Just when you thought Bergen County had too many Asian markets

Hong Kong-style whole Roast Duck, Roast Pork and Honey Barbecued Spare Ribs at 99 Ranch Market in Hackensack.

A wide variety of Dim Sum are available at another stand in the busy food court.

Editor's note: On visits in December 2019, a cashier at 99 Ranch Market charged me twice for the same item, necessitating a return trip to get a credit; and one of the employees behind the fish counter cleaned, but didn't scale, whole yellowtail snappers I purchased. 

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

HACKENSACK, N.J. -- The Korean supermarket chain with the folksy name of "One Arm Full of Groceries" has defined Asian food for decades.

With 6 H Marts in Bergen County alone, Han Ah Reum has had a loyal following among Korean-Americans and non-Koreans alike, despite competition from H&Y and other smaller chains.

But all that changed last week with the opening of 99 Ranch Market in Hackensack's Home Depot Shopping Center (June 2018).

The Chinese supermarket may not have as many good deals as H Mart, but the Hackensack store is simply a better Asian-food experience.

See more photos at The Sasson Report and on Instagram @victoresasson.

One of the stands in the food court of 99 Ranch Market in Hackensack.

Lousy service, $47.90 fish sour us on Lan Garden in Ridgefield

If you think the whole striped bass I was served at Lan Garden in Ridgefeld looks angry, you should have seen my face when I got the bill and realized the waiter neglected to mention it was priced by the pound. The total was an exorbitant $47.90.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

I visited Lan Garden three times in August during the soft opening of the Chinese restaurant on Route 46 in Ridgefield, lured by a food discount of 30%.

As you'd expect during the first weeks of a new restaurant, the menu was limited, service was slow and somewhat disorganized, and the kitchen ran out of certain items.

But I liked the food, especially the whole fish served with ginger and scallion, a succulent lobster and greens sauteed with fresh garlic.

Four months later, not much has changed in terms of the disorganized service. 

The kitchen even ran out of steamed white rice, and we had to wait until more was prepared.

We arrived starving

On Sunday afternoon, we returned really hungry from a visit to Manhattan and the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, and drove straight to the restaurant.

Only a few other tables were occupied, but after we ordered, we waited and waited for our food.

I didn't recognize our waiter from my August visits or an older man who later said he is the manager.

Too many menus

I wanted to try a few plates of dim sum, which are prepared in a separate kitchen and available all day until 1 a.m.

They are listed on a separate paper menu, but you're also handed two bound menus, one containing specials of the day and banquet meals, and the other listing the regular fare. 

Dim sum are priced from $3.50 to $8.95 per plate, but one of the three I ordered -- Pan-Fried Chive Cake -- wasn't available.

The waiter recommended the Peking-style Pork Chops, prepared in a sweet red sauce, but my son said they were merely OK. He had to wait nearly 10 minutes for a small bowl of steamed white rice to eat with the pork, unheard of in a Chinese restaurant.

The menu didn't mention the Dried Sauteed String Beans are made with ground pork, which I don't eat. My wife thought it was garlic. When I sent it back, the waiter deducted the dish from our bill.

We loved two of the dim sum: The Fried Canton Carp Ball, above, and Super Har Gow Jumbo Shrimp Dumplings, packed with minced shrimp and accented by a centerpiece of roe, below.

From dim sum to striped bass

Both of the dim sum we ordered were terrific. The Super Har Gow Jumbo (shrimp dumplings) were $6.95 and the Fried Canton Carp Ball was $5.95.

An appetizer of two soft-shell crabs was priced at $20, but after I ordered, the waiter returned from the kitchen and said they were all gone.

That was the third time Lan Garden couldn't deliver the soft-shell crabs listed on the menu.

The menu listed whole fish, but the only one available was striped bass, a great eating fish.

Still, no price was listed on the menu, and the waiter didn't mention the 2-pound fish was $23.95 per pound or a total of $47.90.

That's outrageous -- the kind of markup you usually see only in a high-end Greek fish house.

During the soft opening, I ordered a whole flounder on two visits and paid $23.95 and $26.95 before the discount.

The striped bass we were served on Sunday tasted wonderful, and the indigestion didn't start until I saw the check.

When I spoke to the manager, he said the waiter is supposed to mention to customers the fish is priced by the pound.

Our other dishes were Pork Wonton Soup ($3.95) and Chicken with Broccoli ($14.95).

The total for four people was $108.77, including three ginger ales and tax. 

I reluctantly left a $15 tip, only learning later the waiter forgot to level with me on the exorbitant price of the whole fish.

The glass teapot and a chopsticks stand are nice touches, above and below, but I'd do without them in return for competent service.

The paper dim sum menu, above, and a page from the specials menu listing what looks like banquet meals costing $188 and $888, below.

Details

Lan Garden, 88 Route 46 west, Ridgefield; 201-840-8688. BYO until the restaurant obtains a liquor license.

Web site: Specializing in seafood and dim sum

At Lan Garden, fresh lobster tastes even sweeter at 30% off

Fresh lobster smothered in ginger and scallion at Lan Garden, a new Chinese restaurant on Route 46 in Ridgefield.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

I made a second visit to Lan Garden, the new Chinese seafood restaurant in Ridgefield that is having a soft opening, in search of lobster.

I had a whole flounder on my first visit last Friday night, when the soft-shell crabs listed on the limited temporary menu weren't available.

They still weren't available on Monday night, but the kitchen did have whole lobster, pan-fried and then smothered in ginger and scallion.

During the soft opening, food is 30% off. The official opening is set for Aug. 26.

The lobster was $23.95 before the discount.

I also ordered yu choy, a Chinese green ($9.95 before the discount).

A complimentary pot of tea and small bowl of white rice completed my meal.

A green called yu choy was tasty, but difficult to eat with chopsticks. I suggested the kitchen cut the stalks into two or three smaller pieces next time. I took most of the dish home, and cut the stalks before I put the leftovers in the refrigerator.

Messy but delicious

The lobster was delicious, and a small fork and cut-outs made it easy to extract the sweet meat from the shells.

But it was messy, and I couldn't get the attention of my waiter to get a second napkin until I had almost finished. 

Manager Leo Lee wet a third napkin so I could clean my hands at the table.

Don't go for the service

During the soft opening, service is casual.

I had the same waiter as on my first visit, and he insisted the restaurant didn't serve dim sum made with shrimp, even though har gow or shrimp dumplings are listed on the menu.

On my first visit, I ordered a steamed whole fish, but got a fried whole fish instead.

I don't know whether that was the kitchen's doing, because the waiter wrote down the proper letter and numbers from the menu.

Only two other customers were in the dining room when I arrived around 5:30 p.m. on Monday, but when I left about an hour later, the restaurant's staff was greeting a steady stream of people.

Lan Garden Restaurant & Bar, 88 Route 46 west, Ridgefield (Grand Avenue); 201-840-8688. Opens at 11 a.m. during soft opening, which is set to end on Aug. 26.

Food is 30% off during soft opening. A liquor license is pending.

At a dim sum lunch in Fort Lee, tea is 95 cents per person

Small clams in black bean sauce at Silver Pond Seafood Restaurant in Fort Lee.

Editor's note: Silver Pond Seafood Restaurant closed, but has been replaced by Aquarius Seafood Restaurant, which also serves dim sum.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

"Yum cha" is Chinese for "drink tea," another way to describe the meal called dim sum -- where servers circulate with small plates of food and offer them to customers.

I recall dim sum lunches in Honk Kong and in San Francisco's Chinatown where the waiters rolled carts through the dining room and sang out descriptions of the food they were hawking.

At Silver Pond Seafood Restaurant in Fort Lee, the servers emerge from the rear kitchen carrying small plates of food on trays, approach customers at their tables and ask whether they want one or two of them.

Pan-Fried Chive Cakes.

Fried Salt Pepper Shrimp.

I started going to Silver Pond for dim sum lunches more than a decade ago, usually as part of a group of  five or six people. 

But as prices increased, dim sum became a pricey meal, especially for one or two people.

After an absence of several years, I returned on Tuesday, and discovered the restaurant now charges 95 cents a person for tea.

I took my bill and credit card up to the counter and asked the woman at the register how long Silver Pond has been charging for tea, but she didn't answer.

The food is as good as I remembered, but service has suffered. 

I had to ask two waitresses for a second small plate of spicy red chili paste and hot mustard four or five times before I got it.

Shrimp with Bean Curd Roll.

After I inadvertently spilled tea in this small dish, I had to ask repeatedly for another.

On Tuesday, we ordered four small plates: Pan-Fried Chive Cakes ($3.95); Shrimp with Bean Curd Roll ($4.95); Fried Salt Pepper Shrimp ($5.95) and Clams with Black Bean Sauce ($9.45).

The bill for two people was $28.05 before the tip.

My only complaint was the black bean sauce, which had been thickened with too much corn starch.

The dim sum menu lists more than 50 items.

Such other small plates as Turnip Cake and Spring Rolls are $2.95 each, and Chicken Feet and Egg Tart are $3.55 each.

Compare today's prices to the range in 2004: $2.75 to $8.60. 

We saw the owner, Kam Lee, in the dining room on Tuesday. I was told he opened Silver Pond about 22 years ago.

Silver Pond also has tanks filled with live seafood, including fish. 

I remember a wonderful two-course meal made from a grouper that was taken out of the tank and dispatched in the kitchen.

Silver Pond Seafood Restaurant, 230 Main St., Fort Lee; 201-592-8338. Cash and American Express cards only.

Dim sum is served daily from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Tea is 95 cents per person.