This past Saturday my wife and I took a day trip to the small blue collar town of South River, NJ. The town had gone downhill as local factories and employers have closed over the past few decades, but now things are looking up. New nationalities are moving in, creating an interesting mix. As a result, the town has become something of an ethnic paradise of dining choices.
I did my research on some of the local blogs, and came up with an itinerary of about 10 places to look into. For some reason my wife has an aversion to eating more than 2 or 3 lunches in one day, so I promised I wouldn’t go overboard.
We left our house about 11AM and by 11:30 we were standing in line at the Royal Bakery, 3290 Washington Street, Parlin, about a mile from South River. One advantage of having my wife along on this trip is that she is much more the expert on pastries and cookies than I am. Her grandfather owned a Hungarian bakery and she’s familiar with Eastern European bakery treats. We bought a pound of ruggelach, some other kind of filled pastry I forgot the name of, a poppy seed cake and some of the freshest tastiest Rye Bread we have ever had. I’m not big on sweets, but I did sample the ruggelach and enjoyed it.
Munching on all these goodies, we drove into South River, parked the car in a municipal lot and went on a walking tour. Our options for lunch were 2 Mexican places (El Tapito at 56 Main looked the most promising) , 2 Polish places (Karkowiak, 42 Main St, and Polonia, 148 Whitehead St.), an Italian pizza place (Coffaro’s, 58 Obert Street), a Brazilian place (Brazil Country, 65 Main), two Portuguese places (Ria-Mar, see below, and Portuguese Fisherman), and an Ethiopian place (which I didn’t have the exact name of and couldn’t find) . And these were just the places that were recommended in local blogs and on Chowhound. All these places are within walking distance of each other. After peeking in and looking at menus from each, I was leaning towards the Brazilian, my wife the Portuguese. Guess who won:
http://ria-mar.com/ A real convivial Saturday afternoon scene inside. Single men drinking at the bar, groups of friends and families at the tables. The service and food was just fine. We shared an appetizer of clams in a garlic broth. The broth was a little salty, but was real good for dunking the Portuguese Bread. The clams themselves were very large, fresh, and excellent. My wife had the shrimp shish kebab and I had shrimp and scallops in green sauce. Both were very good and plentiful for around $11 each off the lunch menu.
Behind us was a Polish Family who did not speak much English and no Portuguese trying to communicate with a waiter who did not speak much English and no Polish. Everything seemed to work out OK. The scene is what I love about America in general and South River in particular.
Caffaro’s Pizza got high ratings from of the locals, so while waiting at Ria Mar for our entrees I called Caffaro’s and ordered an extra large pizza ($12) for pick up. It was waiting for us after we left Ria Mar. Here my wife and I did not agree at all. We each had a slice at the car. The sauce was noticeably sweet. I thought the pizza was pretty good, my wife did not like it at all. In any event, it was huge. Probably the largest pizza I have ever had outside of Benny Tudino’s in Hoboken. We each had another slice when we got home, I still thought it was pretty good, and so did my daughter. My wife stood adamantly in opposition. It all came down to the usual: she doesn’t like char on the crust, I do. Still the marriage survives even with a major philosophical difference such as that. (She doesn’t like Credence Clearwater Revival either).
Continuing our tour around the world, after scoping out the two Polish Restaurants.We opted for Polonia, based on it looking a little homier and more inviting. We got 3 orders of perogies (Cheese, potato, and sauerkraut and mushroom) to go, 24 in all. Had a couple of these in the car and pronounced them to be excellent! We both agreed on this one. That was lunch #3, and we had the rest for dinner with my daughter and her boyfriend to rave reviews all around.
In keeping with my wife's limit of 3 lunches (I have to admit I was pretty full at this point too), we decided to save the Brazilian, Mexican and Ethiopian for another time. And anyway, we still had food shopping to do for our Labor Day Cookout:
Just a couple of miles away are two great Eastern European Food stores. At European Provisions ( 301 Old Bridge Tpk, East Brunswick) we bought 4 “Picnic” Kielbasas. These are large individual sized Kielbasas,. According to the very pleasant lady in charge, these were somewhat less fatty than the regular Kielbasa and perfect for grilling and serving one per person. In addition we got a pound of “Sirloin” Franks. I guess they are intended to be similar to Angus Franks. In any event, it was all enjoyed at Labor Day.
Last and final stop was just down the road at Continental Provisions (109 Main Street, Old Bridge). There we bought a huge smoked Kielbasa, and a pound of their wieners (beef and pork). In the car I had a slice of the Kielbasa between two pieces of the Royal Bakery Rye. It may have been the single best thing I ate all day! I can’t wait to have the rest of it. Right now it is stinking up (my wife’s wording) the refrigerator. We decided there was already too much food for Labor Day so we will probably have it this weekend.
A great way to kick off a three day weekend. We ate lite on Sunday.
