veggie, veggie and crab, tofu...

For a drink we got a nice green tea. I love the smoky taste of it.

With the Donburi, came a miso soup. It was pretty good and a perfect way to start.

The Donburi are served with a ginger sauce. I tried to know what was in it, but the waiter said that it was a secret recipe. The only think I could get is that there was carrots in it!

The vegetarian Donburi was made of mixed greens, avocado, cucumber and tofu, over sushi rice.

The veggie-Crab Donburi was made of crab, mixed greens, avocado, cucumber and tofu, over sushi rice. This dish is fabulous! There is a lot of crab with it and the avocado was ripe. When I was a kid, I hated rice salads, but I have to say, this has nothing to do with it! After you pour the ginger sauce and mix everything together, you get an explosion of flavors coming from the crab, salad, rice and sauce. It is amazing! 

If you are in Hoboken, stop by Ubu sushi for a Donburi: you will not regret it!

Enjoy (I did)!

Choc-O-Pain! Finally a French Bakery in Hoboken, NJ!!!

Updated on February 26th 2012 (see at the end of this post).

It has been a long time my wife and I were talking about the need for a nice French bakery in Hoboken. And finally, it opened! Beginning of 2012, Cho-O-Pain opened!

For sure, the location is off Washington street, the main street of Hoboken and hopefully, there will be enough buzz so they attract many people to try their breads, viennoiseries (croissants, chocolate croissants, brioches, etc...).

The place is not that small and you can either order to go or to eat there. The service was very nice and polite and I was please to talk to some fellow French people!

They have plenty of breads, even some epis ones! Luckily, they had some samples and what I tried was pretty good and authentic. They also sell sandwiches like the traditional ham and cheese!

Of course, they had quiches and pizza (French ones)! They also serve croque monsieur, that I am sure are good.

On our side, we tried first the brioche: although it looked burnt on the top, it was delicious! Buttery, but not too much.

Then, we tried the lemon tart (tarte au citron) with meringue on top. This was awesome! Although I would have preferred a more buttery crust (a pate sablee would have been perfect). The meringue was addictive. Definitely a great pastry.

I definitely have to try the breads, pizza, quiches and sandwiches from Choc-O-Pain! In fact I have to try everything! I am so excited that a French bakery opened finally in Hoboken! Bonne chance!

Update February 26th 2012:

So we went back for brunch today to Choc-O-Pain. I was very excited to try something different.

When we arrived, it was packed! I explored a bit the restaurant: first, the main floor is where the kitchen is. You can see what is going on there by looking through a glass. You can order to go or to stay. If you stay, you can either sit in one of the tables or at the communal table, or go upstairs where there are few tables and seats. The entire place, especially upstairs has a very rustic feel. 

We went for the ham & cheese sandwich: I thought I was in France! The bread was so good, so crispy. A perfect baguette!

Then we had the Tarte aux poireaux (leeks tart): I did not have this for years and loved it.

We finished with a fantastic Tarte aux poires (pear tart). It was made with almond paste and was sublimely buttery.

I have to say that it was great! Same quality as what you would find in a good boulangerie (bakery) in France. So if you do not have the luxury to travel, go there for a bit of France!

Enjoy (I did)!

And remember: I just want to eat!

Restaurant Information

tabelog.us

	* Restaurant Name
	Choc O Pain
	* Overall
	★★★☆☆
	* Neighborhood / Cuisine
	New Jersey / French
	* Street Address
	157 1st St., Hoboken, NJ 07030
	* Phone
	(201) 710-5175

Bagel on the Hudson in Hoboken - Great Bagels!

I love a good bagel with either cream cheese and lox or tuna salad. Finding a good bagel place is not that easy. In New York, my favorite is H&H bagels. In Hoboken, it is Bagel on the Hudson. It is a small place that makes awesome bagels! 

My favorite bagels are the plain and the everything (topped with a poppy seed, sesame seed, garlic, onion and salt mixture - photo below).

They of course have other standard bagels like egg, whole wheat or salt.

If you do not have anything to put on your bagel, they sell lox, cream cheese or tuna salad. All of good quality.

This is definitely a great place for bagels!

Enjoy (I did)!

Sol Caribe in Hoboken - My advice: improve your cooking!

Sol Caribe in Hoboken is a latin fusion restaurant that opened recently, replacing Harvest Cuisine. It is located Midtown Hoboken, so it is not a bad location to attract dinners. The restaurant has been fully renovated with bamboo everywhere and a Caribbean feel. Each time we passed in front of it, we did not see that many people though. So I got curious. I can tell you that when we entered, they jumped on us! They are probably dying to have customers, but I suggest they make some changes, otherwise it is not going to happen. Yes, the food was not that great. The way they set it up is the following: you can order a la carte or have the all day special for $7.99. It is comprised of: rice (Morro or yellow), meat (chicken, pork or beef) or fish, plantains or yuca, soup or salad. All of this is prepared buffet style.

We first started with a cheese empanada. I really liked it: there was enough cheese and it was not too greasy.

Then, we went for the $7.99 menu: we chose the morro rice (made with rice and black beans), chicken and skirt steak with fried vegetables, maduros (plantains) and Caribbean salad.

I did not care about the salad: it was made with potatoes, beans and corn with a pink dressing that I guess was made of yoghurt. It was bland!
The rice was dry: they should have prepared the rice with some black bean sauce so it does not dry out as fast.

The skirt steak was like eating my shoe! I did not even finish it! This is very rare as would people who know me say.

The only things I liked were the chicken (just a drumstick) and the maduros. I also had a batido of banana (Latin American handmade blended beverage similar to smoothies, made with milk, fruit, and usually ice) that was very delicious.

The food is definitely not good, even for the price! We ended up spending as much as what we spent at La Isla, where we would have had a better quality meal!

Hopefully, they will improve, otherwise, I am not sure how they will be able to stay opened! There are so many good restaurants in the area, that you have to serve decent food and Sol Caribe failed to do it!

No enjoy this time!

Urban Spice - Indian buffet in Iselin, New Jersey

This week, with my colleagues, we decided to eat at Urban Spice, an Indian restaurant located in Iselin.  We went there few times and my friends of Indian origin consider it very good. We always go for their lunch buffet: good price and good food!

The restaurant is pretty nice and I was impressed by the two wooden doors located behind the buffet. The service has always been good and efficient.

The buffet varies and is always composed of:

- a soup

- some vegetarian entrees

- some meat entrees

- a dessert (why only one???)

They also bring some naan at the table.

This time, for the buffet, we got:

Vegetarian Pakora: 

Assorted vegetables dipped in a seasoned gram flour batter that is then deep fried.

Gram flour is a cereale flour made of chickpea also called chickpea flour or garbanzo flour. It is used in vegan cooking to replace eggs.

The pakora were good and not greasy at all.

Dal Makhni:

Black lentils slow cooked, finished with butter and cream.

One of my favorites!!! 

Kadai Paneer:

Cottage cheese sauteed with a julienne of tomatoes, onions and bell peppers.

This was delicious! Creamy and very tasty.

Methi Corn:

Methi is in hindi fenugreek. 

I unfortunately could not find how they made this dish. Too bad, because it was very good! I guess they are using sweet corn, because it had a nice sweetness to it!

Malai Kebab:

I am not sure what spices they put with the chicken, but it was tasty and moist.

Fish Curry:

I believe it was tilapia, prepared with herbs and coconut milk. The sauce was delicious, but I did not really like the fish.

Tandoori Chicken:

Tandoori is cooked in a clay oven. This was good but I hurt my palate with a bone as they cut the drumstick probably with a meat cleaver, leaving some sharp bones. I would have kept the piece whole!

Otherwise, it was good....

The last part of the meal is the dessert! The only regret I have in this place is that they only have one! This time, it was Dubble Ka Mitha, a sort of bread and nuts (I guess cashew) dipped in sweetened milk. If you like sweet desserts, you will like this!

On top of this delicious buffet, they had different "complements" such as raita. This was definitely a feast! If you are in the area, Urban Spice is a good place to go for Indian food (there are several restaurants in the area and an Indian market by the way).

Enjoy (I did)!

Poor Service at Napoli's pizza in Hoboken!

Imagine: we went to Napoli's pizza in Hoboken, New Jersey today and there was barely anybody in the restaurant: a table who already ordered and got their food, and us. First, we arrive and although they see us, they do not come to seat us. So we decide to seat at a table close to the windows. Couple of minutes later, they realize we are there and bring us the menu. They do not ask at this point if we would like anything to drink. Then, seeing that nobody is taking care of us, I go to the counter and the cook tells me that somebody will take care of us; he then calls the waiter. Five minutes later, still nobody asking for our order, although there were 4 people behind the counter. We decided to leave at that point and it is only then that they decide to ask us if we are ready to order. Yeah right! And then the pizza will take two hours to come???

We ended up at Benny Tudino's and had a great slice and a nice and efficient service! Look at the size of this pizza compared to the fork!

Seriously, with all the pizzeria in Hoboken, owners should make sure their restaurant treats customers properly!

Enjoy (I sure did...at Benny Tudino's)!

Las Olas, Latin and Japanese fusion in Hoboken, NJ

I guess now everybody is trying to do some kind of fusion! Japanese and Latin since to be the way to go these days. That is true that there are two completely different cuisines. I am not sure if a Pakistani / Indian or Portuguese / Brazilian fusion restaurant would have that much of a success! After Taka Taka few weeks ago, we ended up at Las Olas in Hoboken, a new restaurant that replaced the Sushi House. 

The place is nice and neat with a nice bar and sushi bar. The service was attentive and courteous, maybe too much (might have been because they just opened and were dying for clients as the place was empty). In term of prices, it is pricier than most of the Japanese restaurants in Hoboken.

We started with the appetizer: a spicy mango tuna tartare (photo 2) that is spicy tuna (from a can?) chopped with mango and served with homemade tortilla chips. I love tuna tartare, but I was kind of disappointed, because it was canned tuna and missed the freshness of a tuna tartare made with chopped fresh tuna. To give a latin flair, I would have served it with avocado or guacamole as they did at Taka Taka (not that I am comparing...). Then, I decided to go with one of my favorite roll: spicy scallop roll. They have a latin version called El Fuego (photo 1): spicy scallop and avocado served with jalapeno and two types of tobiko (fish eggs). Based on the name, I thought that I would get some spice in my mouth and would not need any wasabi. It was not spicy at all!!! Good, but not spicy! So do not call it El Fuego! It is misleading!

We also tried the Yakisoba (photo 3), stir fried soba noodles with vegetables. This was a bad choice: bland, very, very bland. Where were the veggies? There were only onions in it! 

So, at the end, I was disappointed by the meal, probably because the Japanese / Latin fusion made me expect more flavors. I do not know if it is because they just opened and are trying to fine tune their menu.

I may go back another time and try something else as their menu is appetizing. Hopefully it does not stop there...

Enjoy (I will)!

Las Olas
1319 Washington St
Hoboken, NJ 07030
(201) 222-9991
www.lasolasushi.com

Let me know what you think about Las Olas by posting a comment!

Where is my lunch??? 10th and Willow Bar and Grill in Hoboken, NJ

We decided to go to 10th and Willow in Hoboken for Brunch. The place is nice with a warm atmosphere rendered by the wood from floor to ceiling (high). We were given the choice of sitting in the bar room on high chairs and high tables or go to the dining room in the back. We picked the bar as it had a certain charm.

The menu offers classic brunch dishes or meals you would find in tailgate such as chicken wings or burgers (build your own). We ordered French toast and Huevos Rancheros (one of my favorites). I am not sure if they prepare the food out of town, but it took more than 30 minutes to get served and I had to ask the waitress if there was a problem with the kitchen so she took care of us!!! Clearly poor service! The table next to us arrived before us and when we left, did not even have their food! I have to say that I admired their patience; the Bloody Mary may have helped them...I did some research on the internet and it seems that poor service is one of the characteristics of this place!

So, 30 minutes later, our food arrived:

First was the cinnamon raisin French Toast, served with toasted coconut butter and fresh fruits. When we asked for some more coconut butter, they were nice enough to bring a lot more, although I was a bit scared that it would take another 30 minutes! The French toast was very good: crunchy and moist. 

The coconut butter was awesome and I am not a coconut addict!

I also appreciated the fact that they served the dishes with fresh fruits: it gives an impression of a complete meal.

Then there was the Huevos Rancheros: two poached eggs in a crispy corn tortilla shell with black bean salsa puree, shredded cheddar, spicy salsa, guacamole and home fries. The price of this plate is $15 so I was very surprised when I saw the quantities they were serving. It was probably worth $12. However, I am ready to pay a good price but it has to be real good! The guacamole was good, although missing a bit of acidity; in term of quantity, it was perfect. The eggs were well poached and the tortilla crispy as advertised. But, the black bean puree should have been called "thin layer of black bean puree"! I could barely taste it! And where was the spicy salsa? It was not spicy at all. So it was kind of disappointing. For good Huevos Rancheros in Hoboken, next time I will go to La Isla!

I am not sure it is worth giving another try. Especially considering the other good restaurants in the area!

Enjoy (meh)!

If you had a similar or different experience there, let me know by posting a comment!