At Aroma Espresso Bar and Simply Vietnamese

At Aroma Espresso Bar in Paramus, Shakshuka is described as a mild tomato, onion, and pepper sauce topped with 2 eggs sunny side up and parsley. The menu says it is served with tahini, but I didn't see or taste any.

By Victor E. Sasson
Editor

I had been looking forward to trying Shakshuka, a saucy egg dish from Israel that is one of the all-day breakfasts at Aroma Espresso Bar in Paramus.

But when I ordered it last Thursday, it came without the tahini sauce described on the menu -- the second straight glitch I've experienced with Aroma's food service.

The Aroma Espresso Bar at Westfield Garden State Plaza is the only New Jersey branch of an Israeli chain with other shops in Manhattan, Maryland and Florida.

The single employee I've seen in the Paramus kitchen doesn't seem up to the task of including everything described on the menu.

And the manager appears to spend a lot of his time walking around or sitting at empty tables, all the while chatting on a cellphone.

I recall ordering the Organic Quinoa Salad ($8.50), and wondering why it was so tasteless. 

I got the salad, but not the Lemon Olive Oil Dressing, which is supposed to be served on the side. 

Shakshuka is a great dish ($8.90), but why doesn't Aroma serve pita, the Hebrew word for Middle Eastern pocket bread?

A spoon is ideal for enjoying all that sauce. Still, I thought the dish could use hummus.

Corner tables at Aroma Espresso Bar.

When I got home and looked at my copy of the menu, I saw the dish is supposed to be served with tahini.

Shakshuka comes with bread and butter, but I didn't want them, and asked if I could get some veggies instead (they're listed on menu for 50 cents extra).

No substitutions are allowed, said the employee who took my order.

So, I paid $1.25 more for feta cheese, but it came in a small bowl, not sprinkled over the top of the warm eggs and sauce.

My wife enjoyed a Steak Sandwich with mayo, jalapenos, sauteed onion and red pepper, and Swiss cheese ($6.50 for half), and a 20-ounce Lemonade ($4).

"Chik chak" is an Israeli phrase meaning "pronto," "quickly" or "chop chop," but I've found the kitchen at Aroma Espresso Bar in Paramus doesn't know it.

After you place your order and pay at the register, be prepared to wait until your name is called for you to pick up your coffee or food at the counter.


Aroma Espresso Bar, 1 Garden State Plaza, Paramus; 1-201-556-1700.

Seniors get a cool reception at the AMC movie theaters in another part of the Paramus mall. Discounts on the $11.25 tickets are available only after 4 p.m. and all day Tuesdays.

Simply Vietnamese

We had no service or food problems on Saturday night at Simply Vietnamese in Tenafly, one of the half-dozen Asian restaurants we return to time and again.

I love Chinese, Thai, Korean, Japanese and Vietnamese restaurants for their abundance of seafood and vegetables.

At Simply Vietnamese in Tenafly, a steaming bowl of Chef's Noodle Soup -- a combination of shrimp, pork, chicken, noodles and greens ($14).

On Saturday night a little after 6, Peter greeted us and told us to take any table. 

We sat in the quieter of the two dining rooms, the original one with the entrance.

Look for the word "Saigon" in red neon hanging in the window -- a vestige of the old Englewood restaurant.

Outdoor seating under umbrellas also was available. 

Peter said Chef-Owner K.T. Tran was in the kitchen, too busy to come out and say hello, so we sent her our regards.

An appetizer of Summer Rolls with Shrimp ($8.50). Translucent rice paper is stuffed with rice noodles, lettuce, cucumber and carrot, and served with a mildly spicy peanut sauce.

Grilled Pork Chops in a caramelized lemongrass sauce ($16.50).

Broiled Basa Fillet, a farmed catfish from Vietnam, is served on a bed of greens with either a sweet-spicy ginger-scallion sauce, above, or with curry coconut milk ($19.50). Brown rice is available for $2 more.

Free Shrimp Chips with a spicy dipping sauce.

Simply Vietnamese is a BYO.

Simply Vietnamese, 1 Highwood Ave., Tenafly; 201-568-7770. Open 7 days for lunch and dinner. BYO, free street parking.

Simply Vietnamese in Tenafly

Image via Wikipedia

On Saturday night, we got a refresher course in the wonderful pho soup and other dishes from the kitchen of K.T. Tran by visiting her new restaurant, Simply Vietnamese, in Tenafly.

The restaurant, a former pizzeria, opened one week before and has been greeted enthusiastically by residents of Tenafly, said Joe The Waiter, who followed Tran from Saigon R, the Englewood restaurant she closed this summer. 


Simply Vietnamese is a welcome addition to Tenafly, which isn't much of a restaurant town despite all of its wealthy residents. For example, I can't imagine how Mr. Wok, a mediocre Chinese restaurant, has survived all these years.


We shared two appetizers, miniature spring rolls ($5), served with lettuce for wrapping and fish sauce for dipping; and broiled New Zealand mussels (photo) in a wasabi-ginger sauce ($8.50).


Each of us ordered a bowl of pho -- garnishing the anise-flavored broth with herbs, bean sprouts, hoisin sauce and hot peppers. My son chose soup with spicy jerk beef, I had tofu and vegetables and my wife ordered shrimp ($12 and $14 each).


When my bowl was set down before me, I breathed deeply to capture that distinctive anise flavor. There's nothing else like it in the world of Asian soup noodles.


Joe The Waiter said Tran was going to raise prices after holding the line for three years in Englewood, and she has done so in Tenafly. 

Why did she move? She had only six tables in Englewood and the parking was impossible, the chef-owner said. In the window of the Tenafly restaurant, look for the neon "Saigon" from the old place, which she opened in 2001.

Tran also is the chef/owner of Mo' Pho on Main Street in Fort Lee. 

Simply Vietnamese, 1 Highwood Plaza, Tenafly;
201-568-7770. BYO. Free street parking.

Vietnamese restaurant in Englewood closes

Chef K.T. Tran in the kitchen of Simply Vietnamese, Tenafly, in 2012.

Chef K.T. Tran has closed Saigon R on Palisade Avenue in Englewood and will reopen it in mid-September as Simply Vietnamese in Tenafly.


The plate-glass window of Saigon R was covered with newspaper when I stopped there with my son and wife on Thursday night, and a sign on the door said an Asian fusion restaurant would be opening in that space.

It was called Saigon Republic when it first opened in 2001.

Tran also is the chef/owner of Mo' Pho on Main Street in Fort Lee.

Simply Vietnamese, 1 Highwood Plaza., Tenafly; 201-568-7770.

Just smell that wonderful broth

Image by Hanoi Mark via Flickr

We moved out of Englewood in the summer of 2007 and stopped going to Saigon, the Vietnamese restaurant where we first encountered pho when the place opened about nine years ago.


I remember how I met owner K.T. Tran in the checkout line at the ShopRite and she showed me the lease she had just signed on a Palisade Avenue storefront. 


Yesterday, we returned for an early dinner after deciding against fighting traffic to eat at Aleppo Restaurant in Paterson -- the fourth postponed meal there since it was reviewed Feb. 17 in The New York Times.


When Joe the waiter set down my bowl of pho with shrimp, I leaned close to the anise-scented beef broth and breathed deeply. Wonderful. You'd be hard put to find a broth that matches the aroma of this one. 


The rice-noodle soup and fried vegetable dumplings made a satisfying meal, even though we knew the broth violated the spirit of our meatless pledge.


And we really enjoyed catching up with Joe and K.T.


Saigon R, 58 W. Palisade Ave.,
Englewood; 201-871-4777. Closed Mondays.
www.saigonmopho.com