The Birthday brunch I’ve been waiting for!

Sunday, March 11

Last Sunday, we again ventured off of Washington St. to go to one of my favorite little restaurants in Hoboken, the Backyard Bistro on 7^th and Jefferson St, for my birthday. I haven’t been there in about a year, but I have been craving their famous Vermonster breakfast sandwich (egg, cheese, bacon or sausage and home fries all on a sandwich made out of pretzel bread) so I figured it would make the perfect birthday present! I was originally afraid that they wouldn’t be able to accommodate a large party, but I was pleasantly surprised when I called earlier in the week to find out their reservation policy.  They told me that I needed to give them a call a few hours prior to see if they could hold the table. Upon calling, they reserved a table for 12 and a baby without a problem…almost unheard of for Hoboken. 

When we arrived, we were amazed by their renovations! They now have tables and real chairs and the place looks really nice! They used to have these run-down benches, which I wasn’t a huge fan of.  The tablecloths are super cute being red and white checkerboard. There were about 5 other tables besides ours, so it isn’t a huge place.  Even though there aren’t many tables, the service is not necessarily the swiftest, so don’t plan on being in and out that quickly.

Now, there are a ton of brunch places in Hoboken that all basically serve the exact same thing. However, the thing we love about Backyard Bistro is that their menu is huge and they really have a variety of unique options to accommodate everyone.  They have all kinds of funky sandwiches and salads, in addition to breakfast, burgers, pastas and other entrees. My sister and brother-in-law each got a lovely salad, while others ordered sandwiches and breakfast food. However, the specialty of the Backyard Bistro is that they offer all of their sandwiches on pretzel bread. Its fluffy, doughy and just delicious. Is there anybody out there that doesn’t love hot pretzels? So, we began our meal with an appetizer portion of pretzels stuffed with cheese served with a tasty whole grain honey mustard, which I probably could have eaten with a spoon.

For Ben’s main course, he got the Eden Sandwich, which included Lettuce, Tomato, Onion, Avocado, Provolone and Pesto Mayo all on Pretzel Bread, and he was able to add turkey to the sandwich. Of course, I got “The Vermonster,” with egg, cheese, home fries on pretzel bread.  You could have sausage and bacon on it, but I’m not a huge fan of meat.  Every last bite was amazing! We also ordered a side of the Crème Brule challah french toast to share, just because we were curious about it. 

What a great birthday brunch…It was totally worth the thousands of calories! We definitely recommend that you try this little hidden treasure in Hoboken.

Zack’s Oak Bar & Grill: So nice, we ate there twice…within 1 hour

March 18, 2012

Ben and the boys were playing basketball Sunday morning, so I met my friend for brunch and we chose Zack’s on 2^nd and Willow. I’d never been there before, and I’m always in favor of new places. It is a nice place, with big glass windows that make the bar area bright and cheery. The place was busy with people watching March Madness. We were seated in a small little back dining room just off the bar.

The menu is a little small with really only 5 or 6 breakfast options and an additional 5 or 6 lunch options, in addition to the few specials. Nothing seemed overly exotic or unique, and included many of the regular staple choices that you would expect to find within your typical American Bar/Grill restaurant. The brunch menu is very reasonable, with most items costing between $8-12.

 I actually decided to order one of their specials; an egg white omelet with portabella mushrooms, spinach and mozzarella cheese. It came with an order of home fries, but I swapped them out for regular french fries. The omelet was a little watery, but the spinach appeared nice and fresh. All in all, it was OK and I was satisfied.

Just as we were finishing up, Ben called and said that his game was finished and that they were hungry so they would come downtown and we could meet up. Wouldn’t you know it; Ben’s friend suggested Zack’s as well, haha. So, we met up with them about 30 minutes later and sat down with them while they ate…at the same table! Ben ordered the Turkey Burger. It was a bit burned, but was still very flavorful and he was pleased. The one thing I will say is that the french fries are really, really good. Just the right amount of salt and not too chewy or too crispy…just right.

Overall, it was a nice choice and I’m glad we ate there. It seems like it would be a fun place to hang out and relax on Friday night with some friends and have a simple meal with a few drinks. Probably not worth eating there twice in one day on normal circumstances, but it’s fine.

95 restaurants down…

March 11, 2012

We were in the mood for Mediterranean food, so we figured we’d give Pita Grill a try. We’ve had it before, but we usually order from It’s Greek to Me. However, we had a gift certificate to Seamless Web and unfortunately It’s Greek to Me is not a member (WHY???) So, we gave Pita Grill another shot but we immediately regretted this decision.

We ordered spinach pie with cheese for an appetizer, and Jamie ordered a regular Falafel, while I ordered my usual Lamb Gyro. First of all, delivery took close to an hour (when they said 20-30 minutes)…a bad omen.

The Spinach pie was soggy and luke-warm, totally unfulfilling. The falafel was nothing to speak glowingly about either. It was rather tasteless, and they included the spicy tahini sauce when Jamie specifically requested  non spicy tahini. But hey, that’s an easy mistake.

My gyro has a disaster. The pita pocket was small, and fell apart almost instantly. It too had very little flavor and was eaten in 5 minutes. The Gyro from It’s Greek to Me is tasty and enormous and I almost always have leftovers…but not this time. As I write this, I am totally hungry and will probably drown my sorrows in Jamie’s delicious peanut-butter bars (orders upon request).

Save your money, go to It’s Greek to Me.

Casual Thai: We just love this place!

March 3, 2012

This is one of our favorite restaurants in Hoboken and we’ve been there several times, but this was the first time since we started our blog so we figured we’d officially write it up.

If you’re into Thai food, Casual Thai on Washington Street between 10th and 11th is the best you can get in Hoboken. It has everything that you would want in a restaurant; delicious food, friendly and accommodating service, and is very affordable. Like many Hoboken restaurants, it’s a BYOB so the bill is always less than you are used to. There are a few liquor stores right nearby, including the one right next door that has a naughty yet adorable Golden Retriever who eats gloves and umbrellas, so you can pick up some wine for the meal. We also love their eccentric musical soundtrack which ranges from the “Macarena,” to “Tequila” to a version of “I will Survive” in Spanish.

We’ve actually had 2 birthday parties there in the past year. We love it because we can basically take over the place and it’s just so damn good and so damn cheap. Each time, we’ve had roughly 15 people. It’s small, but they always let us make reservations; something that most restaurants usually are reluctant to do for large parties for some reason (I guess they just HATE guaranteed business with a really large bill). Our friends are loud and jovial, but they never give us a problem. Each time, we’ve stayed there for close to 3 hours and never asked us to leave even though we were sort of just loitering. Also, the BYOB factor always keeps the bill low. I think for the last party we went through 4 or 5 bottles or wine and 2 bottles of Grey Goose, and at the end of the night the entire bill for 15 people including tip was $300…$20 a person (although that was partially subsidized by the $50 of winning scratch off tickets from the liquor store next door) You can’t get a better night out than that!

But, back to Saturday night…

We ordered our usual appetizer, the Kanom Jeep (essentially steamed dumplings). It comes with four and they are pretty big, so one per person is probably enough. There were three of us, so we decided to order three entrees and share them. As usual, we ordered a Pad Thai (I wonder what % of Americans don’t order Pad Thai from Thai restaurants). It was solid, no better or worse than usual. However, tonight we tried two new dishes. The first was a Chilean Seabass in a sweet & sour sauce. This was simply amazing; the Seabass literally dissolves in your mouth. We also ordered one of their specials; the Mango Crispy Duck (photo above). Another really great choice! The combination of the meat and what was probably the freshest and softest mango we’ve ever had resulted in a really interesting taste. It was just so flavourful. Honestly, mango combined with anything is a recipe for success.

We ate until we were full and still had plenty of leftovers, easily enough for dinner another night. Again, the entire bill (3 entrees and an appetizer, tax and tip)…$65. Amazing! They usually finish with a few orange slices, but this time we had two delicious pieces of cantaloupe. Like the mango, it was just so fresh!

There’s no other way to say it…We just love this place!

March 3, 2012

Today is St. Patrick’s Day in Hoboken (much to the Mayor’s dismay), and for the last three years we have always celebrated at Arthur’s Tavern on the corner Washington Street and 3rd…well, no more!

It was sad when there were rumors of the Hoboken landmark closing as recently as a year ago, but we heard that somebody bought it and saved it. We’ve now been there twice since then, and it has become clear that the new management is looking to maximize his profit. While that’s certainly his right, we certainly don’t have to go there anymore either.

There were so many reasons why we used to love going to Arthur’s on St. Patty’s day; the enormous 32 oz beer mugs, no cover charge, and the fact that it is 3 floors and simply huge, so you can almost always get in without a wait.

This year, a group of 12 of us went to Arthur’s again, but left very disappointed. No more beer mugs this year, just crappy plastic 12 oz cups. When I asked why, the bartender simply said, “New Management.” It used to cost $8 for a 32 oz mug of Blue Moon. However, this crappy 12 oz cup (without an orange slice) cost $8.50. Two girls then came up to a bar and ordered shots of vodka. The bartender pulled out tiny plastic shot glasses, not much bigger than a thimble; $10/shot. A bottle of Bud Light; $8. We managed to find a table and a few of us ordered vodka-tonics. The first round came back and it was clear that it wasn’t much more than a combination of water and tonic, perhaps with a splash of vodka…maybe. We couldn’t taste any vodka, so we sent it back. Clearly, they were in full price gauging mode. Oh, and I forgot to mention the $10 cover charge that they were charging people when we left.

Maybe this is par for the course in Hoboken on St Patty’s day, and clearly it made no difference because the place was still packed, but it was just disappointing to see from Arthur’s. This just ultimately confirmed what we sensed when we went there for dinner a few months ago. We thought something might be up when they stopped serving unlimited coleslaw with our steak. I remember asking why, and again heard, “New management.” It’s clearly a trend that even the wait-staff notices.

We really liked Arthur’s and always felt nostalgic when eating there. It felt like a neighborhood staple that you could always rely on and made you smile (I love the ugly red-checker table-cloths).

But no longer…you got cheap, and it shows!