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Ibby’s Falafel
Anthony
February 16, 2012
The original Ibby’s location, opened in 1996. Another location in Freehold.
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Featured Cuisines
Hudson
La Fusta
Anthony
January 6, 2012
Head to North Bergen for an ethnic cuisine hard to find on this side of the Hudson – Argentinian food. La Fusta serves meat, lots of meat, cooked the way they do it in Buenos Aires – a la parilla.
Argentinian Empanadas
La Fusta’s extensive menu is, not surprisingly, beef-centric. To start, order the Matambre Casero (stuffed rolled flank steak), the Argentinian version of Italian-American braciole; or maybe an Argentinian empanada (chicken, spinach or beef) – large and flaky, made with wheat flour. We tried the Grilled Provolone with Prosciuto appetizer. Tasty, but a little heavy in retrospect. Make sure to leave plenty of room for the main course, because portions are huge.
My wife and I, and some friends, had come to La Fusta to feast on meat. We headed straight for the parillada – literally “grilled,” but often translated as barbecue – section of the menu. Unlike a Brazilian rodizio, where different meats grilled on skewers are sliced at your table, Argentinian steakhouses bring you a pile of grilled meats all at once. The Parillada Americana (American Grill) for two comes with sausage, chicken breast, pork chops, skirt steak and short rib, all served on perforated metal platter atop a pot to catch the juices. Those who appreciate lesser cuts should go for the Parillada Argentina that comes with morcilla (black sausage) and tripe instead of chicken and pork chops. You may have different results, but this amount of meat serves at least four adults in my family. Spinach, rice, fries or mashed potatoes are sides. Beef is king here – the menu features no less than five calf’s liver entrees – but there are also plenty of seafood and pasta options, and a large number of salads. Have to try one of those next time. For dessert, if you have even a little bit of room, don’t miss the crepes with caramel.
Parrillada Americana
La Fusta, which has another location in Elmhurst, Queens, resides in a nondescript building on the always busy Route 1/9 North, close up against a towering Comfort Suites. There is a parking lot behind the restaurant. Once inside, the dining room is comfortable and warmly decorated with an equine polo theme (La Fusta means “Whip”). The large dining room is slightly upscale, but not fussy. Customers are a mixture of couple and families. Service is very friendly, and bilingual. Our server happily explained some menu items and made spot on recommendations, like the house bottle of Malbec from Mendoza, Argentina. No gauchos in sight, but we felt like we had just eaten somewhere on the pampas of Jersey.
Links
Cucharamama
Anthony
December 19, 2011
Octopus (Pulpo) in Peruvian Pepper Sauce
You can find just about every South American cuisine somewhere in New Jersey. To try them all in one place, visit Cucharamama (“Mother spoon”) in Hoboken, where Cuban-born chef and historian Maricel Presilla offers both classic and reinterpreted versions of homestyle food from Peru, Venezuela, Colombia and beyond.
From the creative cocktails, through small plates and main dishes, Cucharamama’s menu ranges far and wide across the South American continent. There are Peruvian options, including pisco drinks, anticuchos (marinated, grilled meats and organs), cebiche (lime-marinated fish), and Picante de Camarones (shrimp in spicy pepper sauce); Venezuelan arepas and black bean stew; Argentinian empanadas and chorizo; Ecuadorian Sango de Choclo y Camarones (creamy corn and shrimp stew); Bolivian Saice (spicy braised beef), and Colombian tamales and Bandejita Paisa (meat lovers dinner platter). I think I even saw a Brazilian cod fritter. Presilla not only serves every South American country’s cuisine, but mixes them up. There are interesting ethnic mashups like Humitas Chilenas (Chilean Fresh Corn Tamal with Venezuelan Ají de Leche (Milk and Cilantro Sauce)) and the Amazónico – a cocktail combining Guatemalan aguardiente and lulo juice from the Ecuadorian Amazon.
Roast Chicken from the Wood-Burning Oven
The hearty fare from the kitchen is Latin American comfort food. Our group loved the tamales with pork crackling and sweet corn, the pulpo (octopus) in pepper sauce, and the roast chicken out of the wood-burning oven. The Pastel de Choclo Chileno, a chicken and pork pot pie, is a heartwarming, slightly sweet casserole. The creamy quinoa with potato and cheese (Quinoa Atamalada) side dish is absolutely delicious. The desserts also looked good, but we were just too full to partake.
The narrow room is nicely decorated with the warm colors and artwork of South America. Our only complaint with Cucharamama is the service. The restaurant is very popular, and gets crowded in the small Hoboken space. The servers are friendly, but visibly rushed. There’s a bit of a Miami Beach in Jersey vibe – pretty people in a hip place. The hostess on the night we visited was particularly clueless, more focussed on looking good than on managing the front of the house. She was unable to recommend a nearby bar when we arrived early and there was no room to wait inside.
With a history PhD, it’s not surprising that Presilla – a James Beard award nominee and White House guest chef – is a culinary ambassador, bringing Latin American history and culture to new audiences through food. She has written a history
Links
edible Jersey
New Jersey Monthly (Jul 2009)
New Jersey Monthly (Jan 2010)
Zeppelin Hall Biergarten
Anthony
June 16, 2011
You won’t find many biergartens in Jersey like Zeppelin Hall. Honestly, EthnicNJ has only found one German-style beer garden in the Garden State. (Know of others? Please share.)
Zeppelin Hall, next to the Hudson-Bergen Jersey Avenue light rail stop in Jersey City (four blocks from the Grove Street PATH), is a very large space,inside and out. Inside, there are two bars and many tables. Outside, there are picnic tables with umbrellas in a very spacious patio, with its own set of beer taps. On a Sunday afternoon, there were plenty of families with young kids enjoying the patio.
Cheese-Filled Bratwurst
On tap, you’ll find plenty of fine American (Abita, Magic Hat, Ommegang), Belgian (Leffe, Palm), British (Boddington’s, Newcastle), Irish (Smithwick’s, Guinness) and German (Hacker-Pschorr, Spaten, Warsteiner) beers. Order a mug, a liter, or a pitcher. The Hofbräu Oktoberfest and Leine’s Sunset Wheat were excellent when we visited with the hardy FreeWalkers recently. A liter mug of wheat beer on a hot summer day is just what the doctor ordered.
The German food on the menu is limited to soft pretzels, various specialty sausages served with kraut and fries, and a few “Bavarian Classics” (schnitzel, spaetzle and sauerbraten). The impressively large sausages (insert wiener reference) taste pretty good and go well with the beer.
Go for the beer, like most people, or for the German sausages, what’s the wurst that can happen?
Links
BeerAdvocate
TheBokenOnline.com
The New York Times
Leine’s Sunset Wheat
