Zara’s Restaurant
The lure of Pakistani specialties may beckon, but it’s the estimable ways of a kitchen backing a splashy celebratory space that keeps diners returning to this capacious storefront.
Shirin Café
Classic dishes from Uzbekistan charm with authenticity and technical precision at a homey storefront run by a couple devoted to serving locals with ties to Central Asia and Eastern Europe as well as diners interested in experiencing another world of cookery without need of a passport.
Lutong Bahay and Phil-Am Bakery
There is a Little Manila in the small borough in Somerset County that could and should evolve into a winsome destination for home-style Filipino foods. Two stops on the would-be trail offer specialties well worth a segue from downtowns more traveled.
China Chalet
Star dishes than shun the norm separate this long-timer in Morris County from the pack. Learn its menu, commit to its strengths and please sub it for the places with standard-issue menus currently inked on your dine card.
Blair Mountain Biscuit Co.
Chef Ted Miller serves a staple of the South with twists on tradition at his snug storefront in Blackwood. It’s where you just might want to risk it for a biscuit.
Chatpati Delhi
A strip mall storefront along the Garden State’s own Spice Route is where Chef Hema Singh leads a 14-person kitchen and her husband Jimmy Poonawalla runs the floor show. It’s not the Taj Mahal, but it’s a wonder of tastes and right now is New Jersey’s finest South Asian restaurant.
The Floor Show
Traditional front-of-house team members might benefit from learning a few tricks of an updated model of the service trade. The discourse on “The New Counter Culture” continues.
Sergeantsville Inn
Another chef who once led a big-name, big-city kitchen has taken charge of the stoves at an iconic restaurant in Hunterdon County. Is the multi-tiered menu serving its mission and community?
K-Towne Kitchen
A mom-and-pop shop lets well-turned-out staples of Korean street fare such as kim bop, kup bop, wings and ramen share menu space with American standards overplayed everywhere. Time to let the K in the name truly rule.
Andre’s Lakeside Dining
Chef Andre deWaal and his wife Tracey pioneered a modern, globally influenced style of fine dining in Sussex County more than a quarter-century ago, gleaning inspiration from the seasons and also from travels that stock their personal pantry of ideas.
Tony’s Lunch(eonette)
In the Deep South of the Garden State a breakfast-lunch spot within the region’s famed Produce Auction complex serves as an emblem of place, all the while capsulizing its marquee industry, most influential culture and the needs of locals on a proudly old-school menu.
The Inn at Glen Gardner
The 21st-century shows its rustic-modern side on the plates and in the welcoming scene created by a husband-and-wife team in a northern Hunterdon County borough. Tweaks? There could be a few. But much of what’s on tap is satisfying to a regular crowd of locals and day-trippers.