Grand Lux Cafe (New York/New Jersey)

Rating: 

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

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Positive: Original and delicious baked to order desserts.

Negative: Very busy at lunch/dinner times and desserts take 30 minutes to be made.

Overall: Great place for baked to order dessert in a grand setting that must be tried if you come within 15 miles of any of the locations!

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craving donuts?  molten chocolate? strawberries?  pineapple?

Grand Lux Cafe is my go to restaurant for desserts whenever I am in Long Island, Paramus, or even Las Vegas. They have baked to order desserts which take half an hour to make so you have to order them when you order your entrees.

Let me start with the Molten Chocolate Cake. This is one of the best lava cakes i’ve ever had. It is served very hot with vanilla ice cream. What makes it really good is the quality of the chocolate that they use and the hotness of the chocolate liquid inside. Another one of my favorite is the beignets that they sell with 3 dipping sauces. Please be aware that one of their dipping sauces has alcohol in it so make sure to tell the waiter before hand!  These are also made fresh and are very warm. The only way I can describe them is that they are in between zeppoles and donuts. I recommend them highly if you are in a group of 4. For 2 people, these are a bit too much because I believe you get 6 for one order.

I have also tried the pineapple upside down cake which is not bad either and only recommend it if you are craving a pineapple dessert. The strawberry shortcake is also delicious for all you strawberry lovers. The ambiance of the restaurant is great as well. The decorations are very grand just like they say it in their name “Grand Lux.”  If you want delicious, baked to order desserts and live close by definitely try this place out!

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    Grand Lux Cafe Website

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Bundu Khan Kabab House (Queens)

Rating:

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

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Positive:  Great combination of lacha paratha (bread) and fresh naan with gola kababs, bihari kababs, and boneless chicken tikka.  

Negative:  Inconsistent food taste, especially the gola kababs, like many other Pakistani restaurants.

Overall: The best BBQ Pakistani food in the NJ/NY area.

Revisit:  Yes,  I have visited there often and will continue to do so; their food tastes better than other places even on a bad day.

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UPDATED ON 2/25/2012

Bundu Khan is still inconsistent in the food they have, but the naan and paratha are always delicious.  Their bihari kababs and boneless chicken tikka were excellent on this visit but their gola kababs were too spicy and a bit salty.  It would be so much more satisfying if they were more consistent. With all that said I still believe they still have the best all around Pakistani bbq food in the region.

FROM JANUARY 9, 2012

Craving good pakistani kababs and paratha?

Bundu Khan, no relation to popular restaurant in Pakistan with same name or the restaurant in Houston with the same name, is a clean and small quick bite restaurant located on Union Tpke in Glen Oaks, NY. The walls are painted bright green with large photographs of food hanging on the walls; despite the description, this all works very well for the restaurant and gives it a nice feel. They also have a large screen TV playing various indian movies on a given day.  It can accommodate four families of four people but not more.  Most people seem to order or take out.

There are usually the same three people working at the restaurant in the front end:  the owner, his wife, and a female worker.  From what I hear, they have been working together for a very long time when the owner had another well known Pakistani restaurants in Long Island which he later sold.  That restaurant (Kababchi) by the way, has dwindled in quality after the current owner of Bundu Khan left to start up a new restaurant.

Nonetheless the food at his new restaurant is delicious.  Yes, it is like other typical Desi restaurants, where the taste is inconsistent because of the large amount of different spices that are put in and the intricacy that is involved.  On the back end he has several Mexican cooks who do most of the work.  I enjoy their lacha paratha, naan, boneless chicken tikka, and gola kababs.  I have tried their bihari kababs but think they are mediocre.  The gola kababs can be very delicious at times, melting in your mouth, while you eat the crispy lacha paratha (no this paratha is not the typical flaky one from the Pakistan based restaurant or the one in Houston, but its still damn good).  The gola kabab used to be very spicy but the owner managed to make the spice less but now the problem is cooking – sometimes its burnt and other times its perfect.  They need to get this right soon otherwise they’ll lose me as a customer for sure. They do have some delicacies as well, including Magas Nihari (Nihari with brain in it).  I haven’t tried it and don’t plan on it.  I have heard its decent though, but of course cannot compare to the one you find in Pakistan.

Despite the inconsistencies, they have the best BBQ Pakistani food around and their food still tastes better than other restaurants on a bad day.

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• Kabab Paradise (Central & Northern NJ) (halalfoodcritic.wordpress.com)
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Gyro King (Brooklyn)

Rating:

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

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Positive:  Fresh lamb gyro and chicken marinated with tikka masala giving it a better zing than the bland chicken of the NYC gyro carts.

Negative:  Although very similar to the NYC gyro carts it still does not give you the same experience.  The white sauce is different as well.

Overall: Great alternative to the NYC gyro carts if you want a slightly different taste and do not want to travel into the city.

Revisit:  Only if I am in the area and don’t want to go in the city

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Want some gyro platters but don’t want to go to nyc?

Gyro King is located in Coney Island, Brooklyn, a busy area predominately inhabited by the Pakistani Muslim community. It is located in between a halal fried chicken place and barber shop . It is a small, clean food place where you can order only and sit on a bench to wait. That is fine though as it is similar to the gyro carts seen across New York City.  There is actually a gyro cart located right across the street from this place as well.  The cooks/workers there were nice and friendly.  They do have a bathroom in the back that you can request to use.

The food tastes very similar to the gyro carts in New York City with some differences.  The lamb does not have the usual lamb taste and therefore tastes fresh as well.  The chicken is seasoned in tikka masala which actually gives it a better taste than the bland chicken found on the gyro carts and is actually cooked completely.  The rice is a higher quality basmati rice.  If you do their mixed platter you would get the taste of New York with some modifications that, i think, make it a little tastier and a newer experience if you are tired of the carts.

I would come back here if in the mood for gyro platters and am passing by the area.  It is actually pretty hard to find this taste outside of New York City.  But they did it, albeit, still being pretty close to the city.  Now if they move to Philly, NJ, or CT, then I think those in the areas would be very thankful to be able to experience a taste from New York close to home. Despite all this, I still love the carts in Manhattan because the white sauce at Gyro King was not comparable and although it tasted more fresh and seemed to have higher quality, I still missed the platters from the cart.
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Artichoke (Manhattan)

Rating:

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

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Positive:  Artichoke slices are great as are the Margarita slices.  The Sicilian pizza is the best!

Negative:  Make sure to tell the waiter to have your pizza cut with a clean cutter and don’t cross contaminate with their pork meatball sauce.

Overall: One of the best pizza I have ever eaten.

Revisit:  OF COURSE!

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want to try delicious pizza and don’t want to wait long?

I was in the mood for Difara’s Pizza but it was closed. That is a rare occurrence but the main problem of Difara’s is the amount of time you have to wait. I agree that his slice topped with fresh mozzarella and basil is the best I have eaten, but sometimes you just dont have the time to wait. I looked up a few review websites and lists online, and decided to try out Artichoke Basille’s Pizza. I saw that they were known for their Artichoke slices but I didn’t think I would like them given that I usually like simple toppings or plain slices. Nonetheless, because of the raving reviews on sites and the customers I met at the location, I decided to take the plunge.

I would definitely say that if I liked toppings or was in the mood for something unique I would love the large, artichoke slice. It reminded me of spinach and artichoke dip on pizza. However, I am a simple person and plain slices just do it better for me. Also, if it had tomato sauce, then I may have liked it better. I did however, really like their margarita slice which closely resembled Difara’s but did not get as far. However, when I tried their Sicilian slice my mouth was doing the tango and I thought it was better than Difara’s by far. They had lightly burnt the bottom, something they were supposed to do, in order to give it a burnt/bbq style taste along with the already delicious sauce, buttery crust, and mozarella cheese. Given the time it took to get the pizza and the taste I experienced I would go to this place over Difara’s any day. However, if Difara’s just sped up the process I would definitely go there for their regular slices.

The sicilian winner in my book, though, is definitely Artichoke. The other great thing is that they have a few pies already out and constantly being made so that you can grab a slice on the go (unlike DiFara’s) and not wait around for pies to be made. They also have three locations in Manhattan (East Village, Chelsea, and Greenwich Village). Overall this is a great restaurant to hit up when in the mood for excellent New York style pizza by the slice or as a pie. I have yet to review other well known establishments but so far this place takes precedence over Difara’s based on taste and the waiting time.

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artichoke’s Website

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