 Image by roboppy via Flickr |
| Crab and pork soup dumplings. |
The Cliffside Park Health Department has closed Petite Soo Chow again.
As reported in The Record today, the Shanghai-style Chinese restaurant on Gorge Road was closed for unspecified gross violations of the health code.
Petite Soo Chow received a rave review from Restaurant Reviewer Elisa Ung.
The first closure was in May 2009, when health inspectors cited "general unsanitary conditions." It reopened later with a "satisfactory" rating.
My family patronized Petite Soo Chow several times and enjoyed its soup dumplings, but we stopped eating there in 2008 after seeing a male waiter picking his nose in the dining room on each visit.
See previous post on fish farming
What is funny is that this place has received rave reviews from not only Elisa Ung but also the NY Times and the Off the Broiler blog. I think these people have no idea what they are really eating.
ReplyDeleteThat waiter is pretty hard to miss.
ReplyDeleteThere's a photo of a waiter at Petite Soo Chow on the Off The Broiler blog, but I'm not sure if he is the same one.
I recall we went there three times, and saw the disgusting behavior each time, then decided that was enough.
Petite was really an awful place. I never understood what the hype was about.
ReplyDeleteMost of the recommendations on Off the Broiler are off the mark. I can't remember a good place Jason has raved about. Perhaps the food just plain sucks in north Jersey.
Have you ever been to the Volksfest in N. Bergen?
ReplyDeleteNo. Is it a restaurant? German or Czech?
ReplyDeleteNo, it's like an Oktoberfest in north Jersey. Volksfest.org
ReplyDeleteThanks, I'll take a look.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, I follow the Off The Broiler blog too but it is hard to believe that Jason goes to all of these places, chit chats with these peoople, takes a ton of photos and then afterwards can conceivably give them a bad review. I found out about Amici's because of the blog, and like the restaurant a lot despite the fact the owners use the table nearest the pizza oven as their office. I also went to Cheeseburger Cheeseburger due to Jason's review and thought the place was awful. I have also seen Off the Broiler showcase some restaurants where the food looks terrible in pictures (Bucu Burger and Perfect Pita in particular). At the end of the day it is a worthwhile blog and the opinions are just that, it is up to the reader to decide if the place deserves patronage or not and whether the food is anything special. I only wish Jason had taken a photo of the lone male waiter that Victor witnessed picking his nose.
ReplyDeleteIt should be noted that Jason Perlow of Off The Broiler is invited to many restaurant openings, and he is comped then and at other times.
ReplyDeleteIt would add a great deal to his reviews to note when he pays for the meal and when he eats for free.
He also rarely if ever includes prices in his reviews.
If you work in the food biz, just because you wear hair nets and rubber gloves it don't mean it's any cleaner. The ethnic places are at a disadvantage already, they don't all wear gloves and nets and the food is never on ice. Then again, look at the stats, more people get sick at retail chains that looks clean than these dives like Shoo Chows and White Manner...
ReplyDeleteMore people get sick at the retail chains because the meat is absolute shit -- literally. It usually contains cattle feces.
ReplyDeleteI laugh out loud every time I pass McDonald's or White Manna on River Street in Hackensack, and see the line of cars at the former and the line out the door at the latter (on weekends).
Has Petite Soo Chow re-opened or is it history?
ReplyDeleteThe Record is listing restaurant health inspections, but it appears to be omitting places that are fined for health violations. Almost every week I edited that column when I was still working there, at least one place would be fined.
For example, a Korean restaurant might be sighted for thawing meat on the floor, presumably in a box.
great place. great food. many restaurants listed in violoation of health codes. any waiter or server can, at times, be spotted doing inappropriate things.
ReplyDeleteI've found it easy to live without.
ReplyDeleteTalk about a place that has a pattern of health violations, hard to conceive how they do not have their license taken away. We are not talking about food standards that vary by ethnicity here, we are talking about insect infestation (in the middle of December no less). 3-4 shutdowns for violations in less than 2 years = something seriously wrong in that kitchen.
ReplyDeleteFound a cockroach in my rice cake. Called cliffside park health department, was told to packed the food and send to the department for evidence. I also included all recipts. They actually have the nerves to serve me cold dishes made before the failed inspection and the shut-down. They tasted moldy. I do not know what the outcome was. I was not contacted by the health department afterwards. I hope they close this place permenently. You can clean up a kitchen, not people who have no conscience.
ReplyDeleteIt was closed for a third time. See post for Dec. 16, 2011, at this link:
ReplyDeletehttp://doyoureallyknowwhatyoureeating.blogspot.com/2011/12/petite-soo-chow-closed-for-third-time.html