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

Curry simmered cod, takeout tales, sweet potato frittata and more

Fresh wild Atlantic cod fillet from Costco Wholesale in Hackensack ($7.99 a pound) poaches in Curry Simmer Sauce from Trader Joe's in about seven minutes, and makes a quick, filling dinner when plated with leftover organic quinoa.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

A 15-ounce jar of Trader Joe's Curry Simmer Sauce is a nice change of pace from the Mexican-style salsa I often use to poach fresh fish in less than 10 minutes.

What could be easier than emptying the bottle into a large pan, cutting fresh wild Atlantic cod into serving pieces and squeezing fresh lime juice over them.

Ground Turkish red pepper is optional. Heat the sauce to a low boil, put the fish in the pan and cover.

When the fish fillets firm up and turn snowy white, they are done (seven minutes). 

A jar of Asian Indian-style Curry Simmer Sauce is $2.49 at the Paramus Trader Joe's. I passed on a Masala Simmer Sauce, which contains cream.

Labels don't indicate whether the sauces are medium or hot. They are neither; there is only a hint of spiciness in the Curry Simmer Sauce, despite the red pepper listed among ingredients.

Use the cooking medium as a sauce for the quinoa, rice or pasta you serve with the fish.

I had leftover organic quinoa from Costco I had prepared in a large batch in an electric rice cooker with low-sodium black beans, chopped garlic and organic diced tomatoes.

A perfect, restaurant-quality takeout dinner from Jerry's Gourmet & More, 410 S. Dean St., in Englewood, was $7.99. My Meal To Go included Tilapia Marechiaro (tomatoes, garlic and parsley), Baked Cauliflower, Linguine with Shrimp Scampi and Shrimp & Broccoli Dumplings. Three other dinners included Chicken Cordon Bleu stuffed with ham and cheese or Chicken Cacciatore with mushrooms, plus pasta, vegetable and dumplings or ravioli.

Grilled Salted Codfish is smothered with onions, garlic, sweet pepper and black olives, and served with steamed broccoli and carrots at Fire Pit Barbecue, a Portuguese restaurant at 357 Essex St., Hackensack ($19). We took advantage of free delivery on Saturday night.

Snow prompts call for delivery

On Saturday night, we wanted to celebrate the Chinese New Year with a special Year of the Sheep menu at Lotus Cafe in Hackensack, but a snowstorm changed our plans.

Instead, I picked up the phone and ordered two entrees for delivery from Fire Pit Barbecue, a Portuguese restaurant in Hackensack that uses wood charcoal.

Grilled Codfish with steamed vegetables was $19. A large order of Pork Chops in Garlic Sauce (three large chops) with yellow rice and black beans was $14. Each entree serves three.

A side of Steamed Vegetables was $3, and three Cod Cakes were $1.25 each.

The nasty, subfreezing weather last week also discouraged us from going into Manhattan for the start of Restaurant Week, when hundreds of the best restaurants offer three-courses lunches for $25 and three-course dinners for $38, plus tax and tip.

The promotion ends March 6. See: NYC Restaurant Week

A 10-inch Sweet Potato and Pesto Frittata made with whole eggs, tomato slices and reduced-fat Swiss cheese provides about eight wedges that make breakfast easy to prepare, below.

A wedge of Sweet Potato Frittata served with leftover broccoli and a large baked sweet potato with Mexican-style salsa for breakfast is hearty enough to allow me to skip lunch.

An open-face omelet made with 100% egg whites, a slice of reduced-fat Swiss cheese and smoked wild Alaskan Sockeye Salmon, all from Costco, is another filling breakfast when served with leftover quinoa and mashed sweet potatoes.

At H Mart in Little Ferry today, a box of nine large Korean Pears -- weighing a total of more than 11 pounds -- was on sale for $17.99, a discount of $5. The crisp, juicy fruit is a cross between a pear and an apple. 

Fresh Wild Shad were only $1.99 a pound. I bought four whole Porgy for $3.99 a pound.

A whole porgy prepared escovitch-style, pan fried and dressed in a peppery vinegar sauce.

Stewed Tofu with onion, garlic and red pepper from Jinga, one of the Korean caterers that supplies the Little Ferry H Mart. A 12-ounce package is $4.29. 

Potholes and flooding in the Little Ferry H Mart parking lot may not stop shoppers, but using cardboard boxes in front of the entrance instead of a rubberized mat is a lawsuit waiting to happen.

Takeout dinners from Jerry's, more Portuguese-style food delivery

Two of the three Smoked Chicken Sausages in a restaurant-quality takeout dinner from Jerry's Gourmet & More in Englewood with two of the sides, Steamed Broccoli and Avocado Salad.

The complete Smoked Chicken Sausage dinner, including a delicious Artichoke Fennel Salad, was reduced to $5.99 from $7.99 after 4 p.m. on Wednesday, when I stopped at Jerry's, 410 S. Dean St., Englewood.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The $7.99 takeout dinners at Jerry's Gourmet & More in Englewood are more proof that there is life after you've sworn off calling for the delivery of Chinese food.

On Wednesday afternoon, I stopped for two Meals To Go, finding Smoked Chicken Sausage and Roasted Chicken for the meat eaters in the family, and because it was after 4 p.m., they were reduced to $5.99 each from $7.99.

Both dinners included Steamed Broccoli and Artichoke Fennel Salad.

The sausages also came with an avocado salad, and the other dinner included a Ham and Cheese Monte Cristo, a fried sandwich.

To complete the meal, all you need to do is to pour yourself a glass of red wine.

A portion of the Grilled Cod Dinner from Fire Pit Barbecue in Hackensack. A large fillet of Portuguese-style salted cod is smothered in onions, green pepper, garlic and olives, and comes with potatoes, broccoli and carrot slices.

For our second delivery from Fire Pit Barbecue, we tried three Cod Cakes and two Shrimp Cakes. Both were tasty. The Portuguese restaurant also offers Meat Cakes.

Fire Pit Barbecue

We didn't feel like going out for dinner last Saturday night, and figured it was as good a time as any to order a delivery of Portuguese food from Fire Pit Barbecue on Essex Street in Hackensack.

We stuck with the same dishes we ordered the first time, a whole Barbecued Chicken with yellow rice and black beans ($14) and Grilled Codfish with vegetables and potato ($19), each of which can serve three.

This time, we also sampled tasty Cod Cakes ($1.25 each) and Shrimp Cakes ($1.50 each).

The first time I ordered the salted codfish -- a dish you'd find throughout Portugal -- the skin side of the fillet had nice grill marks on it. 

This time, the skin was completely scorched, and I avoided eating it, but the fish itself was deliciously smoky and pleasantly salty.

The vegetables and a generous amount of extra-virgin olive oil are other highlights of the dish.

Fire Pit Barbecue, 357 Essex St., Hackensack; 201-489-3473. Eat in, takeout and delivery. No delivery charge.

Web site: Authentic Portuguese Barbecue

Portuguese food delivery in Hackensack could be our new Chinese

Grilled Codfish or what the Portuguese call Bacalhau Grelhado from Fire Pit Barbecue in Hackensack.

Fire Pit Barbecue also delivered an aluminum tray holding a whole barbecued chicken (cut up), yellow rice and black beans.

Editor's note: After two solid days of eating out in Manhattan's expensive restaurants and trying to avoid butter, cream and other high-cholesterol and high-calorie food, we returned home, looking forward to simpler meals.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

How tired are we of having Chinese food delivered? Don't ask.

We've been loyal customers of Zen Kitchen in Teaneck, but our last few deliveries haven't been up to par.

My wife complains the food we've received lately is "greasy," and we have a hard time getting dishes prepared simply with fresh garlic.

So, after we returned on Monday from spending the weekend in a luxury Manhattan hotel, I called Fire Pit Barbecue on Essex Street, a mile and a half away from our home in Hackensack.

The restaurant's name doesn't hint the menu is filled with Portuguese-style barbecue and other favorites, plus wraps, soups and salads.

Pork with shrimp

When I ate meat, I always loved ordering Pork with Clams at Portuguese restaurants in Newark's Ironbound.

Fire Pit Barbecue in Hackensack lists Pork Cubes with Shrimp on its menu ($16), and Shrimp, Meat and Cod Fish Cakes ($1 to $1.50 each).

For dessert, you'll find Flan and Rice Pudding ($3 each).

I ordered three items from the online menu and had them delivered:

A whole BBQ Chicken with two side dishes ($14), a half-order of BBQ Spare Ribs ($9) and Grilled Codfish with Potatoes, Peppers and Onions ($19).

The whole chicken and grilled codfish came in aluminum trays with barbecue and spicy sauces -- generous portions that were enough for three to four people.

They were a better value than the half-order of spare ribs.

I loved the smoky taste of the salted codfish, and the vegetables that came with it. We got three portions of fish and vegetables from the tray.


Fire Pit Barbecue, 357 Essex St., Hackensack; 201-489-3473. Portuguese food. Eat in, take out and delivery. 

Online menu is being revised and might not match price increases. A second Fire Pit Barbecue is in Kearny.

Web site: http://www.firepitbbq.net/

The Grilled Codfish delivered by Fire Pit Barbecue was smothered in green peppers, onions and garlic, and came with steamed broccoli and carrots, and white potatoes, all in a generous pour of extra-virgin olive oil.

Back to egg whites, whole grains

When we checked out of our hotel last Monday, we didn't go to breakfast in Manhattan, but returned home late in the morning and prepared our own meal. 

Open-face omelets made with 100% egg whites and seasoned with Aleppo pepper, za'artar thyme mixture or grated Pecorino Romano, a sheep's milk cheese from Italy, above and below, and served with organic quinoa or an organic quinoa-brown rice combination, both from Costco Wholesale.

Two Costco Wholesale Organic Eggs fried in olive oil with bits of Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese, served with mashed sweet potatoes and Kabocha squash made with extra-virgin olive oil. How sweet it is.

Last Sunday evening in Manhattan, the Michelin 3-star restaurant Per Se in the Time Warner Center didn't offer a green salad. On Wednesday, on the way home, I stopped at Jerry's Gourmet & More in Englewood for a Kale Salad with dried cranberries, pignoli nuts and shredded cheese ($3.99), added the salad to Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix and Campari Tomatoes, and dressed them in extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar.