Don't expect much when dining at Fire Pit Barbecue in Hackensack

Limited parking and haphazard service are only two of the problems we faced when we tried to have dinner late Saturday afternoon at Fire Pit Barbecue in Hackensack after enjoying three deliveries of its Portuguese specialties to our home.

The bare-bones decor includes wooden tables, stained ceiling tiles and a leak in the small dining room. Fire Pit Barbecue will remind you more of a pizzeria than a restaurant.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

If you decide to have dinner at Fire Pit Barbecue in Hackensack, the problems begin before you sit down.

How did city officials approve an L-shaped parking lot with only eight spaces (two for handicapped drivers) to serve four storefronts, including two restaurants, Fire Pit and Bocconi?

I doubt a large SUV or even a minivan could negotiate the tight right-angle turn in the narrow lot. A third restaurant near Bocconi has no off-street parking. 

On my first pass late Saturday afternoon, there were no vacant spaces, and I dropped off my two passengers near the front door of the Portuguese barbecue restaurant.

Then, I looked in my rear-view mirror and saw three people climbing into a car. I drove around the corner to once again enter the lot and take the vacant space.

Chilly dining room

Inside, I took off my coat and sat down at a table in the small dining room, facing a counter and an open kitchen, where two workers and two cooks were filling take-out and delivery orders.

One of them came over, gave us menus and took our order for bottled water and juice, and canned soda, which were served with straws, not cups ($1.50 each).

There were only a few other customers eating at tables, but others were standing around, waiting for takeout, and eventually, we saw delivery men with large padded cases to keep food warm coming and going.

At least on Saturday afternoon after 4, the employees worked frantically to keep up with takeout and delivery orders, and to fill the large grill with natural wood charcoal.

We placed our order for a large Fire Pit Salad ($10), Chicken Soup ($3); Grilled Codfish with Potatoes, Peppers and Onions ($19), an entree I enjoyed three times as delivery; Pork Cubes with Shrimp ($16), a dish that was new to us; and a side order of Yellow rice and Black Beans ($4).

The Fire Pit Salad includes tomato slices with little color and no flavor, and the Balsamic Dijon dressing we ordered on the side had no hint of mustard. The "large" salad is on the small side, and isn't worth $10. Nor was the Chicken Soup my mother-in-law ordered anything special.

Bags of natural wood charcoal in the dining room.

We decide to take rest home

After trying the disappointing salad and soup, we decided to ask for the rest of the food to go, adding a side of Sweet Potato Fries ($3). 

Still, we had to wait 20 minutes or more before our order was ready. 

At home, I plated the Grilled Codfish with the steamed broccoli and carrots that come on the side. The flaky, salted cod was as delicious as I remember from three deliveries, but the cook burned the skin, making it inedible.

Picadinho con Camarao or Pork Cubes with Shrimp is a tasty entree, but my wife and mother-in-law said the dish was too salty.

A side order of rice and beans was leaking badly when we got it home.

I tried a few of the delicious Sweet Potato Fries, which were grease-less.

The edges of the aluminum cover (not shown) for the grilled cod's takeout tray, above, are so sharp I cut my fingers in three places, drawing blood.

Fire Pit Barbecue, 357 Essex St., Hackensack; 1-201-489-3473. Open 7 days starting at 11 a.m. Free delivery. Web site:

firepitbbq.net

Turn the corner for a great meal

Image via Wikipedia

Amici Family Restaurant offers glutten-free penne and pizza.

Amici Family Restaurant in Bergenfield has a South Washington Avenue address, but if you approach it from the south on that street, as we did, the papered over door and windows might make you think it went out of business.


Just turn the corner onto East Clinton Avenue to see the real entrance, as well as tables with umbrellas and chairs for outdoor dining, and the parking lot.


Sure, you can get pizza here -- 12-inchers baked in a gas-fired brick oven -- but you'll also find an extensive menu of pastas, veal and other Italian-American food made with care, using mostly good ingredients.


As first-time visitors, we ended up ordering too much food and spending too much money -- over $70 for three, with tax and tip. Filet mignon for $21.95 is the priciest dish on the menu.


I wish restaurants would indicate if salads and other dishes are suitable for sharing or maybe the server could provide that information.


My wife and I ordered salads, and each could have fed two or three people.
   
The bowl of chicken soup my son ordered filled him up, so he hardly made a dent in his prime-rib hero. We took home plenty of leftovers.


My wife chose The Amici Salad, which is diced ham, other meats  and cheese served with tomato, red onions, hot peppers and olives-- sort of a chopped, cold antipasto ($10.95). Still, my wife wanted more lettuce in it.


I had the seafood salad from a list of specials, and was delighted by the fresh shrimp, clams and mussels, as well as squid and octopus, but thought imitation crab had no place in this beautifully dressed dish ($13.95).


I ordered two other items from the specials list for us to share: broccoli rabe with hot sausage, and a fish-cake appetizer made from wild-caught red snapper and potatoes, with homemade tartar sauce ($8.95 each).


I picked out the broccoli rabe, leaving the sausage for my wife and son, but they didn't finish it. The large, freshly made fish cake was the best thing I had.


My son didn't finish his bowl of chicken soup, complaining the white meat was dry ($5.50). Doesn't everyone know the best chicken soup uses dark meat on the bone?


The big, gooey prime-rib hero, made with sauteed onions and melted mozzarella, was delicious, my son said, though he forgot to ask for hot peppers ($9.95).


The restaurant offers glutten-free pizza and penne, but no spinach or argula as a topping for the pies.


Amici has an $11.95 early bird special Mondays to Thursdays, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. You get a chicken, fish, eggplant or veal entree with pasta, soup or salad, coffee or tea and one soda.


Amici Family Restaurant, 127 S. Washington Ave., 
Bergenfield; 201-374-1996. BYO. Open seven days.

Comforting stew chases the chills away

Now that the weather has turned cold, my thoughts turn often to a comforting stone bowl of spicy Korean soft-tofu stew, with a fresh egg cooking in the bubbling broth, and side dishes of rice and kimchi. But last night, I wanted something different and I knew what it was when I saw a large photo in the window of The Fresh Tofu Restaurant in Palisades Park.

I ordered the boiled hen soup with rice ($14.99) -- a great version of chicken soup -- and it warmed me up instantly on a night when temperatures were in the 40s. This is one of the many Korean dishes that aren't spicy. The waitress, Young, brought me seven excellent side dishes, or panchan: cabbage and radish kimchi, greens, roasted seaweed, bean sprouts, fish cakes and a sweetish vegetable I couldn't identify. I also got a small dish of salt in which to dip the chicken pieces.

Most Korean stews come with rice on the side, but in this one, the rice was stuffed into the small, whole chicken with garlic cloves, beans and nuts. Jujube -- a small, dark-red fruit that tastes a little like apple -- and chopped scallions were scattered on top. I found out too late that what looked like a piece of wood was to flavor the stew and wasn't meant for consumption.

The Fresh Tofu Restaurant, 268 Broad Ave., Palisades Park; 201-592-6400; serves lunch and dinner, including Korean barbecue and soft-tofu stew; call for hours.