Tre Piani (Central NJ)

Rating:

Quality, Taste, Cleanliness, Environment, Price , & Staff

——————————————————-

Positive:  Excellent fine dining experience with delicious food and superb service. 

Negative:  Not enough virgin cocktails, and the desserts are mediocre.

Overall: Great restaurant to visit when in the mood for a fine dining experience or for a special occasions.

Revisit:  Yes, especially for the steaks and burgers along with the ambiance.

——————————————————-

Ever wonder how it would feel to experience halal food at a fine dining restaurant instead of  just eating seafood all the time?

Well… Tre Piani offers just that! This place is perfect for celebrating a special occasion, having a fancy dinner with friends, or taking out your special someone. They have a separate halal menu that you have to request and they cook everything in separate pots and pans so you don’t have to worry about it being mixed with the non-halal meat. The service here is spectacular from the minute you walk in to the minute you leave. The servers are very well trained and they continuously come to your table to ask if you need anything, constantly filling your water glass. I’ve been there several times and the service has been spectacular every time. Tre Piani also has a catering service and I believe you could rent out a part of the restaurant as well to do a special event such as a graduation party or a birthday party for adults.

They offer a wide variety of food. The appetizers include fried calamari and different types of soups and salad. The entrees consist of Italian dishes, burgers, pizza, and some steaks. I have enjoyed their Tre Piani Burger (cooked medium well), and the filet mignon steak (cooked medium rare) the most. The portion size for the steak is perfect for one person. It is served with mashed potatoes and sautéed spinach. The meat was tender and juicy and I definitely recommended it medium rare for anybody who loves soft and tender steak. The Tre Piani burger was amazing as well. I would recommend getting it cooked medium well or well done rather than medium rare. Also, it is very big and heavy so only get it if you are really hungry. Otherwise I would recommend the smaller burger that they have on the menu.  Their italian dishes are truly authentic and delicious.  I don’t think you can go wrong with anything on the menu.  Please be aware though, the menu they have on their website is old — they have a newer, updated menu with more steaks at the restaurant.

I would really like to see a larger variety off virgin cocktails at the restaurant as they only have a mixed berry cocktail which is not worth nine dollars.  In terms of the dessert, I wasn’t that impressed. i tried the warm chocolate cake but I definitely like the Grand Lux molten chocolate cake better.

Compared to other high end restaurants, Tre Piani is not as expensive as you would expect. If two people go, and they get one appetizer, 2 entrees, and a dessert, they could expect to spend about a $100.
——————————————————-

Tre Piani’s Website

View Larger Map

Shahnawaz Palace (Central NJ)

Rating:

Quality, Taste, Cleanliness, Environment, Price , & Staff

——————————————————-

Positive: Large Pakistani buffet with a large variety of items and good drinks.

Negative: Food quality and taste has declined over the years and the food on the buffet tables is poorly maintained. 

Overall: The buffet gives a large variety of low quality Pakistani food and is only worth going to if you are really craving a desi brunch buffet as other Pakistani buffet restaurants in NJ do not compare.

——————————————————-

Updated 2/5/2012:

Upon trying Shalimar’s $15 Buffet in North Brunswick, NJ I quickly realized why Shahnawaz is doing so well.  They have a large variety of foods which no other buffet place can compare to, their service is top notch compared with other Pakistani restaurant buffets, and everything is included in the price (I am talking about drinks).

Although I still think Shahnawaz does not have high quality food, I can see why they are always packed. They have a great selection of foods, from appetizers to desi dishes to Chinese dishes, and a large array of desserts. If only they improve their quality it would be worth going to again.  In contrast, Shalimar was very disappointing as you will see in my review.  Overall, I would say to go to Shahnawaz if you REALLY want a Pakistani brunch buffet in NJ because other restaurants doing a similar buffet in NJ do not compare. 

10/29/2011:

Looking for a nice pakistani buffet in nj?  

For a weekend family outing, we decided to go to Shahnawaz Banquet Hall in Edison, NJ for their weekend brunch buffet priced at $18/adult and $8/child.   For this price you would expect a great meal. I was shocked that they charge for children because  usually kids under a certain age eat free at buffets. The plus side is that drinks are included within the price.

I will start by reviewing the setup of the restaurant. It looks like you are eating at a small Indian style wedding hall beause of the printed carpeting, the huge chandelier, and the colored dim lighting that reflects onto the walls and the ceiling. The table that we were seated at was quite tight for 5 people because it was hard for us to get up and leave the table without pulling the chair out. They also did not have napkins on the table which I think is very important to have when eating desi food. They did, however, bring us a pitcher of water with plastic glasses. (When you are at a proper sit down restaurant, you do not want plastic cups.)

Moving onto the set up of the buffet…this too needs to be more organized. The chutneys and sauces that go with the chaats were placed away from the chaat and samosas. They had appetizers all over the place and those should all be placed together as well. Everything was labeled except the desserts and that should be labeled too.

The service was excellent as servers continously kept coming to our table to take our used plates away and to ask us if we wanted drinks. The drinks were excellent and consisted of sweet lassi, salty lassi, and mango lassi. The food, on the other hand, was just mediocre. It was not being refilled quickly and some dishes were warm while others were cold. The only food items I recommend are the chicken nuggets, the fried fish, and the pani puri. We were very disappointed with the halwa puri. Even though it was nice and hot, it did not have any flavor. Other things we tried were the chinese dishes, paya, roasted lamb and these were all savorless. I thought maybe I’d have better luck with the desserts but they too were disappointing, especially the red velvet cake and brownies. How do you go wrong with brownies?

So all in all, Shahnawaz is way too overrated and the only reason they are doing well is because they are the only Halal buffet with a lot of variety in the foods they offer.

——————————————————-

Shahnawaz Website

View Larger Map

S&H Kebab House (Philadelphia)

Rating:

Quality, Taste, Cleanliness, Environment, Price , & Staff

——————————————————-

Positive: Excellent Black Angus Steak with excellent ambiance in a great location.  Turkish tea and Baklava are delicious.

Negative:  Turkish food is average in quality and they serve grocery store quality pita bread rather than fresh Turkish bread.

Overall: Great place to go with family and friends, especially if you like steaks and appreciate great service and ambiance. 

Revisit:  Will definitely revisit them, especially when family and friends come to the Philadelphia area.

——————————————————-

Looking for halal steaks in philly?

I have had the chance to visit S&H Kabab house a number of times for dinner and lunch.  It is located on Pasayunk Road close to the busy South Street area by Penns Landing in Philadelphia.  This is a nicely decorated Turkish restaurant with great ambiance and good quality food. Not to mention their great service from kind staff.  They have black Angus steaks which are unheard of in the Halal food realm.  The steaks offered include New York strip steak, Filet Mignon, and the T bone steak.  I get them medium rare and find them to be very succulent and delicious every time I eat there. They are probably one of the best steaks I have ever eaten; I have yet to try Cairo Steakhouse on Steinway street in Queens, NY though.

The Turkish food is also good in quality but not as good as other Turkish restaurants I have eaten at in New York City.  It is probably somewhat better than Sahara Restaurant and Efes in New Brunswick, NJ. Their doner kebab and chicken sheesh kabab (which is very tender unlike what you find at other restaurants) are probably the best Turkish dishes they offer, but you can try their mixed platter which gives a huge helping of all their Turkish meats. Their portion sizes are good but the amount of rice they give is usually not enough for me.  I also tried their Turkish tea as I saw most customers drinking it and although I find Turkish tea to be too strong for me, I enjoyed their tea. Their home-made baklava is very delicious as well and tastes very fresh.  One problem is that their Pita bread is the frozen ones you can find at grocery stores.  However, their hummus makes up for it and is a great appetizer.

In addition to the restaurant decor, service, and high quality food, the owner is very friendly and came to check on us while we ate.  He also allowed me to pray at their restaurant in the back where they usually have their Hookah Lounge.  Another time I went, though, the owner was not there and the workers did not allow me to pray in the restaurant as it was raining and the Hookah Lounge is located outside in the back.
——————————————————-

S&H KEBAB HOUSE WEBSITE

View Larger Map

Related articles

• Al Basha (Northern NJ) (halalfoodcritic.wordpress.com)
• Bakhtar Halal Kababs (Queens) (halalfoodcritic.wordpress.com)
• Doner Kebab – Turkey (beatcancer2010.wordpress.com)

Burger.Org (Philadelphia)

Rating:

Quality, Taste, Cleanliness, Environment, Price , & Staff

——————————————————-

Positive: Good tasting kosher organic burgers.  There is also a large variety of other kosher meat entrees which include turkey, chicken, fish, and lamb.

Negative: Ordering time not optimal but food comes out quick.  

Overall: Great place to try great burgers if you are in the area or craving kosher meat!

Revisit:  I will definitely go again as there is no other place that offers good quality, tasty kosher burgers in Philadelphia.

——————————————————-

Looking for some good burgers in philly?

Burger.org is a Glatt Kosher restaurant located on South Street in Philadelphia. The setup you would expect at a burger joint is immediately apparent upon entering the restaurant.  There are multiple tables with bar stools and some with chairs. There are also chairs at  counter in the center of the store where you can order food and watch TV while eating.  You can tell that this is an authentically kosher restaurant as there are many pictures and relics reminiscent of the Jewish religion and culture, as well as the cook in his traditional garments. I also saw that one of the workers was praying on the side, making this a prayer friendly place although I did not ask to pray myself.

The menu is full of a variety of free range/grass fed organic meat (chicken, turkey, lamb, beef) for sandwiches and burgers as well as wild catch Fish dishes.  They also have a variety of vegetarian dishes ranging from Hummus to Salads and even veggie burgers.  Service is quick and the workers are very nice and friendly.

I had the chance to experience their popular El Mariachi Burger and Fried Chicken Sandwich.  The El Mariachi was delicious and included pico de gallo, guacamole, raw onion, tomato, lettuce, and chipotle sauce on a medium cooked patty.  The Fried Chicken sandwich consisted of a chicken cutlet and tasted fresh and was equally delicious.   The meat quality is good and you can tell that its organic as advertised.  I think the taste is great but it is not as good as Burger 7 located in Virgina.  Their sweet potato fries, however, were not good and may have been better if they were crispy.  I did not have a chance to try their regular fries.  I will visit again and try their other items, and will update this post accordingly.

I recommend coming here if you are in the mood for some good burgers and cannot find anything Halal in the area. Glatt kosher implies a stricter standard of cutting kosher meat as per about.com:  it must come from a kosher animal and be slaughtered in a kosher way. For meat to be glatt kosher, in addition to the two above conditions, the meat must also come from an animal with adhesion-free or smooth lungs. Overall I think this is a great place to go if you’re craving burgers and want to try something new.

——————————————————-

 Burger.org Website

View Larger Map