Dinner at Roman Nose in Jersey City, NJ

Dan and I had New Year's Eve dinner at Roman Nose in JC. All the food was excellent and the service was great as well.  The ricotta honey crostini was particularly amazing and worth coming back for.  The pasta was also great but not quite as amazing as L'Artusi.  All in all an excellent meal.

Trio of crostini - (top to bottom) Crema di Carciofi (cream of artichoke, parmigiano, balsamic glaze), Pomodoro (tomato, basil, garlic, oregano, parmigiana, extra virgin olive oil), and Ricotta, Miele, e Noci (fresh sheep's milk ricotta, lemon olive oil, Tuscan chestnut honey, toasted walnuts, tomato and pecorino).  They were all good but the ricotta one was hands down the best.  So good we ordered a second round of it 

More ricotta crostini.  Also added Pesto - basil pesto, fresh tomato, and pecorino.  Good too but after ricotta, my second fav was Pomodoro

Spaghetti Aglio e Olio - garlic, EVOO, red pepper flakes, pecorino romano, and toasted bread crumbs.  Same dish as L'Artusi but not nearly as good.  The pasta stuck together and the bread crumbs weren't as crisp and hearty

Tagliatelle al Ragu - with bolognese meat sauce of beef, pork, and vegetables.  This was def the better dish of the two pastas.

Delicious cannoli

Mediterraneo Gelato - signature ice cream made for the restaurant by Milk Sugar Love in JC.  Has roasted, salted, butter pistachios, hazelnuts and almonds in a butter-cream base.  Sooo good since I love all these kinds of nuts

Lunch at Nizi Sushi in Newark, NJ

I've had several lunch meals at Nizi Sushi in Newark.  The sushi is very fresh tasting and the other dishes seem pretty authentic despite the fusion nature of the restaurant.  They also have awesome lunch deals so everything is pretty inexpensive and you get LOTS of food.  Def a gem in Newark.

Beef bulgogi bento box with California roll, rice, and salad.  Beef was excellent and tasted quite authentic

Diane's bowl.  I forgot what was in it but she seemed to really enjoy it

Veggie roll

My sushi bento box.  Super fresh and large pieces of sushi

Dinner at Red Lobster in Secaucus, NJ

Dan and I were having some strange cravings for cheddar bay biscuits, so we went to Red Lobster of course.  Even though it's a chain I feel like the food is pretty good because it's hard to screw up seafood.  Definitely worth it for the biscuits.

Crab stuffed mushrooms.  Pretty good though very rich sauce

Caesar's salad.  Actually pretty good.  The dressing was just right

Garden salad

(L to R) Lobster mashed potatoes, shrimp scampi, and coconut shrimp.  The shrimp scampi was great; not too oily and lots of garlic.  The coconut shrimp was a little much.  Very sweet.  The lobster mashed potatoes were good but super rich

Dan's lobster topped salmon.  Just a tad decadent

Dinner from Taqueria in Jersey City, NJ

We ordered take-out for dinner from Taqueria.  We were kind of disappointed with the buche (pork stomach) taco because it tasted very offle-y.  The torta sandwich with carnitas was amazing though.

Torta (sandwich) with carnitas, avocado, lettuce and tomato

Carnitas taco.  Can't go wrong

Buche (pork stomach) taco.  For some reason not great.  We didn't like the texture and it seemed very organ-y.  Last time we had it at the actual restaurant it was so much crisper.  We couldn't even get through them :(

Dinners at Dinosaur BBQ in Newark, NJ

A few more Devils game means a few more trips to Dinosaur BBQ.  These posts are two trips consolidated into one.  Food is always excellent.  I try to have something new each time so I can make my way through the menu.

Korean ribs and brisket with mac and cheese and baked beans.  The baked beans with pork were new for me and very good.  I still don't like their mac and cheese.  A weird after taste

Fried green tomato sampler platter.  So good

Dan's brisket sandwich with coleslaw

Two meat platter with drunken shrimp, chicken, gumbo, and beans and rice.  The shrimp and beans and rice were new orders for me.  Shrimp was okay.  Didn't really taste like garlic or anything special.  The beans and rice were good though my dinner was quite bean-y since there were also beans in the gumbo

Dinner at L'Artusi in NYC

Dan and I went to dinner at L'Artusi as I had read so many reviews that their pasta is the best in NYC.  The environment wasn't the best - a little snotty and we waited a bit to be seated, and I had to make a reservation a month in advance for a late seating on a Monday night.  BUT the food was as good if not better than I had hoped, so overall worth it.  The shocking part was the best dish was completely meat-free.  We have since learned how to cook this dish, but their version is still the best I've had.

Hamachi Tartare - grapes, chives, lemon and walnuts.  What sounds kind of like a strange combo was actually perfection.  Super balanced.  It had acid, salt, crunch, plus fresh and perfectly sliced hamachi.  We ate this super quickly.

This was some kind of pasta special with short rib.  Good but not as good as the dish below

Signature spaghetti - with garlic, chilies, and paremesan.  What sounds so simple was legit the best pasta I've eaten. EVER.

Another shot.  The breadcrumbs were heavenly.  Perfect texture, size, and absorbed all the delish garlicy cheese sauce

Our drinks.  I really don't remember what they were but they were good though took too long to be brought out.

Charred Octopus - with potatoes, chilies, olives, and pancetta.  Excellent texture 

Olive oil cake - raisin marmellata, vin santo, creme fraiche mousse.  AMAZING.  The cake itself was so moist and the creme fraiche was a perfect compliment.  I even didn't mind the raisins, which I normally don't like in my dessert.