At So Gong Dong in Palisades Park and Lotus Cafe in Hackensack

ASK FOR SECONDS: I look forward to the five complimentary side dishes at So Gong Dong in Palisades Park just as much as the soft-tofu stew, seafood pancake and other Korean specialties. Crunchy cucumber kimchi, above, is one of my all-time favorites.

MORE CRUNCH: Fresh-tasting cabbage kimchi hasn't been fermented as long as the version served in some other restaurants. A third side dish is seaweed in gochujang, a spicy vinegared red-pepper sauce, top.

RADISH AND SPROUTS: Crunchy radish and bean sprouts are the other side dishes, and you can ask for seconds or even thirds of those you finish.

HOLD THE MAPLE SYRUP: A Seafood Pancake -- made from rice flour, scallions and cooked squid -- comes with a soy dipping sauce ($11.99, rounded up to $12 on the check).

COMPLETE MEAL: I ordered my Oyster Soft Tofu Stew with Perilla Seeds "more spicy," one of four levels listed on the menu ($10.99 or $1 more than other complete soft-tofu dinners, which include steamed rice, side dishes and a fresh egg to cook in the bubbling broth).

KOREAN RIBS: The three meat-eaters in my family shared an order of Beef BBQ, left rear ($16.99).

DETAILS: Dinner for four was $74.90 before the tip. Still, four can eat well for under $50, if they limit themselves to a filling soft-tofu dinner with an egg, five side dishes and rice (118 Broad Ave., Second Floor, Palisades Park; 201-313-5550).

GINGER AND SCALLION: Lotus Cafe in Hackensack offers whole fish, fillets, shrimp and other seafood prepared with ginger and scallion, such as this whole 1.5-pound lobster ($30.95), above and below, enough to feed three with another entree, a vegetable and brown or white rice.

LARGE SHRIMP: We also ordered Prawns in Garlic Sauce ($17.95) and Sauteed Chinese Star Squash, below ($10.95).

DETAILS: Dinner for three was $76.30 before the tip, including two Wonton Soups to start the meal ($1.25 each) and a House Special Won Ton Soup for 2 to go ($6.95). Lotus Cafe is a BYO in the Home Depot Shopping Center, 450 Hackensack Ave., Hackensack. Open 7 days; 201-488-7070. Free delivery within 3 miles ($12 minimum).

-- VICTOR E. SASSON

Catching great seafood at Lotus Cafe, Marseille

Steamed to perfection with ginger and scallion, a 2-pound-plus striped bass makes waves at Lotus Cafe, a BYO in Hackensack where the phrase "Chinese cuisine" is no exaggeration. At $27.95, this Catch of The Day is a bargain, compared to restaurants in Ridgewood and Englewood that charge as much for a 1-pounder.

A steaming bowl of Seafood Soup for 3 ($10.95) started our meal on Saturday night.

Lucky for me, my wife didn't want any of the scallops, which she added to my portion of tender shrimp, squid and fish cake.

By Victor E. Sasson
Editor

Lotus Cafe in Hackensack has a fascinating menu drawn from Taiwan, Hong Kong and mainland China.

So I'm always amazed when I hear a customer at another table ordering fried rice, spare ribs, egg foo young and other time-worn Cantonese standards.

Lotus Cafe also offers price-fixed, multicourse dinners filled with the restaurant's specialties for 4 to 12 people that are a relative bargain.

On Saturday, three of use cast our net for a filling dinner of seafood, vegetables and brown rice, and we took home plenty of leftovers.

Stir-fried Spinach with Garlic uses water spinach ($9.95).

Sauteed Chinese Star Squash ($9.95).

There is no extra charge for brown rice.

The BYO serves unlimited tea. Opening the lid of your pot is a sign to the waiter that you want a refill of hot tea.

We took home rice, vegetables and about a third of the striped bass. I had the rice and vegetables with a homemade frittata the next morning, and the fish for dinner.

The unassuming restaurant is in the Home Depot Shopping Center, 450 Hackensack Ave., Hackensack; 201-488-7070. Open 7 days. Free delivery within 3 miles, $12 minimum.

At Marseille Restaurant

I don't remember much about the bouillabaisse I enjoyed 30 years ago in the French port city of Marseille, where the fisherman's stew originates, except that the restaurant was on the waterfront.

Last week in Manhattan, we were looking for a restaurant near the Little Shubert Theater on 42nd Street, and a friend suggested Marseille at 9th Avenue and 44th Street, only a couple of blocks away.

"Order the bouillabaisse," she said.

The bouillabaisse at Marseille, a restaurant at Ninth Avenue and 44th Street in Manhattan, near off-Broadway theaters, below.

Marseille is at 630 Ninth Ave. in Manhattan; 1-212-333-2323.

It was a wonderful, though expensive meal: Two entrees and two salads, plus a glass of red wine for me.

The bouillabaisse was filled with fish and shellfish in a saffron-accented broth made without cream ($28.50).My wife chose the short ribs ($24.50).

Our spinach and arugula salads were $12.75 and $10.75, respectively.

Service from the friendly staff was excellent.

Well-fed, we returned to 42nd Street for a great show, Dee Dee Bridgewater portraying Billie Holiday, the legendary jazz singer, in "Lady Day."

My wife raved about the short ribs served over creamy polenta.

Before the bouillabaisse, I had a simple arugula salad.

My wife also enjoyed her spinach salad with a top hat of sinfully rich goat cheese and a dressing of onions and bacon.

Miyoshi in Hackensack: 33 years and counting

Miyoshi, the only Japanese restaurant in Hackensack, opened in 1982. At lunch on Tuesday, I was very happy with an $11 platter of sashimi, below. In Fort Lee, a center of Japanese and other Asian cuisine, the same dish would cost far more.

The platter included raw mackerel, salmon, yellowtail snapper and other fish.

Editor's note: Today, I discuss eating out in Hackensack -- at a Japanese restaurant I haven't been to in decades, and at our favorite Chinese place.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR 

A couple of months ago, I turned my car down Mercer Street in Hackensack, saw the red door and sign of a Japanese restaurant called Miyoshi, and blinked a couple of times.

Miyoshi, which opened in 1982, is where I ate occasionally after I started working for a newspaper on nearby River Street.

Seeing it all these years later made me wonder how it had survived.

I met a friend there for lunch on Tuesday, and discovered Miyoshi doesn't have any free parking, unlike the other restaurant on the block, Villa de Colombia.

Some of the sliced fish in the $11 sashimi platter, above and below.

The dated interior looks like it hasn't been touched since the place opened, and it needs a good airing out.

There was a Japanese sushi chef, whose shaved head was wrapped in a small, rolled-up towel; a Korean waiter, who handed us an extensive menu; and an unseen cook in the kitchen.

Flipping back to the lunch pages, my friend ordered a pork lunch box ($6.50).

I was told there was no sushi or sashimi lunch box available, just platters, so I went with the sashimi plate, which came with a bowl of steamed white rice ($11). 

The green tea was excellent, and free.

The pork lunch box ($6.50).

When the waiter brought the lunch box, my friend looked at the portion, and said he probably would be able to eat only half of it. 

Even if I ate meat, it didn't look appetizing.

I couldn't possibly recommend Miyoshi, based on such a limited experience, but I look forward to having that sashimi platter again when I don't feel like driving to Fort Lee.

The farmed salmon in the sashimi platter wasn't anything special. I told the waiter I didn't want any tuna, which is high in mercury.

Details

Miyoshi Japanese Restaurant, 21 Mercer St., Hackensack; 201-489-0007. Closed Mondays. Metered parking in lot off State Street.

Seafood Soup for 2 at Lotus Cafe in Hackensack, above. Large Shrimp with Yellow Chive, below, is garnished with an edible flower fashioned from radish, toothpicks and a rubber band.

Lotus Cafe is a Chinese restaurant in Hackensack that I heartily recommend, especially if you enjoy seafood that is cooked perfectly. 

The scallop, squid, shrimp and fish cake in the Seafood Soup for 2 were tender and delicious ($7.50).

The large Shrimp with Yellow Chive also were perfect amid crunchy vegetables, but this was a rare instance when the sauce was too salty ($17.95).

When I mentioned that to the waiter, he said he would tell the chef.

For less salt, I have ordered seafood, including whole fish, made with ginger and scallion.

Brown rice, above, and Sauteed Chinese Star Squash ($7.95), below.

Details

Lotus Cafe, 450 Hackensack Ave., in the Home Depot Shopping Center, Hackensack; 201-488-7070. BYO, open 7 days, free parking in lot.