Tre Piani (Central NJ)

Rating:

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

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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.

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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.
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Tre Piani’s Website

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Outback Steakhouse (Chain Restaurant)

Rating:

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

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Positive:  Succulent, halal lamb rack cooked on a wood fire grill from New Zealand at your local Outback Steakhouse chain restaurant.

Negative:  Taste is slightly above average and quantity is small for this expensive dish.  The onion rings are way too greasy.

Overall: If you love lamb chops and eat halal you should try Outback at least once.

Revisit:  No, too expensive for the taste and quantity.

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Looking for juicy, succulent lamb made on a wood grill oven?

Try out the chain restaurant you see almost everywhere around the USA,  Outback Steakhouse, Australian style steaks.

On my visit to the steakhouse, in Edison, NJ I first noted the ambiance seemed to be a little lower quality than I would expect at a steakhouse, for example comparing to Ruth’s Chris‘s excellent ambiance in Toronto, Canada.  It seemed to have a mixture of Pizza Hut and a Steakhouse feel.  However, the dimmed lighting did significantly add to the ambiance.

This restaurant does not have any Halal items on their menu.  However, their lamb is imported from New Zealand where they only distribute Zabihah halal meat. We told the waiter that we were fasting and wanted our food to come at the appropriate time along with appetizers and drinks. The server was very nice to accommodate us. He also spoke to the chef in the back who agreed to clean the grill for the lamb and to make it separately from other meat products. He was very kind and thoughtful, and the service was excellent.

We bought their well-known onion rings as the appetizer. The arrangement of the onion rings was very presentable.  The onion ring seasoning was good and the dip was also equally good but they were too oily for our tastes.   We also had a chance to order the lamb rack, cooked medium rare was recommended by the server. It was very succulent and moist with a distinct taste of lamb and light oak flavored seasoning from the wood burning grill.  The food tasted pretty good but needed barbecue sauce to make it taste better. We refused the usual Port wine sauce that they bring with the lamb.  One of the side dishes was sweet potatoes which was glazed with light brown sugar and tasted very unique and good.  They had multiple non-alcoholic iced teas but they were mediocre for my taste. For dessert we tried their chocolate thunder cake which had a warm brownie with pecans and ice cream topped with whip cream and fudge. It was delicious but very filling.

Overall I would recommend those who love lamb to try this place.  The ambiance is pretty good and the service is excellent.  However, beside the excellent service the food was slightly above-average and may not be worth the extra price.
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S&H Kebab House (Philadelphia)

Rating:

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

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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.

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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.
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S&H KEBAB HOUSE WEBSITE

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Related articles

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

Rooq’s Steakhouse (Central NJ) – CLOSED

PLEASE NOTE THIS PLACE HAS CLOSED DOWN FOR UNKNOWN REASONS.

Rating:

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

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Positive: One of the best Steaks I have ever eaten at a good price. Staff and owner were very nice.

Negative: The ambiance was suboptimal and there was a lack of steakhouse feel.  The Appetizer and other, non-steak items are mediocre.

Overall: Recommended for the Steaks.

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update:  went back to the restaurant and realized that the Filet Mignon is probably the best steak they have.  Especially if you get it medium rare. I heard that this place was a prior italian restaurant and still has the original chef  working there who makes excellent italian food…I guess ill try it next time.

update: steakhouse is CLOSED for unknown reasons.  Kind of disappointing but hopefully Farooq will come back with something even better!

Halal steak in NJ? Could it really be true?

I was amazed when I heard that a halal steakhouse opened in New Jersey because the closest thing you can find to steak in the Tri-state area is Philly Cheese-steak. I was very excited to have the opportunity to go to this restaurant, especially after I checked the menu online to see that it offered a good variety of steaks.

I decided to go there on a Sunday night with my husband and had envisioned a real steakhouse.  When I entered the restaurant, I was a bit disappointed because I felt as if I was in a more formal sit-down Italian restaurant/pizzeria (because it was an italian restaurant in the past). This place did not have the ambiance of a steakhouse and there was a counter top area from the front of the restaurant half way down the restaurant to one of the side walls.  This made absolutely no sense to me. The restaurant should really get rid of that to accommodate more seating space and improve its steakhouse feel.  Because, c’mon, looks are as important as taste.  I actually felt as if I was at a halal meat store because of this counter. Based on the appearance, I was not expecting the food to be any good.  (much to my surprise it was…read on…)

(Picture of Delmonico Steak which I did not have)

We ordered the fried calamari for appetizers and it was average. They served it with marinara sauce which I didn’t enjoy much. It would be nicer if they serve it with another type of sauce and had some seasoning on the calamari. I ordered the Filet mignon steak (medium rare) with caesar salad and onion rings for my entrée. The mouth-watering steak was absolutely delicious. It is one of the best steaks I have ever had. It was very juicy, succulent, and truly melted in my mouth.  I highly recommend it to everyone. The onion rings were very disappointing because they had no taste or flavor. I told the owner, Farooq, about them and he said they had gotten complaints from a few other customers as well and would be changing the way they make them. My significant other ordered the Delmonico hamburger which was overall similar to the average hamburger you would find at a typical halal Italian restaurant in NJ.

All in all, I would still suggest this restaurant to everyone, especially steak lovers.  But when you go there just overlook the atmosphere and enjoy your steak with good company and excellent staff.  I wouldn’t mess with non-steak items on the menu the first time around though.  When this restaurant booms, they should really change the look of it to attract non-Muslim customers as well and make it into a real steakhouse without having the feel of a typical halal restaurant. Oh and they should really invest in some sizzling plates to serve their steaks in – they would really add a lot to the presentation.

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Rooq’s Steakhouse Website

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