Going off the menu at Lotus Cafe in Hackensack: 7 courses for $26

When you order an off-menu Dinner for Six at Lotus Cafe in Hackensack, one of the seven courses is South Pacific Prawns -- large shrimp pan fried in the shell with shallots, garlic, ginger, scallion and peppercorn. 

Editor's note: There are many reasons I seem to be eating out mainly at Asian restaurants. Most are BYOs, so I don't have to worry about getting gouged for a $12 glass of wine, the chef isn't sneaking butter into my food, and the abundance of seafood and vegetables is good for me.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The kitchen at Lotus Cafe, a Chinese BYO in Hackensack, really shines when you ask for a separate Special Prix Fixe Dinner and Banquet Menu.

The single sheet of paper offers multi-course dinners for four to 12 people -- five to 10 courses, plus dessert ($79 t0 $358 before tax and tip).

The price-fixed menu, which includes bigger portions of some chef's specialties and other a la carte dishes from the regular menu, offers especially good value.

On Tuesday night, six of us paid $26 each, including tax and a 20% tip, for a seven-course dinner, plus dessert.

Adding a small bowl of brown rice, I was pleasantly full, even though I didn't eat three courses with beef or poultry. 

We drank our own prosecco, beer or red wine, plus a couple of pots of tea.

Working on Banquet for 12

I've enjoyed this price-fixed menu over the years for up to eight people on such special occasions as my birthday or anytime I can get together four or more people.

I'm still working on assembling enough people to order one of the two 10-course banquets listed on the special menu.

No pre-ordering is necessary beyond a reservation, and you'd have no problem working with the friendly staff on a multi-course dinner without meat, if others in your group are amenable. 

Also, don't worry about the red pepper that designates spicy dishes on the regular menu: 

You'd have to ask the kitchen to turn up the heat, if you want food that approaches the spiciness of Korean or Thai dishes.

Lotus Cafe, which opened in 1993, uses 100% vegetable oil and no MSG, and the regular menu offers steamed dishes without oil, salt or cornstarch.

Dinner for Six also includes Three Cup Chicken Casserole. Chunks of poultry are braised in a cup of rice wine, a cup of sesame oil and a cup of brown sauce with ginger, basil and chili pepper.

Filet of Sole with White Chive was one of the most popular dishes at our dinner.

One of my friends said the Crispy Aromatique Duck was good, but dry.

Our Dinner for Six started with Seafood and Tofu Chowder, which isn't on the regular menu.

Our fifth course was Beef with Chili Pepper & Mustard Green.

We had a choice of vegetables and went with flavorful Snow Pea Leaves.

After our meal, I only had room for fresh orange wedges, but my friends enjoyed spoonfuls of green tea and other ice creams, below.

Details

Lotus Cafe, 450 Hackensack Ave., in the Home Depot Shopping Center, Hackensack; 201-488-7070.

BYO, large parking lot.

Free delivery within 3 miles ($12 minimum).

At Lotus Cafe in Hackensack: 8 delicious courses, 6 people, $20 each

Crispy Aromatique Duck is one of eight courses when you order Dinner for Six at Lotus Cafe, a Chinese restaurant in Hackensack ($120, plus tax and tip). A Special Prix Fixe Dinner and Banquet Menu -- for four to 12 people, six to 12 courses -- is available on request.

On Wednesday night, five of us ordered the celebratory Dinner for Six, which also included Three Cup Chicken Casserole, above, and the dishes shown below. We washed down the food with prosecco (a sparkling wine from Italy) and Negra Modelo Beer.

South Pacific Prawns.

Filet of Sole with White Chive.

Beef with Chili Pepper & Mustard Greens was a big hit with the meat eaters in the group.

String Beans with Fresh Garlic.

Dinner for Six starts with Seafood and Tofu Chowder, above, and ends with a Fruit Platter, below, or ice cream. White or brown rice is included. We took home leftovers.

Lotus Cafe, at 450 Hackensack Ave., in Hackensack's Home Depot Shopping Center, is a BYO that is open 7 days a week (1-201-488-7070). Reservations are recommended on weekends, but the price-fixed and banquet dinners don't have to be pre-ordered.

-- VICTOR E. SASSON

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.

Where $22 buys a tasty six-course meal

Seafood and Tofu Casserole at Lotus Cafe in Hackensack.

Lobster and Cream Corn Soup.

Few celebratory meals are as satisfying as a multi-course Chinese banquet, but you don't have to assemble a large group to enjoy such a feast at Lotus Cafe in Hackensack.

The BYO serves Dinners for Four, Six and Eight -- 6-, 8- and 10-course price-fixed meals for $69 to $160, plus tax and gratuity.

We had a delicious Dinner for Four on Monday night -- 5 courses of seafood, tofu and vegetables, plus dessert -- for about $22 per person, including tax and a 20% tip.

We couldn't finish the food, and I enjoyed the leftovers for dinner at home on Tuesday.

Filet of Sole with Ginger and Scallion.

Crunchy Chinese Broccoli sauteed with fresh garlic.

We've been going to Lotus Cafe for years, so I asked owner Philip Su if he could modify the Dinner for Four menu to eliminate dishes with pork and chicken, and give us only seafood.

We started with Lobster and Cream Corn Soup -- instead of Chicken & Wild Bamboo Soup -- and our  Lotus Mooshu Delight, served wrapped in thin rice pancakes, was made with shrimp instead of shredded pork.

Then we had the Seafood and Tofu Casserole (shrimp, scallop, squid and fish cake), Filet of Sole with Ginger and Scallion, and Chinese Broccoli (see photos).

The restaurant upgraded the usual dessert of Litchi and Pineapple to three big scoops of ice cream and orange sections.

We brought a half bottle of red wine to have with the meal, along with unlimited tea and small bowls of white or brown rice. 

An individual bowl of the egg-drop soup with vinegar.

Lotus Mooshu Delight is crowned with an egg crepe.

Hoisin Sauce for Lotus Mooshu Delight can be added before noodles, tofu, vegetables and shrimp are wrapped in pancakes. At rear, chili paste and Chinese vinegar.

If you can get 10 people together, Lotus Cafe will serve you a 12-course feast --  the Formosa Banquet -- for $268.

Ten to 12 people can order the 12-course Lotus Banquet for $338.

From the Dinner for Four to the Lotus Banquet for 10 to 12, each meal offers contrasting flavors and textures from one of the best Chinese restaurants in North Jersey.

Here are some of the dishes on the Special Prix Fixe Dinner and Banquet Menu:

Emperor's Pork Loin, Crispy Aromatique Duck, X.O. Beef Casserole, Paradise Chicken, Giant Meat Ball Casserole, and Five Delicacy Cold and Hot Appetizer Platter.

Lotus Cafe, 450 Hackensack Ave., in the Home Depot Shopping Center, Hackensack; 201-488-7070.

BYO, open seven days, parking lot, reservations recommended on weekends and holidays. 

Web site: Lotus Cafe