First Taste: Char No. 4

The day started with a return trip to Rutt's Hut in Clifton, NJ. Despite what you see in the photo, I did not have 4 rippers all to my preggo self. DMR and I had two rippers each, accompanied by a cup of chili, sauerkraut and disco fries with gravy on the side. Very Jersey, very good.

Then we spent too much time at Best Buy and Babies R Us in Secaucus. And then even more time getting back to Brooklyn. So with some time to kill before Christy's birthday drinks at the Clover Club (where I wound up having a sour cherry fizzy thing, minus the egg whites and booze. Verdict: disappointing), we decided to get some food at nearby Char. No 4.

Much to our surprise, the place was packed at 6:30. All the tables were taken, and nearly every seat at the bar was, too. Thankfully there was an empty stool at the end where I could wistfully stare at the wall of bourbon bottles. We were told the wait would be about an hour or more, but were seated after only about 30 minutes.

DMR and I shared the apple and fennel salad with bleu cheese and pickled turnips to start. The turnips were hiding at the bottom of the bowl and I had completely forgotten about them. When I crunched into one thinking it was a piece of apple, it was a nice, salty and tangy surprise.

I wasn't super hungry so while DMR opted for the chopped pork sandwich (shown above with a side of baked beans and some pickled onions and peppers, and which he loved, loved loved), I made a meal of the smoked and fried pork nuggets appetizer and roasted delicata squash side. The squash was served as two roasted rings, with a mount of swiss chard on top. Chopped pecans were sprinkled into the mix and the entire plate was blanketed with parmesan. I would have liked either a little more salt or sweetness (maybe more caramelization from the roasting process?) but otherwise, this was enjoyable and I also convinced myself it was sort of healthy.

There were 5 nuggets to my order and much to my surprise, instead of whole pork chunks underneath the breading, there was rich, fatty minced meat. I'd probably order these again, but definitely not just for myself. DMR helped me out, but I did feel a little porked out.

To end the meal we shared the homemade butter pecan ice cream, which was super delicious. The description kind of undersells it as the super smooth ice cream is studded with nobs of praline. It's served with bourbon, but we asked for it on the side. DMR was able to pour it all over his ice cream for an even more decadent treat. In an act of jealousy, I poured a tiny drop onto a spoonful of ice cream for a wonderful bourbony bite all to myself.

field trip to De Lorenzo's

On the way to Philadelphia for Thanksgiving 2.0, we made a detour and stopped in Trenton for some pizza, I mean tomato pies. DMR and I had been hearing about the greatness of De Lorenzo's for years now. Research led to me find two separate branches run by cousins and both called De Lorenzo's. We opted for the Hamilton restaurant mainly because the one on Hudson doesn't have a bathroom!

After a short wait, we were seated at a corner booth where DMR soaked in the decor: wood paneled walls, animatronic Santa and Mrs. Claus, servers in bow ties, a table of 5 dudes who had ordered so many pies that one had to be set on a chair. Good stuff.

Our large half sausage, half pepperoni, cut into 10 slices. To drink, two frosty birch beers served over ice in those red plastic cups. These pies are heavy on the tomato sauce and light on the cheese. The pepperoni pieces were normal sized circles, as opposed to the thicker sliced mini rounds that I generally prefer. The fennel studded sausage was distributed in good sized chunks. Total damage: $23 - $18 for the food and a $5 tip.

Close up of the crust, which was very, very crisp. It was also shiny and glazed from a brushing of oil to give it more of a crackling flatbread effect, which I enjoyed. We both agreed that this wasn't the best "pizza" we've ever had. I guess I'm a fan of less sauce. However, once you add in the ambiance and super nice service, the overall experience would easily rank very high on our lists.

Happy New Year, see you in 2009!

field trip to Rutt's Hut

My first visit to Rutt's Hut did not disappoint. Despite growing up about 15 minutes away, I never made the trip. With Callahan's 5 blocks from my parents' house, there was really no need. I mean, I didn't even visit Hiram's (directly across the street from Callahan's) until 2 or 3 years ago. When it came to deep fried Jersey dogs, I was set.

New Jersey loves hot dogs. This place is just big enough to seat all the hot dog lovers of the Garden State.

I normally steer clear of relish but the stuff at Rutt's had many things going for it. It was yellow, not green. It was homemade. It didn't look sticky. It was delicious.

We started off with six rippers: one for Jen, two for Dave, and 3 for DMR and I to split. We wound up ordering two more.

Disco fries, another Jersey staple, with gravy on the side. These were beautifully done.

Gravy, onion rings and chili. The onion rings were too much batter, not enough onions, but the chili was over the top!

Full spread.

We ate in the dining room, but there's a order and eat standing at the counter annex next door.

Ramen Santoka @ Mitsuwa Marketplace, Edgewater, NJ

Tagged along on a Mitsuwa/Trader Joe's run with Dave and Jen last week. I've loved shopping at Mitsuwa since it first opened (as Yaohan). My brother even worked as a stock boy during in high school.

We first hit the food court. After a once around looksee, the three of us decided on Ramen Santoka. If little Henry could have voiced a vote, he would have opted for ramen as well.

I ordered a regular miso ramen set, which came with a side of rice topped with bonito shavings and a blanket of green onions, as well as hard boiled egg flavored with soy sauce. The egg was dumped into the bowl of noodles, as were the green onions which I don't like to eat raw.


Jen ordered natto with her rice side dish. She is a brave woman. Oh, she also ate all of the shredded black mushroom which I picked off my ramen. I love mushrooms, but not those!


For those inquiring minds, part of my Mitsuwa haul included stew meat pre-cubed for curry (which I made for dinner that evening), a couple bottles of Orion beer, frozen gyoza and a package of vanilla bean Kit-Kat.

The Original Pancake House of Fort Lee

The Original Pancake House of Fort Lee takes up a corner of a typical suburban mini mall, with a Blockbuster and hair salon as its neighbors. It's a franchise with over 90 restaurants operated by individual families that shouldn't be confused with an IHOP or Denny's even though the exterior has the same type of blandness. I had breakfast with my folks here last weekend and learned the food is pretty good. The prices are a bit on the high side, though I will say the portions are large for the most part

We started off with a large glass of freshly squeezed orange juice for my dad and I to share and three cups of Royal Kona coffee. My mom went with the blueberry pancakes with a side of bacon, though she came very close to ordered the bacon pancakes. Neither my dad or I could decide on sweet or savory, so we decided to split a Meat Lover's Omelette and some banana pancakes.

The blueberry pancakes came 6 to an order with the blueberries folded into the batter while you got 8 of the banana version and the fruit was sliced atop standard buttermilk pancakes, which I've just learned while rereading the menu is the way it's described. The menu reads: "Buttermilk pancake filled with diced bananas and lightly dusted with powdered sugar." As you can see below, the bananas were just served on top.

Each pancake was approximately the size of a large cookie. They were larger than silver dollars but slightly smaller than what I'd call a typical pancake. Each order came with warm maple syrup as well as its own special sauce - blueberry compote and hot tropical syrup respectively. Both my dad are I were not into the tropical syrup. I liked the flecks of coconut, but not so much the overly sweet guava-y taste, or whatever fruit it was. The three strips of bacon on the side cost $4. Though they look a little overdone in the photo, they weren't. They still remained chewy due to the thick-cut nature.




The size of the omelet was pretty ridiculous, though you can't tell from the photo. It came stuffed with bacon, sausage, ham and cheddar cheese. As a side you can get toast or three buttermilk pancakes. We opted for whole wheat toast and also a side of home fries. Our server told us that because it's cooked in an oven, it would take a little longer. Fine we said, but what does an omelet's cooking time have to do with bringing three cups of coffee over? Towards the end of the meal he completely disappeared and no other waiter approached our area or acknowledged us. It took a good 15 minutes to get a coffee refill.



We barely made a dent in the omelet. The home fries were bland and mushy, not even as good as what any greasy diner would slop on your plate. Back in Brooklyn, DMR was able to nurse a hangover with a feast of leftover pancakes, toast, eggs and bacon. Even with that serving, a third of the omelet still wound up in the trash.

Kyedong Chicken First Taste

We visited the Palisades Park branch, which is actually an annex in a Korean food shop. Its location threw us for a loop. We were confused and hungry. Our original intent was to eat at Baden Baden which is more of a sit down place, but they weren't opening til later in the afternoon.


I love how each chicken chain has a distinct way of packaging the goods. Kyedong's chicken is packaged in a container that's flatter than its competitors. It features an opening where a free can of Coke is placed. The ajushi on the box reminded me of someone - maybe an actor on a Korean drama I watched when I was a kid?


We went with two large orders of wings, one sweet and one spicy. The crust was nice and crispy and the chicken was well-cooked, but both flavor varieties were lacking in intensity. I did enjoy their radish kimchi, which was spicier than what you usually get due to some sliced jalepenos thrown into the mix.


A couple containers of rice and two varieties of kimchi from my parents' fridge round out the meal. Dan and Dave dig in.