Frog and the Peach, New Brunswick

Well folks. This is it. My review of Frog and the Peach, one of the best restaurants in New Jersey as voted by.... oh I don't know,... anyone with a mouth? No, in real life this place has recieved accolades from The Artful Diner, The New York Times, Gourmet, Zagat and probably dozens more. Tucked away on a side street, surrounded by upscale apartments, Frog and the Peach may just be the most dazling gem in New Brunswick.

We decided to each go the appetizer and entree route, so that we could sample a little bit of everything. The Sister and Mom both ordered the beet carpaccio salad. It was adorned with apples, walnuts, and a delightful sheep's cheese. The dressing was a mixture of mustard and Creme Fraiche and was the just the right balance of tangy and creamy. A bite of everything together provided a fantastic combination of textures and flavors...crunchy, salty walnuts with tart apples and cool, fresh beets and tangy cheese and creamy spicy mustard. This was a delightful starter and I am very happy that they chose to share with me.

Matt got the pumpkin gnocchi to start. They were served over a bed of parsnips and leeks and it was a downright delight. It actually TASTED LIKE AUTUMN! How cool is that? A few simple ingredients doused with a helping of sage butter sauce, and it actually tasted like a season feels. I LOVE that food has the ability to do that! It's so amazing to me. Anyway, the gnocchi were pure perfection... soft but not smooshy, and pumpkiny without being overbearing. This dish was great. I think I liked it more than Matt did (he admitted later that he was less enthused because he was experiencing buyer's remorse.... he regretted not ordering the short rib appetizer!) His loss was my gain though. I thought this was a hit.

Dad went with the spiced flatbread, a vegetarian dish. It didn't look very pretty... in fact it looked kind of like a big sloppy mess, but it tasted delicious. There was an herb paste shmeared onto the flat bread and while the color was icky the flavor was a delight... very Mediterranean. On top of the paste were chickpeas, olives, yogurt cheese, and peppers. It was toothsome and herbacious and overall good. I would have liked to see a touch more cheese and a few less chickpeas, but taste wise this was lovely.

I ordered the F&P classic smoked salmon dish and it knocked my socks RIGHT OFF. The fish was not too salty and not too smokey and not tough or hard to cut and had no discoloration and was just awesome. It came with a little truffled egg salad and some spicy, horseradishy mustard and some house baked brown bread pieces. I, of course, combined all of these things and made the worlds tiniest (and tastiest) lox n shmear. Delightful. So perfect.

For dinner Mom ordered the hanger steak (how cool is a mom who loves herself some red meat?) It was marinated in balsamic and drenched in an onion veal jus (and I do mean drenched... a little too much sauce for my tastes!) The meat was cooked perfectly... nice crust on the outside and rich and buttery inside. To me, though, the most interesting aspect of this dish was the side that came with it.... bleu cheese stuffed tater tots. These were absurdly good... crunchy tater tots exploding with super sharp, super melty bleu cheese. Each little tot was a flavor bomb of happiness. Yum.

The Sister decided on the monkfish (ya know... poor man's lobster?) Everything about this dish was amazing. I was jealous that I didn't order it myself. I just salivated a little while remembering it. The fish was buttery and succulent... there are just no words in my vocabulary that can do it accurate justice. The plate was accented with several clams, and the clams were accompanied by super thick, uber delicious bacon pieces. The sauce that laid beneath all of this culinary magic was downright drinkable. No complaints about this dish. None. Delicious. More please.

Matt went with the duck breast and spicy duck sausage, all in a dried cherry duck jus. The duck was cooked perfectly with a crunchy outside and tender inside, and the sausage was very good (although I wouldn't exactly call it spicy). The problem was the sauce. It tasted good.... there was nothing wrong with it flavor wise. There was just SOOOO much of it... it was drowning the food. The sweetness was just too overpowering. This was the least succesful dish that we had the whole evening. It wasn't bad by any stretch of the imagination... it just couldn't come close to the rest of the meals. (Poor Matt!)

While I was smitten with The Sister's dish, everyone else at the table voted Dad's the winner of the evening. He opted for the Moroccan grilled lamb loin, and it really was superb. The seasoning was spot on and really did give it a somewhat exotic feel. The pilaf it came with was also very good. While I really liked this, the rest of the table LOVED it. So majority rules... this was the winning dish!

Last but not least was my dish. I ordered the grilled shrimp ragout, and it was fantastic. Huge shrimp (and I mean really, really big!) were stacked on top of a mixture of beans, tomato, and sausage. The sauce was salty and smokey and the sweetness of the shrimp really contrasted well with the meaty sausage. The presentation on this was also beautiful. The sauce is what made the whole thing pop, though. It was one of those 'let me drag my bread through this one more time' kind of sauces.

For dessert we went with the ginger rice pudding (good rice pudding, but to be honest I tasted NO ginger whatsoever.... I would say it was very vanilla-y if anything) and and apple crisp with a brown butter ice cream. Now THAT was something special. The brown butter ice cream on its own would have had me over the moon, but pairing it with the hot and crispy pasty filled with ooey gooey apple filling? Forget it. Game over. We were officially full and happy.

Frog and the Peach is one of the best restraurants in the tri-state area, and certainly one of the finest (let's face it, probably THE finest) that I have ever been to. Plus they heart the Earth! F&P was one of the first restaurants to install solar energy panels. They try to always use fresh, local, and sustainable ingredients. This is a special occasion place as a rule, but do keep in mind that they have a bistro menu (available in both the dining room and the bar area) that is reasonable and impressive. Do yourself a favor. Once in your lifetime give Frog and the Peach a shot. I assure you that it will be a culinary experience that you will not soon forget.

Frog and the Peach

http://www.frogandpeach.com/

29 Dennis Street- New Brunswick

732 846-3216

Ciro's Restaurant Italiano, MonroeTownship

My folks recently took Matt and I to a new place called Ciro's, located right on the cusp of Monroe and Jamesburg. I had been to the location before, back when it was Basile's, but it was under brand new ownership and had just reopened recently so we figured we'd try it out. They made some decent changes with the renovations... well lit, with a nice bar area and relatively open floor plan. We waited at the bar until our table was available... the service was pretty eh. Waited forever to be acknowledged by the bartender, and she took her sweet time making the drinks. Whatever. It was busy. Fine. Benefit of the doubt.

When our waitress FINALLY came over, we started off with two appetizers; artichokes Francaise and fried calamri. Both were ok. The artichokes Francaise were good, but there was way too much sauce for me. It was tasty... nice and citrusy, but a bit overwhelming due to the sheer amount. The fried calarmi was eh... noithing special. It wasn't chewey, I'll give it that at least, but there was barely any seasoning. When fried food isn't well seasoned, or too thickly battered, it just isn't that great... it just tatses bland and crunchy. The dipping sauce was decent, though.

For dinner Matt and Mom both got full entrees while Dad and I went for pastas. Matt ordered the veal Marsala and he says it was exactly how he wanted it. According to him the flavor of the sauce was dead on and the mushrooms were cooked well. He did say, however, that his veal was thin but not tender. He was happy with the dish over all, though, and that is what matters.

Mom ordered veal Francaise and she wasn't completely thrilled. The sauce, as we know from before, was good, but the batter on the veal was a bit too thick and eggy, and it got really soft. I will say that the portions were very large, though, so that is nice to see, especially at Italian places. There were three large pieces of veal on top of a big pile of pasta. Plenty of food!
Dad ordered the Bolognese, and to be honest it wasn't that memorable. I didn't even jot down any notes about it. I know it tasted pretty good, but it wasn't anything worth writing home about (or writing down at all, it seems!) All that I remember is that there was a very nice portion, and that they kindly subsituted in whole wheat pasta at his request. I ordered the penne Arrabiata and while it was actually very good (in my opinion the best thing on the table) it wasn't an Arrabiata by any means. Arrabiata means 'angry style' in Italian, referring to the fact that the sauce is supposed to carry some serious heat. This, however, was not the case. While it was a really good sauce with a ton of mushrooms and olives and flavor, it wasn't hot AT ALL. I don't mean it wasn't hot to my tounge because I have a high tolerance... I mean you could have given it to a child and they would not have found it spicy. Good sauce, incorrectly named.
Look. Ciro's is still very new, and with a ton of great Italian food in our area the bar has been set pretty high. The place is lovely and the prices are very very reasonable, but it seems that there are still some kinks to work out. I don't think I will be going back there anytime soon, but if anyone out there heads that way and wishes to set me straight, please do. I am all for second chances, if I think they are well deserved.

Ciro's Restaurant Italiano
301 Buckelew Ave

Monroe Township- 08831

732 521 1800

Princetonian Diner, Princeton

Soooooo my computer is FUBAR which means this will be a photo-less post. I will try to be as descriptive as possible (it will be a true test of my writing skills.... how do ya like THAT for a positive spin!)

Ok, continuing on to what really matters... the food! The Princetonian Diner is the epitome of the true Jersey diner... breakfast all day, baked goods made on site, big booths and bright colors... the real experience. We've been there several times now (it's the only 'real' diner close to us) so this is going to be my 'best of' list thus far.

First things first, no Jersey diner would be complete without offering several authentic Greek dishes... I don't know why it's true but it just is. The Princetonian is no exception, and they have a dinner special that I just adore. It's a small Greek salad with spanakopita, and it is seriously good. First of all the 'small' Greek salad is still very large. It has all of the standard Greek salad fare (lettuce, tomato, onion, feta, Kalamata olives) but is also topped with artfully arranged stuffed grape leaves, anchovy fillets, and pita wedges. The dressing is vinegar based and full of fresh herbs, and it's just a great salad. Here is where I curse my lack of photographic evidence, but the spanakopita is the real star to this combo. Typically when you order spanakopita it comes to you in a wedge (think a half of pice of toast, if the bread is cut on the diagonal) Not here. Ohhhh no. The piece that came out to me was like a big tube, about the size and shape of a really overstuffed burrito. It was filled with hot spinach and feta, with just a touch of garlic. The phyllo dough that wrapped the whole thing up was flaky and crisp and it was really outstanding. I actually laughed out loud when I saw how big the portion was... Needless to say I didn't finish it (oh but I wanted to!)

Matt once ordered something that they call the grilled chicken portabella sandwich. It was awesome, and we crave it regularly. It's a long crusty, toasted roll topped with grilled chicken, slices of grilled portabella mushroom, mozarella cheese and a garlic mayo and its crazy flavorful. Matt opted to get it without the cheese and it still managed to carry a ton of flavor and richness. It isn't that they're heavy handed with the garlic mayo, because they aren't, it's more that the mayo is so strong that a little bit goes a long way. The mushrooms were grilled to the point where they get that rich and meaty flavor and that toothsome but delightful texture. The chicken was not at all dry and was seasoned and grilled to perfection. The bread was toasted to the point where you got that loud crunch noise with every bite, but not over toasted where you get crumbs all over yourself (because NOBODY likes to be the crumby shirt guy!)

Last on the hit list (for now at least) is the portabella eggs benedict. It's the vegetarian version of the standard classic. At first I was sad, because what I was expecting (and for any future restaurantuers what would be awesome) was a full portabella cap in lieu of the english muffin and Canadian bacon. This was not the case.... the muffin was still there, we were just sans bacon AND the portabella was sliced, not a full cap. So at first I was bummed. However, once I began eating I changed my tune, big time. First of all you NEED the muffin... what else are you going to soak up hollandaise sauce and egg yolk with? The portabella made for an even meatier experience than the ham usually does... it was so much more texturally satisfying than the meat! The Canadian bacon typically adds extra saltiness, I will give it that, but with a hollandaise sauce who NEEDS more salt? That stuff's already got a ton of flavor! The portabella added a nice chew, a rich flavor and an earthiness that really pulled the whole thing together. The egg was done perfectly... a little runny (not scary posion people runny... the good kind). Hollandaise can't really ever be bad (I mean... unless you do it wrong), but this was buttery, thick, rich, dense, and decadent. The whole dish was delicious and I am looking forward to having it again.

There are a ton of things to choose from at the Princetonian Diner... so many in fact that it seems at some point they just start making it up! ME once even got a lasagna sald (yes... a green salad with lasagna noodles, fried eggplant, some roasted tomato.... please note that it is NOT on the hit list). They have your standard diner faves (ya know, burgers, tuna sammiches, disco fries, matzo ball soup) along with real dinner items(chops, steaks, pastas) and some more experimental options (allow me to again refer you to lasagna salad). Give it a try. It's totally Jersey and totally good.

Princetonian Diner
www.princetoniandiner.com
3509 US Highway 1
Princeton, 08540-5923
(609) 452-2272

Update

Just an FYI... I want to update, I really do, but I am having technical difficulties! All of my foodie photos and notes are saved on the laptop and it seems *dramatic pause* that we have had a bit of a crash. In true Murphy's Law fashion I was planning to buy an external harddrive with any holiday bonus money I'd be recieving this year, so OF COURSE the computer goes down a few weeks before the season. My team of nerdy friends and family are trying to help a sista out, so I will give it a few more days to see if anything can be saved. If not, then we go picture free for a few posts and I will try to eat out as much as humanly possible to start up a new batch!

In the meantime, snack happy! We will be back soon, pictures or no!

Harini, Lawrenceville

While we know by now that there is no shortage of Indian food in our area, Harini is by far the closest place to our apartment. For us it is the perfect place to go when we get one of those random Tuesday night cravings for curry (you know those cravings... don't act like you don't). It's a small place, stuffed between two huge chain restaurants (they rhyme with Shmolive Harden and Wheeburger-Wheeburger... any guesses?), so it is often over looked in favor for the well known... which is fine with us, cuz that means faster service and no waiting for a table! Ha! We win!

This particular visit we started off our meal with the chicken 65. The bright red, boneless chunks came out to us and we were immediately drawn in by the smell. These were perfect... crispy on the outside, but crazy tender within. Little flecks of toasted garlic were sprinkled on top, adding a little crunch and some nutty flavor. This was not as spicy as chicken 65 that we have had elsewhere, which didn't really bother us, since it was an appetizer.

For dinner we ordered a lamb curry that was really good. Not like any curry I have ever had before. The texture was odd.... somehow thicker... the consistancy was a bit like that of butternut squash soup; a little thick, a little mealy, but certainly not unpleasant. The meat was super tender, no knife needed. The sauce tasted of tomato and onion and a ton of spices. It warmed up my tummy but didn't set my mouth ablaze, and for that I was thankful. Don't get me wrong. I LOVE spicy food, and even crave it at times, but I really enjoyed being able to taste every element of this dish without overwhelming heat, especially since it was my first time trying it.

Our other dish was an onion and chilli dosai, which is basically a super crispy, super thin crepe stuffed with potato, onion and chille along with a ton of other spices. While we knew that these are usually very large (we have had them many times before) this one was HUGE. Look at the butter knife in the picture below for a point of reference.... INSANE. The crepe itself was super crispy and soooo delicious. The filling was glorious for the most part.... mashed up potato mixed with onion always has a spot on my plate. The problem was the chilles. We knew to expect some heat, but the hot green chilles were ROUGHLY chopped, so every once in a while we would get a bite that literally stopped us in our tracks. A thumbail size chunk of spicy Indian chilli is enough to give you the head sweats right on the spot. This was delicious, but next time we may go for a chilli free dosai and just ask for the spice tray to add our own heat!

The place isn't at all fancy, colorful, or distinguished, but the food is damned good. The service is always friendly, the food fresh, and the flavors new and interesting. The menu is pretty extensive, with a nice mixture of North and South Indian dishes, and I think that there is something for everyone to enjoy. Just beware the chilli dosai!

Harini

http://www.harinirestaurant.com/

3349 Brunswick Pike #66

Lawrenceville- 08648

609 750 0488