The Record (Bergen County, NJ)
05-19-2006
Eating Out: Blueside Grill in Englewood
By ELLEN ARUBE, RESTAURANT REVIEWER
Date: 05-19-2006, Friday
Section: GO!
Edtion: All Editions
Column: EATING OUT
Dark windows and neon liquor signs on a restaurant's exterior always make me a little wary. I expect to walk into a loud and bawdy sports bar or maybe a well-camouflaged be-and-be-seen joint, or stranger still, a neighborhood restaurant that might decide to be a surf shop next week.
Hailing itself as a 'two floor nyc-esque seafood restaurant & bar' with the 'best seafood & sushi in town,' Blueside Grill manages to fulfill all my expectations, all at once.
Tucked onto a side street between two of Englewood's busiest thoroughfares, Blueside has three distinct dining areas and a separate room for private parties of up to 20. It is a restaurant designed to please anyone of any age.
Pre-prom dinner? Check. Night on the town with the boss and the wives? Check. Lunch with the in-laws? Check.
Noisy dining
Light wood tables and chairs and Aegean-inspired tile mosaics make for a cold interior, though the space is warmed with dark wood floors and terra cotta accents. The lack of soft surfaces makes for a noisy dining experience.
The earth-toned downstairs dining room is quieter, but the piped-in mall music irritated us. The upstairs main and back dining areas can be even noisier, as the small front space is narrow and hallway-like. The larger rear dining room gave us the sense we were eating underwater with its deep-sea-blue walls, but the flat-screen TVs set to home shopping channels were disconcerting.
The mostly seafood menu offers an extensive selection of Japanese standards, including numerous sushi and sashimi options and three raw bar items: bluepoint oysters ($2 each, minimum order dozen), littleneck clams ($1.25 each, minimum order dozen) and shrimp cocktail ($11).
Asian-inflected
Lunch offerings include sushi and sashimi combos, sandwiches ($8.50 to $13) served with french fries and homemade ginger coleslaw, and four bento lunchbox specials (crispy chicken, $12; broiled Atlantic salmon, $13; sliced skirt steak, $13; and roasted tarragon shrimp, $14), which include udon noodle soup, salad, chef's choice side item of the day and a choice of roll (spicy tuna, California or eel).
Dinner options are a bit less Asian and a bit more Asian-inflected. For starters, the soup of the day ($6) is a good bet. On one occasion we enjoyed a generous bowl of cream of mushroom soup, the perfect balance of a light cream soup and a hearty broth with discernible chunks of mushrooms, and an equally generous bowl of chicken and vegetable on another. Both were large enough to be shared, but both were undersalted.
The short list of salads is uninspired. Our spinach salad with Gorgonzola, apples and walnuts ($10) arrived without spinach and with green leaf lettuce instead. Despite the oversight, everything on the plate was in bite-size pieces, avoiding the all-too-common dilemma of having to use a fork and a knife to make the lettuce manageable enough to eat.
The bluepoint oysters ($2 each) were huge and briny and were well complemented by a tangy horseradish cocktail sauce. A bland shrimp tempura roll ($12) with avocado, cucumber, masago and mayo was obliterated by a seemingly out-of-place dousing of tonkatsu sauce, although the tempura was still hot when the roll arrived. These not-so-fantastic starters gave way to improved main courses.
For meat lovers, there are few selections for entres, as two-thirds of the items are seafood. We opted for the crispy chicken breast ($18), three panko-crusted cutlets in a rich wild mushroom Madeira sauce over garlic mashed potatoes with sauted asparagus and covered with shaved Pecorino Romano cheese. The garlic in the potatoes was subtle to the point of non-existence. But the asparagus were perfectly seasoned and cooked just enough to hold their crispness, and the sauce was dark and delicious.
Excellent finish
As for seafood selections, the 2-pound whole lobster ($32) arrived already cracked and a little oversteamed, although our server told us we couldn't go wrong with lobster. The accompanying julienned garden vegetable medley (carrots, zucchini, yellow squash) was lightly cooked, a pleasant surprise, as I anticipated slimy strands of standard vegetables. The roasted new potatoes were nothing exciting but added just the right amount of carbohydrate to the plate to soak up any extra drawn butter I might have missed with the lobster.
The pan-seared Chilean sea bass ($29) was moist and flaky with a light, flavorful lobster and sherry cream sauce, but the risotto cake on which it was plated was run-of-the-mill and heavy. The roasted tarragon shrimp ($25) were attended by the same veggie medley and potatoes as the lobster, and the tarragon and champagne reduction was sublime.
Desserts, excepting some of the sorbets and ice creams ($5) and the molten chocolate cake ($8), are not made in-house, our server explained. The cappuccino kahlua ice cream is worth saving room for, as is the green tea ice cream. Coffee ($2.50) is brewed to order and makes for an excellent finish.
Live jazz
With service oscillating between attentive and ambivalent, water glasses were refilled when nary a sip had been drunk, and we waited 10 minutes for someone to appear when we were ready for the check.
With an extensive wine list, two full bars and a creative drinks menu touting libations with names like 'Tree Frog,' drinks and good company are in order. Blueside even offers Monday night karaoke, live jazz on Wednesdays, ladies Latin night on Thursdays and lounge night on Saturdays. But there is much more than another New Jersey restaurant trying to be a New Yorker.
With a better location and a less confused exterior, Blueside could be a standout spot with a loyal following. For now it remains a well-hidden up-and-comer that needs to get its sea legs and commit itself to one of its myriad identities. The food is worth a trip, but arrive with a hefty amount of patience and an open mind.
***
Blueside Grill **
Food ** Service ** Value * Ambience **
126 Engle St.
Englewood
(201) 871-1170
* Contemporary American seafood
* Casual chic
* Expensive
Prices: Appetizers $6 to $12; entres $13 to $32.
Recommended dishes: Tarragon shrimp; house-made ice creams and sorbets.
Liquor, wine: Yes.
Wine list: Extensive.
Service: Varied.
Setting: Two floors, private party room.
Noise level: Moderate to high.
Credit cards: AE, MC, V.
Reservations: Suggested.
Days closed: Sunday.
Accommodations for children: No.
Dress: Casual chic.
Lunch: Monday to Saturday.
Early-bird service: No.
Takeout: Yes; free local delivery.
Parking: On site; free valet.
Web site: bluesidegrill.com.
Rated by The Record: May 19, 2006.
About the ratings
Poor
* Fair
** Good
*** Excellent
**** Outstanding
In determining ratings, each restaurant has been compared with others of the same type and level of ambition. Restaurants are rated on the quality of their food, atmosphere, service and value. Halves are given when a restaurant surpasses a level in food, service or ambience.
Reviewers make at least two anonymous visits to a restaurant, and The Record always pays the tab.
Cost guide: A dinner for two without alcohol but including three courses, tax, and a 15 percent tip totaling $40 or less is inexpensive; $41 to $70, moderate; $71 to $130, expensive; more than $130, very expensive.
Keywords: ENGLEWOOD, RESTAURANT, 2*
Copyright 2006 Bergen Record Corp. All rights reserved.
