Celebrating Little Bruh's BDay

This year was the first time in a few years that my brother was in NJ to celebrate his birthday. As is his tradition since he was in single digits and his voice was an octave higher, he requested a homemade cheesecake from our Mom. Her cream cheese rendition of this delicacy is always creamy and delicious. And, as you can see, the masterpiece is topped off with his name and age. It's funny how little things can take you back in time. Happy birthday, bruh!

Skylark Diner Steps Their Game Up

I've always liked the idea of the Skylark Diner. Classic diner food in a slightly upscale setting with some gourmet options and accents. However, to me, the food never lived up to the promise. I tried a variety of breakfast and dinner options and usually settled on the deli omelette with corned beef, pastrami and provolone cheese. It's really good, but not necessarily the reason to make it a favorite. Well with 90 minutes to kill before a Get Him to the Greek, I decided to hit it up. It turned out to be a good choice.

A few months ago, James Beard winning chef Craig Shelton took over in the kitchen. I hadn't been back since the change and so I eagerly scanned the revamped menu, trying to decide what to get. After much contemplation, I went with the beer braised onion and bacon burger with white cheddar cheese.







The burger itself was good to begin with. Good meat well cooked (I ordered mine medium well) and juicy. But the beer braised onions with bacon took the flavor to another pleasant level. The bacon was cooked into the onions, so there was this layer of deliciousness on top of the juicy burger. I was expecting strips of bacon, so it was a bit of a surprise, but it was still good. Every bite made me want to take another. And another. And when I went to the fries for a crunchy interlude, I got a nice vinegar bite along with the salty, crunchy potatoes. A pleasant surprise even though they are titled malt vinegar fries. This was what they had in mind when they created Skylark. Good food elevated by creativity and quality execution.


Also encouraging was the fact that Craig Shelton himself was walking around the dining room, greeting guests and checking to see whether people were enjoying their food. The service was also noticeably improved. I've endured some spotty service in the past there. But all that is in the past, and I'm looking forward to returning and trying more of the newly expanded menu.

The other side of the commute: A taste test in NJ

As much as I love eating in NY, I live in NJ. And so it's imperative that I have some go to places close to home.

And I've found a couple since moving in August. I love Paratha Junction for Indian food. But I haven't found some staples like a money Chinese food spot or just local places with good dishes. So I set out to try four local spots with my wife. The spots we tried were Szechuan Ace, Paradise Biryani Point, Dosa Grill and Rai Rai Ramen. All located within a quarter of a mile of each other. All 5 minutes from home. And all on the same night! Sounds like fun, huh?

I ordered from the train so I could pick each up on my way home. First, Chinese food.


Szechuan Ace
I got a spicy chicken dish off the regular menu and fried chicken over rice and shredded potato cooked in red oil from the szechuan menu. I also got a scallion pancake, although it was more pancake than scallion. The highlight was the potato. It had a nice flavor and texture. The chicken was cooked well and was served with minced pork and the Chinese greens, like the NYC Cravings truck introduced me to. It wasn't as good as the NY counterpart, which wasn't surprising to me.

Paradise Biryani

I didn't get the biryani here because I my eye on another rice dish. Plus, the biryani at Paratha is really good. Instead, I decided to try the butter chicken. It was enjoyable, but with a closer and equitable option, I doubt I would go back just for that.

Dosa Grill

I got some vegetarian Indian from Dosa Grill. Bhindi masala was the order here (okra in a mild curry sauce) was also very tasty. But it wasn't a game changer. Udipi is closer, so we'll probably stick with that. That's the bhindi masala below.

Rai Rai Ramen

I was excited to try this spot. They have a lot of standard Chinese dishes and sushi on the menu, but I was focused on the Japanese ramen section. I got the chicken katsu curry ramen and kim chee fried rice. The curry broth that came with the ramen was delicious and flavorful. The chicken katsu was nice; panko breaded, crispy and juicy. The only downer were the noodles which were very much like what you would get out of a package. The star of our tasting was definitely the kim chee fried rice. Absolutely delicious! It's hard to mess up fried rice, but this was just great. The kim chee gave great flavor and the pickled ginger gave a bit of bite. We will definitely be heading back here!

It was definitely a fun night of eating, and we now know some more local spots with unique dishes. Love eating, even on the other side of the commute.

It was also date night, and you can read more about that from my wife Tanya over at tanyaandeddie.com.