Review: Gotham Bar and Grill

Gotham Bar and Grill, located at 12 E. 12^th Street, in Greenwich Village, serves contemporary American cuisine.  Upon entering the restaurant, you’ll notice a long bar to the left, with tables to the right and back.  It really is more restaurant than bar.  At lunch, it is filled with business executives and their clients.  Still, it retains a rather quiet, low-key atmosphere.  The dress code is what I would call business casual at lunch, and perhaps a little dressier at dinner.

The prices don’t differ much between the lunch and dinner menus for appetizers, with a couple of notable exceptions.  A la carte appetizers are in the $20 range, while entrees are about $25. In addition to a la carte lunch items, there is a budget-friendly two-course prix fixe option available for $25.  The prix fixe menu offers a choice one of three appetizers, and one of three entrees.  Many of the items on the lunch menu are seafood, though meat and vegetarian options are available.  The prix fixe lunch menu is very vegetarian-friendly.

At dinner, caviar is available as a starter, for upwards of $100.  Expect to pay in the neighborhood of $35-$50 for a dinner entrée.  Although not a seafood restaurant, seafood also features prominently on its dinner menu.  Other options include duck, chicken, beef, and lamb.  Vegetarian options include a salad or risotto.

I have never had a bad meal at Gotham Bar and Grill.  The food is always impeccably cooked and presented.  As much as I love duck, I have always ordered seafood.  This is simply because when I eat out, I tend to order something I would make infrequently at home, and with not nearly as much panache as a professional chef.

Dessert items are approximately $15 each.  Gotham Bar and Grill has an excellent pastry chef, but my favorite is the cheese plate.  Several different artisanal cheeses are served with nut bread, jam, and crackers.

Service is excellent.  The wait staff is attentive without being intrusive.  There’s no undue wait for the food, nor is there any pressure to eat up and get out of there, so they can turn over the table.  I would suggest making reservations for dinner, but it is probably not necessary at lunch.

Review: Havana

Location:  105 S. Main St., New Hope, PA, 18938

This restaurant in New Hope, PA, is not really Cuban, despite the name.  The cuisine could be called SoCal meets granny's kitchen.  I had tilapia tacos, while my fearless partner went for something that resembled a giant chicken and shrimp pot pie Hot Pocket, grilled on a panini press.  He finished his meal.  I had to ask for a doggie bag -- oddly enough, for my fries, not for the tilapia.  Two entrees, plus three Yuenglings came to $41 and change.

My understanding is that this place is really all about the music and nightlife, not the food.  They do have some good music, although we went on a Sunday afternoon, not during one of the evening concerts with Nils Lofgren or Jefferson Starship.  We've walked past this place a bajillion times, but this was the first time we stopped there to eat.

The food's actually pretty good, but not spectacular.  For the price, it's a decent value.  The tacos came with a nice pineapple and cantaloupe salsa that I liked better than the fish.  I'll have to make something similar.

The service was a little slow, but that could be a function of it being the middle of the afternoon when we visited.  It would have been a nice touch if the Yuengling had been served with a glass, rather than in the bottle.  On the other hand, if the place gets as rowdy at night as I've seen it on other occasions, there's probably a reason they serve it in a longneck.

Overall, I'd give the place an A-, for the food, and for the swing they were playing while we were there.  I like swing.  The food was fine.  The price was reasonable.  The service could have been a little faster.  It probably is at night.

Review: The Blue Tortilla

Type: Mexican
Location: 18 N. Main St., New Hope, PA, 18938
Phone: 215-862-5859
Website: http://www.thebluetortillarestaurant.com
Liquor License: No
Take-Out: Yes
Price Range: $16 - $20 for entrees, with a $13.95 lunch special for all regular menu entrees ($15.95 for special entrees)

We went into New Hope yesterday to poke around the shops for the afternoon and grab a bite to eat. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on your viewpoint, we happened to hit an all-weekend arts & crafts fair, which meant the town was mobbed, with several blocks closed to all but pedestrian traffic, and loads of vendor tents/booths. After poking around the booths, and a few of the shops, we settled on The Blue Tortilla for a late afternoon lunch.

Before writing this review, I decided to check on its reviews at Trip Advisor, and mostly agree with them. Apparently, The Blue Tortilla has been there for years, but I never noticed it, right next to The Landing, the latter of which I've eaten at many times over the years.

We caught the $13.95 lunch special deal for any entree on the menu, that runs from noon to 4pm. At 3:30pm, despite the crafts fair, most of the lunch crowd had disspiated, and we found a seat-yourself table outside for two. The waitress/hostess brought us menus within a few minutes, and a waiter came by a few minutes later to take our order.

I opted for the chile relleno, and my companion opted for the chicken enchiladas with mole sauce. Below are the descriptions of each dish, from their menu.

Chile relleno: Poblano Pepper roasted and stuffed with mozzarella cheese, dipped in egg, lightly fried and baked. Served covered with our Grandmother's Tomato Sauce, re-fried beans, rice and hand-made corn tortillas. Um, no, there were no beans served with this dish, refried or otherwise.

Chicken Mole Enchiladas: A soft corn tortilla is dipped into our homemade dark red Molé Sauce. We wrap shredded chicken breast in it and top it with cream. Served with re-fried beans and Mexican style rice. Ditto on the beans -- there were none.

While the food was tasty, it seemed expensive for Mexican. For that price, any other Mexican restaurant I've been to would have served two chiles relleno, not one. Both my tomato sauce, and the mole sauce were very good.

Several reviewers at Trip Advisor complained about lousy service, and a few complained about being served the meat version of vegetarian orders, and being forced by the owner to pay for them anyway.

We didn't have any of those problems, but it's a bit of an issue when the dishes you are served are not as advertised on the menu, and are missing a component. Although being served entrees without the beans that the menu clearly states come with them isn't quite the same as being served chicken mole without any mole, or a chile relleno without the chile, it's just plain wrong.

To put this in context, New Hope is a touristy town with cute little shops, antiques, and art galleries, that attracts a lot of day-trippers on weekends. With a location on Main St., right smack in the center of town, The Blue Tortilla can get away with charging high prices, but when it completely omits ingredients listed on the menu for its entrees, and keeps raising its prices as another reviewer noted, it probably can't count on a lot of repeat business from locals such as us.

For my money, I think I'll stick to The Landing, Ninety Main, or the Mansion Inn.

Review: Siam Cuisine

Type: Thai
Location: 4950 York Rd., Buckingham, PA
Phone: 215-794-7209
Fax: 215-796-7216

According to its website, there are several locations of this restaurant. We went to the one in Buckingham. In theory, the Doylestown location might have been closer to home, but parking in downtown can be a real PITA, and the one in Buckingham is in a cute little strip mall with upscale stores that's right near my cats' veterinarian. There are no parking issues in that mall, especially on a Monday night.

We each ordered soup to start, and split a mixed seafood dish. My other half ordered the hot & sour soup for $4; I went with the tom yum gai. The hot & sour soup was allegedly delicious. My soup, on the other hand was not so stupendous. The broth was great -- nice and lemongrassy-spicy the way it's supposed to be -- but the sliced chicken thrown into it was worthy of a rubber chicken circuit hotel lunch. It's as if the chef tossed the chicken into the boiling broth, forgot about it for 10 minutes, and said "eh, serve it anyway."

Granted, it was a Monday night, and we were the only two people in the restaurant for the duration of our meal, so maybe the chef wasn't on his game when we visited. Still, overcooked chicken slices do not belong in a soup, if they are the featured ingredient. Overcooked chicken can be used in a soup, but chop it up into small chunks, and make it into something like a semi-thin pot pie filling, with carrots, peas, and diced potato.

Our mixed seafood dish was also partially overcooked. We ordered "seafood ginger" for $20. The angel hair pasta on which it was served was great. The shrimp were only slightly overcooked, but the scallops were overcooked big time. I don't really like scallops to begin with, but I will eat them them if they are prepared correctly. Little white hockey pucks don't do it for me.

On the upside, the squid and salmon components of the dish were perfectly cooked.

Honestly, I don't know whether to give this place a thumbs up or down.

Maybe I should not order chicken or any form of seafood. What they toss into the sauce is overcooked, but the sauce itself is wonderful.
215-794-7209
215-796-7216 fax

Review: Cross Culture

Type: Indian
Location: 62-64 W. State St., Doylestown, PA
Phone: 215-489-9101
Fax: 215-489-9104
Price Range: $6-$12 for soups/appetizers; $16-$25 for entrees; $4-$5.50 for desserts
Take Out: Yes
Catering: Yes
Hours: Sun. - Thurs. 11:30a - 10:00p; Fri. - Sat. 11:30a - 10:30p
Liquor License: BYOB
Website: http://www.crosscultureindiancuisine.com/

Last Sunday, I got a craving for Indian food. We got a brief break in the rain, and decided to try this place. When we arrived, around 8pm, the place was almost empty, with only a few other tables occupied by people who seemed to know the staff. The decor was fairly modern, and brighter than I've come to expect from Indian restaurants -- more naked wall space than ornate art, if you will.

The seating was comfortable. We skipped the appetizers and just ordered two entrees (chicken tikka masala and chicken vindaloo), plus naan. I was a little disappointed that chicken dhingri was not on the menu, but the available choices were all familiar. The vindaloo had the heat that it's supposed to have.

The tikka masala was a little different than I'm used to having on Indian Row or Curry Hill in NYC, inasmuch as the tomato-based sauce was creamier, with less ghee floating on top. The flavors were right, so I was pleasantly surprised with what seemed like a slightly lighter version of this rather rich dish. I may try the korma or achari next time we visit.

Service was good. Indian cuisine always seems to take longer to prepare and serve the food than other Asian cuisines; as such, this was about average. Our waiter was quick, however, to top off our water glasses. Portions are about average. We would have taken home leftovers had we ordered appetizers, but without any, we managed to finish our entrees, and left feeling quite full.

I would recommend this restaurant for those in the Bucks/Montgomery/Hunterdon area. There don't seem to be many Indian restaurants around, but this one holds its own with the many others at which I've eaten in NYC or Northern NJ.

Review: Villa Capri

Type: Italian Restaurant & Pizzaria
Location: 51 W. Court St., Doylestown, PA
Phone: 215-348-9656
Delivery: Yes; no delivery fee
Take-Out: Yes
Liquor License: Yes
Carry-Out Cold Beer: Yes

Villa Capri's menu is about what you might expect from this sort of restaurant: bar-type appetizers, salads, soups, veal/chicken/seafood/eggplant dishes, calzones, pizza, pasta dishes, stromboli, hot sandwiches, and cold hoagies. They also package their sauces for take-out. I wasn't in the mood for a cheese steak, but wanted a sandwich -- a big one.

Stuck without a car for the day, I ordered two hoagies (turkey & provolone, and ham & provolone), and a medium mushroom pizza for delivery. Sure, I could have made myself a ham & swiss on rye with mustard, and started some foccacia dough for a pizza crust, but I really had a craving for a hoagie, and couldn't wait for dough to rise or leftover (frozen) Easter ham to thaw.

Now, a hoagie is no substitute for a Jersey-style Sloppy Joe from Millburn Deli or Hill City Deli (a double-decker of your choice of meat or meats and cheese on rye, with Russian dressing and cole slaw), but when in PA, go with a hoagie.

Some places have 9" or 18" ones, but Villa Capri made me a couple of very tasty foot-longs for about $5 each. The medium 'shroom pizza was about twice that. There were no delivery charges, but of course, I tipped the delivery guy.

As is typical, the hoagies come with lettuce, tomato, thinly sliced red onion, and your choice of dressing: oil & vinegar, mayo, or "dry." I'm sure I could have told them to hold the onion, if I had wanted to, but I was up for it. Delivery was prompt -- within half an hour. I'm sure the pizza was what took the longest, since anyone can make a hoagie within a couple of minutes.

Here's a picture of the turkey hoagie with mayo. Extras such as sweet or hot peppers, and pickles are available for an additional charge, but I didn't bother with them.

I'm afraid I scarfed down the entire ham hoagie before it occurred to me to take a picture, but it looked pretty much the same, with thinly sliced pink ham, instead of whitish turkey. The bread is chewy, which is the way it's supposed to be, without having an outer crust that crumbles when crushed to fit into a normal-sized set of choppers.

On to what's left of the pizza . . . as you can see, they use freshly sliced mushrooms, not the canned variety, and they don't skimp on the mozzarella. Interestingly enough, they sprinkle oregano on the cheese before it's baked, rather than leave it up to the person who ordered it to do so, after the fact.

The pizza in the picture is the one slice that was a leftover, and is cold. It reheated just fine on a baking sheet in the oven, until the cheese got bubbly. The crust was on the thin side, which is the way I like it.

Most restaurants/pizzarias like this don't make the thin crust really crispy (at least, not in the center), but upon reheating, it comes out that way. I prefer my pizza crust to crunch when I bite into it. Others prefer chewy crust, or even "Sicilian" pizza, but that doesn't rock my socks.

I cannot comment about the atmosphere of the place, or the difference between sit down, and take-out/delivery. What I can comment about is the quality and tastiness of the food, value for the money, and promptness of delivery. The entire order cost me a little over $20; even with the tip I gave the guy for delivering it, it cost me $25.

Review: Richboro Pub

Type: Pub Grub & Sports Bar
Location: 1034 2nd Street Pike, Richboro, PA 18954
Phone: (215) 364-8606
Delivery: No
Take-Out: Yes
Liquor license: Duh. It's a pub.

We went here on a Friday evening, around 8pm. The bar was packed, but the party we were meeting had already grabbed a booth in a room off to the side of the bar, and ordered some grub -- in this case, it was an assortment of appetizers such as Buffalo wings, clams casino, mussels, tomatoes with fresh mozzarella and basil, and some sort of mini taco-like things. Picking away at those, along with a pint or two of Stella, and a house salad was plenty for me. Here's the pub menu.

The atmosphere is that of a typical sports bar, with TVs all over the place, but the volume was turned down fairly low, so it wasn't annoying, and we could converse just fine at a normal tone of voice. Service was courteous, with our server coming to check on us a few times. She was not intrusive, but I never got the feeling we would have had to flag her down if we had wanted to order anything else.

Foodwise, the salad was crisp and fresh. For a small salad, it seemed to be endless -- the type from which you keep eating, and eating, and the pile of greens never seems to diminish. I didn't eat any of the mussels, but the clams casino, and all the rest of it were quite good. Generally speaking, as much as I love seafood, bivalves just aren't my thing, but when clams are minced and mixed up, then baked with a bunch of other stuff, I can tolerate them. I wouldn't call the hot sauce that came with the Buffalo wings hot . . . certainly nowhere near spicy enough to make my eyebrows sweat, or my mouth go numb, but it had a little bit of a kick to it.

On a side note, I'm learning to not cheer in sports bars around BucksMont when one of my NY teams scores against a Philly team. I couldn't help smiling that the Rangers were beating the Flyers, though. I've been a Rangers fan since they were one of the original six teams in the league, and remember when the Broad Street Bullies were a mere expansion team, so you have to cut me a little slack. I'll root for the Eagles, but only when they aren't playing the Giants. ;)

Review: Eagle Diner

Type: Diner
Location: 6522 Lower York Rd. (U.S. Rte. 202), Solebury, PA 18963
Phone: (215) 862-5575
Price Range: $2 - $20
Hours: Open 24 hours, 7 days a week, except Christmas
Delivery: Yes, through a third party delivery service

We stopped by this place for dinner last night, more for convenience, since it was on our way, than for any other reason. Most times we've driven by, there were a fair number of cars in the lot with PA plates, so it's probably popular with locals. There are two locations, in Solebury/New Hope, and in Warminster. Their website is here.

As far as diners go, it's rather large, although at 8pm on a Monday night, it wasn't crowded at all. The atmosphere is typical diner, but with modern decor, and piped-in classic rock. Service was quick and friendly.

I had the French onion soup for $3.95, which arrived in a nice big crock, piping hot, oozing with cheese. It was absolutely delicious. I've ordered French onion soup at fancy restaurants for twice the price, and this $4 rendition is every bit as good.

The other person in my party ordered an open-face reuben, which came with a small container of cole slaw, fries, and a pickle, for $6.95. I stole a few fries. Those were perfectly salted upon arrival, not overdone, but very crispy, and not at all greasy. I also had some of the reuben. Compared to the NY deli reubens I've had over the years, it seemed a bit skimpy on the sauerkraut, and I couldn't tell whether it had any Russian dressing at all, but it was absolutely smothered in cheese, which, I think, made up for it. Diners have a choice between pastrami and corned beef.

The menu is quite extensive, ranging from breakfast fare like eggs, pancakes, muffins, bagels, etc., through soups, sandwiches and salads/salad bar, to dinner entrees. Diner food, by its very nature, isn't gourmet. However, this place serves fairly large portions of very tasty food, for value prices.

I highly recommend this place. It's where I'd go for my fix of French onion soup for sure. I look forward to trying other menu items.

Review: Back to the 50s Diner

Type: Diner
Price: inexpensive
Location: Rte. 263 (York Rd.) & Edison Furlong Rd., Furlong, PA, 18925
Phone: 215-794-9954
Hours: 6:30am - 2:30pm (breakfast and lunch only)
Take Out: Yes; call ahead for pickup if you don't want to wait
Delivery: No

The menu is limited to typical breakfast fare like pancakes, waffles, eggs, etc., and lunch stuff like sandwiches and burgers, with or without fries. I had a plain old grilled cheese on rye, which came with a pickle and a small bag of potato chips, for about $5. It was grilled to perfection, and was very tasty, but I've gotten the same thing at other diners for about the same price, with more cheese. Other sandwiches (like a reuben) and burgers come with fries. I just wasn't hungry enough for all that.

The other person in my party got a BLT, which also came with a pickle and bag of chips. Again, it was a little skimpy compared to the size of BLTs we've gotten elsewhere for about the same price, but I'm told it was tasty.

It's a very busy place -- obviously quite popular. It's rather small, seating I'd guess about 35 people. As the name suggests, its theme is the 1950s, with decor and music to match. The outside of the building is a really garish purple, so it's hard to miss. Service is prompt and friendly.

What can I say? It's reliable for typical diner food. There are daily specials written up on a chalkboard, but I've never tried any of them.

Review: Restaurant Serenade

Type: Contemporary French
Location: 6 Roosevelt Ave., Chatham, NJ 07928
Phone: (973) 701-0303
Price Range: Expensive
Liquor License: Yes

Serenade is a great place to go for special occasions, or to entertain guests. Lunch, dinner, and tasting menus are available. I've been there several times, but only for dinner. The menu changes seasonally. Prices range from $10 for salads, up to $21 for other appetizers. Entrees range from $27 to $38. Desserts are all $10 each.

The last time I was there, I ordered the lobster, with no appetizer, and no dessert. Portions are sufficient, but not oversized. Had I ordered dessert and an appetizer, someone would have had to roll me out of there in a wheelbarrow. I'm not sure how the others in my party managed to pack away three courses. I'm told the peach cobbler was delicious, and unexpectedly light.

I think the reason for classfying this restaurant as "contemporary" French is that the dishes aren't smothered in butter or cream sauces, and are lighter than old-style French fare. The veggies (other than new potatoes) that accompany each dish may not always match what's listed on the menu, but they always go well with the featured item of the dish, and are neither undercooked (a la the "nouvelle cuisine" fad of the 1980s), nor overcooked.

Every dish that anyone in my party has ordered there over the years was cooked to perfection. Service was attentive, but a little slow last time I was there. In all fairness, however, the place was very busy with at least two large parties in the same room in which we were seated.

This restaurant has deservedly gotten rave reviews from the NY Times, among other publications. I would highly recommend it for special occasions, such as birthdays, anniversaries, etc., but consider it a bit too expensive to become a frequent dining destination.

Review: Nine Thai

Type: Thai
Location: 641 Shunpike Rd., Chatham, NJ (in the Hickory Square Mall)
Phone: 973-377-3636
Price Range: Moderate (average for Thai)
Liquor License: BYOB
Delivery: It used to; I don't think it does anymore
Take-Out: Yes

The decor doesn't look particularly Thai, but the food is reliable, if not stellar. This is a kid-friendly restaurant, so I would recommend avoiding it, or getting take-out, during early evening hours on weekends. At other times, it's fairly quiet. One time when we visited, it appeared that an entire little league team was there with a couple of adult chaperones. I think the restaurant seats 50 or less. The kids weren't rambunctious, but with half a dozen conversations going on at once at that table, adjacent to ours, it was a little hard for the two of us to hear each other.

Service is attentive, friendly, and polite, but at times, annoyingly so. If they're fairly busy, it's not an issue, but I prefer not to have 10 minute conversations with our waitress while we're trying to eat, which can happen if it's a slow night.

The curry dishes, pad thai, and noodle hot-pot dishes are nicely seasoned, and quite tasty. I've ordered the frog's legs a few times. Those are fried in a tempura-style batter, served on mixed veggies in a somewhat nondescript sauce. Yes, they taste like chicken, but smell a little different.

Entree portions are not especially large, so I've never brought home leftovers, but we've never ordered appetizers, either. Every time I've gone there, the waitress asks whether we'd like an order of green beans to go with our entrees. Those are sauteed with red pepper flakes and garlic, I think. It's a huge plate of green beans which could probably be shared among three or four people. They were tasty, but too much to share among two people, along with our entrees. Bear in mind that neither of us has a particularly big appetite, compared to most people we know.

Are there better Thai restaurants around? Undoubtedly. But this is conveniently located near other shopping. It's easy to walk in, place an order, go run errands at the pharmacy or grocery store in the same mall, and pick up your order when you're done. There also happens to be a liquor store next door, in case you'd like to BYOB to have with your meal, if you choose to sit down and eat it there.

Review: Neelam

Type: Indian
Location: 295 Springfield Ave., Berkeley Heights, NJ, 07922
Phone: 908-665-2212
Price Range: Entrees $13 - $20, with most in the low - mid teens
Liquor License: BYOB
Delivery: Yes
Take Out: Yes

There is another location for Neelam in South Orange, but I've never been to that one. Entrees include tandoori specialties, chicken, seafood, lamb, and vegetarian dishes. Some Indian restaurants have beef dishes, but Neelam doesn't. If you're feeling adventurous, you can try one of the combination dinners (individual, or for two) that include soup, an entree, and dessert. These vary from day to day, so it's worth asking what the dishes are before you order a combo meal.

Papadum, along with onion chutney and some sort of green sauce are brought to the table, the way other restaurants bring out bread baskets.

The vindaloo dishes are reliably hot, but not quite spicy enough to induce sweating eyebrows. Some of my favorite dishes are chicken tikka masala, chicken dhingri, shrimp dhingri, and chicken vindaloo. I don't particularly like lamb, but have dined with others who say the lamb is nice and tender.

This location of Neelam doesn't seat that many people, so it does a lot of take-out, from orders that are phoned in for pick-up. The atmosphere is cozy, and a bit on the dark side. Service is attentive, if a bit on the slow side. This may be a function of how long Indian food takes to cook; I've never eaten at an Indian restaurant in which the food arrived fairly quickly. Parking can be a problem at the restaurant, which is in a tiny strip mall that also has a fairly popular pizzaria, but can be found within a block in some other lot.

Neelam has been around for almost three decades, which indicates to me that it's been reliable for a long time. I think the entree portions are rather large. Appetizers are available, but if you're tempted to order any, it's best to share them among the table, or you may easily be too stuffed to finish your entree. The staff is certainly willing, however, to pack up any leftovers for you to bring home. Everything I've ordered over the years reheats well, either on the stovetop in a pot, or in the microwave at low-medium power, so as not to vulcanize the animal flesh.

If you believe their yellow pages advertisement, Zagat rated it "excellent," NJ Monthly wrote "Best Indian food," and the Star-Ledger rated it 3-1/2 stars. I tend to agree.

Review: Sarah Jane

Type: Family Style American, mostly steak and seafood
Price Range: $15 to $25 for entrees
Location: 33 US Highway 206 North, Somerville, NJ 08876
Phone: (908) 722-5454
Liquor License: Yes

This family owned and run restaurant has a rustic feel, with solid, familiar, comfort food -- no contrived dishes or "overly imaginative" sauces. Fish dishes can be ordered fried, broiled, or stuffed with crabmeat and baked. I was in the mood for something fried, so I had the fried flounder. The person with me wanted the prime rib special, but they were out of it (at 6pm on a Saturday), so he ordered a 10 oz. filet mignon. I've read a few other reviews of this place that mention the rib eye is excellent.

My fish was lightly breaded and fried to crispy perfection. There was nothing greasy about it at all. It arrived with one huge fillet, one medium sized one, and a small strip that looked a little like a chicken finger, and was served with tartar sauce and cocktail sauce. The filet mignon was cooked to a perfect medium rare. Chances are that it wasn't aged prime grade beef, as you would find at, say, Ruths Chris, Smith & Wollensky, or Morton's, but was cooked properly.

Each entree comes with a choice of baked potato or fries, and a cup of soup or a salad. Had we remembered that, we probably wouldn't have ordered the fried mozzarella sticks to start. However, they were fried perfectly, and served with a semi-chunky marinara sauce. Nothing fancy, but cooked the way it should be, and served piping hot. The soup of the day was barley, which had a thickish consistency, and was very tasty.

Judging from those at other tables, doggie bags for leftovers are the norm, rather than the exception. The waitress also automatically asked if we wanted to bring home what we couldn't finish. Service was friendly, and attentive, without being annoyingly so.

We both brought home leftovers. The fish reheated really well in a toaster oven set to 350F for about 8-10 minutes, which kept the breading crispy without drying out the fish. Indeed, I got three meals out of the fried flounder. Portions are huge, unless you order a 6 oz. filet mignon.

Neither of us would drive all the way to Somerville just to go to this restaurant, but if we were in the area, would definately eat there again.

Garden Rice

Type: Chinese
Location: 234 Main St., Chatham, NJ
Price Range: Inexpensive

This place advertises itself on its menu as "Szechuan & Cantonese Cuisine," although it has a few Hunan dishes on the menu as well. As is typical, their lunch specials range from $5.50 to $6.15, and include your choice of rice (white, brown, or pork fried), and soup (wonton, egg drop, or hot & sour) to go with the main dish.

The dinner menu ranges in price from $6.35 for varieties of Foo Young to $12.95 for a few things on the "chef's special" section, with most dishes in the $9-11 range.

There's a $10 minimum for delivery, instead of the customary $20. Garden Rice also claims to use only vegetable oil and no MSG. Delivery is prompt; the usual half an hour they quote over the phone is normally an overestimate for delivery to my neighborhood, a town away.

Best dishes are:

• Lemon Chicken (nobody around makes this better than Garden Rice; it's phenomenal)
• Hunan Beef (nice and spicy, the way it should be)
  
• Kung Po Chicken (what you expect from this dish)
  
• Shrimp in Lobster Sauce (hard to mess this one up, but they always get it right, and never overcook the shrimp)
• Lake Tung Ting Shrimp (see above)

Disappointing:

• Szechuan Beef (it's almost all onion and pepper, and not even slightly spicy)
• Hot & Sour Soup (it doesn't have enough vinegar to give the sour flavor, and has those weird green greeblies that I pick out, as I find them, but at least it doesn't have strips of mystery meat)

Could Go Either Way:

• Pu Pu Platter (the value for the money is there, but the pork dumplings are really bland)

The pu-pu is almost all fried. The stuff that looks burned is shrimp toast. It's not burned, and tastes great. It just looks odd. The fried shrimp and fried chicken nuggets are excellent. The fried wontons are so-so, but if you're starving, they'll do nicely.

The lemon chicken is to die for. No other Chinese restaurant around here makes it better.

Normally, I'm not into battered and fried food other than fish and chips, but this is phenomenal. For $20, the pu-pu and lemon chicken is enough food for three meals -- for three people. OK, I consider an egg roll to be an entire meal, so you'll have to adjust my take on the amount of food to your own stomach size.

It's best immediately after delivery, but believe it or not, the leftovers reheat really well.

L'Allegria

Location: 11 Prospect St., Madison, NJ, 07940

Type: Italian

Price Range: Expensive (expect to pay $50+ per person)

Saverio and Giovanni Allocca run this place, right smack dab in the center of town.

From the moment you walk in the door and check your coat, to the moment you leave, the hospitality is wonderful.

I love the pizzette con gorgonzola for a starter. What's not to like about a thin, crunchy-crust blue cheese mini-pizza?

You can get just about any wine to go with what you order, whether it's seafood, pasta, or veal. Skip the wine, and you can keep down the cost of the meal, but if you dress up to go there, why do that?

I go there for the seafood. My partner-in-eating loves the pasta dishes. I wish they'd bottle their fra diavolo sauce.

Dive into a dish of seafood, and you will never find it overcooked. Dive into pasta, and it'll always be al dente. Dive into veal, whether it be osso buco, piccata, or saltimbucco, it's great! They never undercook, nor overcook your meal.

Here's their dinner menu. Their saltimbucco is phenomenal. So's their shrimp fra diavolo.

I'd rate this place up there with my beloved (and gone) White Horse Inn.

The only downside is that since it's in the center of town, you might have to park a block away.