Forgotten Taste Famous Pierogies - Wexford, PA

When Kevin and I were back in Pittsburgh two weeks ago, we made our rounds to check out all of the "Pittsburgh" food that we miss so much. Primanti Bros, Eat' N Park, Tokyo Sushi and Buffet (I know, this isn't exactly Pittsburgh food but I love the sushi there!)...you get the idea. Another thing that I really really miss from Western PA is pierogies! Boy, I used to look forward to "Pierogies Night" every Wednesday at the dining hall, back when we were still in college. It was so so so gooooooood! If there is a type of food that you MUST try while you are in Pittsburgh (apart from Primantis, of course!), it has to be pierogies! You can be sure that people from da Burgh take their pierogies seriously. They even have pierogie races during inning breaks at the Pirates games!! Sooooo, naturally we must not leave Pittsburgh before getting our hands on some yummy pierogies.
Pierogies Plus is probably one of the more popular pierogie shops in Pittsburgh, known for their authentic, made from scratch pierogies. Kevin wasn't really in the mood to drive all the way to McKees Rocks just for pierogies so I tried to google for somewhere nearer. I then found Forgotten Taste. They claim to have the best pierogies in all of Southern PA, so we decided to give it a try. They have three outlets around the greater Pittsburgh area and we went to the one in Wexford. Since it was located at the strip mall at the Village at Pine, there were ample free parking right at it's doorstep. Please note that the signboard of their shop doesn't say "Forgotten Taste" but just plain "Pierogies" in bold red. I guess they know what they are famous for!
The store isn't really all that large. You just have to walk up to the counter and order whatever that you want. Then, you can either grab a table (there are not that many though) and wait for them to bring up your food to you or you can just wait (if you are getting it to go). Most of the food are pre cooked, so it doesn't take long at all. What I like about the place is how they have pictures of everything on their menu, hanging up on the wall. This way, you know exactly what you will be getting. Since Kevin's mom was back home and we needed to get lunch for her too, we ordered our food to go.
Both Kevin and his mom each got the Meal #6 ($6.69). One Stuffed Pepper with Tomato Sauce, Haluski and four pieces of Potato & Cheese Pierogies with butter and onions. The Smoked Polish Keilbasa ($3.49) that you see in the picture is actually half of what we ordered from the a la carte menu. As you can see from the menu, most of the food from Pittsburgh has Polish/Czech/Eastern European influence. You might be wondering why. Well, in the later half of the 1800s, large numbers of Polish immigrants settled in Pittsburgh due to the steel industry. I am guessing that it must have started from then. In case you didn't know, Kevin's ancestors (from his dad's side) probably came to America right about then too.
I ordered the Meal #3 ($6.99) which was one Stuffed Cabbage with Tomato Sauce, Haluski and four pieces of Potato & Cheese Pierogies with butter and onions. Also, you can see the other half of the Polish Keilbasa that I was sharing with Kevin in the picture. I must say that I really enjoyed my meal. The stuffed cabbage was really good and so was the Haluski. Oh, for those of you who don't know, Haluski is actually thick soft noodles made from flour, egg and water. It is then boiled, rolled in oil or butter and then served with vegetables or meat. The Haluski that we had was served with cabbage.
Since this was a pierogies place, we HAD to order more pierogies. Four pieces each just wasn't enough! So, we ordered an extra half dozen of Beef and Mushroom Pierogies ($5.90). You could either get it with the traditional butter and onions, with tomato sauce or you could get it deep fried. Also, if you are planning to keep it for another day, you could buy them frozen. Apart from Beef and Mushroom, they also have a whole lot of other different fillings. You can check it out here. I must say that the pierogies from Forgotten Taste is really really good. We must remember to head out there again the next time we are back in Pittsburgh. Oh, and if you are planning to do so, you might want to head out there on Mondays and Wednesdays. They are currently having a promotion where all meals are just $4.99 on Mon and Wed!!

Forgotten Taste Famous Pierogies
11978 Route 19 Village at Pine,
Wexford, PA, 15090
Tel: (724)940 2277
Web: http://forgottentaste.com/

Mandy's Pizza - Pittsburgh, PA

Kev and I were back in Pittsburgh for the whole of last week. In fact, it was a little more than a week. It's been a while since we had the opportunity to be back in Pittsburgh for such an extended period of time (it would usually be just for the weekend or 4 days, at the most), so it was good meeting up with friends and family. We also had the opportunity to head out some of our favorite restaurants in Pittsburgh as well as check out a few new ones. Over the next few posts, I will share with you some of the new places that we checked out during our week in Pittsburgh.
There is a pizza shop just down the road from Kevin's parents house in Westview. We have driven by it countless times and every time we drove by, I would say that we should check it out someday. I know, there are many other things that we can check out while we are in Pittsburgh and really, Pittsburgh is not exactly known for their pizza. After all, we are currently living in a city that is known for their awesome pizza. Why should we want to eat pizza while we were in Pittsburgh? Well, what caught my attention was a huge sign saying that Mandy's has the largest and best pizza in Pittsburgh. In fact, they have won a whole lot of awards as proof of their awesomeness. Now, when somebody claims that they have the best of something, I would really want to go check them out, just to see if they really do measure up. Soooooo, we stopped by one day to carryout a pizza and some wings.
All the pizzas in Mandy's are Gluten-Free/Allergen-Free. From their website and menu, I found out that they came out with a proprietary recipe that is Wheat-Free, Milk-Free, Nut-Free and Corn Free. Now, we don't really care much about all this but I am sure they are a lot of people out there who do. What is most important to us is, the taste! Their menu is rather large and there were quite a lot of traditional as well as signature pizzas to choose from. We finally went with a large Philly Steak Pizza ($16.49). Just look at it! Cheddar sauce, shaved sirloin, fried mushroom, onions, green peppers and premium blend pizza cheese. If that is not fattening enough, they topped all of that off with french fries!! One word - WOW! How does one even come up with that? They must be sitting around one day and decided that pizza in general is not fattening enough, they MUST do something else to bring it over the top. So, hey, why not? Lets top it off with some greasy fries! :P As fattening as it sounds, I must say that, it really tasted AWESOME! The toppings all just came together and the dough was nice and baked to perfection. Really really good!
We also ordered half a dozen of Monster Wings ($7.99). Monster Wings...really? How big are they? Well, Mandy's claim that they serve the largest wings in town. Guess what? They ARE huge! Look at that...none of those tiny dry stuff. The wings from Mandy's are huge and juicy! They are also not 'cut' into drummets and wings, you actually get the WHOLE wing! They come in 10 different flavors and we went with the Honey Mustard. Mmmm mmmmmm goood! Both the pizza and wings hit a home run, in my books. Apart from pizzas and wings, they also serve salads, hoagies, gyros, calzones, Italian dinners as well as desserts. We will definitely stop by again to check out the other items on the menu the next time we are back in Pittsburgh.

Mandy's Pizza - Pittsburgh,PA
512 Perry Hwy
Pittsburgh, PA 15229
Tel: (412)931 1120
Web: http://www.mandyspizza.com/

Master BBQ & Grill - Belleville, NJ

It was another lazy Sunday night for us and we couldn't decide on what to have for dinner. We didn't feel like going out, so the only other option was to order in (yesssss, I'm too lazy to cook on weekends :P). After going through our stash of countless take out/delivery menus, I found the menu for Master BBQ & Grill. We actually picked that menu up from our apartment lobby quite some time back and have been meaning to check that place out but we never got around to doing so. It's been a while since we last had Portuguese BBQ (I know, it's hard to believe...considering the fact that we live in the Portuguese /Colombian BBQ mecca of NJ!), so Portuguese BBQ for dinner it is!
From our past experiences of ordering delivery with other Portuguese BBQ places, we were all ready for a long 'conversation' on the phone. Usually, when they find out that we don't speak Spanish, our call would be passed from one person to another. THEN, after finally getting to somebody who speaks English, he would most probably mess up our order or misunderstand we were are trying to say. Same goes for Chinese delivery places. However, none of that happened here. They spoke English and we managed to place our order without any problems. Yay! Another thing that surprised us was how fast the food arrived. I swear, it took them less than half an hour to get the food to our doorstep! Two huge party trays of piping hot food! Don't ask me why there was only ONE bun, we actually didn't even know that we are going to get a free bun :P
Before I say anything else, I must tell you guys that the amount of food that we got for the price we paid was crazy! There was just soooooooo much food! We ordered the Master BBQ Combo ($26) and that came with half a chicken, six huge pork ribs, four pieces of steak and slices Portuguese sausages. Look at the amount of food! It was enough for feed at least 6-8 people! All that for only $26! Not only was it affordable, it tasted awesome too! I dare say that this is the best Portuguese BBQ that I have had, to date! Since we live in Newark, there are a lot of Portuguese BBQ places here and trust me, we have gone through quite a lot of them. The BBQ from Masters definitely stood out. All the meat was marinated to perfection, really really delicious. They were also cooked just right, cos we all know, nothing is more sucky than overcooked or under cooked BBQ!
We also got a huge party tray of yellow rice and fries. We also had the option to swap either the rice or fries for black beans. Look at the amount of rice and fries! It's like enough to feed a small village in Asia! :P The fries wasn't soggy but really, there was nothing much to shout about. The rice on the other hand was simply awesome. There is this smoky taste to it, very very yummy! Overall, we had an awesome dinner! Good service, fast delivery, affordable prices, big portions and most importantly, uber yummy food. What more could a person ask for? We will definitely be ordering more food from Master BBQ & Grill in the very near future!

Master BBQ & Grill - Belleville, NJ
198 Union Ave
Belleville NJ 07109
Tel: (973)759 9200
Web: http://www.masterbbqgrill.com/

Mario's Pizza - Newark, NJ

There is a fairly new pizza place (well, not THAT new but new enough) that opened up a couple of doors away from Jersey BBQ Pit that we have been meaning to check out. Every time we drive down McCarter Highway, we would say that we wanna swing by one day to try it but we just never got around to doing so. It was another lazy weekend for us and as usual, we were just too lazy to cook dinner or even head out to grab a bite. We just didn't feel like going anywhere, let alone leave our couch! I did manage to make it down to the lobby to collect our mail though and I saw a stack of delivery menus nearby. I picked one up and realized that it was for Mario's Pizza....how perfect! We could try the food from this new place and we didn't even have to leave our apartment for that. Life is good! :P
The menu itself was rather extensive. Not only do they have pizzas but they also offer all kinds of soups, salads, appetizers, pasta, wraps, sandwiches, hamburgers, wings as well as Italian chicken, veal and seafood dishes. Oh, they also have selection of dessert and drinks too. Unlike some other places that deliver, Mario's accepts credit/debit cards transactions. Delivery is also free, with a minimum purchase of $10. The only thing thing that we didn't really like was the delivery time. We had to wait for an hour or so, just to get our food. The acceptable delivery time around these parts is usually half an hour.
To start off our meal, Kevin and I shared a small cold antipasto salad ($7.50). The large goes for $12. Boy, we were glad that we ordered a small cos the portion was really huge! A whole bunch of lettuce, tomatoes, onions, green peppers, toasted red peppers, black olives topped with rolls of ham, genoa, salami and provolone cheese. Look at the amount of meat that came along with it! Definitely worth the $7.50. Not only were the portions huge, it tasted yummy too.
After such a yummy salad, this was a little bit of a letdown. Sausage Calzone with Marinara Sauce ($6.25). By the time the calzone got here, it was cold. Really cold. Also, it was super greasy. Look at all the grease on the paper plate. Terrible. The crust wasn't all that great and I felt as though they are skimping on the stuffing. There was only stuffing in the middle, which leaves us with very hard (almost stone like) crust at the end. The marinara sauce was also really watery. I wouldn't order this from them again.
The calzone was really bad but I must say that they redeemed themselves with their wings. We ordered 10 pcs of BBQ chicken wings ($7.25) and it came with complimentary celery and blue cheese. As you can see from the picture, they were huge wings. If there is one thing that I can't stand, it would be tiny, hard, over fried wings. This wasn't the case. They were really huge and juicy. The BBQ sauce was awesome too. Yes, they arrived cold but after reheating it for a bit, it tasted great. Sooooo, the big question now. Would we order from Mario's again? Well, this is a tough one. The delivery was super slow (thus resulting in us getting cold food) and the calzone was horrible. However, we really liked the antipasto and the wings were yummy too. I guess we would give them another chance to see if the long delivery time was just a one off thing and maybe we will try something else from the menu. Will keep all of you posted!

Mario's Pizza - Newark, NJ
1413 McCarter Highway,
Newark, NJ 07104
Tel: (973)497 2031
Fax: (973)497 2130
Web: http://themariospizza.com/

Atomic Wings - TriBeCa, NYC

For those of you who knows us personally, I'm sure that you would know that we are big fans of Groupon. Ok ok, I'll admit it. It's not 'us', it's more like 'me'. I'm a huge fan of Groupon! Well, to be fair, it's not just Groupon but other similar companies like Living Social, Yelp Deals and so on. Kevin would always just roll his eyes whenever I tell him that I have found another good deal on Groupon. Hey, you can't blame me. Some deals are just too good to miss out on, right? Now, it is also no secret that the both of us likes wings (this time it's the BOTH of us, not just me :P). You can imagine my excitement when I saw a deal on Groupon for Atomic Wings in the city! I believe it was like $12 for $25 worth of food. I've heard from various people that Atomic Wings makes the best wings in the city, so it was a good chance for us to try it.
When we bought the Groupon, we had to select which location (there are 9 different Atomic Wings outlets located all over the city) we wanted to redeem the Groupon at. After checking out Google Map, we went with the TriBeCa outlet, since it's located within walking distance from our regular PATH station. Little did we know then that the particular outlet wasn't exactly located in the best of areas. We headed out to TriBeCa last Saturday evening and boy, the neighborhood looked kinda shady. Not only did it look deserted, but it was dark and there were lotsa graffiti around. Ahhh well, we must not judge a restaurant by the area it's in. Maybe they have some really good wings in there, right? Well, we'll soon find out!
The entrance leading to Atomic Wings looked somewhat shady too. The restaurant is located below street level and we had to go down this really long and narrow stairway. From the signs outside, it looks like Atomic Wings is not only a wings place but also a so called 'sports bar'. From the moment we walked in, there was this really weird smell (I must say it's not pleasant :P) and the whole vibe of the place felt weird. The whole place looked dark and dingy, even with the bright orange walls. Whole whole back portion of the 'sports bar' was in total darkness, and there was this huge empty space. I assume that there used to be a pool table there, maybe? Apart from us, there was only another table of customers there. We saw a sign up by the counter saying that we could sit anywhere and the waiters will attend to us shortly. Only customers who wanted to take out their wings should order at the counter. So, we went to take a seat and looked at the menu while waiting.
After waiting for what seemed like forever, we finally figured out that the waiters are not coming over to take our order. They were just standing there, behind the counter, staring blankly at us. It was just so weird. If you want us to come up and order at the counter, just say so. You have this big sign saying sit down and we'll come by but you just stand there, without saying anything. We finally gave up and Kevin went up to the counter to order. There is a huge soda fountain by the counter but when we tried to order a fountain drink, they said it wasn't working. Why am I not surprise (rolls eyes). So, we had to order bottled soda instead.
Apart from wings, they also have salads, burgers, sandwiches and wraps on their menu. Since they are famous for their wings, we decided to stick to what they are famous for. We have a choice of either regular or boneless wings (you could also get half and half) and 13 different flavors to choose from. Kevin went with the single serving (10 pieces) of regular medium buffalo wings ($8.99). The wings came with some celery, carrots and blue cheese. When the wings first arrived, we were pretty impressed. They were huge! I guess the reviews were right...the wings from Atomic Wings are huge! I didn't try Kevin's wings but he said that they were nice. Not too spicy, just right.
I ordered a single serving of regular honey mustard wings ($8.99). It also came with celery, carrots and blue cheese. I must admit that yes, they looked really yummy. Did they taste yummy though? Wellllll, in all fairness, I think that the wings from Atomic Wings in general is great. However, this particular branch sucks! The wings were rather cold when it arrived. I really liked the taste of the wings and knew that the wings would be totally awesome if they were served hot (or warm, to say the least). I really don't understand how it could get cold in that short journey between the kitchen to our table when all the wings are supposed to be freshly cooked upon order?
We also shared a combo basket of waffle fries and onion fries ($6.99). When we first saw the price, we were thinking that it was a bit steep, just for a side. When the combo basket arrived, we knew why. It was big enough to feed a family of 6 (maybe even more!)!!! Look at how huge that serving was! I purposely took the picture with Kevin in it, so that you can have a a size reference. Also, check out the wings. Big wings, aren't they?
Our total bill came up to $31. We had the $25 Groupon, so we ended up paying an additional $6. $31 is really not too shabby for so much food. I think there was enough food to feed at least 4-5 people. Would we return to this particular Atomic Wings? Definitely not. However, we will have to visit another Atomic Wings outlet elsewhere to see if the service is any better. I guess it's worth checking out, since their wings are not too bad at all.

Atomic Wings - TriBeCa, NYC
311 Broadway
New York, NY 10007-1153
Tel: (212)571 7667
Web: http://www.atomicwings.com

Satish Palace - Montclair, NJ

It was really cold out a couple of weekends back and we didn't really feel like going out for dinner. So, we just decided to order in. Now, the million dollar question. What to eat? What to eat? What to eat? :P We were kinda sick of the usual Chinese, BBQ, pizza or wings that we would usually order and felt like trying something new. I went online to see if there are any other type of restaurants (apart from the ones that I have just mentioned) nearby and was pleasantly surprised when I found an Indian restaurant that would deliver to us. Not only would they deliver, but they also offered free delivery for orders above $25! Yay!
Everything on the menu looked good, so we figured we should just order one of the combination dinners. That way, we can try a little of everything. There are three types of different combination dinners (House Special, Mixed Grill & Vegetarian) available on their menu and we went with the House Special ($16.95). All combinations come with a huge serving of rice, papadums and raita. The mint and onion chutney in the foreground is part of the appetizer that we also ordered. When I say that the rice serving is huge, I am not kidding. You might not be able to see the amount, since it's all compacted into the container. Once you fluff it out, there is enough rice in there to feed at least 4 people!
Apart from rice, raita and papadums, the House Special also comes with two pieces of tandoori chicken, lamb rogan josh and vegetable korma. I must say that the tandoori chicken was really really good. Moist and tender, it's definitely one of the better tandoori chickens that I have tried around here. The lamb rogan josh was awesome too! Mild and creamy, with a tiny hint of spiciness...exactly how I like it. Again, the portions are rather generous. I cannot believe that this combination dinner is meant for ONE!
Oh, I forgot to mention that the House Special also comes with one free naan. We added on another piece of naan for $2.95. When our food was delivered to us, the naan was still nice and warm. Mmmm mmm yuummmmy.
We didn't really know how large the portions were when we first ordered (now we know!), so we added on a portion of Assorted Tandoori Appetizers ($7.95). Two piece of sheek kebab, 4 pieces of tandoori shrimp and a whole lot of chicken tikka. Like I mentioned earlier, this appetizer comes with a small tub of onion and mint chutney. The chicken tikka was really tender and oh so flavorful. In fact, all of the tandoori items that we ordered tasted awesome!
Kevin wanted to try their Indian Chai Tea ($1.75), so we ordered one serving of that. I must say that it definitely didn't taste like the nonsense Chai Latte that we would usually order from Starbucks. This tasted really authentic. It came with milk (but without sugar, you have to add that in yourself) and you can really taste the cinnamon, cloves and cardamon in the tea. Really wonderful, especially on a cold winters night.
Look at the amount of leftover food! This was after the both of us ate as much as we could and we still had enough leftover for lunch the following day. I must say that I'm really glad we found this place, the food is just so goooood! Not only that, the service is amazing too. It only took them about half an hour to deliver the food to our door, from the time we placed the order online. We know that Montclair is at least 15 minutes or so away, so yeah, very impressive. Delicious food, huge portions and fast delivery - what more could a person ask for? :D

Satish Palace - Montclair, NJ
397 Bloomfield Ave
Montclair, NJ 07042
Tel: (973) 746 4477
Fax: (973) 746 4488
Web: www.jyotirestaurant.com

Pizza Village Cafe II - Belleville, NJ

This is a really backdated post. I have been meaning to blog about this place for the longest time (I believe we first tried the food here back in Dec) but never really got around to it. Since the first visit, we have returned many times. Therefore, the food featured in this review is not merely from one visit, but over a space of time (I think we have been back like 4 times since the first?).
Pizza Village Cafe II is located in a strip mall, just next to the huge State Fair Superstore. We found out about this place when we were visiting the Christmas decorations outlet at the State Fair. From the moment we walked in, we knew that this pizza place is different from the rest. Not only was it super clean, but the staff working there were really polite and helpful. Definitely not your typical hole in the wall pizza place. We noticed lots of families dining in and it's really kid friendly too. We have always ordered out whenever we go there but I wouldn't mind dining in, in the future. Another good thing about this place is the availability parking spots. There are ample free parking lots located right in front of the restaurant. No need to drive around just for a parking spot.
So, what's good there? Well, the menu is quite extensive. Apart from pizza, they also have pasta, sandwiches, calzones, stromboli, wraps, wings, salads, Italian style dinners as well as a host of appetizers. During our first visit, we tried their Garlic Knots (6 pieces for $1.50). It was really good! Warm dough knots with lots of garlic butter, herbs and huge chunks of garlic. Mmmm mmm good! It is so good that we would make it a point to order that every time we get food from Pizza Village. It's like our 'must order' item on the menu.
Their wings ($7.75 for 10 pieces) are rather good too. You have a choice of two flavors, BBQ or Buffalo. We tried the Buffalo wings and it was not too bad. I am not a big fan of coated wings (I'd rather have them naked) but this is really not too bad at all. The wings also comes with free celery and bleu cheese.
I hate to admit this but although this is a pizza place, we have never really tried their pizzas. The nearest we got was when I ordered their Sausage Calzone ($6.25). From the taste of the calzone, I can tell that their pizzas should be really good too. The calzone dough was really good and it was stuffed with a whole lot of sausage, ricotta and mozzarella cheese. Really really good. The marinara sauce wasn't the greatest but it wasn't bad either. I'm not really bothered about that though, since I would usually eat my calzones without sauce anyways.
Now, what we really really like from Pizza Village are their sandwiches. Seriously, they make awesome sandwiches. I don't know if they bake their Italian breads in house or they buy it from somewhere else but either ways, it's yummy! Kevin tried their Ham & Cheese Sub ($6.50) and he said that it was really good. All cold subs are served with lettuce, onions tomatoes, oil, vinegar, mayo and spices, in a huge Italian roll. Yummy stuff!
Their Hot Italian Sandwiches are really good too. Kevin (and myself) is in love with their Italian Meatball Sandwich ($5.50). The meatballs are really really good and it's served with just the right amount of home made sauce and topped with loads of cheese. Delicious meatballs, home made sauce and melted cheese, all stuffed into a huge Italian roll = SUPER AWESOME MEATBALL SANDWICH!
Since we loved the Meatball Sandwich so much, I decided to try another of their Hot Italian Sandwiches. The Home Made Eggplant Parmigiana Sandwich ($5.50). Don't get me wrong, it was good but not quite as great as the Meatball Sandwich. If we were to compare the eggplant parm sandwich with other eggplant parm sandwiches that we have tried, I must say that it ranks pretty much up there. However, if we were to compare the meatball sandwich to the eggplant parm, then the meatball sandwich reigns supreme! :P
Another one of their sandwiches that I totally love is their Philly Cheese Steak. They have regular Cheesesteak ($6.00), Cheesesteak with Mushrooms or Peppers ($6.50), Pizza Cheesesteak ($6.50), Cheesesteak with Pepperoni ($6.50) or Cheesesteak Hoagie ($6.50). I tried the Special Steak ($6.75), which is pretty much Cheesesteak with everything :P The Special Steak comes with Mushrooms, Sweet Peppers, Fried Onions and their delicious Cheese Sauce (remember to ask for it, it's by request only). This is really an awesome sandwich, you should totally try it. Overall, I must say that Pizza Village Cafe II is a great place to go to if you are looking for some quick, affordable and uber delicious food. Two thumbs up. Oh btw, they deliver too!

Pizza Village Cafe II - Belleville, NJ
229 Main St
Belleville, NJ 07109
Tel: (973) 450 1818
Fax: (973) 450 3000
Web: http://pizzavillagecafe2nj.webs.com/

Cousins Pizzeria - Bloomfield, NJ

Our fridge was totally empty last Thursday and we were too lazy to go out grocery shopping. By dinnertime, our tummies were rumbling but again, we were just too lazy to go out for dinner. You know, it's just one of those days when you don't feel like doing anything but sit in front of the TV and stare at it :P We agreed that we should just order some food in but the question was...WHAT? Should we get Chinese? BBQ? Pizza? Japanese? Wings? Sooooo many choices!
I remembered picking up a menu for Cousins Pizzeria from the lobby of our apartment complex a while ago. So, we decided to give this place a try. According to the menu, we could order our food from it's website online. However, when we tried to do so, that particular page wouldn't load. So, we ended up calling and placed our order thru the phone.
Usually, whenever we order food in, it would take only between 20mins to 4omins (and that's really rare) to get here. We had to wait for almost 1 and a half for Cousins Pizzeria to get our food to us!! ONE AND A HALF HOURS! That's crazy. If it was a weekend, I would understand. Maybe they are really busy. However, it was a Thursday night. Why would they need one and a half hours just to bring us our food? To make matters worse, the delivery guy forgot our soda. Lucky thing Kevin noticed and asked him where the soda was. He then said it must be in the car. Geeezz, is it really that difficult to bring us our food within an acceptable time frame and also to get the order right?
We ordered 10 pieces of mild buffalo wings ($6.95) to share. It comes with blue cheese and celery. As expected, the wings were already cold when it got here. In all fairness, the wings were rather huge though. So, that's a good thing. However, the sauce was just alright. Nothing to really shout about. It might have been better if it arrived hot. Oh well...
Kevin tried the Large Meatball Sub ($7.75). The only good thing about that sub was that it was huge! It was almost the size of one whole french loaf. Apart from that, everything else wasn't all that good. The meatballs were not even full meatballs. They were cut into half. Kevin said that they tasted pretty bad, just like those cheap instant frozen meatball that you could pick in your grocery store's frozen food section. I don't think he will ever order that again.
I ordered the Sausage Calzone ($6). It was really nothing to shout about (apart from the fact that it was pretty huge!). The pizza dough was alright, but I wouldn't say that it is as good as some of the pizzerias in this area. What about the stuffing? Well, there were lots of ricotta and mozzarella cheese but the sausage was horrible. Totally tasteless. Also, by the time the calzone got to us, it was already really cold and soggy. The marinara sauce? Hah! Don't get me started on that. It was just some watery red colored sauce. I didn't even bother to try it. Horrible.
When we looked at the bill, we noticed that they slapped on a $2.85 delivery charge. No where on the menu does it say that there is a delivery charge. It only says that they will charge us an extra of $2 if we used a credit card to pay. The only thing we saw regarding delivery was a $10 minimum. Most of the places in our area do not charge for delivery, let alone $2.85! If they want to be competitive, they better think twice about this stupid fee that they have added on. Really slow service, mediocre food (well, it was actually worse than mediocre) and to top it all off, a delivery fee...hmmm, I think this is the last time we will be ordering from Cousins. There are just too many delivery places near us that serves awesome food, with no delivery charges and would only take about 20 mins from the time we order to the food arriving piping hot at our door.

Cousins Pizzeria - Bloomfield, NJ
543 Bloomfield Avenue,
Bloomfield, NJ 070003
Tel: (973) 680 8200
Fax: (973) 680 9292
Web: www.cousinzpizza.com

Bagel Depot - Staten Island, NY

Even though Kevin works in Staten Island, we haven't really hung out that much in Staten Island. In fact, apart from driving thru whenever we go JFK, I have only been to Staten Island once. That was like almost 3 years ago, when we went to Sears in Staten Island Mall. So, a few weekends ago, we decided to go check Staten Island out. We found out online that there is a historical village and museum complex called Historic Richmond Town. It is an actual living museum, with restored buildings dating as far back as the colonial period (will blog more about that later on). Sounds pretty interesting, so it's off to Staten Island we go!
Before leaving for Staten Island, we also went online to find out where we can get some really good bagels. Just like all the other New York City boroughs, Staten Island is well known for it's bagels. There is just something in those NYC hand pulled bagels that makes it so yummy and so different from all the other bagels that I have tried before. It must be the NYC water :D Anyways, we found out that Bagel Depot is supposed to have some of the best hand pulled bagels in the whole of Staten Island. Not only that, but guess what? There is a branch in Richmondtown itself! Woohoo! That's just perfect. So, on our way home to Jersey, we stopped by Bagel Depot to pick up some bagels.
The store was rather empty when we walked in. So, we had some time to snoop around while waiting to be served. Looks like they sold other stuff, apart from bagels. There were all kinds of muffins, english muffins, cookies, danish, croissants, turnovers and even jelly rings. They all look super yummy but we didn't get any. We were focused on our mission, to get our hands on some super yummy Staten Island bagels!
Not only did they have baked goods for sale, but they also carried a whole lot of other stuff. There was a deli section that sold all kinds of meats, smoked salmon, various types of cream cheese, antipasti as well as a huge selection of salads. Also, there we all kinds of breads, rolls and buns for sale. Man, I am beginning to like this place more and more! :P
Alright, enough of snooping around. We need to get to the main attraction! Check out the bagels baby! They are so huge and yummy looking. None of those hard, dry and tiny stuff that we usually see in grocery stores or coffee shops outside of this region. This is the real thing. NY style hand pulled bagels. Sooooo good! Apart from the usual bagels, they also have min bagels and flagels (flat bagels).
Look at all the bagels that we bought home! :P Yes yes, I know. The two fatties got carried a way for a bit. In our defense, we were actually taking full advantage of their "Buy a dozen and get 3 FREE" promotion (works out to $9.60 for 13 bagels). So yeah, that's the reason why we bought so many :P Oh and for those smarty pants who actually counted the bagels, yes, one of them didn't make the journey home. It was so good, we HAD to share one in the car, during our drive home..LOL! What type of bagels did we get? Well, we bought two plain, two low carb, two wheat, two egg, two poppy seeds, two garlic and one pumpernickel. They all tasted really good, light and chewy, just like how a good hand pulled bagel should be. Those bagels lasted us for quite a long time. All we needed to do was freeze the bagels in the freezer, pop it into the microwave for a few seconds whenever we want to eat them and it taste as good as new. So, if you are ever in Staten Island, you totally have to check out Bagel Depot. They make some of the best bagels ever!!

Bagel Depot (Richmondtown Branch) - Staten Island, NY
3459 Richmond Rd
Staten Island, NY 10306
Phone:(718)987 7682
Web: http://www.bageldepot.com

Binh Duong Traditional Vietnamese Restaurant

I have been meaning to blog about this restaurant for the longest time but never really got around to doing it. We were out grocery shopping in the Bloomfield area a few weeks back and we were looking for a place to grab something quick for dinner. We remembered seeing this small Vietnamese restaurant next to East West Asian Market the last time we were there, so we thought we would give it a try.

Since we had groceries in the car, we decided not to eat in but to take out our dinner. The exterior of the restaurant is nothing to shout about and I can say the same for the interior. Just your regular hole in the wall joint, with a few tables and chairs. It was still early for dinner but there were already quite a lot of diners there. We were the only non Vietnamese there, so I would take that as a good sign :P The owner took our orders and within 15 minutes or so, they brought out our piping hot food in two huge bags. Here's what we ordered.

Whenever we have Vietnamese food, we HAVE to order the Goi Cuon ($3.95 for 2 rolls). That's like my all time favorite Vietnamese food. The Goi Cuon aka Summer Roll had really large and fresh shrimp, very very yummy. Also, the peanut sauce was aweeessoomme! Seriously, it's been a while since I had a summer roll this good. Two thumbs up!

Apart from the Goi Cuon, we also ordered the Cha Gio ($4.95 for 5 rolls). That's the Vietnamese spring roll. Mini fried spring rolls filled with shrimp and pork. It also came with mint, lettuce and fish sauce. Again, it was super yummy! Crunchy on the outside and the filling was really tasty =) Yummy yummy yummy!

I ordered the Pho Dac Biet ($6.50), which is the House Combo Pho. Rice noodles with rare beef, well done beef, brisket, tendon and tripe served in an authentic Vietnamese beef broth. I added some Bo Vien (beef balls) for an additional $1. The noodles also came with bean sprouts, basil,lime and a sauce mixture of hoisin and hot sauce. I have had quite a lot of pho in my lifetime but I dare say that the beef broth here is superb! Really really good. I will definitely have to order this again.
Kevin ordered the Suon Nuong ($9.95), which is Grilled Lemongrass Pork Chops served with a salad and steamed Jasmine white rice. Just like all the other stuff that we ordered, this too was super yummy. The pork chops were nicely marinated and grilled to perfection. The best part of the pork chops is the slightly charred edges, mmm mmm gooood. Overall, this is an awesome restaurant. Quick service, friendly staff, affordable prices and most importantly, really good food! Boy, we are really happy that we found this place. It's only about 10 minutes away from our apartment. This means, we do not need to go to the city or Jersey City to get affordable and authentic tasting Vietnamese food anymore. Yay!

Binh Duong Traditional Vietnamese Restaurant
61 1/2 Belleville Avenue
Bloomfield, NJ 07003
Tel: (973) 680 8440
Fax: (973) 680 8441

Hours: Mon - Sat (11am - 10pm), Sun (11am - 9pm), Closed on Tuesdays