A healthy Chinese seafood dinner any mother would be proud to serve

A whole fresh striped bass wasn't happy about being butterflied and steamed at Lotus Cafe in Hackensack, but we couldn't have been more pleased the fish ended up as our dinner centerpiece on the eve of Mother's Day.

Editor's note: Today, I relate further adventures in dining out or ordering takeout in Hackensack, and report on the closing of a Maywood restaurant.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Eating out on Mother's Day is an ordeal I try to avoid, and that's why we made a dinner reservation on the eve of the holiday.

We chose Lotus Cafe, a favorite Chinese BYO in Hackensack where everyone knows my name, after being served two overly salted meals at Lan Sheng, a much-ballyhooed Szechuan restaurant in Wallington.

On Saturday night, I was hosting my wife and mother-in-law, and we ordered a delicious dinner of fresh whole fish, vegetables and brown rice, washed down with the house tea and ice water.

Crunchy Chinese Broccoli sauteed with fresh garlic was one of the two vegetables we ordered.

Whole steamed fish

We started with Seafood Soup for 3 ($11.25) -- squid, scallops, shrimp, sliced fishcake, carrot and pea pods poached in broth until tender.

For our entree, we chose a whole striped bass over a whole flounder, and asked for it steamed with ginger and scallion rather than fried.

The fish, which looked to be 1.5 pounds or more, was $26.95. Just perfect, and the deliciously light sauce can be spooned over your rice.

Our two vegetables were Sauteed Chinese Star Squash and Chinese Broccoli ($9.95 each).

The restaurant offers the broccoli sauteed with brown sauce, steamed with oyster sauce or stir-fried with fresh garlic, the last being the low-sodium choice.

Good food, good service and reasonable prices. Why go anywhere else for Chinese food?

Lotus Cafe hasn't missed a beat since owner Philip Su retired last Aug. 31. He and wife Tracy opened the restaurant in a Hackensack Avenue shopping center in 1993.

There is no extra charge for brown rice, even if you ask for two bowls, as I did.

Like spicy food? This chili paste will set any Lotus Cafe dish on fire. I mixed a little into my seafood soup.

Lotus Cafe is a BYO with plenty of free parking.

Details

Lotus Cafe, 450 Hackensack Ave., in Home Depot Shopping Center, Hackensack; 201-488-7070. Open 7 days for lunch and dinner.

BYO, free parking in large lot. Reservations recommended on weekends. 

If you are 4 or more, ask for the Special Dinner and Banquet Menu, which offers price-fixed, multi-course meals for up to 12 people.

First, they salt it. Then, they burn it. Grilled Codfsh with Potatoes, Peppers and Onions delivered to our home on May 1 by Fire Pit Barbecue, a Portuguese restaurant at 357 Essex St., Hackensack.

A tray of Fire Pit's whole Barbecued Chicken with rice, black beans and vegetables ($14).

Why burn salted cod?

At home, we eat a lot of salted cod and pollock, which are ready to boil and eat when you buy them.

That's why I don't understand why Fire Pit Barbecue in Hackensack usually burns the Grilled Codfish with Potatoes, Peppers and Onions that is one of our favorite takeout dishes. 

Looking at the menu, I see the Portuguese restaurant also offers Boiled Codfish with Potatoes and Vegetables, also for $19.

That may be the key to getting codfish that isn't burnt.

Salted fish needs to be boiled to reduce the sodium content, not to cook it.

There is nothing wrong with grill marks on the skin side, but on May 1 and on previous occasions when we ordered it for delivery, the skin was burnt black and inedible.

Session Bistro

Session Bistro on Maywood Avenue, near the old Maywood train station, has closed.

All dining coupons aren't created equal

Orange Glazed Crispy Sole at Session Bistro in Maywood.

I really can't fault the food and service at Session Bistro in Maywood, but how does a restaurant run out of seltzer?

On Friday night, I had a satisfying seafood dinner at the small BYO by the tracks, washed down with a nice Italian red wine I brought from home.

But it wasn't until after I had purchased a $25 Restaurant.com dining certificate for $10 that I saw "special instructions" on the printout. I would have to spend a total of $35 and an 18% gratuity would be added before my discount.

Family away

My family was away for a three-day weekend and I couldn't persuade a friend to join me, so I went alone, hoping I could find an appetizer, salad and entree to reach the $35 threshold.

Session calls itself a fusion restaurant, but it has a hard time filling what was once an Italian deli, judging from my visit for dinner on Friday night and a breakfast there on Jan. 27, when a friend and I were the only customers.

For dinner, the tables are covered with white cloths, but industrial-looking electrical sockets are visible high on one wall. At breakfast, I noticed some of the drop-ceiling tiles were discolored.

Table for one

Although there were empty tables for four on Friday, the host insisted I sit at a table for two next to a bar, with the register and telephone only inches away from the right side of my head.

I started with an appetizer from the specials read to me by the waiter, Grilled Baby Octopus with Arugula and White-Bean Puree for $9.95. The tender octopus was delicious and perfectly grilled.

When I asked the waiter for seltzer, he said it had run out. I drank water, in addition to my wine.

Soup had meat

The waiter said soup or organic salad came with entrees, but I told him I wasn't eating meat, so he said I'd have to have the salad. 

The small bowl of greens, blue cheese, diced cucumber and refrigerated grape tomato was dressed with a French vinaigrette the chef made. Very nice.

My entree was a tasty Orange Glazed Crispy Sole, served over rice, for $17.95. The waiter said the kitchen didn't have brown rice, but offered me a sweet potato puree instead.

Tempura of fish

The large, moist fillet was prepared in the style of tempura, with what I felt was too much batter, and served over the sweet potato puree and Chinese broccoli. The pleasant orange-chili glaze contained fresh citrus.

I was pleasantly full, but short of the $35 minimum, so I ordered another octopus appetizer, which I like as much as the first.

My food bill was $37.85 with a $25 discount. Tax was 90 cents, and no 18% gratuity had been added. I left a $6 tip. American Express credit cards aren't accepted there.

I won't be buying any more Restaurant.com certificates. I prefer vouchers from Groupon or Living Social, which have no minimum spending above the total value of the vouchers.

I've found Travelzoo vouchers exaggerate the total value of the deals.

Session Bistro, 245 Maywood Ave., Maywood; 201-880-7810.

BYO. Parking in lot.

Web site: Breakfast, lunch and dinner