A great Chinese-style seafood meal with no fish-by-the-pound penalty

A whole Striped Bass, steamed with ginger and scallion, was the centerpiece of a wonderful seafood meal last weekend at Lotus Cafe, the Chinese BYO in Hackensack.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Unlike newer and pricier Chinese competitors, Lotus Cafe doesn't have "seafood" in its name.

But the Hackensack BYO's menu offers plenty of heart-healthy fish and other seafood.

And lovers of fresh whole fish won't be charged by the pound, as they will at Aquarius Seafood Restaurant in Fort Lee and Lan Garden in Ridgefield.

As usual at Lotus Cafe, me and my wife ordered too much food at a late afternoon dinner last weekend, including seafood soup, seafood dumplings and a whole striped bass, one of the tastiest fish around.

Our fish, steamed with ginger and scallion, was arranged artistically on an oval platter, and looked like it weighed 1.5 pounds ($28.95).

Whole flounder also was available, and the kitchen will fry your choice, but we prefer steamed fish with its light sauce.

Brown rice also is available at no extra charge. We took home leftover soup, dumplings and fish.

Seafood Soup for 2 is packed with squid, shrimp, scallop and fish cake, plus a few vegetables, and the broth isn't overly salted ($7.95)

You can order eight shrimp-filled Seafood Dumplings boiled or fried ($7.95).

We also ordered Sauteed Chinese Star Squash, a delicious side dish ($10.95).

At exactly 5 p.m. the servers at Lotus Cafe bring out the tablecloths.

Details

Lotus Cafe, 450 Hackensack Ave., in the Home Depot Shopping Center, Hackensack; 1-201-488-7070. BYO, large parking lot. Free delivery within 3 miles ($12 minimum).

Reservations recommended on weekends.

Ask for a separate menu listing multi-course, price-fixed dinners for 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 people (6 to 12 courses for $79 to $358, plus tax and tip).

Here comes the rain

Image via Wikipedia

Can the historic Church on The Green in
Hackensack survive Tropical Storm Irene?

It's been raining on and off in Hackensack -- mostly off -- since about 11:30 this morning and now, around 5:15 in the afternoon, rain is falling again as all of us in North Jersey await the arrival of Hurricane Irene.


I was watching New York's Channel 2 a little awhile ago, and heard a bit of good news. Irene will be downgraded from a Category 1 hurricane to a tropical storm when it hits the metro area.


I left the house twice today -- once to pick up milk and eggs at Target, which is less than a mile away, and again around 4:30 this afternoon for a comforting bowl of seafood soup at Lotus Cafe, my favorite Chinese restaurant, where the kitchen closed early at 5.


Target was busy and not everyone was there for food. I found plenty of 2% lactose-free milk ($2.89 for a half-gallon) and a dozen cage-free brown eggs ($2.60).


At Lotus Cafe, a BYO in the Home Depot Shopping Center, I asked the waiter to hold the noodles and add water spinach to the soup, which had unusually tender shrimp, squid and scallop, in addition to fish cakes. I drank two glass of my own red wine from Argentina.


Here's to you, Irene. Be a lady tonight and tomorrow.