Cafe Panache - Ramsey, NJ

After several months on our watch list, we finally got the chance to eat at Cafe Panache, a well known restaurant in Ramsey, NJ. In writing this review, the first thing that comes to my mind is "attention to detail." From making the reservation (where they reminded me that it is a bring your own) to setting the table for dessert, the staff didn't miss an opportunity to demonstrate their attentiveness to customer service.  

While the restaurant has been around for over 30 years, the decor is up to date and trendy.  
The only criticism I have of this establishment is that the menu is not inspiring. While we sat and reviewed the menu, neither of us were excited to order any particular item.  We found ourselves anxiously waiting for the waiter to tell us the specials, which we hoped would stimulate our appetites. There were probably 4 or 5 appetizer specials and 2 or 3 dinner specials.

   
Now back to the positives.  Everything we ordered was absolutely delicious. I ordered the filet mignon off the menu, which came topped with caramelized onions, over a bed of sauted spinach, with mashed potato mousse. 

Christine ordered two appetizers, stewed clams with chorizo in a tomato broth and creamy polenta with mushrooms and shaved parmesan.
The flavor combinations and presentation of the food was second to none. 

I can't stress enough how much we enjoyed our meal, except for the Tiramisu special for desert, which we found to have too much of a citrus flavor. Having said that, we were extremely impressed that they split the desert into two servings without being asked, making it easier to share.....great attention to detail!
All in all, Cafe Panache is an excellent establishment that can be counted on for a delicious meal. Our only wish was that there was a more exciting menu that would have us wanting to go back. 

Xteve rating : 4.0(*****)

Website : Cafe Panache

Landmarc - Tribeca, NYC

Sorry Marc, but you've been Chopped. My wife and I are big fans of the food network, in particular, the show Chopped.  We always appreciated judge Marc Murphy's comments, he seems like a really nice guy, and they always refer to him as "acclaimed chef" Marc Murphy, so naturally we were curious and excited to try his first restaurant, Landmarc in Tribeca. I decided to surprise Christine and book a table for Valentines day.

The restaurant is more of a casual, neighborhood restaurant, with upscale prices. I find this to be a perplexing combination, as I expect the service and food quality to be in line with the pricing.    Since the restaurant is higher end casual, they lacked certain details I would have expected.  For example, the menu is a folded up piece of paper. This would be interesting if it changed daily or weekly, but that's not the case. I was also surprised that on Valentines day, there was not a simple flower on the table. Other minor snafus included serving a very slightly chilled bottle of Peligrino, and bringing bread to the table that was literally cold, not even room temperature!

Lets move on from these trivial details and focus on the food.  Christine ordered an Octopus salad to start. The presentation was rustic but nice, and the flavors great. What was astonishing was that the salad was served over a large bowl of potatoes.  Don't get me wrong, they were delicious, but we could not help thinking that  if this dish was presented to the judges on Chopped, the cook would get absolutely blasted for serving a large bowl of potatoes as part of a appetizer salad.  The dish clearly lacked balance, and if she were to have eaten such a mound of carbs, there seemingly would have been no room for the main course.  After "judging" the appetizer round, we got the idea to critique the rest of the meal as if we were judges on the show chopped.  I commented that they still have two rounds to make up for the unbalanced, yet delicious appetizer.    Given the taste, we decided to put the chef through to the next round! 

Now onto round two. I ordered the grass fed ribeye. Given its price of $52, I had high expectations.  Having eaten ribeyes at high end steakhouses twice this week, my palate was expecting a tender, juicy, flavorful piece of meat.  I was SHOCKED when they delivered a plate of food that was practically falling off the plate.  The steaks all come with fries, and the steak was placed at a slight angle on top of the fries.  To the left was a massive mound of lettuce.  Ok....I'm not sure where to start.   Practically, there was no room to cut the steak.  Traditionally, steaks are served on their own plate, with the sides on separate plates or bowls. I had to lift up the steak and remove the fries from underneath, in order to actually cut it.  All of the fries that were under the steak were of course soggy, as they absorbed the juice from the steak.  The salad was a real shocker. I know it's a bistro style restaurant but they have an abundance of salads on the menu as starters, why they piled lettuce on the plate is besides me. If they want to include a salad, they should serve it as an appetizer before the main course. Similarly, the lettuce was covered in the steak's juice, not a great combination.  So now that I've reconfigured the plate, time to dig in.  To my surprise, this was one of the toughest pieces of meat I've encountered.  It was genuinely difficult to cut the steak, and after some hard work, the steak was too tough and chewy to enjoy.    Since I was hungry, I labored my way through half the steak, but enjoyed almost none of it, but some of the fries that were not soggy.    Christine ordered the scallops, which were nicely presented and delicious. 

At the end of round two, I would definitely would have chopped this chef, as the mistakes were just too big.  Unfortunately for us, there was only one chef to judge, so we had to push on to the desert round.  We decided to order the warm chocolate cake from the special valentines day menu. It came quickly, looked nice, but was tiny.   We dug in, and both went "ehh".  Christine summed it up by saying, "this tastes like a microwaved cake."  We both burst out laughing and agreed that sadly, Landmarc needed to be chopped off our list.

Xteve rating : 2.5 ***** 

 Website :  Landmarc

Zin burger - Garden state plaza, Paramus, NJ

 Really?  Yet another new gourmet burger joint!  Its amazing how many of these seemingly endless new gourmet burger restaurants can manage to screw things up...not Zinburger.
Energetic, modern, and upbeat, Zinburger offers a mouthwatering selection of gourmet burgers, salads and sides, shakes and desserts, and a selection of beer and wine.  The setting is sleek, contemporary, featuring rich wood and earth tones and stylish, comfortable seating.
We were impressed from the start with attentive, friendly service.  Instead of buzzers, the hostess keeps you up to date via text messages, which provide updates as to wait time, and let you know when your table is ready.    While the menu is full of a great selection of burgers, what we loved was that any substitution is possible, alternatively you can create your own burger.
We were starving after a movie, and were quick to get in our order.  First came the onion rings, which are served in a basket with barbecue sauce.   The rings are not too thick, and were perfectly crispy, and delicious on their own.

 
Our burgers were quick to follow.  They are served on a brioche like bun that was very soft, and was not oversized relative to the burger.  This is a subtle detail that is often overlooked.   In our humble opinion, the bun is perhaps the most important part of the burger. You are given a choice of angus or kobe beef for each burger (a $5 upcharge). For our first visit we decided to try the angus. The double cheeseburger came with two 3.5 oz patties, minced onions and cheese.  The inclusion of 1,000 island sauce made for a high end Big Mac minus the sesame seed bun!  It was absolutely delicious, and as I type this, I crave another bite, and am seriously contemplating going back for dinner tonight.  Christine had the Zinburger, which came with manchengo cheese and Zinfandel braised onions. She loved it, and devoured every bite. 

  This is a great place for a date, a family dinner, or to watch a game.  The service was great, as everyone was attentive and friendly. I can't wait to go back and try the hand cut fries!

Xteve rating: 4.0 ***** 
Website : Zinburger

Telepan local, Tribeca, NYC

It was my good friend MB's birthday a few weeks ago. Actually, it has been a month! Can't believe how fast time flies. To celebrate her birthday, we got together for dinner. Double date. =)

This birthday girl is a true food expert. When I say expert, I mean, she is a trained chef who works at the network everybody knows and makes these shows happen! She chose where to have the birthday dinner, without knowing where she chose, I was already getting psyched! 

I had grilled octopus to start with which was fabulous. Nice and tender, dressed perfectly.

Birthday girl ordered radish and bacon over toast. She said it was very good. Now, here's the funny part.

What her husband ordered. Foie gras jammer. A single bite. The look on his face was priceless.  

 Salad my husband ordered. They're both way over 6' tall, big guys. Okay, salad portion is pretty much normal. One bite of foie gras was totally unexpected. We ended up ordering some more stuff.

Steak that melts in your mouth.

 

Grilled beef short rib with Kimchi-like fermented cabbage. A little on the dry side but very tasty. Cabbage had Kimchi flavor but not overwhelming like traditional Kimchi. Very well balanced.

 

Half roasted catskill chicken. Super tender, almost creamy.

We also ordered fries and red pepper spaetzle. Both very good. Super crispy fries, surprisingly plenty - given the portion of all the other menu items. 

Overall, GREAT choice MB! Food was lovely, though portion is a little on the smaller side. Service was pretty good. We loved urban barn like decor of the place and the casual atmosphere. Farm to table type of place is always our favorite. Unlike Telepan upper west side, this place is more like a great spot for casual and laid back hang out with good friends. Downtown restaurants always have this different feel to it.

Xteve rating : 4.0 *****

Website : Telepan local

Mekong grill - Ridgewood, NJ

Every so often we crave some good Vietnamese food. Vietnamese cuisine is clearly not as popular a choice as Chinese, Thai or Japanese food, as a result, our choices are limited. This is unfortunate, as in many respects the cuisine is similar to both Chinese and Thai food, with much lighter and more refreshing sauces.

 
This week we decided to hit up Mekong Grill in Ridgewood, as Christine was craving Pho. We have eaten here before, once for lunch, and once for take-out. The restaurant is in the heart of Ridgewood, which means parking will be a challenge!   We were pleased that the staff allowed us to call ahead and reserve a table, as after circling Ridgewood for 20+ minutes to find a parking spot, the last thing we wanted to hear is that there is a long wait.

 
The restaurant is very casual, and is BYOB.  We were greeted quickly, and given that we were both starving, we managed to get our orders in fast. Surprisingly, they did not have any bottled sparking water, which is our staple when eating out.   We ordered spring rolls as an appetizer, they came out quickly and were crispy and very tasty. Christine ordered the Pho, which she enjoyed. I ordered a beef dish, which came with steamed angle hair noodles and lettuce wraps. The sauted beef was very tasty.  What was disappointing was the size of the entree, at $17 was the most expensive item on the menu.  I was convinced they mistakenly sent out the appetizer version of the dish...as it was that small. As a result, we placed an order of pan fried dumplings, which we both enjoyed.  
All in all the experience was average.  Given that there are not many local Vietnamese restaurants for us to choose from, Mekong would definitely rank as the best option around. The service was just OK, our waitress had forgot a couple of our requests, which was surprising. Our bill came in over $50, which felt high given what we ordered, particularly since no drinks were involved

Xteve rating : 2.5 *****

Website : no official website.

The Habit Burger Grill- Fair lawn, NJ

There was a time when we used to wait in line out the door two blocks away from our apartment for a burger. Shake shack. When they first came to upper east side in Manhattan, it was a pure excitement. I thought nothing would beat their burger. We've had our fair share of all kinds of fancy burgers but the winner was always the simple shack burger. As soon as we heard about this burger joint, people were already raving about it. We had to try it. And the winner is...The habit burger! The first thing you see when you walk in is the sigh "Respect the burger". And they mean it!

Left is teriyaki char burger I got, and the right is double char burger. Teriyaki char burger comes with grilled pineapple. They claim that burgers come with caramelized onions but it's not the caramelized onions you would think of, it's more like sauteed onions. But it's still good.

Green bean tempura and fries. Very crispy until we finished it. We enjoyed every bite of it. We also ordered a kid's burger as my tot would eat close to half a burger. Usually, we would make a plate for him from what we order but here, I did not want to share mine. Besides a burger, you have choice of apple slices or fries, soda or juice. And the meal comes with a cute little burger gummy which I told him it's not food. It's a very nice touch. He loved the little burger gummy, he held on to it and stared all the way home.

Oh boy..the shake. I got mocha. It is GOOD! Shake shack and habit ties on this one. Next time I'm going to try coffee shake. 

Overall experience was EXCELLENT! As they seem to cook to order, it wasn't super fast but wait isn't that long considering how busy it was. at 11:30am line was out the door. I thought we were the only ones who eat lunch that early! Service was good, they walk around and clean up the table quickly. Staff are all very friendly yet professional. There's a reason why this started in 1969 and still doing great!

Xteve rating - 5.0 *****

Website - www.habitburger.com

Restaurants in Myrtle beach, SC

One week at the beach is now over and we're all back to reality. What a fun week it was! 

Since we were eating out every meal, where to go was always a big decision. We know eating at local restaurants was risky as we really don't know what we're getting into but we still enjoy trying new things so after reading some reviews, we gave a few restaurants a try. We ate at some national chain too due to schedule and my tot's nap time but here are a few local restaurants and local chain restaurants we tried.

Chuck's steak house 

Read good things about the place and steak sounded great on the first night. Looked kind of plain from outside.

Inside, it looked very cool and we were seated at a large booth which was perfect. Server was super friendly and professional, service was pretty fast. We ordered some steaks and it includes salad bar which wasn't impressive. But steak was good. Onion rings were pretty good too. Overall, it wasn't wow but pretty good. 

Xteve rating : 3.0 *****

website : Chuck's steak house

McAlister's Deli

Very nicely done deli. We went there at least 4 times as far as I remember. Everything we ordered was very fresh and great, every time. It is very welcoming and gives you the clean feel to it. Staff were friendly and service was very quick. I was tired of having bad lettuce in my sandwiches from the hotel pool bar and it was a life changer! Quick lunch place that does things right. If we stayed longer, we would have gone back more. In deli category, this was a winner!

Xteve rating : 4.0 *****

Website : McAlister's deli

Islamorada fish market

We randomly found this restaurant at a mall close from the hotel and decided to give it a try. Restaurant was decorated nicely and very spacious. They served sweet bread to start with and it is so delicious. Ordered tuna to cook medium but it was a lot closer to well. Was not happy but because we were in a hurry to go back to the hotel for my tot's nap, I decided to just finish the meal. Waitress was very kind and attentive but I was surprised that a big restaurant like this doesn't have sparkling water. Not a big deal, I ordered seltzer and some tropical cocktail and it was so good I couldn't stop drinking it even though it was very filling. Food was a little too salty to my taste but it was very tasty. 

Xteve rating : 3.0 *****

Website : Islamorada fish company - restaurant

Chestnut hill

It was such a chaotic meal with kids in the family, we don't have any pictures of it. They have a big pond where they have alligators and turtles and you can see them from your table. Not exactly my cup of tea but something different and kids loved it. Our waiter was very calm, funny, friendly and professional even though we weren't the easiest table. Food came out pretty quickly. Some ordered steak, some ordered seafood. Steaks didn't get good reviews. Seafood was average. Brownie got good reviews from kids. 

Xteve rating : 3.0 *****

Website : Chestnut hill

Miyabi

For Steve's birthday, we went to this hibachi restaurant. I read reviews stating that food was good but hostess wasn't nice and it was absolutely right. She didn't seem to want to be there and was not nice at all. But food was pretty good. Our hibachi chef was entertaining as one should be. Food was a little on the salty side. Especially chicken teriyaki was soaked in sauce, if you're ordering teriyaki chicken, ask them to go easy on the sauce. Oh, the amount of rice they give you is INSANE. When they dump a gigantic "bucket" full of rice, I could not believe it. I've never seen so much rice at one table before. It was a very pleasant meal with entertainment for kids even though my tot said hibachi chef started the fire and he almost got burned - which the latter part was made up. =P 

Xteve rating : 4.0 *****

Website : Miyabi

Margaritaville

I have not been to Margaritaville before and I was happy to try. Because we went early and it wasn't the peak time, we didn't expect the wait to be so long but I almost had a heart attack when they said 2.5 hours!! It's in the broadway at the beach, so I recommend putting your name down, then go for rides. We ended up getting a table outside and everyone was melting. Food was average and of course their margarita was especially refreshing after melting in the sun for a while. Our waitress was nice enough to switch the table for us. Balloons they give out seemed to keep the kids busy for a little while. Everything was just as I expected for a chain family restaurant. 

Xteve rating : 3.0 *****

Website : Margaritaville

Overall, dining experience in Myrtle beach area was disappointing. Obviously we weren't looking for fine dining experience or anything but most places we went to were very average, nothing exceptional. I have to say, our favorite meal was not steak or fancy seafood dish but it was sandwiches from McAlister's deli. Bring a few good sandwiches back to the beach and have a little picnic at sunset. You'll probably enjoy it better than an average sit down restaurant in the area. 

Aoyama - Wyckoff, NJ

This has been waiting for a long time to be posted. We like this restaurant a lot but because we've been here so many times, it just slipped out our minds. Plus, as Steve's schedule has been insane, restaurant reviews didn't have a chance to see the light. So..again, I am jumping in. 

This is a Japanese/French Thai place. What makes me wonder every time is though, they give you papadum as you are seated. It's already Japanese/French Thai and Indian appetizer is served? Well..don't get me wrong, I love papadum, I am not complaining. I just think it's a bit all over the place. Shrimp crackers would seem more of an appropriate choice but oh well, it tastes good.

Wonton sushi taco. OMG, I absolutely love these. Super crispy wonton wrapper with perfectly seasoned sashimi tartar. You can choose types of fish you like and the sauce. One time I went there by myself and devoured two orders of these little guys and people around me just stared while pretending they weren't. Did not care a bit and I enjoyed every bite of it. This is my go to appetizer at this place. 

Chicken wings. We do not like. A little on the dry side and tasteless. We couldn't remember whether we liked it or not and decided to try and the answer is we did not like it the first time, and the second time either. Steve's go to appetizer at a Thai place is vegetable spring rolls but this place only has shrimp spring rolls and when the owner came by, we very nicely suggested if vegetable spring rolls are added to the menu, we would come more often. And he was very stubborn trying to push his opinion on us. So Steve mentioned another French Thai restaurant right across the street, saying we sometimes choose to go there only because of the vegetable spring rolls(very important. =P), which is a shame as we love the food here. Then the owner sort of bad mouthed about the restaurant we mentioned. Not a very good way of dealing with a situation like this. 

Beef pad see ew. It's good. To my taste, second best in town. 

 

Sukiyaki. WAY. TOO. SWEET. It's like eating noodles with syrup. I have ordered various items on the menu, they're generally very good. Any Japanese noodle items they have on menu though, not good enough to my taste. Ramen- tasteless. Sukiyaki- eat only if you want to get a cavity. Nabeyaki Udon- bleh. Yakiudon- alright. Sushi quality is very good though. If you're going Japanese at this restaurant, just avoid noodles. Thai is generally pretty good. 

Overall, we like this restaurant a lot. It's a pretty big restaurant with lots of tables and a pretty decent size sushi bar. Atmosphere is great. Staffs are professional. One complaint other than their Japanese noodles is, vegetable spring roll is such a staple appetizer at a Thai restaurant, I wish they put it on their menu so I can come here more often. Steve sometimes insists on going somewhere else because he really likes vegetable spring rolls. Haha. 

 Xteve rating : 3.0 *****

Website : Aoyama- Wyckoff

River palm terrace - Mahwah, NJ

Having passed by the River Palm Terrace almost every day for a year, we finally decided to check it out. For starters, we went to their website, where we were excited by the following statement "The River Palm Terrace has been consistently rated as New Jersey’s top steak house and one of America’s top restaurants." Having moved from Manhattan, we were excited by the prospect of a great steak house, right in our backyard.

We decided to try the Mahwah location on a Friday night, and were pleased to get a reservation with only 20 minutes notice. The restaurant provided valet parking, and there was a bright red Ferrari that had just pulled up in front of us. My expectations for the meal went up even higher. 

The menu was what you would expect from a steakhouse, and except for the steaks (which are on the higher end) the prices were reasonable.   We were promptly given an assortment of bread, and our drink orders came quickly.

  

We decided to try the coconut shrimp spring rolls and the house salad to start, followed by the porterhouse for two. The spring rolls came out fairly quick, and were distinctive. They had a nice crisp, but the inside was a bit mushy. We were expecting a full shrimp inside, but it seems that the filling consisted of some chopped up shrimp mixed in with other fillings. All in all, the spring rolls were OK. Next came the house salad, which was mixed together in a wooden salad bowl. We were quite disappointed with the salad, it seemed like something cobbled together by someone who is not skilled in the kitchen. It was a mixture of iceberg lettuce, tomato and onion, over dressed in Italian dressing. We may have just ordered wrong, as we saw some other salads that looked better, albeit, they were not the "house salad." 

At this point we were very disappointed with the first course, but were optimistic that we were still in store for a great steak dinner. The steak came out, and was of a high quality and cooked perfectly. It was not seasoned as well as we like, but that was an easy fix. We ordered two sides, which was the perfect amount for sharing. The hashed browned potato and the sauted spinach were exactly as expected. 

All in all, we were highly disappointed with the meal.  While the steak was good, the place felt a little "tired", and at the price point, there are definitely better options out there.  We do not anticipate going back anytime soon.

Xteve review : 2.0 *****

Website : River palm terrace 

Esty street - Park Ridge, NJ

It was our anniversary a few weeks ago. Steve is supposed to write restaurant reviews on this blog but since his schedule has been absolutely crazy, before we forget about our experience at this restaurant, I decided to go for it.

As I just took quick snaps with the phone, pictures don't show it all but we were quite impressed with this place. At first we planned to go to the restaurant we have been going for our anniversary for the last few years, but changed our minds and decided to give it a try on a local restaurant. We weren't super hungry so we skipped the appetizer although it was very tempting as everything sounded good and what the couple sitting next to us were having looked amazing.

 Delicious rib eye steak with fries. It comes with foie gras butter which Steve said no to. Perfectly cooked, juicy and tender.

Chilean seabass with shrimp risotto. Surprisingly a lot of shrimp in the risotto even though it's a side. Creamy risotto, cooked to al dente with perfect seasoning was very satisfying. Seabass was very yummy too but my only complaint is, it was room temperature. Wonder if it was sitting while Steak was being cooked or rested.

Sorry for the terrible picture. I forgot to take a picture and took a biiiig spoonful of the dessert. It's a French toast pound cake topped with vanilla ice cream. I initially wanted Kalua cappuccino  but since I still had half a glass full of Prosecco, I just decided to drink it with the dessert. And as our waiter placed the dessert on our table, he spilled my Prosecco on Steve's pants. He right away, offered to replace the Prosecco($14) but I said I'd take Kalua cappuccino($11) instead. And when we got the check, we were surprised to see that he charged for that cappuccino. Other than that, service was great. Attentive staffs.

Overall, it is in a little higher price range but the atmosphere, quality of food and service(except what happened to my Prosecco) was amazing. I absolutely loved the home/library like decor and all the details inside and out. I would recommend this place if someone's looking for a special occasion restaurant in the area. 

Xteve rating : 4.0 *****

Website : Esty street