El Ganadero
Latin American cuisines reign at this family-run eatery where the customs and conventions of home-cookery are followed, the beans and stocks take much of the day to cook and short-cuts will never be in style.
Ceviche House Mi Peru
Proud Peruvian classics are on display at this downtown storefront where you can satisfy a hankering for causa, churrasco, ceviche and chaufa or, if you’re still unacquainted with a cuisine that’s making a mark throughout New Jersey, come here to be properly educated and splendidly fed.
Thymari
There are classics to praise and questions about ingredient quality and technical acuity to raise at a Greek-centric taverna in a downtown a short drive from the Delaware River in South Jersey. What’s fine, however, shows the promise of a kitchen intent on welcoming diners to a most hospitable dine-in space.
XiBei Cuisine
The terroir of Northwest China is expressed at a newcomer that’s unafraid to dig into the blended cultures that shaped the foodways of a region too often ignored in the scheme of restaurant things in New Jersey. There’s hope for change now that this destination is on the map of must-stops.
Geamos Café & Bakery
An all-day café imagined in the manner of a local gathering place in a small European city is serving the classic savories and sweets of Georgia in ways both continental and comforting. It’s crossroads cuisine and its immediate mecca-in-NJ status is thanks to exquisite dishes delivered with warmth and all the information you need to make a meal complete.
Canal House Station
With limited a la carte dinner service on Fridays and Saturdays to supplement popular Sunday afternoon suppers, this restaurant-as-respite in Hunterdon County’s northernmost River Town remains a sanctuary of all-around loveliness where the processes of cooking are kept to high standards and the art of dining is cherished.
Day Dining Along the Delaware
Peak foliage time and the downtowns along the river that marks the western border of Hunterdon County pulsate with day-trippers and weekenders in need of edible fuel in between scenic rides in the countryside by bike or car or after walks along the connecting towpath. Last week and this, we’ve been featuring prime places to eat in the River Towns and today we offer a round-up of breakfast, lunch and snacks stops along the trail.
The Speckled Egg Café
Reborn and reimagined in a new-old space in the city’s eclectic and coruscating downtown is a noshery where chef Megan Loos’ pitch-perfect plates stimulate and soothe and never stop short of entertaining as they enlighten. The good tastes are rolling again.
Meta Café
A breakfast-lunch spot on the edge of the city’s core downtown has a new chef-owner who’s keeping what’s loved on the menu but taking steps to not only show off his own considerable skills, but expand the café’s scope beyond the mainstream. Call ahead to secure the best dabeli anywhere.
The Circle
A destination that started out as a curiosity on the trend-spotting trail is growing into a restaurant where folks now gather to catch the pulse of Garden State ingredients tended to with imagination and sometimes daring. Much, much works well; a couple of dishes don’t hit their marks. But the farmhouse is assuredly home to a pair of confident chefs who care.
Sebastian’s Schnitzel Haus
For more than 30 years, cheerful, hearty German-American food has been the calling card and draw at this roadhouse heavily populated by Hummels, dolls and beer steins. It’s old-fashioned in other ways, too – cash only, menus encased in plastic, checks written in long hand – and that’s A-OK by all who belly up to the brats.
Poy’s Kitchen
Sporting mostly Thai, with a side of Lao-style dishes, this storefront in the county seat of Sussex County is helmed by a chef with some serious chops. Take a flier on the less available cuisine and be rewarded with mindful cookery.