Tag: Restaurants

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“Dinner Friday Night Was At The”

The ReadyWriter

Skylark Diner and Lounge in Edison, New Jersey.

This restaurant was recommended by a loyal Ceo Blog Reader. The food was phenomenal, small in portions and just enough; but not worth the hour-long drive in Friday night traffic.

Equipped with a full bar and bakery on site, the food was good, the service was impeccable and the decor retro sixtyish.

There was four of us., I had the grilled salmon, whipped mashed potatoes and sautéed spinach, my friend had the shrimp, scallop and sausage fettucine, while the other couple chowed down on a chicken wrap with french fries and chicken parmesan with pasta.

Our appetizers were fried calamari and lobster bisque soup.

Thank you for your restaurant recommendations (keep them coming) however, anything further than 45 minutes away from the (NY-NJ) tri-state area, I will only dine at these eateries if ever in that particular area.

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“Dinner On Saturday Night Was At”

The ReadyWriter

Seabra’s Marisqueira.

A Portuguese restaurant, located in the iron-bound section of Newark, NJ, they specialize in fresh seafood and great entrees on a daily basis. Their portions are astounding and their prices very reasonable.

As an appetizer, I had a fresh baby green salad, while my dinner companions chose the fried calamari, shrimp cocktails and buffalo wings.

For my main course, I chose the grilled Tilapia, mashed potatoes and fresh string beans, my companions choices were; the portuguese codfish grilled with potatoes, whole red snapper grilled in a butter lemon sauce and the grilled salmon with mashed potatoes and green beans. All entrees came with yellow rice and a mixed vegetable.

There are several portuguese restaurants located in Newark, NJ., so in the midst of your choices I definitely recommend Seabra’s Marisqueira…you won’t regret it.

Friday night’s dinner was at one of my favorite places Thai Chef restaurant…

I love this place y’all!!!!

Located on Bloomfield Avenue in Montclair, NJ. I’ve blogged about this spot once before.

This is the restaurant that has a chocolate souffle that is simply to die for!!!!

Anyway, by the time we got to this restaurant on Friday, I was so hungry, I almost ordered everything on the menu.

I had a salad as an appetizer, then my girlfriends and I, shared the fried calamari.

As a main entree I had the grilled chilean sea bass and OMG!!!!! This fish is so soft and tender, you’d swear you were eating a piece of meat. No lie! My fish came with the sticky dirty rice, it was way beyond delicious.

As a side, I also had the pad-thai noodles with shrimp…that dish is off the hook!!!

My girlfriends all had the curry shrimp with fried plantains and the sticky dirty rice.

So, I’m open for your restaurant suggestions, if not; I can eat at this place almost every week. 🙂

All (food) pictures shown above are not the actual dish.

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“Crockett’s Fish Fry? Huge FAIL!!!!”

The ReadyWriter

And this place is not all of that!!!!

For some time now, I’ve been told that I had to try Crokett’s Fish Fry, located on Bloomfield Avenue in Montclair, NJ. According to some of my email sources, family and friends, their fish was simply to die for!!

When I walked into this restaurant and take-out joint on Saturday, the warning signal for me which indicated something was wrong, was the strong smell of fresh bleach. The stench from the bleach overpowered any food aromas necessary to turn on my senses for an appetite.

The smell alone turned me off completely and I opted out of having a meal.

As my people placed their orders for fish, one of them noticed a small dead roach on the counter by the cash register. Of course they brought this to the cashier’s attention, who played it off as if it was nothing.

For those in my crew brave enough to eat what they ordered, they said, “their fish was bangin” a couple of others, said something different.

This establishment is a cash and carry only.

As for Crockett’s fish fry…No thank you!!!

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“I Ate Out Friday & Saturday Nights”

The ReadyWriter

But I’m only going to blog about one of these restaurants!!!

Alessio’s 426 in Metuchen, NJ. This authentic Italian spot had food and appetizers to make you lick your lips for days.

With fried calamari on the menu prepared four different ways, my dinner companion chose to have the buffalo calamari as an appetizer which he said, was made in the likeness of buffalo wings so to speak.

As a meal he chose to have the eggplant parmesan, while I had the shrimp alfredo and a spinach salad. The food was prepared to perfection and the staff was professional, friendly, attentive and courteous. That’s always important!!

Owner & Chef Jimmy Trabelsi (pictured below), studied at a culinary school in Milano Marittima, Italy.

Taking his culinary talent to New York City, Jimmy further perfected his cooking skills with an emphasis on natural and organic ingredients,  with old world knowledge mixed with contemporary techniques, he, along with his wife Fern have created Alessio.

So if ever coming from the shore points of New Jersey, check out Alessio’s, it’s well worth the trip!

Kindly continue to send me your restaurant recommendations and where you want to see me dine next! You never know when I will show up, to dine in your neck of the woods. 🙂

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“I Dined At The “Top”

The ReadyWriter

On Friday evening and this place is off the hook!!

I don’t even know where to begin with this piece, especially since “Tops Diner” should be a restaurant instead of a diner, simply because I’ve never been to a diner where I witnessed a long wait just to be seated. We didn’t have that problem though, we were seated right away.

Their selections are plentiful and the food portions are enormous!! When the food comes out of the kitchen, it is bedecked on huge platters like it was pulled from a cuisine magazine.

I saw huge platters of fish and shrimp, chicken and waffles and the chicken, fish and shrimp pieces were so big, I had to ask our waitress Carmella if there was a hen-house out back or a fishing dock at the edge of their parking lot.

The “owner and chef” at Tops is not playing when it comes to the way his food is presented and served to his patrons.

My dinner companion had chicken and eggplant parmesan over a large bed of linguine, this pasta dish was so large it could feed a family of five. And with that dish came a nice size salad and soup, I had his soup along with a spinach salad, topped with grilled salmon and mushrooms, a chopped boiled egg and mozzarella cheese. (the food pictures here are not the real depiction of the restaurant’s dishes).

For dessert I had the red velvet cake and it was better than Sylvia’s; now you know…it had to be good! The cake was so light, it melted in my mouth.

My crony had the coconut pie that looked like a cake, was shaped like a big fat piece of corn bread and baked to perfection.

Again, I asked Carmella our waitress, if the owner’s grandmother was in the basement cranking out cakes. That’s when she informed me, there was indeed a bakery on site and yes in the basement.

The staff was courteous and professional…I liked because they were all wearing the same shirts and dark pants, they were all neat, clean and uniformed. The chefs were wearing dress pants and dress shirts, adorned with white aprons. Again, the look was clean-cut and professional.  

A professional presentation in a business, equals a high degree of training, competence and skill.

Established in 1972, Tops Diner is located in East Newark or maybe even Harrison, New Jersey. It’s a popular spot for the students of Rutger’s University. So if you’re ever in the area, it’s so worth the trip and dining at the top!!