What are your favorite NJ restaurants? (New Brunswick, Hackensack: Lebanese, venue, Thai)

[vetteracing46]

Flemmings, steakhouse (Edgewater)

River Palm Terrace, steakhouse (Edgewater)

Grissini, italian (Englewood Cliffs) *get the Sunday Special, amazing!

Aldo & Gianni's, italian (Montvale)

Cafe Italiano, italian, (Englewood Cliffs)

Sally Ling's, chinese (Fort Lee)

Kaname, japanese (Cliffside Park) *rated best sushi in NJ

Tio Pepe, spanish (North Bergen)

Hiram's, burgers & dogs (Fort Lee) *truly amazing

White Mana , similar but better than white castle (Hackensack)

Spike's, seafood (Point Pleasant Beach)

It's Greek to Me, greek (Long Branch)

Vincent's Pizzeria (Cliffside Park)

[JerseyGirl08]

Originally Posted by EEEPNJ

Any feedback on Oceanos in Fair Lawn?

It is absolutely amazing. It has great fresh seafood. It is pricey but worth it.

[Menthy]

Hi i'm new to this board. Just had to chime in cuz eating good food's one of my top 3 favorite physical activities.

These are mostly North NJ as that's what I'm familiar with.

French:

Cafe Panache, Ramsey (surpised no one mentioned this one. actually one of the top rated restaurants in NJ and one of my overall favorites. Chef/owner Kevin Kohler has a truly wide repertoire. He does classical french, asian-influenced, new american or just invents his own dishes with the skill of a real master. He gets most of his herbs and produce from a farm he co-owns 2 miles away so the veggies and herbs are super fresh when in season. Best in my lifetime dishes i've had there: Ceviche appetizer, Filet Mignon Ravioli, Pan-seared Foie Gras, the oh so heavenly Warm Mushroom Salad)

Cafe Matisse, Rutherford
Latour, Ridgewood (highly recommend the Beef Wellington)

Chinese:
Petite Soo Chow, Cliffside Park (authentic chinatown style place for when you need to satisfy your pig's feet fix)

Diner:
Jackson Hole, Englewood

Steak:
Ruth's Chris, Weehawken
River Palm, Edgewater

Italian:
I've been spoiled by Mario Batali's magnificent italian eateries in NYC so much that i no longer wish to eat italian food in NJ for fear of disappointment. Honestly though, NJ has literally hundreds of italian restaurants that i'd group under the "very good" label. I think NJ probably has the highest density per square mile of decent italian restaurants of any state in the nation. I kind of like Grissini in Englewood. Nice pasta there

Kosher Deli:
Manhattan Deli, Montvale (trust me on this one. better than harold's, better than carnegie deli in the city, better than the places in teaneck. corned beef on rye is the best here, pastrami's really good as long as you get a good cut, matzoh ball soup excellent)

New American:
Amanda's, Hoboken
Xaviar, Piermont, NY (i know it's not NJ but it's just over the NJ border. Very reasonably priced price-fixe. Zagat rating is through the roof, rated 29 for food!!!! The chef/owner Peter Kelly was on Iron Chef and defeated Bobby Flay. it was a rib-eye steak battle to boot. Only time i've ever seen Flay lose a grill / southwestern themed battle. If you eat at Xaviar you'll understand why)

Indian:
Kinara, Edgewater
Namaskaar, Englewood

Japanese:
Kaname, Cliffside Park
Daruma, Englewood

Spanish:
Tapas de Espana, Englewood and North Bergen
Meson Madrid, Palisades Park

Korean:
So Moon Nan Jib, Palisades Park

Restaurant with best view of NYC not called Chart House:
Highlawn Pavilion, West Orange (it's located in this park situated atop a cliff overlooking the city. It's a different kind of view. A bit further away from a higher vantage point. If you get a table by one of the floor to ceiling windows on a clear sky day or night, it's arguably the best view of the city from an NJ restaurant. They do a lot of wedding receptions it seems. food is better than chart house too, new american cuisine, jackets required)

Best buffet:
The Manor, West Orange (hint: all you can eat lobster tails, king crab legs, etc. no other buffet like it in NJ that i'm aware of. Also probably the most expensive buffet too, jackets required)

Seafood:
Pier 17, Paramus (the place looks old and tired, but the seafood is actually really very good)

Greek:
Adonisa's, Fort Lee

Thai:
Thai Chef, Hackensack, River Side Sq Mall. it's actually Thai/French fusion but whatever. Thai standards like Pad Thai, Curry dishes are very solid. French influenced stuff like the frog legs appetizer are very good too.

Hot Dogs:
Kocher's, Ridgefield. It's not a hot dog place. It's a very old German-style Butcher Shop that makes there own hot dogs, sausages and brauts on premises the old-fashioned way. They supply their hot dogs to dozens of commercial hot dog places (they refuse to say to whom nor would their customers want them to, but i suspect many of our favorite hot dog places source their hot dogs from Kochers) I just go there and buy a dozen hot dogs for like 10 bucks and cook'em myself whichever way i fancy that day.

BBQ:
Backwood's BBQ, Westwood. This place isn't a typical BBQ place. You got a classically trained chef so the menu's combines "gourmet" elements with good ole american BBQ. (such as Kobe Beef Corn Dogs) Menu's creative, original and bold. His Dry-rub St. Louis Ribs won the grand prize for WFAN's tailgate BBQ cookoff contest or something like that. Food's pricey, service is just a bunch of high school kids and the decor's cheesy but the ribs, mac'n'cheese and slaw are pretty good. Still haven't found a place in NJ that compares to Dinosaur BBQ in Harlem. Now THERE'S a real BBQ spot. It's even got that certain special gritty and seedy ambiance that makes the whole experience feel authentic.

Pizza:
Now this one's probably the hardest one for me. The best pizza i've ever had was in Chicago and i had to eat it with a fork and knife as my friend from UI Urbana-Champaign instructed me to. That said, i've never been able to find pizza like that here on the east coast. There's so many kinds and styles of pizza. There's the chicago style lovers like me, the staten island pizza fans, the brooklyn pizza fans, the next-generation-west-coast-style lovers, etc. and I haven't even gotten into toppings yet! I'm just leaving this one undecided.



As you can see I take my food pretty seriously. I'm sure i've forgotten a lot of great places and i still have a long list of places to try out (such as Ryland Inn or Nicholas, both very far from me). I had fun making this list. Congrats if you read it all the way through!!!

[Jerseyt719]

For anyone that said they can't find decent Italian in NJ, you need to check out Espo's in Raritan. Tiny, and I mean tiny, place. Also, there's Girasole and Rosina's in Bound Brook. Really good Italian food.

There's a great little Mexican place in Martinsville called Jose's Authentic Mayan Cuisine that's out of this world.

And for Pizza, the Chimney Rock Inn, Martinsville and Deluccia's in Raritan.

Mug's in Raritan USED to be good. They changed hands and it's so disappointing now. For example, we noticed the quality go down right away, but still were giving it a chance through the transition. Last time we went, my daughters and I decided to split a nachos appetizer. Something smelled funny on it and tasted even funnier. The cheese was horribly bad - and I mean way over expired or something. I told them about it, nicely. Their response, it's cheddar - that's how it smells and tastes.
Funny, I've been eating cheddar my whole life and NEVER had it smell or taste like that. I told them to bring it back, they said they'd take it off our bill, didn't, and then fought me when I got the bill to take it off.
Won't be going back there again.

[Jerseyt719]

OH - Can't forget O'Connors Beef and Chowder House in Franklin. Best place to go for holidays (Thanksgiving, Easter, Mother's Day, etc.).

[0706772]

One word!
UNDICI'S in Rumson.

[janethepiano]

I am surpised that nobody mentioned "Bone Fish Grill" in Secaucus, which is an excellent place, clean, great food, fast sevice.

[Shwa]

Teak (Red Bank) - Asian Fusion
Mojave Grille (Westfield) - high end southwest
Nicholas (Middletown/Red Bank) - eclectic - but expensive
Julia (Highlands) - Italian

[go phillies]

Hot Dog Johnny's

[delicious222]

for hot dogs Rutts Hutt, Jimmy Buffs. For steaks ... Arthurs in Morris Plains. Seafood Pub 199 in Mt. Arlington is great and affordable they only accept cash. Buffet I would say laffayette house in laffayette has a great and affordable brunch buffett. Minado in Denville on Rt. 10 is a great sushi buffet the best ive ever had. other great restaraunts black horse inn located in mendham. charlottes webb located in dover