Shuu Café
Stars of a new confections show courtesy of a couple of recent Rutgers grads include customized cream puffs and bubble waffles filled with soft-serve and accessories. It’s a cheerful toast to an all-day dessert lifestyle.
La Unica Mexican Eatery
Refined classics betray a chef’s skills and sensibilities at a charmer of a storefront set in a crossroads downtown. It’s a world apart from chain-style Velveeta Mex and it’s no wonder the winsome dishes of Rafael Ponce de Leon are drawing diners from a distance.
Blue Café
In the downtown of Basking Ridge sits a corner storefront in which the food hasn’t lost its soul to corporate wonks or been fiddled with by A1 or focus groups or 24-year-olds whose minds have been mangled by too many marketing classes. It’s where eating is pure pleasure.
Mama Ha’s Eatery
Inside Hung Vuong Supermarket is a self-described “no-frills” spot where chef Mama Ha spins out a menu of the greatest culinary hits of Vietnam for those who grab-and-go or hang out with shopping carts and strollers. It’s a most delightful unshowy show.
Umile Trattoria
Today’s Americanized version of a trattoria is expressed at a casually elegant storefront in a restaurant-strong downtown that offers a couple of astoundingly fine dishes and also a few in need of refinement and more care in the kitchen. It’s a work in progress from a team with the experience needed to make necessary adjustments.
Sapore
Sandwiches reign these days at an old-school Italian deli with 55 years of plying its craft under its belt. Know it for ravioli, too? Read about its favorite layerings now and come back soon for more on its stuffed pasta specialty.
Ahjae Gookbap
A specialist in Korea’s supreme comfort food aces the genre but also excels in complex preparations with rather luxurious elements, such as blue crab and wild red shrimp. Do it all, and feast in an intimate storefront primed to create community.
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.