Basse Cuisine Updates in Matawan (NJ) Area

The Loving Hut (same strip mall as Shanghai Bun) is now the Vegan Tree. Probably the same menu, but the name is clearly more descriptive.

McDonald’s on Route 34 is being “renovated”, by which is meant they have leveled it to the ground and are rebuilding it entirely. According to centraljersey.com, it will “have a fresh look and feature technology enhancements such as digital menu boards and kiosks, as well as table service for dine-in guests.”

The old KFC is being worked on, but no clue as to what it will become.

Kicky’s has moved south of Lloyd Road, into the strip mall behind the strip mall that is visible on the west side of the road. The old location is still vacant.

As noted elsewhere, Chicken Holiday’s Filipino offerings are few and far between (as in, need to be ordered in advance). Their chicken isn’t bad, and their fries infinitely better than the ones we got at JSBBQ in East Brunswick.

In downtown Matawan, work is happening again on the hole in the ground across from Cafe Fabian. (This is the spot that used to have a C-Town supermarket with a leaning towards Hispanic foods. The Santamaria bodega is still there at least.) What is happening seems to be mostly really loud jackhammering; no idea what will be there; the latest I heard was a C-Town (?) on the ground floor and residential above).

Still nothing happening with the old Aby’s location.

Not in Matawan, but along Route 516 in Old Bridge, the Subway that had opened in the new retail/apartment building across from the animal hospital has closed. This will probably not encourage new eateries to open in that location.

@eleeper I find the McDonald’s “renovation” hilarious. There is NOTHING there!

Also, when I got gas yesterday, I asked the attendant about the old KYC. An exciting STARBUCKS is coming to that spot…

Have you had any luck at Kicky’s? I went once years ago and then recently went back. I remember why I avoided all those years.

The Turkish place in the West Lake plaza has new owners and I’ve been happy the couple of times I’ve been there since the switch.

When my office was local to the area I use to enjoy Kickey’s for lunch, although that was 4+ years ago. I wonder if the Starbucks on Main St. is relocating? That’s odd to have 2 Starbucks so close in a town like Matawan, hell even Red Bank can only support 1 Starbucks.

Speaking of Starbucks Matawan the pizza place next to the current one was always good, Trattoria?

@eleeper do you know if the Vegan Tree is the same owners as the Loving Hut? I’ve got to tell you for a Vegan place I really enjoyed their food/meals. One of my employees is Vegan and I would get lunch there from time to time and always enjoyed it.

The last time we went there Mark ordered a spicy dish and emphasized that he wanted it spicy. They charged him fifty cents extra for “spicy”! (They also always charged for tea, which most Chinese restaurants do not.)

So we have no plans to return…

It was Egyptian before (at least there were Egyptian items on the menu); is it definitely Turkish now?

We liked the old owners, but definitely plan on trying it again under the new.

See The Onion’s article, “Starbucks Opens in Rest Room of Existing Starbucks”.

Dunkin’ Donuts seems to be another coffee shop that opens branches close together, with a branch on Route 516 in Browntown , another on Route 516 across from the Old Bridge municipal center, another next to Shanghai Bun, and another in Shoprite–a six-mile stretch with four DDs!

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Yes–somewhere online I saw they had re-named themselves.

So… I am only saying Turkish because I could swear that the name of this place was Sahara 35 Arabic and Turkish Food or something like that. I liked the old owners too. They were really nice but I always found it odd that every time we ate there, we were the only people in the whole place!

That is absurd for both charges.

Is espositios still going strong?

Not matawan but on 516 in old bridge, I’m loving wonder sub (saw you mentioned subway) and the idea of driving 5 more minutes sounded a lot better!

Esposito’s is still there, but our local go-to Italian place is now La Madona [sic]. Mark likes the stromboli, and I like a couple of the salads.

For subs we still like D.A. Subs.

What does “Basse Cuisine” mean? I tried googling but couldn’t find anything.

So anyway, about the Filipino food, I’m not sure which exactly it was but here’s what I found on Yelp:

Another few places to add to the list of growing want to try places in the Edison area. Some of these places seem really Chowhoundy which gets my juices going!

It’s the opposite of “haute cuisine”. (One hears the two opposites more in “haute couture” and “basse couture”, than in the context of cuisine.)

The sesame crust pizza at Espositio’s is amazing. They have it really figured out. It is our go to for pizza when I don’t feel like making a pie. We haven’t been to Denino’s in a while. I sound like an old lady, but it was always a ton of teenagers working that were regularly burning or generally not paying attention.