Chart House Restaurant (chain restaurant)

Rating:

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

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Positive: Excellent view of the water with a large array of seafood and delicious, warm chocolate lava cake.

Negative: Mediocre tasting food.

Overall: Large, high quality seafood selection with excellent ambiance. The food taste, however, is average.

Revisit:  Not again.  Despite the great quality and large selection the taste is just not good enough, and even the excellent ambiance does not make up for it.

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UPDATED APRIL 4, 2012:

I had the chance to try the Chart House Restaurant in Philadelphia overlooking the water and Camden NJ.  The restaurant had the same, excellent ambiance I remembered from their other restaurant in Northern NJ.

I enjoyed the Calamari appetizer and thought it was great.  The Macadamia crusted Mahi with Peanut sauce and Coconut shrimp with crab fried rice were both of excellent quality but the taste was mediocre at best.  In fact I thought I made them better at home.  The chocolate lava cake was as excellent as I remembered it from my prior visit.  Since the restaurant wasn’t as busy, the service was excellent and the server was very helpful.

Although the seafood selection is pretty large with many great things available for pescovegetarians on the menu, I would not be coming back due to the lack of taste. 

FROM APRIL 7, 2010:

Does your family always go to Halal only restaurants?  Are you tired of going to restaurants that always look run down?  Do you want to take your special loved ones to a nice restaurant on an important occasion?

If you answered yes to any of those questions then Chart House Restaurant is an excellent place for you and your family to try. More than half of the menu is seafood and everything tastes delicious.  The best part is that the food does not have a “fishy” taste as it is seasoned very well.

I recently tried this place with my family and absolutely loved it. It is located in Weehawken, next to the Hudson river, with the most beautiful view of The New York City skyline. They offer outdoor seating after Memorial Day Weekend, which is a great option to have. They also have a brunch buffet which costs $35 per person, a great price for the food and the unobstructed view of the city.

My family and I did not choose to do the buffet. We ordered the spinach and artichoke dip with crostinis for appetizers (this was one of the specials of the day) and we all loved it! We also ordered Clam Chowder which was great too but had too much clam meat for my taste. For the entrees we ordered different types of fish including the Macadamia Crusted Mahi Mahi with Coconut Rice, Parmesan Sea Bass with Fettuccine, and Flounder stuffed with Crab Meat. My favorites were the Parmesan Sea Bass and the Macadamia Crusted Mahi Mahi.I am really picky with seafood and this has become one of my favorite seafood restaurants as all the fish were fresh and tasted very good. We also ordered the coconut shrimp for an entree. For those that do not like fish, this is always a safe option. All the entrees were normal proportions and could be finished by an average person. They weren’t extremely large and sharing may not be an option if you are moderately hungry.

The last thing we had was the Chocolate Lava Cake which was just mouth-watering and is definitely a must have! (Although maybe the Grand Lux Cafe probably has a better tasting lava cake.) Just remember to order this with the rest of your food as it takes 30 minutes to make. Our waiter did not tell us about this until we were ready to order dessert. This was the downside to this restaurant. You pay $40-$50 per person to dine but don’t get that kind of service. Our waiter only came to us to take our orders and to give us our food. It was hard to get a hold of him because we would hardly see him near our table; he did not have many tables that he was serving either. He did not even come to ask us if we needed anything, something that’s expected from waiters at all restaurants. Despite the service, I highly recommend this restaurant because of the delicious food and amazing view of NYC. It would also be nicer if you go at night rather than the day.

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Chart House Restaurant Website

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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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Buddakan (Philadelphia, New York City, & Atlantic City)

Rating:

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

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Positive: Delicious Non-Alcoholic Drinks with Extraordinary dessert in a fine dining restaurant.

Negative: Small, expensive portion sizes without the quality expected in a high end restaurant

Overall: Good place for a fine dining experience if you only want to have their non-alcoholic drinks with dessert.

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Update (10/9/2011):

Upon visiting Buddakan again for dessert and non-alcoholic drinks I realized that they do not always keep the same drinks as they had changed them.  The two non-alcoholic drinks they had were Pink Lemonade and Ginger Soda.  I tried the ginger soda which was definitely a little too weird for me (I miss the Spirit and Passion Juice from my last trip).  However, the five spice cinnamon donuts and the soft, warm chocolate cake hit the spot!

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A Uniquely expensive Pan Asian Chain restaurant in New york, southern nj, and philly.

Buddakan is a high-end, Pan Asian restaurant situated in New York, Philadelphia, and Atlantic City.   I had the chance to visit the Philadelphia location in Olde City on Chestnut Street. I would definitely recommend having a reservation before coming here as it was very busy when we came. The service was exceptional and the server was also kind and tried her best in helping us pick the drinks and dishes.  The ambiance was extraordinary. The restaurant has two floors with various types of seating areas and booths to satisfy everyone. The upstairs portion seems more secluded and quiet, although there is a bar there as well.  The downstairs portion has a huge buddha statue.

This restaurant has various nonalcoholic drinks, including “spirit” consisting of thyme and a carbonated beverage, and “passion juice” (made of

pomegranate juice, cherries, blueberries, etc).  The drinks were a delightful addition to the restaurant and reminded me of Sushi Samba.

Reluctantly, the food here was ordinary and not excellent. The portion
sizes were pretty small and although the shrimp toast was unique, the
main shrimp entrée did not have enough seasoning to the core of the
shrimp and the Pad Thai was too rubbery for my taste. I didn’t try
their wide fish selection however.  Despite the main course not being that good, the desserts truly made up for it.  The five spice cinnamon donuts with various dipping sauces (chocolate, blackberry jam, and ginger cream cheese) and the warm chocolate cake were delicious.

Overall I would say that Buddakan is a great place to go if you are looking for a fine dining experience  and want to have some non-alcoholic drinks with

appetizers and dessert (I would probably leave out the appetizers
too).   The main entree are just not worth it.

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Buddakan’s Philadelphia Website

Buddakan’s NYC Website

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