Yo! This sushi comes to your table, but may cost you an arm and a leg

A new food option at Westfield Garden State Plaza in Paramus is Yo! Sushi, the chain's first restaurant in the United States. A second opened a day later in Sarasota, Fla. Yo! Sushi is based in the United Kingdom, not Japan.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

At a new restaurant in New Jersey's biggest mall, a conveyor belt brings plates and bowls of Japanese-inspired food to your table.

Small portions are $3 and larger ones are $7, meaning you can easily spend $15 to $20 on a lunch that will satisfy only small appetites.

There were many empty tables when I stopped by this afternoon at the Yo! Sushi in Westfield Garden State Plaza in Paramus.

I was tempted by takeout trays of vegetable and fish sushi rolls in a refrigerated case, but learned they were placed on the wrong shelf and cost nearly twice as much as I thought.

This afternoon, takeout trays of sushi rolls were misplaced in this refrigerated case. That misled anyone who stopped to buy one about the price. Instead of being under $5, each tray cost more than $9, like the trays on the middle shelf.

The new restaurant is near the carousel and Macy's.

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.

If you're a dieter, this snack bar from Costco can help you skip lunch

The old and new boxes for Nature's Bakery Fig Bar from Costco Wholesale in Hackensack. There are six more twin packs in the larger box, but those who love figs don't welcome another change.

Editor's note: A favorite snack from Costco Wholesale now comes in a bigger box at a lower price per bar. Today, I also discuss other ingredients from Costco and other sources we can't live without.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Dieters like me who try to skip lunch to maintain their weight loss rely on snack bars and coffee to get them to dinner.

I usually eat a big, homemade breakfast, then snack on reduced-fat cheese or a twin pack of Nature's Bakery Fig Bar -- two 1-ounce bars that wrap fig paste and other flavors in stone-ground whole wheat.

Think of them as Fig Newtons for adults who want to avoid high-fructose corn syrup and other genetically modified ingredients. 

Nature's Bakery Fig Bars are non-GMO, kosher and dairy free.

I love figs -- fresh, dried or in an anise-flavored marmalade from Lebanon (sold at Fattal's in Paterson) -- so I took to these bars immediately.

They are the best snack bar Costco Wholesale carries and I have to hide them from my son, a teenager.

The two bars in each pack have a total of 220 calories, but they have no saturated fat or cholesterol. Each bar has 8 grams of dietary fiber.

Growing box

I first encountered them at the Hackensack Costco in November 2013, when a 3-pound box with 24 twin packs was $8.59 -- about 36 cents each.

I'm not sure I noticed when the box got bigger and held 30 twin packs.

This week, my wife brought home an even bigger box of the same fig bar with 36 twin packs for $10.79 or only 30 cents each.

But another, unwelcome change is that the unflavored fig bar is gone. 

Apple Cinnamon-flavored fig paste replaced it. Other flavors are Blueberry and Raspberry.

Costco's Kirkland Signature Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese from Italy (shredded) melted during the reheating of this vegetarian lentil soup from the cafe at Englewood Hospital and Medical Center. I added Kirkland Signature Basil Pesto, a refrigerated product, before serving the soup. Don't forget a glass of red wine.

I made a 10-inch omelet with Kirkland Signature Egg Whites, reduced-fat Swiss cheese, fresh spinach and Mateo's Gourmet Salsa from Costco, and ate it for breakfast with leftover organic whole-wheat spaghetti my wife made with three cans of Moroccan sardines in tomato sauce, sweet peppers, fresh tomato, onion and extra-virgin olive oil, but no pasta sauce.

Other great products

Two Costco products I miss when the wholesale store sells out are Kirkland Signature Basil Pesto, a refrigerated product that uses basil from Italy ($7.99); and shredded Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese.

We bought two 1-pound jars of the aged cheese from Italy when they were on sale for $8.49. 

Normally, a jar costs $11.49 or about a buck more per pound than the same cheese in wedges Costco also sells.

We use the shredded cheese in soups, as well as in egg and pasta dishes, and slices from a wedge are great with fresh or dried fruit and nuts.

Another great item is Wholly Guacaole, now organic. Three 16-ounce "peel-and-serve trays" were $12.99 at Costco this week.

The company says it uses 15 hand-scooped Hass avocados to produce the 3-pound package.

To put that in perspective, you can pay $14 for guacamole made at your table with a single avocado at Rosa Mexicano Restaurant, a couple of miles from the Hackensack Costco.

Dandelion Tea

One of the teas we buy from Amazon.com is Organic Roasted Dandelion Root, a caffeine-free herbal tea made from "sustainably harvested [roots] from the wild meadows of Poland."

Six 16-count boxes are $17.61 under Amazon's Subscribe & Save program, which sends us an order every five months.

Other teas we get under the same program are Stash Moroccan Green Tea (120 bags for $15.57) and Newman's Own Organics Royal Tea, a black tea that never turns bitter, no matter how long you steep the bag (500 bags for $17.95).

Whole-wheat pasta

Organic whole-wheat pastas you can cook al dente without leaving a card-boardy feel in your mouth are commonplace, allowing me to completely give up conventional pasta.

Whole-wheat pastas, organic and non-organic, have more fiber and fewer carbohydrates than their conventional cousins.

ShopRite, Trader Joe's and Whole Foods Market all stock organic whole-wheat pasta in a variety of shapes.

ShopRite has the best prices for an import, $1.25 a pound for Luigi Vitelli-brand Spaghetti, Linguine, Capellini, Fusilli and Penne.

Vitelli Foods is based in Englewood.

I prepare whole-wheat pasta at home every week, because I'd be lucky to find an Italian-American restaurant in North Jersey that serves anything but whole-wheat penne.

Mouth-filling Garofalo Whole Wheat Pappardelle from Jerry's Gourmet & More in Englewood dressed with Kirkland Signature Basil Pesto, pignoli nuts and shredded Kirkland Signature Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese. I also prepared a side dish of organic baby spinach with ingredients from Costco. The broad, flat noodles take a few minutes longer to reach al dente than the 8 minutes listed on the bag.

Rosa Mexicano in Hackensack: Another victory over mediocre food

Rosa Mexicano in Hackensack has the best corn tortillas outside of Mexico. What other Mexican restaurant in North Jersey hand forms and grills its own tortillas? The thin, soft tortillas are made in the dining room and are still warm when they are brought to your table.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Nearly seven years after a branch of New York-based Rosa Mexicano opened in Hackensack, the restaurant continues to impress by making nearly everything from scratch.

And don't forget that gorgeous dining room, one of the nicest in North Jersey, filled with Mexican textiles, pottery, wall sconces and even a waterfall in the wall.

I became a big fan of free cooking demonstrations, along with a complimentary light breakfast, the restaurant offered after the August 2008 opening.

Although they have ended, the restaurant still delivers the bold flavors and complex sauces of authentic Mexican food, with its native, Spanish and French influences.

Special fiesta menu

To celebrate Cinco de Mayo on Tuesday, we made a reservation for dinner at 5 and were shown past revelers in the bar to a booth overlooking the dining room.

The special 3-course Fiesta Menu includes a shared appetizer, an entree priced from $16 to $25, and a shared dessert for a total of $30 a person.

The fixed-price meal must be ordered by everyone at the table, although I saw the parents of two small children in the next booth negotiating some sort of compromise with their server.

Spicier guac?

We started with Guacamole en Molcajete, which is made on a cart that is rolled up to your table, and asked for it spicy, but the woman mashing the single avocado with jalapeno, tomato and onion held something back.

I like eating this delicious guacamole, normally $14, mixed with the made-from-scratch salsa nortena you get with chips or wrapped in one of the restaurant's handmade corn tortillas.

Salmon Poblano was available as part of a Cinco de Mayo Fiesta Menu, which offers a three-course meal for $30 a person.

Alambra de Camarones, made with wild shrimp, was among 10 entrees on the fiesta menu.

Another entree on the fixed-price menu, Tampiquena de Carne Asada, a grilled skirt steak, came with a Chihuahua cheese enchilada.

 Salmon, shrimp, steak

Of our three entrees (normally $23, $24 and $25), I liked my wife's Salmon Poblano best, because it was moist and packed with flavor, even though she asked for it cooked through.

The salmon is described as a "natural" fillet served over Tuscan kale, chorizo and grilled corn in a poblano cream sauce.

(Poblano means in the style of Peubla, where the Mexican Army defeated the French on May 5, 1862, the unexpected victory that is celebrated to this day on May 5 or cinco de Mayo.)

Our son raved about the tenderness of his Tampiquena de Carne Asada, a grilled skirt steak marinated in guajillo chili and tequila, and topped with a roasted tomato sauce.

The wild shrimp in my Alambra de Camarones were terrific.

Grilled on a skewer, they were served over cilantro-mint brown rice and a roasted tomato-jalapeno caper sauce.

The only off note was the brown rice, whose kernels were hard.

A bottle of Negro Modelo, a dark Mexican beer, was $6, and a bottle of Boing Mango juice was $4.

Although Tuesday was the last day for the special fiesta menu, Rosa Mexicano's regular dinner menu offers a fixed-price meal for $25 that includes a choice of entrees up to $20.

If you really like your guacamole spicy, make sure the message gets through to the server who prepares it at your table.

Our entrees came with rice and refried black beans for the table, above and below.

A treat is to spread the refried beans on one of the warm tortillas. Add a little salsa for a humble taco.

We left the shared dessert, Churros en Bolsa, to our son. The fried dough was coated in sugar and served with chocolate and fruit dipping sauces. This dessert is normally $8.50.

Details

Rosa Mexicano Restaurant, 380 Hackensack Ave., (at Route 4) in The Shops at Riverside; 201-489-9100. 

Open 7 days for lunch and dinner. Happy Hour promotions suspended during fiestas. We eat early, because a parking space in the surface lot is often hard to find.

Valet parking available Thursdays through Saturdays.

Web site: A victory over mediocre Mexican food

Costco Wholesale in Hackensack is a victim of its own success

Large seedless watermelons were $6.99 each on Friday at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack.

Editor's note: A replacement for the crowded Costco Wholesale in Hackensack can't come soon enough. Today, I also discuss inexpensive bottles at Total Wine in River Edge, and good deals on canned goods from Jamaica at ShopRite in Rochelle Park.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Costco Wholesale in Hackensack opened nearly 21 years ago and has become so popular members know to stay away on the weekends.

I drove over on Friday, hoping to order prints of photos in my iPhone and get a new pair of glasses with HD progressive lenses.

The first sign of a crowd was a long line of cars turning into the entrance from South River Street, prompting me to make an illegal U-turn and enter at the back of the lot, far from the front doors.

The poor design of the lot allows lazy customers to wait for a space near the doors, but that often backs up traffic and blocks South River, especially on Saturdays and Sundays.

The photo counter wasn't busy at all, and I was able to hook up my phone with a store-provided cable and order more than 60 photos for our scrapbooks.

Evil eye

But when I walked over to the eye-wear counter, two other members eyed me suspiciously, silently letting me know they were waiting for a salesperson to help them. 

I didn't feel like waiting. I went looking for a few free food samples, but most contained chicken or beef, which I no longer eat.

Then, I strolled over to a refrigerated room, picked up a pound of organic baby spinach ($4.79) and went to the check-out counter.

My wife has been making our weekly food-shopping trip to the warehouse store in the last couple of months. 

I may keep it that way until a bigger Costco opens or remember to go to the Hackensack store only on Mondays to Thursdays.

No Costco wine in Teterboro

A new, bigger Costco is expected to open in Teterboro in the fall -- adding six miles to my round trip, compared to the Hackensack location.

But from what Hackensack employees say, the new store may not be such a big improvement.

Costco didn't buy a state liquor license for the Teterboro store, meaning members won't be able to take advantage of Kirkland Signature's good values in wines, such as a delicious California Cabernet Sauvignon and a "Superiore" Prosecco from Italy.

So, the closest Costco with Kirkland Signature wines remains the new store at the Willowbrook Shopping Center in Wayne, a 21-mile round trip.

The new Teterboro Costco will have a gas station for my wife's miserly hybrid, but I've heard the waits can be so long many members don't bother. 

And I won't have any use for it when I drive there in my all-electric car.

The tire store in Teterboro is expected to be larger, but I don't know whether members can have their wheels aligned after they buy new rubber.

In Hackensack, buying new tires at Costco means low prices, but you have to go to another shop for an alignment.

Costco offers extra-cost installation services, but you will have to take your new large-screen TV home by yourself.

Last week, my wife brought home a 20-pound bag of Deer-brand basmati rice from India that comes in a sealed bag tucked inside a zippered burlap one ($19.79). Consumer Reports says basmati varieties contain less arsenic than other types of rice, even those grown in California.

Kirkland Signature is Costco's house brand for premium products, but here the label is applied to artificially colored farmed salmon from Chile, with no information on whether the fish are raised on harmful antibiotics and other additives. Costco also sells canned wild pink salmon, a better choice.

We loved a new item, Kirkland Signature Greek Yogurt Fruit on the Bottom, but the second time we purchased it, the yogurt was much too thick and unpleasant to eat. We used the remaining cups to make smoothies with frozen strawberries, fresh bananas and juice.

Reds under $6.50 at Total Wine

An advertising flier for Total Wine & More in River Edge listed a 750-milliliter bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon from California for $2.67.

So, I stopped there on Saturday and embarked on a search for that bottle and other inexpensive reds.

Red wines under $6.50 are scattered throughout the large store, making you work for the bargains. 

I picked up two bottles of Pacific Peak Cabernet ($2.67 each), a bottle of Double Dog Dare Cabernet ($4.49), Canyon Oaks Cabernet ($4.99), Mendoza Station Malbec from Argentina ($5.99) and Oak Grove Merlot Reserve ($6.49).

If you buy six bottle of wine with prices ending in "9," the store gives you a 10% discount on all of them.

Total Wine & More, 135 Kinderkamack Road, River Edge; 201-968-1777.

Ackee and callaloo

A Jamaican fruit called ackee and a green called callaloo are essential when preparing Jamaican food at home.

Ackee goes into the national dish, Ackee and Salt Fish, which uses the bland fruit as a foil for hot peppers and salted cod.

Callaloo is a spinach-like green that can be served as a side dish with or without diced sweet peppers.

On Friday, at ShopRite in Rochelle Park, my wife picked up a two dozen 19-ounce cans of Grace-brand Ackees in Salt Water for $7.49 each.

At Hackensack Market on Passaic Street, a 19-ounce can of ackee was $10.99.

A 19-ounce can of Grace-brand Callaloo, chopped, was $2.29 a can. She purchased 19 of them.

Wondee's -- Bergen County's best Thai restaurant -- gets a new floor

Wondee's Fine Thai Food and Noodles on Main Street in Hackensack.

Editor's note: What I thought was a technical problem with my smart-phone camera, which was producing gauzy photos, turned out to be a dirty lens. But I am still have periodic trouble uploading images to my computer via Google+.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

I chuckle when I see an article or review of a new Thai restaurant in Bergen County, and just turn the page.

Chef Wandee Suwangbutra remains at the top of her game in the kitchen of Wondee's, which she and husband Tom opened in 1997 on Main Street in Hackensack.

But in recent years, the rented space fell into disrepair, especially the dark-blue dining room carpet.

Tonight, when I walked in the back door off of the parking lot, I immediately saw that a new dark-wood floor had finally replaced the dirty, worn and torn carpet, which was patched with tape in places.

Our server said the new floor was installed about two weeks ago.

Wondee's has a full menu of fresh whole fish, seafood, pork, chicken, beef, noodles and soups, and spiciness can be varied.

But don't make the mistake of asking Wandee to prepare your food "Extremely Spicy."

The new wood floor at Wondee's Fine Thai Food and Noodles in Hackensack.

An appetizer of Tofu Tod, deep-fried tofu served with a sweet chili sauce and ground peanuts ($7).

A new item, Shrimp Spring Rolls, were beautifully fried ($5.50). I also had a small bowl of Thome Yum Koong, a spicy shrimp-and-mushroom soup flavored with lemon juice, chili paste, kaffir lime leaves, galanga and lemon grass ($4).

A vegetarian selection is Yum Rod Pedt, a salad of crispy tofu served with shredded carrot, onion, orange and apple in lime juice and a mildly spicy chili paste ($10).

Details

Wondee's Fine Thai Food and Noodles, 296 Main Street, Hackensack; 201-883-1700. Open for lunch and dinner, closed Mondays.

BYO, free parking in rear off of Camden Street. Take-out, but no delivery. No American Express cards.