A big lunch for not much money at Syros Taverna in Englewood

Grilled salmon over a small salad is the centerpiece of a $12.95, three-course lunch during (201) Restaurant Week at Syros Taverna in Englewood.

My appetizer was a choice of two dips with Greek pita.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

A friend who had dinner at Syros Taverna in Englewood warned me the Greek seafood restaurant is expensive.

So, I didn't expect much today when I met a friend there for a $12.95 lunch during (201) Restaurant Week.

But I was pleasantly surprised by the size of the portions and the well-prepared food.

I started with two dips, taramasalata (fish roe) and melitzanosalata (eggplant), which came with Greek pita.

My main dish was a nice piece of grilled salmon over a small salad with tomato, cucumber, olives and feta cheese, and the kitchen delivered the moist fillet I asked for.

I usually avoid dessert, but couldn't resist thick non-fat Green yogurt with honey, nuts and strawberry syrup.

When I asked for the check, my receipt said, "Cash gratuity greatly appreciated," something I haven't seen before.

A sensible and healthy dessert ended my $12.95 lunch.

My friend ordered an appetizer of zucchini and eggplant chips with skordalia, a thick puree of potatoes and garlic, that cost $12, almost as much as my three-course lunch.

During our lunch, we saw only one other table occupied at any one time.

The (201) Restaurant Week promotion runs through Thursday. A three-course dinner at Syros Tavenra is $29.95 during the promotion. Lunch is $9.95, $12.95 or $16.95.

Syros Taverna, 51 Palisade Ave., Englewood; 201-731-3558. Metered street parking. 

Rosa Mexicano, an old favorite, comes through at a $16.95 lunch

At Rose Mexicano in Hackensack, a large oval plate holding Crepas de Cajeta -- crepes soaked in a sinful caramel sauce, ice cream and fresh strawberries -- one of two desserts available at a fixed-price, three-course lunch during (201) Restaurant Week.

The dining and bar rooms are beautifully decorated, and the kitchen makes just about all of the dishes from scratch.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

After a disappointing (201) Restaurant Week lunch at The Oceanaire Seafood Room on Tuesday, I turned to one of my favorites, Rosa Mexicano, part of a restaurant row in the same Hackensack shopping center.

The $16.95 lunch at the fine-dining Mexican restaurant offers a wider choice than the meal at the pricey seafood place -- five appetizers, five entrees, two desserts or three beverages for people like me who try to avoid sugary, artery clogging food.

I met a friend there on Thursday, and for an appetizer, we shared a chunky guacamole made at our table in the beautiful dining room.

Then, each of us had a large salad with grilled salmon and kale tossed in a delicious vinaigrette.

He finished with a huge dessert, but I chose a freshly made agua fresca, a traditional Mexican drink.

I left stuffed and completely satisfied.

The restaurant's signature chunky guacamole is made with only one Hass avocado and normally costs $14, compared to $10 in January 2010. We asked the server to make it spicy, and it was terrific.

Instead of dessert, I chose a sweetened pineapple Agua Fresca. The waiter brought me a second pitcher and offered a third.

Ensalada Picada with Grilled Salmon includes Tuscan kale, roasted corn, chayote, tortilla strips and roasted poblano peppers tossed in a poblano-pepper vinaigrette. Outstanding.

Restaurant Week menus

I don't eat meat or poultry, but do eat seafood, and I managed to find a salad with heart-healthy fish to satisfy me at Rosa Mexicano.

But judging from the (201) Restaurant Week lunch menus I've seen so far, few concessions are made for vegetarians.

Before we chose guacamole as an appetizer, I asked the waiter if the Sopa de Tortilla, one of my favorite Mexican dishes, usually served fiery, could be prepared without grilled chicken.

He said it could, but warned the soup is made with chicken stock.

A word about ergonomics. We were shown to a booth, but the table was too high in relation to the bench seat. There are plenty of tables and chairs as an alternative.

Service was causal and unrushed, giving us plenty of time to catch up.

Our salads came with two side dishes, refried beans and rice with fresh herbs, evidence of the kitchen's generosity, which I recall from past meals at Rosa Mexicano and cooking demonstrations complete with free breakfasts.

Corn chips and freshly made salsa are complimentary, but I should have asked for small corn tortillas, which are made in the dining room and served warm, instead of the chips, which appeared to have been salted.

The restaurant is decorated with beautiful Mexican pottery, wall sconces and textiles.

The men's room is bigger and far cleaner than the one I encountered at The Oceanaire Seafood Room.

Rosa Mexicano, One Riverside Square (The Shops at Riverside), Hackensack Avenue and Route 4, Hackensack; 201-489-9100.

Rosa Mexicano's Web site

The 6th Annual (201) Restaurant Week promotion continues on Sunday and ends on Thursdays.

(201) Restaurant Week: Oceanaire Seafood lunch isn't for dieters

Once you ask The Oceanaire Seafood Room's kitchen to hold the brioche bun and matchstick fries, this is what your lunch of fish and undressed garnish looks like, above, during a Restaurant Week promotion sponsored by (201) magazine.

The complete Blackened Barramundi Sandwich with Creole Remoulade, Bibb Lettuce, Tomato, Red Onion, Brioche Bun and Matchstick Fries is one of three main courses available for lunch during the promotion. A three-course lunch at the Hackensack restaurant is $16.95 and a three-course dinner is $39.95.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

If you're watching your weight or cholesterol, a three-course lunch during (201) Restaurant Week may leave you hungry.

On Tuesday, I invited my wife and brother-in-law to join me for a fix-priced, three-course lunch at The Oceanaire Seafood Room, an expensive fine-dining restaurant in The Shops at Riverside, an upscale mall in Hackensack.

During the magazine-sponsored Restaurant Week, from Oct. 5-9 and 12-16, lunches at participating restaurants are $9.95, $12.95 and $16.95, and dinners are $19.95, $29.95 and $39.95.

Compare that to the semi-annual Restaurant Week promotion in Manhattan, where hundreds of the city's best places offer three-course lunches for $25 and three-course dinners for $38, and the discounts are offered for a month or longer.

The (201) Restaurant Week menu at The Oceanaire Seafood Room doesn't allow any substitutions and no sorbet or fruit is offered for dessert.

Judging from my experience, the promotional price for lunch is too low, especially at a place like The Oceanaire Seafood Room, where grilled fish of the day, with mashed potatoes and asparagus, is $25 at lunch.

The lunch menu also lists yellowfin ahi tuna -- grilled, broiled or seared, and brushed with white wine-lemon butter, but with no side dishes -- for $38.

A new fish

I wanted the Blackened Barramundi Sandwich, mainly because I have never eaten the flaky white fish from Australia, but didn't want the bun or matchstick fries.

Our waiter, Josh, described the fillet as being three-quarters of an inch to an inch thick, but my naked piece of fish wasn't that thick, nor was the piece of barramundi in my brother-in-law's sandwich.

I asked the waiter to hold the bun and fries, and wondered if I could get an undressed baked or sweet potato instead. 

He said the restaurant didn't have a baked potato, and a sweet potato would cost extra.

The plate held a small fillet of fish, but I had to ask for a wedge of lemon, as well as dressing for the side of tomato and onion slices, and lettuce that are used in the sandwich.

Lots of crab

My wife chose the Crab Cake Sliders, and loved the generous amount of crab meat in them. 

We started with a small plate of excellent Caesar Salad or a cup of Mushroom Bisque, the soup of the day.

Dessert was Cheese Cake or Key Lime Pie. My request for fruit turned out to be fruitless.

I probably should have ordered a main course of Prince Edward Island Mussels with Dijon Cream, Spanish Chorizo and Truffled Matchstick Fries, but I don't eat meat and didn't want "cream."

Delicious, crab-filled Crab Cake Sliders are available for lunch during the (201) Restaurant Week promotion.

A small Caesar Salad. My wife poached my croutons.

Thick carpet, dark wood, comfortable chairs, tablecloths and cloth napkins at lunch. The staff is large, but lunch service was casual on Tuesday, even though the dining room was far from full. We asked for our desserts to go.

A table setting.

An oyster bar and, beyond, an open kitchen.

Despite all of the employees I saw at the restaurant on Tuesday, none of them seemed to be monitoring the men's room, which was disgusting. The spout on the soap dispenser, left, was broken, and at least one paper napkin was on the floor, next to a basket.

You'll find some of Bergen County's narrowest mall parking spaces in the lot of the upscale Hackensack shopping center, even though many shoppers drive big luxury sedans and even bigger SUVs. The Oceanaire Seafood Room, above, replaced MCormick & Schmick's. Both chain restaurants are owned by Landry's Inc.

See: 6th Annual (201) Restaurant Week


The Oceanaire Seafood Room, 175 Riverside Square (The Shops at Riverside), Hackensack Avenue and Route 4, Hackensack; 1-201-343-8862. 

Open 7 days, but doesn't serve lunch on Mondays.

Restaurant Week in North Jersey

I was hoping I wouldn't like the lunch we had Friday at Nisi Estiatorio, the Greek restaurant in Englewood that has the nerve to charge up to $38 a pound for whole fish. But the food tasted great and portions were generous -- a steal at $17 for three courses during (201) Magazine's Restaurant Week.

I started off with house-cured salmon topped with micro greens, which I enjoyed with the complimentary olives and crusty, toasted bread, and my wife had lentil soup. The menu didn't specify the origin of the salmon, but the waiter said it was wild, not farmed. We both had grilled white sea bass fillets with wilted greens for our main course and finished with a fresh fruit cup for her and yogurt and stewed figs for me. Neither of us could finish our food (I ate way too much bread).

For our entree, we received boat-shaped dishes, each with two skin-on fillets that were grilled beautifully on both sides and bathed with olive oil, lemon juice, oregano, capers and a little mustard, which I soaked up with bread. A bowl held a delicious tangle of sauteed escarole. Service was excellent at this white-tablecloth fish house. We got more bread and olives without asking for them, and bread crumbs were cleaned off between courses, though I should mention that only six or seven tables were occupied while we were there.

(201) Restaurant Week continues Oct. 11-15 at about three dozen North Jersey restaurants. Lunch is $16.95 and dinner is $29.95 for three courses, compared with $24.07 and $35, respectively, during Restaurant Week in New York City this year. You don't want to bother with some of the restaurants taking part in the (201) promotion, including Blue Moon Mexican Cafe, with its phony Mexican fare. More information: 201.net/restaurant week. (When I tried the Web site today, it was unresponsive.)

It turns out Nisi Estiatorio offers the $17 lunch all the time, so I can enjoy its food again without being taking advantage of. The restaurant's motto is, "Eat fish, live longer." Mine is, "Eat fish and have the money, if you live longer."