Amelia's Bistro - Paulus Hook, Jersey City, NJ

Jimmy and I have chosen to brunch on Sundays in the recent year - weather permitting. Our staple was always Sam A.M. but decided to explore a bit more of Jersey City.

It was a sunny morning and we decided to sit outside, in the shade of course. Service was quite slow, actually pretty slow. A good 15 minutes had gone by after we placed our order and there was no sign of water or bread for us (and yes I was getting a bit annoyed). We had to ask for water and then they gave us bread (unacceptable), it was actually just mini muffins which tasted like store-bought. We both ordered an iced latte, another 10 minute had passed and the beverages came. The latte was extremely light in color (too much milk possibly?), it tasted like watered down coffee and not one bit of espresso at all. I'm completely bummed out at this point because everything so far was a disappointment.

Finally, our food came. The entree were a decent portion but my side order of apple chicken sausage was a complete fail. It was served on a large plate, one sausage link cut in half and cost $4. I was in disbelief and shock.

The only redeeming quality of this entire meal was actually the brunch entree itself. Jimmy's Shrimp and Grits were quite delicious, my Eggs Benedict was not bad, the home fries were great. We ended the meal with two mimosas - because why not?

Mini Muffins w/ jam

Iced Latte...

Apple Chicken Sausage - $4

Bistro Eggs Benedict

Shrimp and Grits

Mimosas (double vs. single)

The meal started in a complete disaster, but ended unexpectedly...not bad. Will we return? Probably not. I still can't get over the fact that a place cannot make an iced latte appropriately. Am I expecting too much?

Verdict:
Food ~ 4 out of 5
Price ~ 2 out of 5
Service ~ 1.5 out of 5

Amelia's Bistro
187 Warren Street
Jersey City, NJ 07302

Hidden Grounds Coffee - Jersey City, NJ

As you can tell, I've changed the name of the blog to incorporate my husband! We had gotten married last year which was why there was a major lack in food posts. We also have an IG page dedicated to food we ate and/or cooked. As for the name, it's our middle name merged into one; Ding and Ngoc. Clever me!

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Jersey City has been treating us well. We can finally relax a bit after the chaos of our wedding planning the past year.
J somehow stumbled upon Hidden Grounds Coffee one Sunday morning when we were deciding on brunch.

It felt so nice to be able to take it easy and just stroll around. Needed this to de-stress the body and mind.

The cafe was super nice, modern with comfortable cushioned seats along the wall and a couple of tables for coffee sippers and mind wanderers.

Rose Chai

The beverages here are so pretty. I mean look at that Rose Chai, it taste as beautiful as it looks! The cups, flowers and succulents makes for great IG photos.

Rose Chai//Saffron Chai

J got the Saffron Chai which was very good also. I like how they were sweetened just right, and the sweetness actually brought out the flavors of rose and saffron. The pistachio nuts were a nice touch to give the drink a little different texture.

For brunch, I had gotten The Architect and J ordered the Just Bae. The gravy that comes with both dishes were excellent - maybe it was also the cold, windy weather but this biscuits and gravy totally hit the spot. I liked how there was a hint of garam masala in the gravy, gives it a nice depth of flavor.

I adore this place a lot. Especially when they offer a free latte with a Yelp check-in.

Latte

The latte was on point, strong espresso flavor which was not watered down by too much milk. I can't wait to come back in the warmer month to try the Iced Rose Chai.

Verdict:
Food ~ 4 out of 5
Price ~ 4 out of 5
Service ~ 4 out of 5

Hidden Grounds Coffee
148 1st St
Ground Floor
Jersey City, NJ 07302 

Short Grain - Jersey City, NJ

Never had I thought I would be living in another state...let alone Jersey.
But, it was one of those decisions that when you think back, you decided correctly.

On a random morning, well I guess it wasn't that random, it was Labor Day after all. The fiancé and I decided last minute we wanted Vietnamese sandwich for brunch. I can't remember the last time we had a good sandwich so I agreed.

Short Grain was a bougie version of a regular Vietnamese cafe that serves coffee and sandwiches. Actually, the only Viet thing about this place was just the sandwiches and coffee, they have other items on the menu like pancakes and avocado toast (which is like the "thing" now). The cafe has a good amount of tables and seats. We luckily grabbed one before the lunch crowd came.

The sandwiches are pretty solid and so were the coffees. We ended up getting an iced and hot version of the Vietnamese coffee, it was perfectly sweetened in my opinion. I'm iffy about getting Vietnamese coffee now since they usually make it super sweet to counter the bitterness of the smokey coffee beans. The sandwiches were massive, packed with ingredients which I did not expect. I ordered the Vietnamese Cold Cut Sandwich, I have to say that I like this better. There was a lot of layered meat like headcheese, Vietnamese ham, pate spread and not too much pickled vegetables. It was extremely filling. The fiancé had gotten the Coconut Curry Chicken, it was spicy but addicting spicy which you just can't stop eating. Had a flavorful curry flavor but not much coconut which I was a bit disappointed with. Our coffees worked well with both sandwiches, the iced with the curry and the hot with the cold cut.

I see myself coming back. The cafe had a really lax vibe to it and everything was solid.

Vietnamese Iced Coffee, Vietnamese Coffee

Vietnamese Cold Cut Sandwich

Coconut Curry Chicken Sandwich

Verdict:
Food ~ 5 out of 5
Price ~ 4 out of 5
Service ~ 4.5 out of 5

Short Grain
183 Montgomery St
Jersey City, NJ 07302