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Re: Thanh Hoai Vietnamese Cuisine - Hamilton Park
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Just can't stay away
 
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Much like Nha Trang, the service is atrocious, but the food is legit.
Posted on: 2013/9/9 16:12
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Re: Thanh Hoai Vietnamese Cuisine - Hamilton Park
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Home away from home
 
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As part of a staycation and an unexpected windfall thanks to the MSFT/NOK purchase, we've been eating around DTJC this week. Our meal last night at NTH was great. They now make, instead of just listing on the menu, the rice crepe filled with bean sprouts and shrimp. We also had a small lobster sauteed with ginger and scallions and beef with lemongrass. Everything was delicious, the room was packed with families with kids but was not noisy (no music), and the bill was about $40.00 with tip. Big glasses of water with ice. Note, there is a lobster tank and your waiter goes from taking your order to catching your lobster. That might upset some kids.
We also had oysters and drinks at Le Bistro. The only good thing I can say about this place is that it provides a good first impression to people coming out of Grove Street PATH for the first time. This place has only the veneer of competence; no depth. Didn't help that one of the owners thought it was appropriate to use the word 'Polock'. Another dinner at Port-O was delicious, but the service was so bad that we probably would never go back. The waitress was like a parody of a diner waitress. If only she had asked to 'freshen my beverage' or called me 'hon' I would have felt transported to some place Route 46.
Posted on: 2013/9/8 14:35
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Re: Thanh Hoai Vietnamese Cuisine - Hamilton Park
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Home away from home
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I asked if this was a permanent thing (i was there sunday night), and the manager, Tommy, said it wasn't. There was definitely confusion going on - and there seems to be a lot of new waiters - but in the case of my friend and i, our service was fantastic for the most part. The food came out quick and was tasty (and still cheap).
the only hassle service wise was the wait to get the check. the work around for no water btw, is to have as much free tea as you like. open the lid to let it cool, or even ask for ice if you want.
Posted on: 2013/5/20 21:39
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Re: Embankment to become Vietnamese?
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Home away from home
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The question was whether it was legal, not whether it was right. I think it's ridiculous just so we're on the same page.
Posted on: 2013/5/20 21:30
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Re: Embankment to become Vietnamese?
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Home away from home
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It's not apparent to me at all, since I have never been refused tap water in the US (or in France). Under drought conditions, I have had to ask. Skinner's Loft plays a trick with the water if you don't pay attention, but tap water is available and forthcoming.
Posted on: 2013/5/20 21:27
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Re: Embankment to become Vietnamese?
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Home away from home
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Interesting - my favorite dish is salty shrimp - ordered it consistently at NT. I ordered at the new place and it came out in a brown sauce that I did not recognize... I told them it was the wrong dish. They checked and told me I was wrong and put it in front of me anyway. lol I asked why it was different than how it was served at NT - the guy shrugged and walked away. btw - skinny older gentleman - wondering the same thing. We always called him the god father ha
Posted on: 2013/5/20 20:21
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Re: Thanh Hoai Vietnamese Cuisine - Hamilton Park
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Home away from home
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2012/1/11 18:21 Last Login : 2019/12/26 15:30 From GV Bayside Park
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WOW so DTJC is the new Paris LMAO no tap water HA!!!
Posted on: 2013/5/20 20:19
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Re: Embankment to become Vietnamese?
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Home away from home
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Apparently it's legal, but if they refused me tap water, I just wouldn't give them a tip. That's horrendous customer service while you're patronizing their business.
Posted on: 2013/5/20 19:32
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Re: Embankment to become Vietnamese?
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Home away from home
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This new place is a mess. Twice we were given the incorrect dish, even though we order by the number. Jeez
And the music - (JesuseffingChrist)! Service is indifferent and inconsistent. I've eaten pretty much every week at the old place and at least, that was always predictable. At least the food is still good, although now you get your dish 5 minutes apart from the rest of your party. Where is the skinny old guy in Newark? He was really a pleasant person - now you got that scowling James Bond archetype running the place.
Posted on: 2013/5/20 19:22
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Re: Embankment to become Vietnamese?
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Just can't stay away
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Hold on a minute, they don't serve tap water? Is that even legal?
I'd flip my table over and walk out if they tell me they're not serving tap water.
Posted on: 2013/5/20 19:06
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Re: Thanh Hoai Vietnamese Cuisine - Hamilton Park
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Home away from home
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The no tap water thing is ridiculous - feel like they are just getting greedy.
I miss Nah Trang  I guess all good things do come to an end.
Posted on: 2013/5/20 18:57
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Re: Embankment to become Vietnamese?
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Home away from home
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We were there a few days ago. They now only offer bottled water. Tap water is no longer served. I think the air is still free.
The customers at the next table didn't like the new policy, and the waiter told us nobody is happy with it. ... the Bho was great and will be back.
Posted on: 2013/5/20 17:37
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Re: Embankment to become Vietnamese?
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Home away from home
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Quote:
I didn't say every tradition was a delight, just that they were still entrenched. I loved living there, but could never get used to the snot rockets.
Posted on: 2013/3/14 16:24
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Re: Embankment to become Vietnamese?
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Home away from home
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What else are you supposed to do with those tiny bones in chicken or goose feet?
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Posted on: 2013/3/14 13:48
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Re: Embankment to become Vietnamese?
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Home away from home
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Including nose picking at the dinner table and spitting your bones in a pile on the table! I'm as Chinese as they come, but there's something to be said for British table manners...
Posted on: 2013/3/13 22:57
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Re: Embankment to become Vietnamese?
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Home away from home
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Quote:
Hong Kong was a British colony for a century, yet the Chinese traditions hold firm.
Posted on: 2013/3/13 22:43
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Re: Embankment to become Vietnamese?
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Home away from home
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The menu layout - first page was Pho (various varieties). Second and third pages - appetizers. Remainder of the menu was various breakdowns of entrees. (Seafood, noodles, rice dishes, vegetarian). What I didn't specify in my previous post was that I said to the waiter, "I'll start with Pho number 4 and then have my seafood with vegetables." I'm sorry but if I'm sitting for 45 minutes with nothing in front of me and the rest of my party have their entire meals spread before them (for the most part), I think that at least deserves a warning from the waiter when the order is placed. If that's the custom for Viet Namese cuisine, fine. But you're serving in Jersey City, not Da Nang.
And walking around the restaurant floor while talking on your cell is not OK in any restaurant, at least to me. But maybe some of you will tell me that's also Vietnamese culture.
Posted on: 2013/3/13 22:42
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Re: Embankment to become Vietnamese?
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Home away from home
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But Vietnam was a French colony, surely they know proper dining sequence and service etiquette!
Posted on: 2013/3/13 22:21
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Re: Embankment to become Vietnamese?
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Home away from home
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I had takeout the from there the first week they opened, I ordered a whole lobster and spring rolls. Both were good and it was quick. Unless they raised the prices, not sure about "a very expensive lobster" because it was only $15(for the lobster, not everything, hardly expensive.
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Posted on: 2013/3/13 19:47
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Re: Embankment to become Vietnamese?
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Home away from home
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Quote:
Sound's like it's not the place for you. I like it when waiters leave us alone when dining. You can go to GP's for Italian cuisine and the waiters will interrupt mid conversation to ask if everything is ok. Last time at GP's everything was ok until we were interrupted by the waiter and if there was a problem I would have let them know.
Posted on: 2013/3/13 16:54
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Re: Embankment to become Vietnamese?
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Home away from home
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Food is cheap and good. I don't expect stellar service. They had a guy there yell at me once when i didn't order fast enough on the phone. I really don't care as long as they don't do anything nasty to my meal.
Posted on: 2013/3/13 16:50
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Re: Embankment to become Vietnamese?
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Home away from home
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I would encourage you to go back... with the feedback below and enjoy the food.
As an aside... had something similar happen at NT. The waiter misunderstood me and brought the wrong dish out... then blamed me for the mistake - ha. I like the dude that serves us regularly and figured instead of having him eat the cost and make a big deal we would just take it to go for later. (We paid for the mistake.) The next time we went, he credited us a couple appetizers, which was about the same cost as an entre... so it all worked out Quote:
Posted on: 2013/3/13 16:44
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Re: Embankment to become Vietnamese?
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Home away from home
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Standard protocol.
Posted on: 2013/3/13 14:09
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Re: Embankment to become Vietnamese?
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Home away from home
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It took me a few visits to Nha Trang before I appreciated that style of table service, but now I think it?s just about perfect. It also repels the sort of diners who need to feel special, which makes the place somewhat of an urban oasis.
Posted on: 2013/3/13 13:49
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Re: Embankment to become Vietnamese?
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Home away from home
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maybe it's just me, but being that both incarnations of the restaurant look like a cafeteria with staff, neither nha trang nor TH strike me as the kind of place i'd go to get my butt kissed with good service. it's always kind of light hearted and laughable, just like the crazy blonde waitress that used to be at la rustique. at nha trang my friends and i generally just ask for the dishes we want as appetizers without mentioning our "main course" until the first plates come out. no big whoop. had the same experience at TH, but we go for the solid food and that's it.
Posted on: 2013/3/13 9:24
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Re: Embankment to become Vietnamese?
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Home away from home
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Sucks that they screwed the pooch on getting your pho out in a timely manner but I've got a few questions. 1) Pho isn't really an appetizer. I don't have a menu on me, but I'm 99% certain it isn't on the appetizer portion of the menu at nha trang, which this place is a copy of. Nor is a small order of pho really appetizer size anyway (i'm kinda chunky if you get my drift and a small is an adequate sized meal for me). Why would you assume this is an appetizer? 2) Why did you send back your pho when it came out? 3) Why did you pay for food you did not receive? You'd clearly made up your mind to never go back to this place again, so you'd never be worried about the service... you're really that big of a wuss that you'd pay for something that you sent back to the kitchen?
Posted on: 2013/3/13 5:17
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Re: Embankment to become Vietnamese?
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Home away from home
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Yup. I spent a few years living in and traveling around southeast Asia, and the typical serving protocol seemed to be "bring it out when it's ready and dig in, everybody," which I kinda like, as every dish is pretty much guaranteed to be hot. Haven't been to the new place yet, but if the waitstaff are new arrivals, you're getting traditional service.
Posted on: 2013/3/13 3:39
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Re: Embankment to become Vietnamese?
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Home away from home
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In all fairness to them, the Vietnamese (and Chinese) don't do appetizer courses per se. Banquets/family dinners usually consist of several dishes that are shared by everyone. Everything comes out at once or as it's cooked. That's why you'll see lazy Susans at all the big tables at Nha Trang (haven't yet been to the new place). Anyway, the restaurant shouldn't list "Appetizers" on the menu if they don't intend to serve those dishes first. They should at least understand that non-Asians might take the menu headings literally and ask you if you want dishes served in a different order. (Pho, btw, is an all-purpose meal in Vietnam, people even have it for breakfast).
Posted on: 2013/3/13 2:55
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Re: Embankment to become Vietnamese?
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Home away from home
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Just ate here with my wife and another couple. It was probably the worst dining experience that I've ever had in Jersey City. The waiter and the kitchen had no concept of courses. I ordered Pho as a starter and seafood with noodles as a main course. My dining companions also ordered appetizers and entrees. To start, two people were served appetizers while the other two got nothing. Then my wife was served her main course (a very expensive lobster) alone. Then immediately after, the other entrees were served and my wife's appetizer came. I still had no Pho. In the mean time, the servers brought over THREE plates of sprouts and basil, saying "for soup" but no soup was to be seen anywhere. I still had nothing. Called the waiter over and let him know my extreme displeasure.
He hid in the kitchen for the remainder of the meal. Finally received my entree delivered by a busboy and, of course, 30 seconds later my Pho came which I sent back. When the waiter finally came out of the kitchen, he circled the dining room which only had four active tables, while talking on his CELL PHONE, ignoring my table because he didn't want to talk to me and apologize. The whole meal was a disaster. Never got to taste the Pho, and despite my complaints, nothing was removed from my check. Too bad. Could have been a nice addition to our dining rotation.
Posted on: 2013/3/13 2:13
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Re: Embankment to become Vietnamese?
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Home away from home
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Just to pile on here, in the JCList spirit, having eaten at both places, Nha Trang many times (eat in and take out) and Thanh Hoai a few times (take out), my own opinion is that both restaurants are more or less the same in terms of food and service. If you like the old one, you will be happy with the new one. If not; not.
My only criticism is that they don't seem to have adapted into the Embankment space all that well yet, especially the bar. It's still basically a contemporary bar-and-grill/sportsbar area, except now it has bouncy pop music and LED disco lights. You can still catch a Devil's game, however, if that doesn't ruin your appetite at this point.
Posted on: 2013/3/7 13:54
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