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Thai Chef Thai Chef started life as a French restaurant with Asian influences. The French chef left and the restaurant could now best be described as Asian with French influences. However it is categorized, Thai Chef offers excellent food using fresh spices such as lemon grass, basil, kaffir lime leaves, and cilantro. The dishes are beautifully presented. To call this cuisine spicy is inaccurate and it misses the point. The crab meat pancake, spicy (not very) shrimp, chicken with wild mushrooms, and duck that we tried were all delicious. Thai Chef is clearly worth the trip to Montclair. $$ [10/02] Habana Habana is the third Cuban restaurant now open in the area. The appetizers are varied and delicious. The “Habana Mixto” provides a fine sampler. Traditional dishes, such as Ropa Vieja, are expertly prepared. The steak offerings were excellent and enormous. The “baby” Churrasco (a skirt steak) provided me with left-overs for lunch the next day. The regular Churrasco could easily have fed 3 people! My wife, a reluctant meat eater, devoured her Oxtail Stew. Make sure you order the fabulous sweet plantains as one of your “sides.” Vegetarian dishes are also available. $$ [6/02]
Tim Shaefer’s Cuisine is a terrifically creative restaurant that is well worth the trip. The menu is difficult to describe because it borrows from numerous sources, combines unusual elements, and changes seasonally. “Fun with fusion” is as good a description as any. The flash fried calamari, southwestern duck quesadilla, wild mushroom ravioli, and stuffed, double-cut boneless pork chop were delicious selections when we visited. Don’t miss the (nonalcoholic) “Martini” of the day. Tim is more of a beer person than a wine person (see http://www.brewchef.com ), but his entrees work very well with wine. $$$$ [05/02] Kinara Kinara is Hindi for “edge of the water.” This is one of the better Indian restaurants in the area. The chef here has a sure, but delicate touch. A perfect place to stop on the way into Manhattan, it offers some unique appetizers as well as more standard kabab, masala, tandoori, and curry-style dishes featuring lamb, chicken, shrimp, etc. Numerous vegetarian dishes and terrific breads are also available. Kinara was given a “very good” rating in the New York Times. $$ [12/01, revisited 5/02]
Mignon Steak House As its name implies, Mignon is a beef oriented restaurant. They offer mostly grilled versions of lamb, veal, pork chops. They also offer shrimp, scallop, lobster, and King Crab legs. But beef is their heart and soul. The entrées range from New York Strip Steak and Petite Mignon to a 40 oz Porterhouse that will serve two or more. All the beef is aged on the premises. Interesting steak sauces include wild mushroom demi-glace, mint cream, and green peppercorn. Vegetables are a la carte. $$$ [11/01]
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