New Jersey Spots of the Month (January)

We visited a bunch of restaurants this month in New Jersey! Check our the reviews below.

1. Korai Kitchen

Food: 8.5/10
We got chicken korma entree, which is a creamy, succulent yogurt and milk based curry. It was fragrant and the chicken soaked up all the flavor beautifully. All entrees for 1 come with sides of aloo bhorta, daal, and a choice of rice. Chicken korma is best eaten with white rice or Bengali pulao rice, but we got white rice on the side. We know from the photo it looks like there’s just oil sitting on top of it, but it was sitting unmixed, so the gravy and oil got separated. Same for the Rohu fish and daal. The Rohi fish is one of the most popular fishes of Bengali cuisine. This fish curry was full of spices with the right touch of heat. If you’re not used to eating fish with small bones this is definitely something you’re going to want to use your hands for. The daal was good, but just a little salty. The aloo bhorta, a mash of boiled potatoes, onions, garlic, cilantro, and spices, was excellent. We could eat loads of it. The shutki bhorta, which is puréed dried fish, was spicy and packed a punch of flavor. Best eaten with white rice as well.

Price: 7/10
Prices are a bit higher compared to an “average” Bangladeshi eat and go restaurant. Each entree ranges from $12-$18.

Atmosphere: -/-
Dining wasn’t open but from what we saw, it seats about 20 people. The vibe isn’t also eat and go. Tables for 2 are spread throughout the restaurant.

Service: 10/10
You can call or order online to place your order. Order is ready in about 30 minutes. Came to pickup and had no issues. Staff is very nice.

Korai Kitchen
576 Summit Ave
Jersey City, NJ 07306

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2. Twinz Hot Chicken

Food: 9/10
We thoroughly enjoyed the sandwich and the tenders with waffles. The chicken is juicy and flavorful. We got level hot for the sandwich and medium for the tenders and waffles. Hot is prettyyyyy hot! But the strange part is the heat doesn’t make you enjoy the flavor any less. The flavor is still there in the chicken itself. The pickles, slaw, and sauce in the chicken sandwich was fresh. The waffles were thick and sturdy and delicious as well.

Price: 7/10
Prices are standard to above average. Combos range from $11-$13.

Atmosphere: 8/10
Big, bright atmosphere that has a fast-food vibe, but overall clean and lots of seating.

Service: 10/10
Food was made fresh on order and took about 10 min to come. You order up front and pick up on the side when your number is called.

Twinz Hot Chicken
2828 John F. Kennedy Blvd
Jersey City, NJ 07306

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3. Laree Adda

Food: 6/10
A lot of the items were unavailable during the weekend we went. So we ended up ordering the halwa puri breakfast special that comes with two puris (fried puffed flatbread) achari aloo (pickled potatoes), cholay (chana), and halwa (sweetened semolina). We liked the halwa and achari aloo. We felt the puris had potential to hold together more instead of breaking apart at the slightest touch. The cholay was pretty salty and difficult to eat. We also ordered haleem (meat, lentil stew) and nihari (bone marrow stew). We weren’t really a fan of the texture/consistency of the haleem and felt it could be better smoother and less viscous. The nihari was good taste-wise, but portion of meat was very small. To end off, we ordered the gunpowder chai that was very delicious without any sugar.

Price: 7/10
We felt the breakfast halwa puri special was priced fine, however the curries/stews were more expensive given the little portion.

Atmosphere: 9/10
It’s a very cafe-like atmosphere. Spacious, clean, can seat about 40 people.

Service: 6.5/10
Food took a while to come, despite not many people in the restaurant when we were there at the time.

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