Luca's Ristorante

2019 Rt-27, Somerset, NJ
http://www.lucasristorante.com


I was anxious to try Luca's after reading so many rave reviews on urban spoon. My husband and I went there last night. I was very pleased by the ambiance of the restaurant. You really don't feel like you're in a strip mall restaurant at all.
We ordered a bruschetta caprese appetizer, and were very pleased by it... it was really fresh and tasty. The bread basket was really good too--we had 2 rolls, 2 sesame seed rolls, and something with garlic and melted cheese.
Our entrees were the disappointment of our meal. I was debating between the fresh pasta and a seafood pasta entree. I chose the seafood pasta (shrimp amalfi), and I probably should have gone for the fresh pasta. It really had no flavor, despite having broccoli, shrimp, mushrooms, and other things. My husband chose a chicken dish (chicken pulcinella). I thought the chicken itself was cooked perfectly--so tender. His comment was that all the parts (balsamic reduction, gorgonzola cheese, ham, chicken) were excellent, but together not so good. He felt that the gorgonzola really overwhelmed the other flavors. We chose not to get dessert, but a neighboring table got both tiramisu and gelato and were raving about it.

Anyway, we felt in all that the restaurant was fine, but not something we're going to make the drive for in the future.

Veronica Diner

84 Veronica Ave
Somerset, NJ

I came across this diner while researching restaurants for our son's Christening party. We didn't choose them, but they stuck in my mind anyway. Today, I decided to try them out.
When we pulled up, I was a little...dubious about the choice. It was a snowy morning, so their lot was pretty empty, plus it was at the end of a strip mall. You know that this can go either way. We decided to go in anyway.
The place is pretty small. We had great service, and the food was really reasonable. They have an early bird special (I got 2 eggs, a short stack of pancakes, bacon, coffee, and a small juice for about $6), so our total bill for the two of us came to around $15.
The food was pretty typical diner breakfast. It was a little bit further than I'd probably drive with so many diners around our house, but it was decent food. The hubs wasn't so thrilled with his (buttermilk pancakes), but mine was good. We both commented, however, that the bacon was REALLY good.

A&G Fine Foods

400 Lincoln Blvd, Middlesex - (732) 563-4001
www.agfinefoods.com

The hubs and I decided to try this place after hearing that they are fantastic. It was a nice little Italian foods place, and I'd really love to try their prepared meals, which looked fantastic. We both had our sandwiches on club rolls, which didn't really impress me, although BAJ liked it a lot. He had the Middlesex Special, which we both thought "ok," but we both really liked my #9. The meats were all really fresh and tasty, and on the whole the sandwich was very good. I'd like to try their hero roll since I was a little disappointed in the club roll. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't what I was looking for. BAJ even mentioned them today as we were thinking about our lunch options, so we will definitely return here soon.