I’m new on this board (but not new to eating) - Joonjoon recommend this board to me. If the following questions have been covered, sorry - I’d appreciate some suggestions. I am quite familiar with most Asian restaurants in Monmouth county and some in Middlesex.
Need a good Szechuan restaurant (Szechuan Cottage doesn’t count and didn’t care for Sichuan Spring in Highland Park) - closest I can find w/o going into NYC is Han Dynasty in Cherry Hill and other decent Chinese rest in Cherry Hill, but what about Monmouth/Middlesex
Any menus or comments about Joong Hwa Ru (a chinese restaurant for Koreans ?) -
Where did the Korean Noodle house move to (use to be in the Shop Rite strip mall, Old Post Road and Rt 1 Edison) - I’d eat anything there except the sea cucumber
Anyone know why there are so many delays for Pho99 in Eatontown (I pass it every few days)
My last question is not authentic, I’m looking for what is some times referred to as a NY Egg Roll. The old Ruby Palace in Holmdel had them - they are big fat egg rolls. What I remember as a kid in NYC. Wongs in Manalapan has something similar but too greasy. Tung Hing take out in Tinton Falls has “larger” ones but not like “NY Egg Rolls”
Thanks -
@junkliss, Welcome to H.O.! Re: No. 5. I’m not fond of Chinese food – though Mr. RBI likes it – so we rarely go out for it. However, over the years, we’ve very occasionally been to Empire Szechuan, in the Willow Point Shopping strip, on Route 9 North. While I prefer spring rolls, they do have egg rolls of the type you are seeking. Btw, imo, the food at Wong’s is awful.
Nice to meet you.
That restaurant is really an American Chinese restaurant - not authentic, but I will try again for the egg rolls.
Ruby palace had a menu for Asians but fortunately it was also in English -
In an authentic Chinese restaurant like in Chinatown or even west lake in Matawan the Chinese menu written in Chinese has lower prices compared to the English menu for the same food …
Nevertheless thank you for responding to me - will try the egg rolls - wongs is terrible
This whole area is devoid of any restaurant worth going to if any kind
Gotta go to Brooklyn for good Pastrami -
We did try Ruby Palace once and West Lake twice. I hated both. But as I said, Chinese food is not my thing.
There has only been one Chinese restaurant I’ve ever loved, and that goes back about 35 years. It was The Chinese Kitchen, in Rumson. Run by a Chinese family, the father and mother were the cooks while their adult children took care of the front of the house. Definitely not Chinese-American, the food was unlike anything I’d ever encountered. Two examples: they served chicken corn soup and lamb with scallions which were never seen on menus back then. We went there on our own, with friends, and occasionally with large groups for banquets which were spectacular. Sadly, long gone!
I would not go so far as to say that the whole area is devoid of any restaurant worth going to, but the number is exceedingly small.
As for pastrami, I agree that it sucks big time here. Luckily, we have an apartment in Manhattan, so we can easily get our pastrami fix there.
You are correct about the 35 years ago. I am married 36 years and took my previous girlfriend to that restaurant which should place that in 1977.
Mill Basin deli in Brooklyn has by far the best pastrami compared imho to anything in NYC imho
The best Chinese food ? Near my Florida house - I would eat any dish there accept for the sea cucumber.
Anyway thanks for responding.
First of all, please let me know where you’ve found good Chinese in FL; my folks are down there and remain desperate!
Secondly, have you been to Chengdu 1 Palace in Green Brook? That’s the best Szechuan I know of in this part of the world. I used to live in NNJ and had their original (now closed) restaurant within reach, and still hit (unrelated) Chengdu 23 in Wayne whenever I’m up that way. Note that on the weekends, C1P brings in an entirely different crew for dim sum–so try it one weeknight for dinner!
Nice to hear you, too, remember The Chinese Kitchen.
While I agree that Mill Basin Deli has excellent pastrami, I think the pastrami at Sarge’s is just as good as long as you make sure to order it “very fatty.” That said, whenever I go to Mill Basin, I prefer to order the knoblewurst.
Jonathan, first let me welcome you to HungryOnion! Hope you enjoy it and find it to be what Chow use to be for all of us. Always enjoying new friend and contributions.
I don’t have anything to ad to your question but I do have a question for you;
Seriously? You are saying they charge Americans more for exactly the same food?
Ginger Bistro in Fort Myers. My vacation home is just outside of Naples Florida. Google the menu. They have dim sum lunch time, fresh, but no carts. All items on menu are great. There is also a very good Vietnamese restaurant in Naples near Bonita Springs.
Absolutely, this has been going on for years. Was always this way in NYC Chinatown. In fact, I will NO Longer go to West Lake in Matawan. If you notice, they have specials written in Chinese on temporary white boards. I was a frequent patron, owner new me. One day I asked the waiter to read the specials to me. They had twin lobsters for a very reasonable price. This wasn’t even on the English menu. I ordered it. The owner came to my table and said I wouldn’t like it. I said why ? He said its for Chinese customers. I said I like authentic food, then the owner said that white people order too many of them and he wants to save it for his Chinese clientele. So this is the extreme - the food was not even being offered to non Chinese reading patrons. SO now when I go to a Chinese restaurant that has the “Chinese menu” in English, I ask the waiter if the price is the same on the CHinese menu - sometimes I get the reply, pay cash and you can have it at the lower price … so they are trying to be PC and recover from what is blatantly bias -
I should have added a number 6. Many years ago there was a restaurant called Great Szechuan in a strip mall on Rt 34 in Matawan (where Stop N Shop is now). They had authentic food. I got to know the owners. They had a lunch buffet and on Friday’s they had crabs in a spicy sauce that was to die for. Their egg rolls were also NY Style. They closed years ago. I’ve tried to recreate that sauce, but to no avail. Does anyone remember ?
As for NYC egg roll, I usually make them myself out of minced chinese roast pork and cabbage mostly. Then again I do like the ones made from filet mignon from Peking Pavillion.
IMHO SC is over priced and greasy and small portions. I so much wanted it to be good. I realize one cannot go home again, but I think back of “Szechuan Gardens” on the bowery, across from Confucious Plaza right off the Manhattan bridge. But then Again I am going back 40 years - that type of cooking is what I’m looking for.
I really wanted to be a fan. I find it too greasy, too expensive, and small portions. Tell me what you like, which dishes ? There were two I liked, the three pepper chicken and beef in hot oil.
I go to shanghai bun sometimes, they have specials on the white board that is not on their paper menu. Han Dynasty is in the Philly/Cherry Hill area (there are a few of them), and there is one in the East Village. While the prices in Cherry Hill seem high (to me), some dishes are really good. There are a couple of other good authentic places in Cherry Hill (easy parking) and about 4 Vietnamese restaurants. Canton Palace in Somerville is good - authentic - some spicy dishes.
We’ve already gone back and forth regarding food in NJ vs Naples on Chow so I’ll skip past that but I will say Sichuan food is supposed to be greasy. It might be the oiliest of all Chinese foods - practically everything they make is has a slick of oil covering everything. As a reference I’ve eaten at some very highly regarded Sichuan places in San Gabriel Valley CA, and I gotta say Sichuan Cottage isn’t off the best places by much. If anything their food actually isn’t greasy enough.
Not sure how you can say Cottage is overpriced…I’ve never paid more than ~20$ for a belly busting meal there. My personal favorite dish there is the fish w chopped chili n black bean sauce. Fan fucking tastic.
But if you want to try some other options, there are still more Sichuan options in the Edison area. I’ve been to Thumbs Up and Dragon Palace, both are fine but not significantly better or worse than Spring or Cottage. I think there are more in the area, you might want to peruse Yelp for more options. Technically Spice 24 and Little Sheep are also Sichuan but they are specialty places. Definitely worth checking out though.
Joon Hwa Ru is a very standard Korean Chinese place. I don’t have anything particularly good or bad to say about it other than that it’s a good thing it exists. If you miss Edison Noodle House, your only local options are this place and the one in the H Mart food court. Just curious, what dishes did you like at Edison Noodle House?
I wish I knew what this NY Egg Roll is… sounds tasty. Mmm.
@CurlzNJ Not sure if I understood you correctly… but the Cheng Du in Green Brook, is it run by people who did Cheng Du in Wayne or Cedar Grove? The Cedar Grove Cheng Du was the best Sichuan I’ve had in NJ, that place was madness.
As for the price shenanigans… I’ve never experienced it personally but I wouldn’t be surprised if that sort of thing happened. Shame.
Thanks - wasn’t impressed by Little Sheep. My first experience with Szechuan was “Szechuan Gardens”, Bowery, across from Confusious Plaza - not oily as I remember, but that was 1973 …
I liked the seafood pancake at that noodle house, squid dishes, etc. at the Korean Noodle house. I liked the pon chon (sp?) and the prices/portion. I’ve eaten in HMART food court(s), meaning many HMARTs. I’ve also eaten in all Minados (Mass included) before they were sold off - I liked it when it was owned by Koreans. So I am not stubborn, will try SC again - and regarding the different prices for menus in chinese vs english - I first experienced that at Hop Kee in chinatown early 70’s. There is clearly violations in fairness when a restaurant only shows specials for instance written in Chinese on a white board with no opportunity for those that don’t read Chinese.
@joonjoon Sorry if I confused you…Chengdu 1 Palace is owned by the folks from Cedar Grove! They closed the CG location 1.5 years ago to focus on this larger place.
ANY TIME you want to go, say so! Although my preference is for dinner there, not dim sum. If I’m going to trek to Green Brook, I need multiple orders of hot and spicy jumbo prawns (we usually have one order w dinner and one more for dessert. REALLY).
Now…would you please explain what the hell Korean Chinese places are?!?
but I will say Sichuan food is supposed to be greasy. It might be the oiliest of all Chinese foods - practically everything they make is has a slick of oil covering everything. As a reference I’ve eaten at some very highly regarded Sichuan places in San Gabriel Valley CA, and I gotta say Sichuan Cottage isn’t off the best places by much. If anything their food actually isn’t greasy enough.
