Christmas Eve Dinner.....Hey guys, any thoughts on where to go for a nice Christmas Eve dinner? Hackettstown Forum had some good suggestions, but figured I'd post here to. Someplace where the (a) food is good, (b) service is attentive, (c) not overly expensive.
Barone's is out 'cause well the service there sucks. I'm not familiar with Lake Hopatcong restaurants so any suggestions you can recommend would be great. thanks and happy holidays.  ElissaMaxine  Dec '08   · link · flag
I am always looking for good restaurants too. A good place that I always enjoy is Ron's Landmark Italian restaurant in Netcong. Its small but the food is amazing and the prices are reasonable. I have heard of some people complaining about the service, but I have always had excellent service. Also they take restaurant.com coupons!  Travis Dec '08 link · flag Elissa, did you figure out where to go yet? Why don't you try the Smokehouse on 46 in Hackettstown. They have the best bbq!! We live close to where the bbq place was on Lackawanna Dr., and we'd pass it and go to Smokehouse - so much better!  Jill Dec '08 link · flag thanks guys, and no Jill, I haven't figured out where to go yet and hubby keeps asking me. I have no idea where to go and am afraid that if the service sucks he won't enjoy himself and then it's my fault for a crappy dinner that he paid for.
I'll check out the smokehouse. Hopefully they have a website......
Regarding Smokey's that was on Lakawanna, well they are now closed (we went there once) now it's called North Jersey Bar & Grill but the only website that comes up is the one in mine hill or something.
Ahhhhhhhhhhh the stress of the holidays, eh? ElissaMaxine Dec '08 link · flag Thanks everyone. We've decided to go with Mattar's in Allamuchy and we have a 5pm reservation. I'll let you know how it goes!!!
BTW - Ron's was a second choice. Perhaps next time? ElissaMaxine Dec '08 link · flag ElissaMaxine,
Let me know how Mattar's is (and where it is, what kind of food they have). My husband and I like to go out (well, we used to go out for dinner weekly, but it's kinda turned into monthly now), and we get sick of going to the same places. Jill Dec '08 link · flag I have never eaten at Mattars either. Please let me know how it is, service, food, cost.
Thanks!  TravisDec '08 link · flag It's on 517 off Exit 19 on 80 going towards Hackettstown. They use to be a high-end place, but just re-opened offering more affordable items.
http://www.mattars.com/  Chris Dec '08 link · flag Okay guys.....dinner at Mattar's Bistro was fabulous!!!!
Here's the link to the menu:
http://www.mattars.com/documents/2008-MainMenu.pdf
It was a limited menu for Christmas Eve. Our waiter was Nicholas who was attentive and started after the renovations so he was not there previously.
We've never been there before, but apparantly everyone else that was there had been there before and they raved about the renovations, having nothing to compare it to, the ambiance and decor was great.
First let me tell you that you can share the appetizers, salads and possibly desserts.
Here's what we had......
We shared the Tomato Basil Bruschetta Appetizer.
Hubby had the Featured Soup which was Potato Leek & I had the Classic Caesar Salad (which I ended up taking half of it home).
For dinner we both had the Veal Scallopini. Mine was with the Garlic Brown Butter Sauce and Hubby's was with Smoked Gouda & Prosciutto. Now, I had 4 large pieces of Veal and hubby had 4 small ones. Needless to say I ate only half my meal and hubby ate the remaining 2 pieces in addition to his meal (he didn't have lunch today (lol)). The vegetable that it was served with was a Haricot Vert which is basically a French way of saying green beans (lol) which were sauteed. Yummy!! For our starch we selected the Sour Cream Whipped Potatoes, again 1 side is good enough to share for 2 people. And finally for dessert, hubby had the Baked Brown Sugar Apple Crisp (although we are not sure what happened to the crisp part, but it was still good). I decided to go with Homemade Raspberry Sorbet. Very delicious!!! I had two glasses of wine and hubby had one.
They are open 7 days a week and on holidays (Mother's Day, Father's Day, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day etc). On our way out we met Mr. Mattar and his daughter, and we got to talking. Apparently, they will also be adding some entertainment in the near future, possibly Jazz. We look forward to when that happens as my original place to go this evening was a place in Madison called Shanghai Jazz, but we didn't want to drive that far in this weather. It will be nice to finally have a place closer to home that has Jazz. For those that have been there before, all but one of the waitstaff has returned. Which was definitely evident as each waiter/waitress knew someone that was eating there tonight. (A nice feel to be remembered, I thought).
Anyway, all in all it was a nice, eloquent Christmas Eve Dinner. On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the best (based on the entire experience), hubby ranks it 7.5 and I give it an 8.
Would we go back? Yes!
Would we recommend Mattar's Bistro & Lounge? Definitely
Pricey? I didn't see the bill, but hubby says yes. I finally asked when we got home (after all I had to report back to the forum (lol) so he says before tax/tip about $87.50
I hope this information helps that that were interested and those that are looking for a "new" place to eat. We've been at Cranberry Lake for almost 5 years and there are very few places that we go back to. Mattar's is one that we would consider for another special occassion...perhaps Mother's Day or Father's Day even.
Bon Appetit & Happy Holidays ElissaMaxine Dec '08 link · flag That sounds great! But I think, for me, it's more of a place to go for a special occasion - like a b'day or anniversary. I'm glad you had a great time! Jill Dec '08 link · flag Yes, definitely the place to go for a "special" occasion. ElissaMaxine Dec '08 link · flag I have never been there, but thanks for the detailed review. Before the renovations I heard it was pricey and had average good food. I then heard rumors they remodeled to the bistro to appeal to more people, give it a face lift, revamp, etc. and make it less pricey to bring in more people in todays tough economy. Still sounds a little pricey, but whatever the case may be, it sounds like you had a great time. I will definitely have to check it out sometime.
Sounds like from what you ordered, it was more Italian cuisine. Can you confirm? Travis Dec '08 link · flag Yes Travis, it is Italian Cuisine......and excellent!!!! ElissaMaxine Dec '08 link · flag Leave a Reply
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