Serge_Dasara "Mall and theme restaurants are an anathema; they should be nuked!"

Excellent assortment of Korean barbecue items, as well as other Korean specialties. A traditional restaurant, and many small “tasting” plates are set out as appetizers. Bulgogi, Kalbi, duck and pork-belly barbecue are great as is the Pajeon, which are pancakes with kim-chee or seafood. Little English is spoken here, so be prepared! A great experience for the adventurous!

This bright and clean restaurant serves great Taverna food in a casual atmosphere.

Souvlaki predominates, either as a single sandwich in pita, or as a platter. I’ve had them all, and prefer the pork.

The usual appetizers are fresh and tasty, Dolmades, Taramosalata, Spanakoptia, Fried Calimari – all great, as are the salads!

They offer a few “restaurant” dishes such as lamb in Filo, Mousaka, Pastichio and the like, but their strenght, in m opinion is in the Souvlaki!

OK, this place has good food, but the ambiance – well it’s just awful. Once a stainless-steel diner, it’s been gutted and remade over. Greeting you is a large-screen flat TV playing Mexican Sports or music videos at top volume; then there’s a jukebox which plays Spanish pop at top volume. The crowd is noisy, and the hard walls bounce the noise into your ears as a cacophony of noise.

OK, that being said, this place has some of the best and freshest Mexican food around! Their Mexican Tacquitos @ $5.00 with your choice of eight fillings are superb. (Try the Chorizo or Bistec).

The usual single or combination plates (Chimichanga, Enchilada, Tamale, Burrito etc. etc) are all available, served with rice & beans and quite good at around $11.00, And then there are the specials from $10 to $14, also quite good.

Great Mexican food, bring earplugs or do it as take-out!

I was first taken to Hiura about 11 years ago by a Japanese friend, a high executive with Matsushita, who was transferred to Bergen County for two years and who had an unlimited business entertainment account. I mention that, because he paid, and this is an expensive sushi bar. A VERY expensive sushi bar, but whose quality fish measures up to any in NYC!

This friend, and subsequent Japanese friends have affirmed this, and told me that it’s so expensive because Hiura has his fish flown in from Japan.

These fellows have told me to put my faith in the Itami (Sushi chef) and ask him to give you the what he thinks is his best tonight, and then give him the most general instructions and a price cap, which I do. Like them, I ask to start with a Sashemi plate, followed by a selection of nigiri-sushi, maki-sushi and an interesting plate or two from the kitchen. $75 (per person) will get you a nice meal; $100 will make you VERY happy!

If you like Sushi,and have some extra cash to spend, this will be a memorable experience!

Hands down, this is one of the best Thai restaurants around! I’ve been eating here for 13 years, and never had a bad meal!

A small cozy restaurant with attentive service and a talented cook (Wondee herself) who serves up a great variety of Thai dishes.

All of the soups are exceptional, as are the YUM, traditional, spicy Thai salads made with either beef, duck, shrimp and more, each is slightly different and quite good.

I’ve enjoyed the various curries, and seafood dishes (OCEAN OF GARLIC, a melange of shrimp, scallop, squid, all fried with spices and garlic is a favorite) as well as poultry (PED KRAPOW, crispy, spicy duck with Thai Basil is another favorite).

You can’t go wrong here, with entrées averaging about $14.00, the price is right!

This is a great, clean and fun Colombian restaurant near the courthouse in Hackensack. It’s well-lit, and the service is good.

The menu is large, with selections in all categories: meat, fish and, in my opinion, the best: the grilled meats. There are a number of grilled specialties, and I’ve enjoyed many!

I enjoy the PARRILLADA, which at $19.00 is a huge (probably enough for two) platter of skirt steak, short ribs, chunchurria, blood sausage, chorizo, and chicharon, served with plantain and rice. My dining partners had the Paella Valencia, which at $24.00 was enough for two with leftovers to take home.

If you enjoy South American food, it’s a great place!

This is a rather cozy, formal classical French restaurant in an odd location. It’s run by Madeleine who is the hostess, and her husband Gaspard, who was once the Executive Chef at Tavern on the Green.

The food is well prepared of fresh, high quality ingredients and attractively plated.

The prix-fixe menu remains a great bargain, but alas, does not contain his better dishes. The regular menu features dishes from $28 to $36, and I have had the Duck Confit a l’Orange $32.50 as well as the Pork Medallions $29.50. Both were quite good, as are his desserts.

Unfortunately we had a surly and rather stupid waitress, who, knowing we were interested in the chocolate soufflé for dessert,failed to tell us that it took a half-hour to prepare and thus had to be ordered at the same time as the entrée.

If you like classic French food, and find yourself in the norther suburbs, it’s a good choice.

I rarely go to Italian restaurants: I’m Italian, an accomplished home-chef and picky. I find most to serve some strange form of “Italian Fusion” that the chef invented to cater to American tastes, and often feel that I can do better than the chef! Not so here: it’s a traditional Italian (many of the dishes could be found in a Guliano Bugialli cook-book – many of the diners are Italian-speaking); and I’ve been eating here for over 13 years and have never had a bad meal!

This intimate, elegant restaurant is owned by two fellows from Venice, and reminds me most of a trattoria: while the menu items are quite good, the real gems of the day are told you you orally by your server In addition, Clemenza and Ernesto are patrolling the dining room to make certain that all is well.

I particularly enjoy the hot seafood antipasta (clams, shrimp, mussels etc), the Papardelle with wild mushrooms and truffle oil, the Ossobuco, which comes with creamy risotto, the veal chop, well, I could go on and on…

The average dish is $18 to $25, and all are worth it!

Unlike the hard-core Arab restaurants in Paterson, Rosa’s is much more laid-back: the women have their heads uncovered, alcohol is permitted (BYOB) and flat-screen TVs have Lebanese music videos playing in the background.

It’s small,and a bit noisy, but the food is great. Pass on the appetizers (Baba Ganouj, Hummus etc,) to me they taste like they’re out of a can: the same in Paterson are much, much better.

The main dishes are another story: they’re all really good. I like any of the spicy lamb kabobs; my table-mates had the frog’s legs, fish and Cornish Hen: all were excellent. The traditional sweet desserts were quite good.

All in all, a good experience!

A very good Chinese restaurant on its own, the best food is at the Dim-Sum lunch from 11 AM to 3PM every day. One proviso, though: make reservations for weekends: the line goes out the door and down the block!

The selection of Dim-Sum are simply astounding, and all are well made and delicious. As usual, the plates are colored, with each color signifying a price.

One can eat very well for $23 to $26, and it’s best to bring friends to sample everything that passes in front of you!