From Dos Cubanos to no Cubanos in Paramus

Dos Cubanos, a moderately priced Cuban restaurant, opened in May 2012 in the space on Route 4 in Paramus once occupied by Fuddruckers, which served hamburgers, beer and wine.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

I fell in love with Cuban food on seven trips to the biggest island in the Caribbean, but never ate at Dos Cubanos in Paramus.

When I want my fix of whole red snapper with white rice and black beans, I drive a short distance to Casual Habana Cafe, a BYO at 125 Main St. in Hackensack.

For a Cuban sandwich made with my own smoked wild salmon instead of ham and roast pork, I go to La Pola at 54th Street and Palisade Avenue in West New York, a cafe also known as "The King of the Cuban Sandwich."

Today, I noticed Dos Cubanos is closed and its name was removed from the sign in front of 282 Route 4 east in Paramus.

The owners called it the biggest Cuban restaurant in Bergen County.

A permit for a temporary sign offering restaurant space is taped to the glass next to the front door.

Before Fuddruckers, the hamburger restaurant, Le Peep, which served breakfast and lunch, occupied the half of the building that housed Dos Cubanos, which opened in 2012 after extensive renovations.

Popeyes continues to operate next to the shuttered Cuban restaurant.

Cuban restaurant replaces Fuddruckers

Dos Cubanos Restaurant has opened in Paramus.

Dos Cubanos, a moderately priced Cuban restaurant, opened about two weeks ago on Route 4 east in Paramus -- in the space where Fuddruckers operated for many years.

The Web site says Dos Cubanos is the largest Cuban restaurant in Bergen County.

The most expensive entree on the menu is paella, a dish from Spain ($16.99).

A whole fried red snapper ($15.99) comes with white rice, black beans and sweet plantains.

As listed on the takeout menu, a traditional Cuban sandwich -- which is made in a heated press or plancha -- is missing sliced pickles and mustard ($8.99).

The restaurant has a liquor license.

The restaurant's sign is free standing.

Dos Cubanos, 282 Route 4 east, Paramus; 201-343-4108.

Web site: Two Cubans

New ramen spot

A new Japanese restaurant, Ramen Setagaya, opened about three weeks ago on Main Street, near Center Avenue, in Fort Lee.

The restaurant -- a BYO -- is open 7 days (201-585-0739). It is a branch of a Manhattan restaurant of the same name.

Ramen Setagaya is around the corner from Batten Ramen, a no-frills, cash-only BYO on Center Avenue that has been serving Japanese noodle soup and other dishes for many years.

Korean cafe closes

Manna, a small Korean restaurant and cafe on Teaneck Road, near Forest Avenue, in Teaneck, appears to have gone out of business.

Our first and last visit to Smashburger at the mall in Hackensack

Image by Average Jane via Flickr

The interior of a Smashburger.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

I won't let my wife take our teenage son to Burger King or McDonald's, and I pride myself on never having eaten one of their low-quality hamburgers.

So, on Friday night, I offered to take them to a new Smashburger outlet in Hackensack's former Riverside Square mall.

Is the quality of the beef at Smashburger any better than at the low-rent places? It's hard to tell, because the word "beef" doesn't appear anywhere on the wall menu, just the lower-case smashburger repeated numerous times. 

But on the soft-drink cups, you'll read:

"Smash means we literally smash 100% Angus beef at a high temperature to sear in all the juicy burger goodness, and our seasoning blend and fresh toppings take our burgers over the top."

Is Smashburger saying it uses Certified Angus Beef, a brand from cattle that are raised conventionally on grain, antibiotics and growth hormones? That's the same beef used by Chef Bobby Flay at his so-called Burger Palace in Paramus.

Both my wife and son ordered a one-third pound "Classic Smashburger," with American cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickle, onion and "smash sauce," on an egg bun, and they loved it ($4.99). 

My 13-year-old son said it was the best burger he's ever had. Fries and drinks were extra.

A friend's child had a Kids Smash Dog, a Best's beef hot dog ($3.99). 

If you don't eat meat

I don't eat meat, so I could have ordered a Caesar Salad, the only one on the menu without chicken or bacon. But I decided to try the Veggie Frites ($2.99) and Sweet Potato Fries ($1.99), which supposedly are seasoned with rosemary, garlic and olive oil.

I got some fried asparagus and carrot sticks, but none of the green beans listed on the menu, and the portion seemed small for the price. 

The paper they were served on was slicked with frying oil. The sweet potato fries were delicious, but the rosemary and garlic eluded me.

(I got two comments on this post, saying the potatoes and veggies are fried with beef tallow. Here is one: "All their fried veggies and fries are fried in beef tallow. They really should say on menu. So, in fact, you'll be eating beef like it or not.")

You have to wait in a corral to give your order to a cashier -- called a host -- and after you pay, you place a numbered sign on your table, so a waiter can bring you your food. It isn't a long wait.

You don't get plastic utensils unless you ask for them. When I went to get my no-charge seltzer from the drink machine, I could see into the kitchen, but no one was smashing anything against the grill.

When you are waiting in line, there is a lot on the menu to digest. I don't know if my wife and son saw that they could add many items to their burgers, including a fried egg or chili or potato, pepper and onion.

I paid with a credit card, and was surprised to see a tip line on my receipt. There was also a tip receptacle with dollar bills on the counter near the register where Anthony took my order. The entire meal cost about $25. I didn't leave a tip. 

And there is no place for your coat or hat, so I sat in a booth with mine on while I ate.

Fuddruckers

I once loved going to Fuddruckers in Paramus for a naturally raised ostrich burger or a fish sandwich, both offered in place of conventional beef burgers. 

I loved the sliced jalapenos I could pile on my sandwich, and the wine and beer I could order. They even once offered baked potatoes in place of fries. To me, that is a great cook-to-order hamburger place.

Next time my wife and son want a hamburger, we'll try Five Guys in Hackensack, unless they insist on going back to Smashburger.

Smashburger, Store No. 1101, 390 Hackensack Ave., Hackensack, in The Shops at Riverside; 201-343-1488.

Where to find a really great burger

Image via Wikipedia

I have never eaten a beef  hamburger at Fuddruckers, but I am a loyal fan of its naturally raised ostrich burger and its great salad bar. Fuddruckers opened its Paramus restaurant about 20 years ago, the pioneer among so-called better burger chains in North Jersey.

My wife and I had a terrific lunch there yesterday, but noted a few changes from our last visit.

 The red-meat ostrich burger, which has much less fat than a beef burger,  is one-third of a pound and comes from New Jersey-based Fossil Farms, which sells naturally raised meat from many animals -- alligators to yaks (Web site link is below).

Fuddruckers offers other alternatives to its hamburgers -- two kinds of farmed fish, chicken and buffalo, and you can sip wine or beer with your meal. One of its best features is the salad bar, which allows you to add freshly made salsa with cilantro and sliced jalapeno peppers to your burger, as I did along with ketchup and mustard. But you can no longer get a baked potato in place of the excellent skin-on fries, and you seem to be penalized if you order cole slaw with your burger, but not fries.

My wife ordered a half-pound beef burger for $5.49 and added cole slaw and fries for $2 more. I added only cole slaw to my ossi burger ($6.99) and it cost me $1.39 more. Fuddruckers says it beef hamburgers are made from fresh, prime beef, the highest USDA grade, which has the most fat of the three grades, and that the cattle were vegetarian-fed. This means they weren't fed animal by-products -- kitchen scraps and bits of dead animals.

The ostrich burger has so little fat, Fossil Farms recommends you order it medium rare, which I did yesterday, but I have also ordered it medium and it has always been moist and delicious. A quarter-bottle of merlot ($4.50) went well with the orstrich.

You can keep your Smashburgers, your Five Guys burgers, your Bobby Flay burgers -- all made from cattle raised conventionally. These places seem to spend more money on marketing than on ingredients, and gushing articles about them in The Record make them suspect. If I want a beef burger, I go to Tasteatery in Fort Lee for one of its wonderful, naturally raised, grass-fed patties, such as the West Coast burger with greens and hummus.


Fuddruckers, 282 Route 4 east, Paramus, 201-343-4533,
open seven days. Second restaurant on Route 23, Wayne.


http://www.fuddruckers.com/

Other Web sites:


Tasteatery


From alligator to yak

Saturday night food notes

Saturday night is the one night we eat out, so we headed to Bergenfield to try one of the Filipino restaurants. First we drove to Wuzz Up! on Bedford Street, formerly Migdalia's Cuban Cafe, but it was setting up for a private party. We walked up Bedford to Cusinera, on South Washington Avenue, where Migdalia Sanchez Morales started out.

We placed our order after the woman behind the counter pointed to what was available and described the dishes. We asked for three egg rolls, three small, whole roasted fish; beef, tripe and green beans in a peanut sauce; pork chunks in shrimp paste, and white rice. We finished with three more egg rolls, but these were stuffed with sweet plantain. The white-fleshed fish were mackerel-like and delicious. And we loved the pork in the salty shrimp paste and the mounds of beautiful rice. The tripe and green beans were good, but the beef was too fatty. The plantain egg roll was a sweet ending to the meal. We spent about $25 for three, including two sodas and a water.

Then we headed to the new Target in Paramus, passing what looked like 75 or so people waiting on line inside and outside Bobby Flay's new hamburger restaurant. Maybe they were giving away the food. I haven't eaten there and don't want to. (See earlier post, "Hear the sizzle, smell the hype.") Give me Fuddruckers any day, if it is still serving a naturally raised ostrich burger or fish sandwich as an alternative to its beef hamburgers.

We had Target coupons that we wanted to use before they expired. I had a free green tea at Starbucks, my 11-year-old son had a free Icee and we got $5 off a purchase of $25 in groceries, which included Italian blood orange soda and fruit bars. While I was shopping, I heard a woman say into a cell phone, "Do you want Hot Pockets for dinner?"