Burgers Bar- Guest Post

Guest post from Upper West Sider

There are many preconceived notions associated with Burgers Bar.  You always feel like you need to get straight into a bed after a double burger with three different sauces and french fries on the side. It's perceived as a dirty, unhealthy restaurant that you only go to at 1AM on a Thursday night when you're walking from the Kotel to the King David and the smell of French fries reminds you that you're starving.

The Teaneck natives have been unable to overcome these hard feelings and haven't given the place a chance.  The place is literally always empty.

As a "foreigner" who was in the mood for a big fat burger (and by the way, that's one of the only times you should go there), I was actually quite impressed.

A double burger, topped with lettuce tomatoes, onions and their signature Mustaengo made for a great entrée.  The crispy poppers were a phenomenal starter and I even returned for those a few days later as a late night snack.  There are few things that I enjoy more than some good fried chicken strips bathed in the sauce of my choice.

The only real disappointment were the appetizers.  Everything is fried with the exception of the grilled portabella, which I don't think anyone ever orders.  Burgers Bar has to pick up their healthy game - everybody's doing it now.  Nobody can come eat in the place with their wife (unless she's pregnant) or teenage daughter without a decent offering of grilled vegetables, grilled chicken, steamed this and low fat that.

The place is empty, hence the service is great. 

Burgers Bar - pickup your game some more, know your market, cater to their desires and the place won't be empty on Thursday nights.  Burgers Bar far from qualifies for a family's new Tuesday night dinner venue, but when you're in the mood for a juicy burger, chicken poppers and some fries, Burgers Bar is the place.

Welcome Back Petak's (Never knew you were here)

As many of you do not know, Petak’s opened up on West Englewood Ave about a half year ago. After being open for only a short time, it closed due to staffing issues. No manager was available to run the place and the partners that ran it were focusing on their Fair Lawn location.

I’ve just learned that they will re-open in a matter of weeks. Petak’s was/is quite successful in takeout and deli in Fair Lawn and it will remain to be seen if they can make their mark on the crowded West Englewood Ave “Kosher East Side." The key to its success will be setting itself apart from their competitors. We do not need another deli sandwich.

Gabe Gilbert from Best Glatt and Pasta Factory will be running the show. Let’s see that Johnsons and Wales education big guy.

Post your comments as to what food you want to see on its menu. I, for one, would love a corn dog. Might have to go to Subsational for lunch....

Petak’s - 182 West Englewood Ave, Teaneck- 201-833-8200

Talia's (NYC)

To sum up Talias – it's kosher fast food served on plates and silverware with poor waiter service.

Not sure why I went back.  Actually, the Groupon is to blame.  Who can beat $75 for a 3 course dinner plus a bottle of wine - for two. Actually, shabbos leftovers can.

The service is non-existent. Waiters setting tables while I wait to place my order (and there were plenty of set tables so there was no rush). The maitre’de looked like she was just doing her Sherut Leumi and deserved to be sent back to border patrol.

As far as the food - I made better steak my first time working a grill, and the ribs were, well, definitely not ribs.

At least the wine was good – but, it was a sealed bottle so you can’t really mess that up.

The place got an “A” rating from the NYC Department of Health,  but who knows, maybe graft is still alive.

I can go on and on about the place, but it's not even worth the time.

Ariel's of Englewood

In my last review of Ariel’s (pre-blog, on Facebook), I ripped the place. Just about everything was wrong. As it was late at night, right before closing, and I took out, I figured one day I might go back.

So, this past Sunday, we negotiated dinner with the kids - had to be dairy for ice cream after and couldn’t be local pizza since I didn’t want to get arrested (banks aren’t open tomorrow and bail money is in the safe deposit box).

The place was empty at 5pm on Independence Day Sunday. Probably a good thing since my older daughter was never mistaken for a monk. They forgot a few napkins on the table, but my younger son prefers his shirt anyways.

The appys had too much cheese on it, both the stuffed chili pepper and the sweet potatoe nachos, but it is a dairy restaurant, so what can I possibly expect.

The pasta was great, but if you can’t make fettuccine alfredo you really shouldn’t open to begin with.

Once thing Ariel’s always had was good, cheap desserts, and since I like ordering everything on the menu, that usually works well for me. Problem is, they were out of almost everything. “We only have what the owner makes, everything else we bring someone in for and he hasn’t come in for a while." Nice, really nice.

At least they had the Beignets, which I’ve never seen at a kosher restaurant north of Orleans Parish. It was as good as Café Du Monde’s, but that could just be because after a night of drinking in the French Quarter, any solid food tastes great.

In summary, Ariel’s needs to step it up. It opened to great fanfare, but it can’t slip this early in the game. Please. I beg you.  Get your act together.

Ariel's of Englewood 18 Engle St,Englewood, NJ 07631 201-569-1202
http://www.arielskosher.com/

Sunflower Cafe, Five Towns- Guest Post

(This guest post was written by a lawyer from the Five Towns- so limited sarcasm but at least I wasn't charged by the hour- send me your guest posts! Sunflower also has a great location in Flatbush, only problem is it's in Flatbush and my blood pressure (and risk of arrest) rises when I go there)

Sunflower Café in the five towns – owned and run by Israelis, which means the servers can be opinionated and sometimes slow but the food is awesome if a little pricey! You can’t go wrong with almost anything you order.  If you get a salad, order it chopped, comes out much better.  The Lattes are kick-a**  exactly like them make them in Israel.  The sushi rocks too.

The fettuccine alfredo has great flavor, it is usually boring and bland in most restaurants, but not when prepared by Israelis, it stands out from any other one I have tasted, and let me tell you, I am a pasta/cheese aficionado!

There are kid options available which gives you a break on your wallet if you are going out with kids, (or just like grilled cheese or spaghetti in tomato sauce)

All in all, a great “night before kids leaving to camp” eatery!

http://www.sunflowercafe.com/

PTSD

I am still suffering from PTSD- Post-traumatic stress disorder, after a brutally long dinner last night at Talia's Steakhouse (the word service simply did not exist) combined with a night of giving some of Teaneck's lovely ladies five hours worth of directions to Basil in Crown Heights.

I will have a full review on Talia's (brace yourself) tomorrow. In the interim, I will have a guest post on Sunflower Cafe in Lawrence shortly.

Please submit your guest reviews to thekoshercritic@gmail.com

After all, a second opinion can't hurt.

Mocha Bleu

I’ve been to Mocha Bleu over a dozen times the last few months. As many of you know, Mocha is a well-designed, trendy styled dairy restaurant, bakery, sushi etc. This is part of its success, yet also part of the problem.

I happen to love the place and think the food is great (service review below), but have spoken with numerous people that don’t agree. I fault them and not Mocha. The menu is way too long and people just don’t know what to order, so they experiment with randomly selected items that sound good.  People, if you don’t know what something is, ASK.

I, on the other hand, go for one of several pizzas (I like the fake meat ones) the sushi sandwich (best sushi in town) and the onion rings (second only to Noah’s Ark). On a related side point, there’s an onion ring problem in the neighborhood – too many places serve Kineret like you’re in a school cafeteria.

The rugelach are great, but for some asinine reason, the bakery closes before the restaurant does, so they rush you through dessert. How hard is it for the server to grab me a few rugies or a piece of cake?

The place is very clean and outside dining area is great.

Service – Katilin is the best waitress in town and its only a matter of time before she gets hired to go work for a customer (I know a little about that having gotten my first career job that way). But, the maitre’de on Saturday night constantly reminds people that there is a minimum charge, like I’m at some club.  Stop that. The food does come out very quickly thankfully.

All in all, it’s a great place to recommend to people coming from out of town, or to meet someone. You won’t be embarrassed by the bathroom and will be impressed by the presentation.

In conclusion, it’s costly, but worth it if you know what you want.

Mocha Bleu – 1399 Queen Anne Road – 201-837-2538  www. Mochableu.com