In Englewood, Emma waiter has a bad day and Starbucks is a mess

Emma Restaurant in Englewood has a comfortable waiting area, but I found only a couple of other tables occupied when I had lunch there with a friend on Tuesday.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

I had a wonderful dinner of beautifully composed pan-Latino dishes at Emma Restaurant in Englewood in May 2015, but didn't return until I met a friend there for lunch on Tuesday.

The restaurant was nearly empty.

Still, the waiter was having a bad day after serving a half-dozen spoiled teenagers who left behind a mess on their tables and on the dining room floor. 

Yes, he said, sit anywhere you like.

When I saw a seafood salad listed on the lunch menu for $18, I asked whether the dish was a ceviche -- raw seafood cooked in lime juice.

No, he said emphatically, he knew ceviche well, even caught fish and made the dish in his native Ecuador.

No. Certainly not ceviche, but good.

I ordered the Baby Kale Salad with brioche croutons and shaved Parmigiano in a Caesar dressing, and my friend chose Choripan, chorizo or pork sausage sandwiches in a chimichurri emulsion with french fries ($10 each).

When I asked for the check, our server showed us an image on his phone, said the total was $21.50 and asked how much of a tip we wanted to leave.

I said $4, and he said he could email me the receipt. Then, he disappeared.

I wrote down my email address on a pad at the front desk and waited almost 10 minutes for him to come out of the kitchen so I could give it to him.

More than a day later, I haven't received an email receipt.

Coffee at Starbucks

Across the street at Starbucks, the front counter where we placed our order for medium-roast black coffee was covered in crumbs, and the only empty table we found also was a mess.

The baristas were so busy handling the crush of customers they ignored basic housekeeping.

My consolation prize was a Cheese & Fruit Bistro Box ($4.95) I took home free, using rewards on my Starbucks card.

I've eaten a lot of kale, but never tasted anything as tender or as delicious as the baby kale in Emma's salad.

My friend filled up on the tasty Choripan, but couldn't finish the fries.

Details

Emma Restaurant, 34 E. Palisade Ave., Englewood; 201-227-6103. BYO, metered parking on street or in a municipal garage about a block and a half away.

See post on our May 2015 dinner: Art on the plate

Starbucks Coffee, Chipotle Mexican Grill and H Mart -- all in one stop

Three trays of takeout from H Mart and an Edamame Hummus Wrap from Starbucks Coffee, top left. You'll find the Korean supermarket and the busy Starbucks in Fort Lee's Linwood Plaza shopping center.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Linwood Plaza, Fort Lee's biggest and busiest shopping center, offers an array of eat-in and take-out food, ranging from kimbap to sushi to burritos.

The large Fletcher Avenue strip mall is especially busy at lunchtime, when you can pick up Korean lunch boxes or stop for a meal or takeout at Starbucks Coffee, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Linwood Pizza or Hachi Sushi.

Last Monday, I used my Starbucks Card rewards to pick up a free light lunch, the Edadame Hummus Wrap ($5.95).

Zucchini, bell peppers, spinach and a garlic-herb cheese spread are rolled up in a spinach tortilla, with a roasted tomato sauce and sesame-flax crackers on the side.

When eaten, the sections of the tortilla wrap were both creamy and crunchy. The roasted tomato sauce complemented the wrap, but was a bit too salty.

At H Mart, I picked up trays of Kimbap, Japchae and Dried Persimmon.

Kimbap is an addictive roll of rice, egg, shredded vegetables and imitation crab (made from a wild-caught fish), all wrapped in seaweed ($6.79).

The roll comes with Korean pickles and sliced jalapeno peppers with seeds, which are really hot.

Japchae are yam-flour noodles stir fried with vegetables, best served hot ($5.99). 

Dried Persimmon are intensely sweet ($5.99 a pound), and like all dried fruit delicious when eaten with a crumbly Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese.

The Korean supermarket also has a coffee bar with tables and chairs where you can eat a lunch box or other prepared food.

Linwood Plaza, Fletcher and Linwood avenues, Fort Lee. 

At Bocconi in Hackensack, a tasty dinner of vegetables, fish and wine

Grey Sole Oreganata with Shrimp and White Wine, one of two wild-caught fish entrees at Bocconi Restaurant in Hackensack.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The list of specials at Bocconi Restaurant in Hackensack would please anyone who doesn't eat meat or poultry.

Vegetables, salads and shellfish appetizers are the prelude to nearly a dozen pasta and seafood entrees on the one-page listing.

On Saturday, we visited the moderately priced Italian-American restaurant for the third time, and though we had a nice dinner, saw some limitations.

A half-dozen fish entrees are offered, but only two are wild caught, grey sole and tuna.

I'm watching my cholesterol intake, and found Bocconi was less accommodating than on earlier visits when I asked the kitchen to hold the butter.

And the specials menu didn't list a small block of tangy goat cheese that came with a wonderful appetizer of beets and arugula.

Salmon Grilled Over Arugula & Cherry Tomato.

Vegetables, fish and salad

We started with appetizers of Asparagus Gratinato ($9.95) for my wife and Red Beet Carpaccio for me ($12.50).

My wife wanted wild-caught Grey Sole Oreganata ($18.95) for her entree, the dish I had on our first visit, and I chose the second wild fish, tuna, on our last visit.

So, looking for something else, I was left to pick one of the farmed fish, and I chose Salmon Grilled Over Arugula & Cherry Tomato ($20.95).

I asked for the fish to be prepared medium to medium rare, but it was delivered cooked through, though still moist.

When compared to its wild cousin, artificially colored farmed salmon isn't a very exciting fish -- raw or cooked.

At least it was a nice portion, and came with a great salad of peppery arugula, my favorite green.

The other farmed seafood offered are branzino, tilapia and shrimp. 

Details

Bocconi Restaurant, 363 Essex St., Hackensack (near Prospect Avenue); 201-342-3888. Web site: bocconifood.com

BYO. On weekends, reservations aren't necessary.

A tiny lot off Prospect means you're better off parking across Essex Street at the medical building with a Starbucks Coffee on the ground level.

An appetizer of Asparagus Gratinato with Grated Cheese and White Wine Sauce. We liked the small dish of pitted olives served with it. The waiter said the asparagus were made with only a "little" butter.

A block of tangy goat cheese crowning Red Beet Carpaccio, another appetizer, wasn't listed on the specials menu, and the price shown also was incorrect ($9.95 on the menu, $12.50 on the receipt)

Bocconi Restaurant is a BYO with about 50 seats. I brought a bottle of Italian red wine.

Crusty Italian bread comes with butter and for dipping, extra-virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar and grated cheese.

Starbucks Coffee helps keep bored luxury wing salespeople awake

A full-fledged Starbucks Coffee is strategically placed inside a luxury wing of Westfield Garden State Plaza in Paramus, the biggest shopping center in New Jersey.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

On my first and likely last visit to a luxury wing of Garden State Plaza in Paramus, I didn't see any customers in the stores.

Even more troubling, I didn't see any security guards or Paramus police officers inside or outside a mall that was invaded by a gunman whose random rifle shots panicked customers before he committed suicide in November 2013.

A Starbucks Coffee provides needed stimulant to the bored luxury store employees.

On Tuesday afternoon, I didn't see any customers in most of the high-end stores at the shopping center, and salespeople stared vacantly at the door or through plate-glass windows.

A slice of pizza and a small drink is $3.99. Another food stand is operated by Lasaka and offers sushi. Free samples of tea are available at Teavana.

Bocconi in Hackensack is offering big flavors in a small setting

A special of Grey Sole Oreganata at Bocconi Pasta Pronto & More in Hackensack included shrimp, vegetables and potatoes -- a well-balanced one-dish meal. I asked the kitchen to make it without butter.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

It's nice to find a restaurant with good food, good service and moderate prices where you usually can get a table for dinner without a reservation.

Bocconi, which means "bites" in Italian, is a 50-seat BYO that shares only eight off-street parking spaces with another restaurant near one of Hackensack's busiest intersections. 

Bocconi opened more than five years ago, and has survived thanks to a brisk lunch business from a big medical center across the street.

Ravioli with Sausage and Broccoli Rabe is served in marinara sauce.

We asked to share an Arugula Salad. The kitchen split the salad and served the portions in broad soup bowls.

'Sit anywhere'

When we arrived at the Italian-American restaurant a little after 4:30 on Saturday afternoon, we were told we could sit anywhere.

Two other tables were occupied. 

We chose a table for two, but when our salad and appetizer arrived, the waiter pulled over another table to make room for all of the dishes.

We chose from the regular menu and a sheet of daily specials with prices.

We ordered an Arugula Salad to share ($7.95), an appetizer of fried Crab Cakes to share ($9.95), Ravioli with Sausage and Broccoli Rabe for my wife ($12.95) and a special of Grey Sole Oreganata for me ($18.95).

We enjoyed all of our food, but my wife doubted the the crab cakes, though tasty, contained much crab meat and none of it was lump.

My sole fillets were accompanied by three or four shrimp, vegetables and potatoes -- a beautifully balanced entree. 

An appetizer of four Crab Cakes came with salad and a homemade tartar sauce.

Bocconi is a BYO.

Crusty bread was served with butter and a plate of extra-virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar and salt, which is unnecessary and can mask the peppery taste of the oil. 

The dining room was filled with a soundtrack of the legendary Luciano Pavarotti, and some specials were listed on one of the two TVs.

'Restaurant Row'

Bocconi is one of three eating places on busy Essex Street, near Prospect Avenue, that form a modest restaurant row.

The Italian-American restaurant shares its L-shaped parking lot with Fire Pit Barbecue (357 Essex St.), which serves Portuguese-style ribs, steak, pork and even grilled codfish with potato, pepper and onions.

On the other side of Bocconi is Mazza Falafel (365 Essex St.), a Middle Eastern restaurant offering falafel, salads, stuffed grape leaves, shawarma and kufta kabob.

Mazza Falafel has no parking lot, and the eight spaces shared by Bocconi and Fire Pit Barbecue include two reserved for the handicapped.

There is plenty of parking in a big lot across the street at 360 Essex, a medical arts building with Starbucks Coffee and Cosi on the ground level.

And Bocconi, Fire Pit Barbecue and Mazza Falafel have delivery available.

Review of Bocconi

I came across only one newspaper review of Bocconi, which opened in 2009.

The Eating Out on $50 review appeared in The Record of Woodland Park on May 28, 2010, when Jeffrey Page praised "this dandy Italian restaurant that served terrific food in generous portions and at moderate prices."

Unfortunately, Page got the location of the restaurant wrong, saying it was at Essex Street and Summit Avenue, when it is almost a block away, near Prospect Avenue.

Bocconi Pasta Pronto & More, 363 Essex St., Hackensack; 201-342-3888. BYO. Open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. or 10 p.m. Mondays to Saturdays.

Entrance to parking lot is on Prospect Avenue.

Web site: Take a bite out of Hackensack

  

Even a lowly McDonald's Restaurant shorts seniors

At the McDonald's in Queensbury, N.Y.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

On the long road to Montreal from our home in New Jersey on Thursday, I stopped for coffee to relieve the monotony of driving on Route 87.

Looking for "easy off, easy on," I picked a McDonald's not far from the highway. 

I walked in and up to the counter, and asked a female employee, who looked to be middle age, for a "senior coffee."

"Do you want to add anything to the coffee?"

I said no, I wanted it black.

Still, when I took off the cover, the cup was far from full.

OK. Seniors get a discount, and a small coffee costs only 79 cents with tax. 

But at least fill the cup to the top.

At Starbucks, I ask for coffee with "no room for milk," and I've returned to the counter for more, if the cup isn't full.

Of course, with Starbucks, black coffee has nuances of flavor.

So, I didn't bother to ask for more at the Queensbury, N.Y., McDonald's.

That's just coffee for keeping you from falling asleep at the wheel.

Take the next exit for Starbucks in the slow lane

Compare the Protein Bistro Box at Starbucks Coffee in Ramsey, above, to the Hummus & Pita Veggie Tray at the Starbucks Coffee franchise in the Clara Barton Service Area on the New Jersey Turnpike, below.

By VICTOR E. SASSON

EDITOR

The coffee at Starbucks company and franchise stores may taste the same, but there are other differences that might not be readily apparent.

Starbucks Coffee stands in service areas on the New Jersey Turnpike don't serve the same food as the Starbucks in towns like Ramsey, Englewood and Hackensack.

At the Clara Barton Service Area, the last in the southbound lanes of the turnpike, I bought a Hummus & Pita Veggie Tray a week ago Sunday.

The grainy hummus didn't taste as if it contained any tahini, lemon juice or garlic, and on a second visit five days later, I tried to read the ingredients through the tray cover.

All I could make out was the word "sugar." 

Also, the cut ends of the broccoli florets had turned brown.

What I really wanted that day on the turnpike was a Protein Bistro Box with a great piece of cheese, fruit, a hard-boiled egg and other items, but it isn't available at franchises.

A takeout order of Chinese Fried Buns with Chives & Eggs, above and below, from Kung Fu Little Steamed Buns Ramen, a hole in the wall on Eighth Avenue in Manhattan that was written up last week in The New York Times' Hungry City column.

Fighting crowds for a bite

I had a few hours to kill in Manhattan on Sunday night, but had a hard time finding a parking space, this on the one day of the week meters are free.

I parked around the corner from Kung Fu Little Steamed Buns Ramen, which The New York Times reports serves bowls of  soup filled with hand-pulled noodles or la mien, which traveled from China to Japan and became ramen.

I groaned when I saw a line at the door of the small restaurant (811 Eighth Ave., near 49th Street) so went in and ordered takeout -- two fried buns filled with chives and eggs for $3.50 plus tax.

They were piping hot when I got them back to the car, beautifully fried with hardly a trace of oil and filled with more chives than egg. Delicious.

And because I wasn't sure my space was legal, I moved on.

Kung Fu Little Steamed Buns Ramen, above, was so crowded a server asked me to wait outside with my receipt for takeout. And a sign on the door said "cash only."

Mouthwash, skin lotion and more in Kung Fu Ramen's bathroom.

Starbucks and Chipotle

I found another parking space on West 57th Street, and walked to a Starbucks Coffee.

I asked for my Grande Veranda Blend in a 16-ounce ceramic cup ($2.20), and that got me a discount of 10 cents.

Asking for your coffee in a real cup at Starbucks earns a discount.

The line at Chipotle Mexican Grill, which serves meat and poultry without antibiotics or growth hormones.

Veggie Bowl

I was still hungry, and after leaving Starbucks Coffee, I came across a Chipotle Mexican Grill a few blocks away.

I got on a long line for counter service, and ordered a Veggie Bowl with pinto beans, guacamole, spicy salsa and brown rice ($8.50, including tax).

The employees worked frantically to keep up with the crowd.

Unfortunately, I had to walk past an uncleared table, hardly the most appetizing thing you want to see when you're hungry.

"Chipotle supports family farms," according to a sign on the wall.

An uncleared table I passed on the way to the counter to order a Veggie Bowl, below.