Batten Ramen & Beard Papa - Fort Lee, NJ

Fort Lee seems to have all the best places to go and when I saw my friend's tweet on Batten Ramen, I was intrigued. Not to mention great timing since I was already there visiting my sister. This was our Sunday brunch so we got there around 11 or so. There's street parking as well as metered parking in the back. The restaurant is actually located right outside of a small shopping center. The place was pretty filled up when we got there so took few minutes to get our seats. The staff greeted us warmly in Japanese and saw few patrons there as well who are Japanese. So far so good.

We already started looking at the menus while waiting so knew what we wanted to get before we sat down. They have options where you can have ramen with curry and the menu had plenty of things to choose from but unfortunately pork buns weren't one of them. Ah well, I didn't expect it to be on there so no worries.

I ordered the Miso Ramen as usual and the broth was pretty tasty and I'd say it's comparable to the ramen place at Mitsuwa. The rest of the food was pretty good as well Overall, I'd come back here again. I know my sister marked this place down in her book to return.

Best yet, there's a bakery place right around the corner call "Parisienne Bakery" that sells Beard Papa creme puffs! Omg, those are to die for and if you never had any, you need to head over to one in NYC/NJ quickly. I had my first one in NYC and glad that there's one in NJ as well.

Besides selling Beard Papas, they also sell Asian bakeries and of course boba drinks; however, I can't seem to find the original black milk tea flavor in two locations in Fort Lee. I'm beginning to think they don't sell it at all anywhere there which is odd. It's probably the most original and popular flavor there is.

Anywho if you're in the area, definitely check out these places. Happy Eating! =) Continue Reading...

Woo Jung Korean BBQ Restaurant - Palisades Park, NJ

I was visiting my sister in NJ two weekends ago and we were hankering for some korean bbq so she took me to this one. The place held about 6-8 tables for bbq grilling and it was filled up by the time we got there so we waited a bit. The host was extremely nice letting us sit at one of the empty tables and before long, we were seated.

We ordered one regular kalbi and another kalbi in the special sauce along with soondobu and japchae. Everything came out promptly and side dishes were aplenty. The meat is grilled over hot coals, which adds so much flavor to the meat.

If you haven't been to this place yet, it's a definite must. The prices are in the usual $18-$20 for each meat order and of course, you come out smelling like bbq, but I never really have a problem with that. =D

Also for a fraction of the price and if you don't have a great Korean bbq near you, you may want to try this recipe at home that I found online. It was super easy and you'll be grilling away in no time. =) I have a portable gas grill from years back and added a round grill top that I bought from local Hmart last year just for Korean BBQ.


Kalbi Marinade Recipe

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cups soy sauce
3/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup sesame oil
5 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 of a medium yellow onion, chopped
3 large green onions, cut into small pieces
2 tbl toasted sesame seeds
1/2 tsp of red pepper flakes
4-6 pounds of Korean short-ribs

DIRECTIONS:

Place ribs in a large ziplock bag or a dish that can hold them all (I used a large pot with lid). Combine all the ingredients together and stir for 1 minute. Pour the marinade into the pot, dish, or ziplock over the meat making sure ll the ribs have been coated. Cover and refrigerate over night. The next morning make sure to place the ribs that were on the bottom on top, and vice versa. Continue to refrigerate until its time to grill.

Heat grill to medium-high heat and when the grill is nice and hot add meat. Grill each side for 3-4 minutes. Garnish with additonal slices of green onion and toasted sesame seeds.

Printable Recipe

Enjoy! Continue Reading...