We play one little fishie, two little fishies at BCD Tofu House in Fort Lee

At BCD Tofu House in Fort Lee, my wife and me received complimentary side dishes and two battered and fried yellow croakers after we placed our order for beef and seafood soft-tofu soups.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Fans of soft-tofu soup with steamed rice and side dishes -- one of the most comforting Korean meals -- have no shortage of choices in Fort Lee and Palisades Park.

But BCD Tofu House stands out by offering organic tofu and a beautifully fried yellow croaker as one of the complimentary sides.

On Saturday night, we ordered soft-tofu soups and asked for two extra yellow croakers ($1 each).

A few minutes later, a server returned, placing six complimentary side dishes and two croakers between us.

Our last visit to BCD Tofu House was in May 2015, so we wondered whether these were the extra croakers or the complimentary ones served with our meal?

We asked a second server, and he brought us another croaker, but I still wasn't satisfied.

After we paid the bill, I asked the woman at the register, and she said one croaker is served with each tofu soup, so she gave us a fourth croaker in a takeout container.

Pay more, get more

BCD Tofu House charges $12.99 for a complete organic soft-tofu dinner, compared to $9.99 at So Gong Dong in Palisades Park, our go-to place for many years.

Still, besides organic tofu, you get more side dishes at BCD Tofu House -- cabbage kimchi, pickled cucumber slices, seaweed, green peppers with shredded beef, boiled greens, spicy raw squid and a delectable whole little fish.

You can get seconds of all the side dishes but the fish just be asking.

My wife especially liked BCD's soft tofu or soondubu because it wasn't as salty as the version served at So Gong Dong.

My delicious Seafood Soondubu was brought to the table with a rolling boil that poached fresh eggs provided with the meal. My soup contained oysters, shrimp, small clams and a large mussel. The soft-boiled yolks were wonderful when broken and eaten over steamed white rice. Servers will put hot tea into the second stone bowl to loosen the crunchy rice crust, unless you tell them otherwise.

We finished two plates of the complimentary cabbage kimchi.

Spicy raw squid.

Shredded beef with green peppers.

A flat-screen TV in the front dining room allows parents to keep an eye on their children in a playroom, but the screams of those who misbehave come through loud and clear to other customers.

BCD Tofu House offers 11 versions of soft-tofu soup.

The easy to miss entrance in the Fort Lee Towne Center mall.

Details

BCD Tofu House, 1640 Schlosser St., Fort Lee; 201-944-2340. Serves alcohol, open 7 days, free parking in lot and garage. Go early to avoid lines.

Photo of Seafood Soondubu on Website doesn't match what's served in Fort Lee. Branches are in New York, Los Angeles area, Seoul and Tokyo.

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

ShopRite Spring Water, bibimbap with squid, a free Costco shopping trip

ShopRite now sells its own Spring Water in the same 24 half-liter bottles as Poland Spring. The label list the source as natural springs in Pennsylvania.

Last week at the Paramus store, a 24-pack of ShopRite Spring Water was on sale for $2.99 each, compared to $3.33 for a 24-pack of Poland Spring Spring Water when you bought three.

Editor's note: Today, I discuss a week of food shopping, eating out and takeout -- from bottled spring water to a meatless Korean bibimbap to a restaurant-quality Italian-style fish dinner.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

ShopRite almost always seems to have a sale on three 24-bottle packs of Poland Spring Spring Water.

But now, you can beat even that deal when ShopRite puts its own brand of Spring Water on sale, as it did last week at the Paramus store (224 Route 4 east). 

An 18-ounce package of blueberries from Chile were $7.99 at the Paramus ShopRite last week, compared to $5.49 at Costco Wholesale in Teterboro. An 11-ounce package of blueberries was $6.99 at ShopRite.

Bibimbap -- a Korean dish of sizzling rice, vegetables and ground beef served in a hot stone bowl -- is available in two meatless versions at So Gong Dong, a soft-tofu and barbecue restaurant. I ordered the Bibimbap with Squid ($12.99) and added gochujang, a spicy red-pepper paste, from a squeeze bottle on the table. It was served without the traditional raw or cooked egg on top.

A pork soft tofu stew, served in a stone bowl, is boiling when it is brought to the table -- hot enough to poach a fresh egg that is provided along with another stone bowl of steamed rice and five complimentary side dishes ($9.99). The stew can be ordered from little spicy to more spicy.

The entrance to So Gong Dong, 118 Broad Ave., Second Floor, Palisades Park. Valet parking is available.

 Free Costco shopping

My wife went to Costco Wholesale in Teterboro on Wednesday -- her first trip in more than two weeks -- armed with rebate coupons from American Express, which issues the True Earnings-Costco credit card.

She bought $261.93 worth of fresh produce, fish, cheese, juices and packaged items, and came home with $10.25 in change.

Fresh wild-caught Atlantic Cod from Iceland was only $7.99 a pound, a wedge of imported Parmigiano Reggiano was $8.49 a pound and a 10.7-ounce bottle of Ground Saigon Cinnamon was $2.49.

Organic bananas were $1.99 for 3 pounds, and a 10-pound bag of non-organic carrots was $5.99.

A 3-pound bag of raw, sodium-free California Almonds was $17.99. They are ideal for roasting at home and dusting with the Vietnamese cinnamon sold at Costco.

She also bought toilet paper, bleach, flowers, body wash and chewing gum, among other items.

Jerry's Gourmet & More in Englewood calls its restaurant-quality takeout dinners Meals To Go, but they could just as well be called A Little of This, A Little of That: The dinner I bought included Sea Trout Fillets, Grilled Zucchini, Eggplant Parmigiana, Vegetable Frittata, Roasted Potatoes, Shrimp and Broccoli Dumplings, and Mushroom Stuffed with Crab Meat -- all ready to be plated and reheated in the microwave.

The dinners are marked down to $5.99 after 4 p.m., if there are any left. On Friday afternoon, I got the last three Sea Trout Marechiaro dinners. Jerry's is at 410 S. Dean St., Englewood.

On Friday, one of the many delicious cheeses you could sample for free was Scamorza, a dried mozzarella.

Among the premium pastas available at Jerry's was Organic Fusilli (1.1 pounds for $6.79), above, as well as 8.8-ounce boxes of Spinosi Pasta for $5.99 each, below. At ShopRite and Whole Foods Market, you can find 1-pound packages of Organic Whole Wheat Pasta from Italy for $1.25 to $1.49 each.

No worries: Tofu at So Gong Dong in Palisades Park is as good as ever

The rice-flour seafood pancake at So Gong Dong in Palisades Park is one of the soft-tofu restaurant's non-spicy dishes.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

We've been relying on So Gong Dong in Palisades Park for years to deliver a filling meal of healthy soft tofu, rice and vegetable side dishes for only $10. 

But in September, when we stopped there for dinner, my wife complained the beef broth of her soft-tofu stew was too salty, and I thought the grilled whole squid I ordered was a lot smaller than before.

Those proved to be momentary setbacks, as we found out on Friday, when we returned to the second-floor restaurant with our son, who was home from college and just had to have soft tofu.

Belly busting meal

I ordered an oyster tofu stew with rice and complimentary side dishes, and it was as good as ever ($9.99).

I also ordered a seafood pancake to share ($11.99), and my wife and son chose pork soft-tofu stews ($9.99 each). 

I'm not sure why, but after a couple of slices of pancake, I couldn't finish my tofu stew, and took the leftovers home.

Our son also ordered Bulgogi or Korean barbecue made with prime beef, and couldn't finish that either ($14.99).

Soft-tofu stews can be ordered from "no spicy" to "more spicy."

And when you finish the kimchi and other side dishes, just ask for more.

If you're afraid the beef broth will be too salty, you can order your soft-tofu stew made with hot water.

Organic tofu

For 100% organic tofu, try BCD Tofu House, 1640 Schlosser St., Fort Lee, where a complete dinner of tofu stew, rice and side dishes is $12.99.

The Fort Lee restaurant is usually packed, but doesn't take reservations, and you might have to wait on line.

When the soft-tofu stew is brought to your table in a stone bowl, it is bubbling furiously, hot enough to poach the fresh egg that is provided. We always ask for the stew "more spicy."

One of the great pleasures of a soft-tofu dinner is breaking a soft-boiled egg yolk over white rice and eating them together. The crunchy rice lining the bottom of the stone bowl is worth trying to scrape up.

Seaweed with gochujang, a spicy red-pepper sauce, was one of the complimentary side dishes on Friday.

Pickled radish with sliced jalapeno pepper.

Cucumber kimchi, above, and cabbage kimchi, below.

A side dish of bean sprouts.

The dining room filled up quickly as we ate.

Details

So Gong Dong Tofu & B.B.Q., 118 Broad Ave., Second Floor, Palisades Park; 201-313-5550.

Open 7 days, 10:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.

Valet parking and free parking on side streets. Meters in effect 7 days until 9 p.m.

Although So Gong Dong doesn't have a liquor license, you are discouraged from bringing beer or soju to enjoy with your meal.

For fresh fish, good food and more, shop and eat where Koreans do

For dinner on Sunday night, I enjoyed a whole fresh black sea bass from H Mart -- baked in an aluminum-foil pouch for 30 minutes at 450 degrees with fresh tomato, onion, garlic and lime juice. You'll also need a spoon to enjoy the resulting soup.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The biggest H Mart in Bergen County also is the busiest, and parking in the big lot can be tough.

But on Sunday afternoon, to my surprise, there were plenty of empty spaces at the Super H Mart in Ridgefield.

The shopping challenge was inside -- narrow aisles and customers with carts stopping for free food samples -- every four or five feet it seemed -- more than at the other H Marts in Fort Lee, Englewood, Leonia and Little Ferry (weekends only).

If you've never tried Korean food, here is an ideal place to sample cooked and dried fish and other seafood; tofu, soup, cold or hot noodles, dumplings, meat, sausage and the traditional side dishes that accompany every meal.

Adding to the shopping experience, Korean-American college students and other food samplers call out what they are offering in Korean.

But when I had questions -- such as, "Is there any meat in that?" -- all of the ones I spoke to on Sunday were bilingual.

The night before, we drove to Palisades Park for dinner at So Gong Dong, a popular restaurant for Korean comfort food -- soft-tofu stew with all the trimmings for only $10.

The fresh seafood selection is so big fish is displayed on plenty of ice on both sides of the counter, and customers can chose what they want with tongs, put their purchase in a plastic bag and hand it over for free cleaning. Fish can be left whole, cut into steaks, filleted or prepared in other ways.

A confusing sign on fresh wild salmon lists two species, Sockeye and Coho.

Among the many free food samples on Sunday was cooked top shell, also called whelk or sea snail, dipped in a spicy sauce.

Wild-caught red snapper.

Whole Monkfish Tail was $5.99 a pound. So was the Black Sea Bass, and the four I purchased for our Sunday dinner averaged a little over 1 pound each. 

Organic lettuce

My other purchases included Organic Red Leaf Lettuce for $1.99, a better buy than the same lettuce grown conventionally for $1.49.

A 15-pound bag of Kokuho Yellow Label Rice, grown in California, was $9.99, a savings of $7.

A large, heavy watermelon was $6.49, and three bunches of scallions were 99 cents.

We love kimbap, a sliced seaweed-and-rice roll stuffed with vegetables and fish cake, but a small package prepared in the store was pricey at $5.49.

H Mart Smart Card

If you forget your ShopRite Price Plus Club Card, you can enter your phone number into a terminal and get the deals associated with it on the spot.

But if you forget your H Mart Smart Card, you have to return to the store with your receipt to be credited for the 1% rebate associated with it ($10 after your purchases total $1,000, and special coupons).

A few days after I wrote this, I took back two receipts, but was given credit for only one. I was told no credit is given for receipts more than a month old.

Also, the large Super H Mart lot has only three parking-lot corrals for shopping carts, and your car could be damaged by another customer who doesn't bother returning a cart to one of them.

The biggest H Mart in Bergen County is in Ridgefield.

Details

Super H Mart, 321 Broad Ave., Ridgefield; 1-201-943-9600. Open 7 days, free parking in large lot.

This H Mart is in a shopping center with other Korean businesses, including a bakery, restaurants and an appliance store.

So Gong Dong in Palisades Park specializes in complete soft-tofu dinners, but you also can find B.B.Q. Squid with Spicy Sauce, an unusually hot gochujang, for $12.99, including two kinds of kimchi and three other side dishes. The squid was very tender, but I needed a pair of scissors to separate the rings.

Pajun, a grilled seafood-and-scallion pancake made from rice flour, is $11.99, and can be shared by four to six. 

Clockwise from top, pickled radish, bean sprouts, cucumber kimchi, cabbage kimchi, a dipping sauce for the grilled pancake and seaweed in gochujang, a red-pepper paste.

My wife's stone bowl of soft tofu was bubbling furiously when brought to the table, ideal for poaching the fresh egg that comes with it. This bowl of Pork Soft Tofu is Medium Spicy, one of the spice levels you can specify.

So Gong Dong offers 11 soft-tofu stews with a fresh egg, steamed rice and five side dishes, a complete meal for $9.99 (rounded up to $10 on the check, including tax).

Big tables are designed to accommodate multi-generational families or groups of men.

Details

So Gong Dong, 118 Broad Ave., Second Floor, Palisades Park; 1-201-313-5550. Free parking on side streets.