New Jersey’s Best Sandwich? @ Hamburgão – Kearny, NJ

Keeping tabs on New Jersey’s best ethnic food is my excuse to sample all kinds of dishes across the Garden State. Like always, 2012 was an excellent year for ethnic eating in Jersey. I definitely ate my fill – from Main Street, Paterson to Edison’s Oak Tree Road; from German food in the Skylands to Mexican down the Shore - and then some. Many restaurants made it onto the EthnicNJ map for the first time. Thanks to everyone who has visited, contributed and commented, EthnicNJ.com now features 750 of New Jersey’s best ethnic restaurants. Keep the tips coming and EthnicNJ will keep searching out the best food New Jersey has to offer.

Ceviche Trio @ El Marino – Dover, NJ

Among the places I visited this year, a few meals stand out from rest. These are my ten most memorable meals of 2012. The common thread is good food, but that’s usually just part of the story. Each meal on this list brought together food, people and surroundings for an unforgettable food experience.

Happy New Year New Jersey! May 2013 bring you plenty of Jersey food memories like these.

- Anthony

Taco al Pastor @ Taquería La Valentina – Long Branch, NJ

10.  Hamburgão Beef @ Hamburgão - Kearny, NJ

After picking up some tasty Argentinian empanadas at nearby Stella’s, my wife and I stopped here for lunch and experienced one of the most amazing, over-the-top sandwiches in all of Jersey.

9.  Ceviche Trio @ El Marino - Dover, NJ

Who would have guessed that the best Peruvian ceviche this side of Lima is in Morris County?

8.  BBQ Chicken from The Wood Pit - Montclair, NJ

The ribs and brisket were so good here that we ordered two big trays of meat for our oldest daughter’s Sweet Sixteen party. Turns out the chopped BBQ Chicken, slathered with North Carolina flavors, is even better!

“Mealies” @ Charlie’s Pool Room – Alpha, NJ”

 7.  Tapas @ Olé Olé Foods – Belleville, NJ

This Spanish fine food importer opens its warehouse to the public on the first Saturday of every month in the Spring. Sample Serrano ham, Manchego cheese, and homemade chorizo. The gregarious proprietor, Conrad, may pour you some wine while you shop and snack.

 6.  Taco al Pastor @ Taquería La Valentina - Long Branch, NJ

The simplicity of the single taco I ate on my first visit was disarming and delicious. La Valentina became my favorite Mexican restaurant in New Jersey and a featured spot in my article for Edible Jersey magazine.

Grilled Meats @ Al Helal – Paterson, NJ

5.  Grilled Lamb Chop and Sausages @ Al-Helal - Paterson , NJ

The centerpiece of my Ethnic Food Tour of Paterson, NJ with Mayor Domenick Stampone of Haledon and and Jersey Bites founder Deborah Smith, Al-Helal offered a glimpse of the rich Middle Eastern fare available in Passaic County.

Leitao Bairrada @ Casa Do Leitao – Elizabeth, NJ

 4.  ”Mealies” @ Charlie’s Pool Room - Alpha, NJ

With my teenage son along for the ride, I stepped into 85 years of backstory, ate two very good hot dogs, and spent a fascinating hour with the Fencz brothers.

Perfect pizza @ DeLucia’s – Raritan, NJ

3.  Pizza @ DeLucia’s - Raritan, NJ

My favorite pizza – half cheese, half sausage – tasted even better when my youngest daughter  agreed with her dad, as eight year old girls often do, that it was the best pizza she had ever had.

2.  Leitão from Casa do Leitão - Elizabeth, NJ

Before launching EthnicNJ.com, I never would have found a source for Portuguese whole roast suckling pig. Arriving at our friends’ backyard dinner this summer with a pig in a box made quite an impression, especially after tasting the paper-thin, crispy skin and melt-in-your-mouth pork.

Pork Ramen @ Mitsuwa – Edgewater, NJ

1.  Miso Roasted Pork Ramen @ Mitsuwa Marketplace - Edgewater, NJ

On a cold January Saturday, the whole family ventured to this Japanese supermarket food court in Bergen County, where we enjoyed the most satisfying bowls of steaming broth, meat, vegetables and noodles, contentedly slurping it all up. Happiness is a hot bowl of soup.

Prayers for those lost, praise for first responders and strength to all. Storms pass. New Jersey will recover.

“Sandy, the aurora is rising behind us. This pier lights our carnival life forever.” - Bruce Springsteen

NJ Recovery Resources

Assistance

FEMA disaster assistance: 1-800-621-3362. Find open shelters by texting SHELTER and a zip code to 43362 (4FEMA).

NJ Office of Emergency Management Alerts and Recovery Help and Advice.

To find a Red Cross shelter, call 1-800-RED-CROSS or visit: http://app.redcross.org/nss-app/.

Donate

American Red Cross.

The FoodBank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties, 732-918-2600.

FoodBank of South Jersey, 856-662-4884.

Community FoodBank of New Jersey, 908-355-FOOD.

Table to Table: Food donations from restaurants and professional food establishments in Bergen, Passaic, Hudson and Essex counties, 201-444-5500 or 201-887-7839.

Hurricane Sandy New Jersey Relief Fund set up by Governor Chris Christie and First Lady Mary Pat Christie.

Immediate Supplies for NJ EMS and FIRE Departments affected by Hurricane Sandy.

Jersey Cares. Coordinating volunteer opportunities.

Rebuild Hoboken Relief Fund.

Robin Hood Relief Fund – Recipient of funds raised through the 12 12 12 Concert for Sandy Relief.

Utilities

PSE&G: 1-800-436-7734, @PSEGdelivers

JCP&L: 1-888-LIGHTSS (1-888-544-4877) or 1-800-545-7738, @JCP_L

AC Electric: 1-800-833-7476, @ACElecConnect

Rockland Electric Company: 1-877-434-4100, @ORUConnect

Sussex Rural Electric Cooperative: 1-877-504-6463

Vineland Municipal Utilities: 1-856-794-4280

EthnicNJ.com has a new look!

Check out the new logo, design and features that make it easier to find the best ethnic food in New Jersey. Filter the EthnicNJ map by cuisine, by county, or just show the best food close by. With over 700 restaurants serving some fifty different cuisines, EthnicNJ has all the information you need to find and eat New Jersey’s best ethnic food.

Here you will find:

• A Middle Eastern grocery that will grill your fish while you wait.
• All those Mexican taquerias you’ve heard about, but couldn’t find.
• The white-brick pizza oven in continuous use since 1917.
• New Jersey’s best diners.
• A Dominican/Ethiopian restaurant down the Shore.
• The Warren County pool room that has served one iconic food for eighty-seven years.
• The best towns to find Peruvian ceviche in the Garden State.
• The Jersey municipality with the widest variety of  ethnic cuisines.
• My favorite Costa Rican, Persian and Portuguese spots, and many more great places to eat.

Along with a map to get you there, a review if EthnicNJ has visited, and links to the information we found helpful.

In the two years since EthnicNJ launched, our readership has grown dramatically. Thank you to everyone who has visited, contributed and commented, helping us find and map hundreds of New Jersey’s best ethnic restaurants. Keep the tips coming. If there’s an ethnic gem in your neighborhood, let us know about it.

Thanks for visitng EthnicNJ.

Christopher Columbus Drive – Jersey City

There are spots in Jersey where the local food scene is so incredibly diverse it makes you appreciate living here even more. One of these Garden State ethnic food oases is Downtown Jersey City. Walk fifteen minutes in any direction from the Grove Street Path Station and you’ll see dozens of restaurants, which isn’t so unusual for a city of almost 250,000 people, but the number of different cuisines and quality of the food you can find certainly is. New Jersey’s second largest city has some well known ethnic neighborhoods, like Little India and Little Manila, but it also mixes everything up in a very Jersey way.  Looking for Middle Eastern shawarma, Dominican pernil (pork shoulder), Korean fried chicken, Vietnamese pho, Polish pierogi AND Caribbean jerk chicken in one place? Visit Downtown Jersey City. Here’s some of what I found in a five block loop last Saturday.

Ibby’s Falafel @ 303 Grove Street

El Sazon de Las Americas (Dominican) @ corner of Grove and Wayne St.

BonChon Chicken (Korean) @ 173 Newark Avenue

Saigon Cafe @ 188 Newark Avenue

Europa Polish Delicatessen @ 527 Jersey Avenue

Nicole’s Caribbean Restaurant @ 521 Jersey Avenue

Links

Ibby’s Falafel
El Sazon de Las Americas
BonChon Chicken
Saigon Cafe
Europa Polish Delicatessen
Nicole’s Caribbean

The Paterson Farmers Market

New Jersey’s third largest city –  founded in 1792 by Alexander Hamilton, birthplace of comedian Lou Costello, inspiration for poet William Carlos Williams, and high school stomping grounds of NJ Giants’ star Victor Cruz – has always been a city of immigrants. Irish, Germans and Jews since the 1800s; Italians and Eastern Europeans since the early 1900s; Syrians, Lebanese, Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, Central and South Americans, Africans and South Asians in the decades since; all call the Silk City home.

In other words, Paterson is New Jersey in a nutshell: lots of different people living close together; perfect conditions for really good food. With some of the Garden State’s largest Peruvian, Dominican, and Turkish populations , you can find a different ethnic restaurant on practically every corner.

Fresh Fish @ Al Helal

There’s no better guide to this ethnic food lovers paradise on the Passaic than Paterson native and Mayor of next door Haledon Borough, Dominick Stampone. Mayor Stampone is an enthusiastic and reliable source of restaurant suggestions for EthnicNJ.com via Twitter. Last Friday, he invited me and Jersey Bites founder Deborah Smith to join him for an ethnic lunch in Paterson. That’s the kind of offer I cannot refuse.

Branzino Fresh off the Grill

We met in the parking lot of Al Helal Meat & Fish Market, on the corner of East Railway and Crooks Avenues, next to the railroad tracks and the bustling Farmers Market that has supplied fresh ingredients to every wave of Paterson immigrants for eighty years.

Like many of New Jersey’s best ethnic food spots, at first glance, Al Helal appears to be just a market. Groceries and housewares are up front. The meat counter in the back is well stocked with fresh beef, lamb and goat. (The market follows Islamic dietary rules, halal, so no pork.) Unlike your local Pathmark, the butchers here proudly display every cut, including tongue, liver, kidney, tripe, tails and feet. The fish counter along the left wall is just as impressive, with at least a dozen varieties of fresh whole fish on ice. I saw red snapper, porgies, sardines, striped bass, pargo, branzino, perch and rainbow trout, among others. Mayor Stampone shared the insider’s tip, “Pick a fish, or meat, and they’ll grill it for you right here.” Fast food as it should be.

Charcoal Grill Working its Magic @ Al Helal

Along one wall, to the right of the entrance, an impressive brick-framed grill smokes with hardwood charcoal. Next to the grill spin thwo tall spits of chicken and beef shawerma, a big draw. (One customer told me he comes five days a week just for the sliced meat in a pita.)  At the fish counter, Dominick chose a whole Branzino. Deborah picked out some shrimp. The guy at the fish counter gives you your selection in a bucket, and you walk it over to the grill man. Meanwhile, I ventured over to the meat counter for a lamb chop and some homemade lamb sausage. At the grill, I asked for my lamb chop spicy. The grill man worked his magic with a spice rub and direct flame.

Grilled Meats

A few minutes later, we were handed our perfectly grilled food, atop heaping plates of rice and grilled vegetables. My lamb chop was nicely spiced and still juicy. The sausages had a nice flavor and were perfect scooped up in a fresh pita. Fortunately, I had opened a bottle of ayran, a Turkish yogurt drink (like Persian doogh), which I needed almost immediately to counter the super spicy grilled jalapenos. Domenick’s whole Branzino and Deborah’s grilled shrimp were equally enticing. As if our lunch plates weren’t enough, we also sampled some excellent salads and sides: creamy hummus, flavorful red pepper spread, and a very nice Turkish salad. My entire lunch, including the drink, cost $15.

Jersey Bites Research

Mayor Stampone’s community pride is contagious. While enjoying our foodie bounty, our conversation covered Paterson history, the virtues of Patsy’s pizza, Italian and Irish family traditions, food memories, and of course, dealing with our school-age kids. A steady stream of customers stopped in for groceries, for take out, and for a quick bite at the counter. While many Al Helal customers speak Arabic, many do not, and the counter guys speak English. The market, like most good Jersey ethnic finds, serves the entire community, not just one ethnic group. I couldn’t help noticing the Brazilian guarana soda in the drinks case, for example.

Our plates pretty much cleaned, Al Helal turned out to be just the first stop on a mini-tour of Middle Eastern spots in Paterson. Mayor Stampone had two more places in mind.

Mayor Stampone Ordering Dessert @ Nablus

To reach our second stop, we ventured up Main Street, the heart of Paterson’s Middle Eastern community, past numerous Arabic storefronts, to Nablus Sweets & Pastries – a tiny shop serving Middle Eastern cookies and confections. Locals come here for K’nafee, and thanks to our knowledgeable host, so did we. A popular Arabic sweet with origins in the ancient Palestinian city of Nablus, the freshly made K’nafee at Nablus Pastry comes, served warm, in two forms –  a round, thin layer of white cheese, covered by a slightly sweet mixture of syrup and semolina, topped with crushed pistachios; or a rectangular version topped with thinly shredded pastry noodles. Unique and very tasty, everyone should try this Middle Eastern specialty.

Spinach and Cheese-filled Borek @ Taskin Bakery

Squeezing in one more ethnic cuisine, Taskin Bakery was our last stop. This 24-hour operation serves homemade Turkish baked goods from a brick oven. Deb, Dominick and I were all full by now, so we bought a few things to go. My wife and kids enjoyed the spinach and cheese-filled  borek - flat squares of thinly layered, flaky yufka (phyllo) dough – for breakfast the next day. Taskin’s authentic breads and pistachio baklava also get rave reviews.

It only took a couple of hours in Paterson to sample the flavors of the Eastern Mediterranean, a Jersey food journey from Palestine to Turkey. The beauty of an ethnically diverse city like Paterson, is that you can just as easily sample delicious Peruvian, Jamaican, Syrian, or Lebanese food. Or score some American ethnic food – a famous Texas Wiener from Libby’s Lunch – to eat overlooking the Great Falls, New Jersey’s newest National Park.

Olives & Pickled Vegetables @ Al Helal

At each stop, I was stuck by how familiar the Middle Eastern food seems. Trays of colorful cookies at Nablus look like the Italian cookies I ate on holidays growing up. Fresh loaves on the shelves at Taskin smell like any really good New Jersey bakery. The olives and pickled vegetables at Al Helal remind me of an antipasto plate at an Italian-American restaurant. Mediterranean immigrants have a lot in common, no matter the coast they left behind.

Deborah and I thanked Mayor Stampone for sharing a small slice of the rich ethnic diversity of Paterson. We vowed to meet up again soon. As I drove toward the Parkway, I considered the next logical location for an EthnicNJ.com ethnic food tour. Mayor Booker, perhaps?

Las Banderas – Summit, NJ

1.  A wall mural

After gazing at Costa Rica’s Arenal Volcano on the wall of The Banderas in Summit, NJ, contemplating Macchu Picchu at Misty’s in West Orange, and avoiding Pancho Villa’s stare at El Rancho in Orange, it dawned on me that floor to ceiling, hand-painted murals are a reliable sign of good ethnic food, especially Latin American food.

2.  Large families

Large groups with grandparents and young children are always a good sign at an ethnic restaurant. If you bring the whole family, the food must be good.

Sunny Palace – East Brunswick, NJ

3.  A fish tank

Without fail, my favorite Asian restaurants feature impressive fish tanks. I’m not sure why, but it’s a good sign for good food.

4.  A foreign language

A no-brainer, but authentic ethnic food usually means owners, chefs, servers and many customers speak the language. If no one at your favorite Szechuan spot understands Mandarin, you’re probably not eating the best Dan Dan Noodles. If the chef speaks Spanish and the family at the next table is speaking Spanish, you’re off to a good start for Peruvian food. If all you hear is English, hopefully there’s a foreign language on the menu. Not speaking the language can make ordering an adventure, but isn’t that part of the fun?

Chengdu 1 – Cedar Grove, NJ

5.  Strange things on the menu

If there are things on the menu you never thought you’d eat, you’re usually in for a treat. Go ahead, order the tripe, or the pig’s feet, or the  jellyfish. You’ll be glad you did.

6.  Television

Whether it’s a Filipino game show, Mexican telenovelas, or a European football match, there’s often a TV on at the best ethnic restaurants. A community gathering place means good food.

Try the Hot Sauce!

7.  Mysterious condiments

Mexican “salsa” outsells ketchup, mustard and mayo in the United States, but our taste for sauces is incredibly narrow compared to the world’s cuisines. Put a squirt of Sriracha on your fried rice, add some piri piri to your shrimp, or spoon on some of that unnamed mixture from the glass jar in the middle of the table. If you like the food, try the sauce.

8.  Owners who talk to customers

The best ethnic restaurants are family-owned. If the food is good, the owner, who might also be the chef, will work the dining room with pride.

9.  A strip mall location

New Jersey’s best ethnic restaurants are found all over – in downtown storefronts and in residential neighborhoods, but nothing signals good, cheap ethnic eats more than a highway strip mall location. You might drive right by Jimmy Buff’s (Route 10) or Abhiruchi (Route 27) without noticing them, but ethnic food fans know where they are.

Jimmy Buff’s – East Hanover, NJ

10.  A New Jersey address

If you’re eating the best food you’ve ever tasted, you’re probably at an ethnic restaurant in New Jersey. How do you find New Jersey’s best ethnic food? Use the map at EthnicNJ.com, of course.