First and foremost, Ria Mar has my favorite Summer time (hell, let's be honest... any time) drink.. SANGRIA!! They have both red and white Sangria and you can order it by the half pitcher or full pitcher. It's delicious. Tart and sweet, refreshing, delicious and fruity. Yum. I often find myself heading to Ria Mar with nothing but Sangria in mind, knowing I'll find dinner when I get there.
On a recent visit with LP we decided to order an item called the stuffed scallop. We were both assuming it would be something like clams casino... a large scallop with some stuffing placed in a decorative shell... it wasn't quite what we expected. What came out to us was a gigantic mound of stuffing sitting in (strangely) an oversized clam shell. Instead of several larger scallops with a dollop of stuffing this softball sized dome of stuffing held within it a handful of small bay scalops. It was basically stuffing stuffed with scallops... so odd. Luckily it was delicious... the stuffing had a great taste... fresh from the bell peppers and onions, and a little zesty from some lemon and garlic. The scallops were cooked well, and not at all chewy. The whole shebang was topped with melted cheese (it was mild... probably mozzarella if I had to guess). We enjoyed it, despite our initial confusion.
LP is a creature of habit, at least when it comes to Ria Mar. She is simply in love with the shrimp in Spanish rice and told me that she doesn't remember the last time she ordered anything else. The huge pot (seriously, its like a pasta pot!) is filled to the top with aromatic safron rice and sweet, garlicky shrimp. It's classic, delicious, and a great deal... the giant portions easily ensure lunch for the next day, if not dinner, too.
I ordered the seafood Spanish style. It's a serious amount of shellfish (a 1lb. lobster, shrimp, scallops, clams, and mussels) in (yet another) gigantic pot of broth. The broth is what makes this really special... a delightful, rich yellow color, it has a load of garlic, white wine, and Lord knows what else in it. It lends a lot of flavor (and a hint of color) to the shellfish, but what it's really good for is bread dunking. The seafood is cooked well, with the exception of the lobster (which gets a bit overdone from being in the broth so long, I suppose?) They also give you a giant plate of yellow rice on the side, but I was so focused on seafood that I barely acknowledged it. I ate this for three days... the portions at Ria Mar are seriously oversized.
Don't think that seafood is all that they do, though. Matt loves this place because of their prime rib. A giant (shock!) slab of meat, cooked to perfection nestled in between a mix of veggies and, my personal favorite side dish, the yellow mashed potatoes. I don't know what makes them yellow (my father told me once but I forgot) but I know that they are delicious. Smooth, creamy, a little salty and perfect, I love when Matt orders them because it means I get to steal a few scoops. Anyway, the meat is really tender, perfectly season, and nicely trimmed, with enough fat to keep it juicy but not enough to waste precious plate space
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.Ria Mar is a real find if you are super hungry and want some delicious, classic Portuguese food. Added bonus? The bar area has the option of the dining room menu with all of the standard fare, or a bar menu, full of sandwiches or simple platters. The portions are enormous, the waitstaff is incredible and very friendly, the Sangria is not to be missed.
Ria Mar
25 Whitehead Ave
South River 08882
732 257 2714
Bim was crazy hungry so he also ordered the onion soup. When you order onion soup you expect a mini crock (usually those brown ones? you know what I mean). Soooo not the case here. What was placed in front of him was nothing short of absurd. I mean, look at it. It's fair to say it was a practical volcano of soup. What was really impresive, though, was that the soup was real, honest to goodness onion soup... not that light brown watery nonsense. This had a crazy deep dark color which means that the onions must have been cooked wayyyy down, the fond scraped, the cheese bruleed. Presentation of this dish was also fun. Yay.
I started my meal with one of the items off of the 'small plates' menu. It was listed as Manchego cheese with fig puree, and I figured since it was indeed a 'small plate' there would just be a tiny taste, enough for me to enjoy, but still have plenty of room left for my meal. I was instead presented with 6 crostini with 6 large wedges of cheese and a baseball sized dome of fig puree. I'd hate to see what their big plates look like....Long story short I'd probably order differently the next time as A) this was a lot of cheese for a small plate and B) the crostini were not done particularly well.
Bim ordered the full rack of Saint Louis style ribs for dinner. These were delicious! The meat literally fell off of the bone, and the sauce was awesome... dare I say it was saucesome. Bahaha. Hysterical. But seriously, it was the exact kind of sauce that I adore and associate with barbeque. Thick and sweet, with a heavy hit of smoke and dare I say a bit of spiciness. I loved these (stole two from him over the course of the night) and so did he... Matt's a fan of sauceless ribs, but what does he know? Even with Matt and I helping him out, Bim was still able to take home an entire half rack. Portions = HUGE
Matt ordered the bone- in New York strip. It was cooked exactly right (as you would hope from a steakhouse, afterall). The sear on the meat left it with a nice, seasoned crust and the inside was pink but not dripping blood, a perfect medium. The cool thing about On The Bone is that every single piece of steak that comes out of their kitchen is aged for at least 21 days. Also fun to note, every piece of steak that comes out is bone- in, including the filet mignon. Fun, right? Anyway, Matt's steak was served with a trio of sauces... a bleu cheese sauce, a bernaise, and a glace de viande. These were all eh. They didn't add a lot of flavor, they were totally unnecessary to the meat eating experience, and they weren't particularly good. Luckily they were on the side and easy to ignore. The onion rings were exceptional.... crunchy, salty, not greasy just freaking perfect.
I ordered a burger, which is odd for me, but hey, it's what I was craving. Another bonus about On The Bone? You can pile your burger high with bonus toppings (mushrrom, bacon, sauteed onions, fancy cheeses) for not extra cost. Bonus! I decided to top my angus beef bad boy with smoked gouda cheese, mushrooms and onions. The burger was good... really beefy and flavorful, but not too fatty and greasy. The gouda (which I have never before used on a burger) was a treat... the smoke brought serious flavor. It was great. It was also huge. I ate about 1/3 of it and packed the rest in to come home. Who can eat this much!? Sad note about the fries, though. They were too greasy, big bummer. 
All of the rolls at Hon Suhsi are impressive. Colorful and tastefully arranged, I have had several of the specialty house rolls. If I had to complain about anything, I would say it seems that spicy sauce makes an appearance in the majority of their offerings, which is silly. The fish is very fresh and can stand on its own (or paired with other fish or veggies that will compliment it). Sauce drowns flavor. Other than that, though, this place is all aces for me.
Matt started with the gnocchi in parmesan, sage and brown butter. I thought this was fantastic... nutty, toasty, and warm it was the perfect food for a chilly night. He thought it was a bit bland, but I disagree. I found the gnocchi perfectly cooked, soft and not at all gummy, and I found the downright earthiness of the ingredients to be perfectly balanced.
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