Reviews

NJ ZAGAT Review 2009 / 2010

"Named for a New Orleans cemetery, this 'laid-back' Hoboken Cajun-Creole 'near the PATH' train is a 'festive' foothold for 'solid' 'Louisiana cooking'; the 'hopping bar scene', 'darts and two pool tables' ensure it's a 'frat-boy' 'favorite', especially 'on weekends', but there's always the 'pleasant outdoor garden'."

OpenTable.com User ***** "The food was amazing, the service was great! Southern food at it's best."

"Had dinner at Oddfellows last night. Had a great time. Took my my girlfriend and her parents out to dinner and I'm sure glad we picked this spot. Dinner was excellent! Portions were very generous...we all took a doggy bag with us. Drinks were very tasty and the dessert was rich and a great way to end our meals. The bar was filling up as we were leaving but we couldn't stay that particular night. Will definatly be back soon!!"

LetsEat!201
August/September 2010

(Big Easy) Hoboken
Oddfellows Rest brings a taste of Mardi Gras all year round.
By Jessica Rosero

Hey there (201)! I’m Jessica and I will be your tour guide through some of the best bars and restaurants in the area code. Our first stop: Hoboken!

Known as the birthplace of baseball and legendary crooner Frank Sinatra, Hoboken has been one of (201)’s fastest growing hotspots for singles and families. Primary reason: LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION! With fabulous views of New York City and numerous bars and restaurants featuring authentic ethnic cuisine from all over the world, Hoboken has something for everyone.

Starting out on River and 1st streets (conveniently located next to the NJ/NY Path Station), we find ourselves in none other than the “Big Easy.” Yes (201), you can celebrate Mardi Gras all year round at Oddfellows Rest.

Oddfellows Rest – and no that is not short for restaurant, but we’ll get into that later – first opened its doors in November of 1993 as a New Orleans themed bar. Owner Jerry Maher was inspired to bring this original concept to Hoboken by his partner, who was a native of New Orleans.

“I came over from England when I was 21 and worked on Wall Street for eight years,” said Maher. “I was living in Hoboken and was tossing around the idea of opening an English pub or a New Orleans bar.”

Having visited New Orleans plenty of times, Maher decided to go with the New Orleans theme knowing it would be unique to the area.

“I loved the atmosphere and the food, so I decided to go ahead with it,” said Maher. Oddfellows Rest became such a sensation with patrons from New Jersey and New York, including some Louisiana natives looking for a little piece of home, that a restaurant featuring traditional Cajun-Creole cuisine was soon added to the establishment.

“We are very unique there is nothing like us in the area,” said Missy Dimonde, general manager. “We are packed every night of the year.”

Oddfellows Rest is open for lunch and dinner, and also features a New Orleans style weekend brunch from 11a.m. to 4p.m. In addition to the bar and dining experience, patrons of Oddfellows Rest mainly come to enjoy the laid back atmosphere. Throughout the week, the bar features special offers including $5 Martini Nights on Thursdays, and Karaoke on Wednesday for the performer in us all. Happy Hour can also be enjoyed Monday through Friday from 4p.m. to 8p.m., and of course, Oddfellows Rest would not be complete without their annual Mardi Gras weekend bash in February.
“The people who work here and come here are awesome,” said Ryan Redler, 32, Hoboken. “You don’t get the normal riff-raff. You get people that are genuine and people that love Hoboken. I never leave without meeting interesting people.”

Let’s talk food!
However, to get the full picture of this southern inspired gem in our little corner of the northeast I needed to try some of Louisiana’s finest fare. With so many traditional culinary staples, I decided to sample three of the most popular: Catfish, Crawfish and Jambalaya. First up the Char-Grilled Catfish: This lightly seasoned and meaty fish is perfectly paired with the bursting flavors of chopped tomatoes, red onions, green peppers and cilantro garnish. With a three cheese potato cake and sautéed spinach on the side, this is a perfect light summer dish. Of course, for those wanting a more robust flavor the catfish can also be prepared Southern Fried, Blackened or Bronzed.

Second we have the Chicken Andouille Jambalaya: A classic example of Creole style cooking, this dish will entice your taste buds with its wonderful smoky flavors and spicy kick from the andouille sausages.

Last, but not least, the Crawfish Etouffee: This delectable dish features crawfish tails simmered in a rich roux seafood based sauce over rice, which gives it a creamy risotto consistency. Yet another New Orleans classic that will leave you wanting more.

Now of course you must save room for one of their mouth watering desserts. I highly recommend the Banana Foster: a banana flambé in golden rum, banana liqueur and brown sugar, and paired with vanilla bean ice cream. An indulgence defiantly worth sampling.

As for the secret behind these culinary delights, lies in the hands of Executive chef Carlos Cruz, who has been at Oddfellows for almost 14 years.

“We try to establish a relationship with our customers,” said Cruz. “It’s such a rich flavorful environment, so we invite people to enjoy this place.”

Originally of Gujaca, Mexico, Cruz started out as a line cook and then rose to be a sous chef under the executive chef Wayne Haney. Much of his expertise for the past 17 years as a chef has developed by working in the restaurant industry.

“I’ve been working in the kitchen a long time,” said Cruz. “I started like most people washing dishes and then working as a line cook.”

After working as a sous chef for three to four years, Cruz was offered the position of executive chef with a recommendation by his predecessor, and owner Jerry Maher even sent him to The Culinary Institute of America for seafood basics in preparation for the position. He has since been at the helm of the restaurant, which he continued to blossom under his management of the kitchen.

“It’s been all this time and I am so happy in this place,” said Cruz. “We take our time and invest in the customers, and we are always working on something new. We invite people to enjoy this beautiful place and wonderful staff.”

One last thing...
Well (201) that’s about it, but before I go I did promise I’d let you in on the namesake of the restaurant “Oddfellows Rest.” Well Oddfellows Rest is a famous cemetery at the bottom of Canal Street in New Orleans, which has remained intact after innumerous odds and has been a centralized location for much of New Orleans history.

If you would like to know the whole story, I suggest you pay them a visit and pick up the menu. It’s right there for you to see. However, I will leave you with one excerpt from it, which I feel perfectly sums up what Oddfellows Rest in Hoboken is all about.

“Oddfellows Rest is a symbol of birth and rebirth in New Orleans. It remembers the simplicity and sophistication of the city.”

 

The Hoboken Reporter
Volume 27, Number 33 (April 11, 2010)
Entertainment Section

Scrumptious seafood, meat, dessert – New Orleans Way
Oddfellows Restaurant has unique appetizers, entrees
By Caren Matzner
Reporter Editor

From blackened catfish, grilled pepper-corn crusted hanger steak, crawfish tails, jambalaya, and fried shrimp to bananas Foster, there’s a delicious array of both gourmet entrees and bar food at Oddfellows Bar & Restaurant in Hoboken.
The spacious eatery a block from the Hoboken train station has a large bar, a quieter room for sit-down dining, a billiards room and an outdoor lounge – four rooms as diverse as the menu that serves the patrons.
The restaurant was opened in 1993 by Jerry Maher, who also owns the upscale American eatery 340 Grill on Sinatra Drive. Oddfellows was named after a historic site in New Orleans created by a benevolent society, the Independent Order of Oddfellows. The restaurant offers everything one would find at any New Orleans eatery, including gumbo, po’ boy sandwiches, and delectable desserts.
Wandering past the establishment on the way home from the Hoboken train station does not give one any idea of the full palate Oddfellows has to offer. Far from merely a place to slurp-down a Hurricane at happy hour (4 to 8p.m. Monday through Friday), it’s also a great place to take a date who wants more than the traditional dinner fare.

Appetizers
The dining room at Oddfellows is tastefully decorated with images from New Orleans that line the brick walls. It was relatively quiet on the night I dined, a Tuesday at 6p.m. Customers started to trickle in as they arrived home from work.
Any meal at the restaurant starts with a basket of warm, sweet cornbread and butter. Next came the appetizers. General Manager Dawn Dimonde started me off with three of their most popular: New Orleans style barbeque shrimp, Cajun popcorn, and crab puppies. The menu also lists chicken fingers, catfish fingers, calamari, and several types of gumbo
The Cajun popcorn was my favorite – fried crawfish tail with homemade tartar sauce. They were delicious and had the texture of shrimp. I loved the sauce and asked what was in it. Get ready: there are eight ingredients, including creole mustard and sweet relish.
The crab puppies were little crabcake balls and could be dipped in chipotle remoulade. The shrimp were barbequed, but they didn’t taste like barbeque sauce. Instead they came surrounded by a liquid sautee of butter, beer, Worcestershire and the pepper sauce. The sauce was mildly tangy and spicy. They also came with some slices of bread to dip, so they’re perfect for a small group. Appetizers ranged from $9 to $11.

Entrees
There is a very wide selection of entrees on the dinner menu. The salads ranged from $14 to $16 and include a hanger steak salad, sesame shrimp salad, Tchoupatoulas chicken (grill-smoked chicken paillard, grilled vegetable, shaved parmesan, mesclun, and lemon-pepper vinaigrette), and chicken or Caesar salads. Everything had a unique New Orleans twist.
They also offer a list of “traditional New Orleans fare” entrees, including various types of jambalaya. The sausage was smoky and tasty, and the chicken was tender. All of the Cajun food warmed my bones.
The menu also had “Delta Feast” options, a group of entrees from the South. They ranged from Southern Fried Catfish to baby back rips to Cajun shepard’s pie to stuffed chicken breast. Those entrees ranged from $15 to $19 and often came with side dishes.
There was also a list of my favorite: po’ boy sandwiches. As the story goes, during the Depression, a street vendor offered a complete meal for a nickel. He threw meat, lettuce, and tomato on a loaf of French bread. The destitute christened the sandwich a “po’ boy”.
The taste is anything but po’. I ordered a fried shrimp po’ boy, which I especially loved because it had the aforementioned homemade tartar. It came with “jazz fries” (criss-cross fries) and homemade slaw. There is something great about enjoying fried shrimp on a sandwich with creamy sauce.
Other po’ boys include fried catfish, crabcake, crawfish, BBQ pork, and grilled and blackened chicken. These sandwiches range from $12 to $13.
Finally, Dimonde encouraged me to try their popular burger, the “Big Easy” burger. It was three-quarters of a pound of beef on an English muffin. I ordered mine smothered in cheese and mushrooms. It came with jazz fries and homemade slaw, and was as good as any burger I’ve had. The range of topping can even include a fried egg.
There is also a garden burger for the healthier among you.
Finally, the menu listed more than a dozen Southern side dishes that you can order for $5 each. They included red bliss mashed potatoes (which I tried and were heavenly and surprisingly sweet); corn, okra, and tomato ragout, creamed spinach, macaroni & cheese, BBQ baked beans, soul vegetables, and butter mushrooms.

Don’t forget dessert!
A sign on the table said not to forget dessert, so how could I?
The desserts were $8 each and included: Molten chocolate cake, triple chocolate mousse (dark, milk, and white on chocolate cake), warm bread pudding, vanilla cheesecake, and bananas foster. Bananas foster is a traditional New Orleans dessert in which the chef flambes bananas in rum, banana liqueur, and brown sugar. A dollop of cool ice cream makes the dessert complete.
I tried the bread pudding, which I loved. It was served on a plate of sweet vanilla and chocolate sauce, with slices of strawberries. The pudding was warm like it should be, fruity and full of sweet filling and raisins. Even though I was full, I couldn’t stop eating. I loved the texture.

Louisiana brunch
Lets not forget that they serve lunch and – on Saturdays and Sundays – brunch.
The brunch is as special as their décor and their dinners. It includes four kinds of eggs Benedict: smoked salmon, Canadian bacon, hand pulled pork, and Acadian crawfish. These toppings all join the poached eggs drizzled with Hollandaise over English muffins, with Lyonnaise red bliss potatoes on the side. The dish ranges from $10 to $11.
Also available: steak and eggs, French toast, three-egg omelettes with many toppings, and some other egg dishes.
Brunch is served Saturday and Sunday from 11a.m. to 4p.m.

A special place
Jerry Maher began the restaurant because of a relative of his who was from New Orleans. The party grew from there.
“[People come for] the food and the friendliness of the staff,” Maher says. “We get so many New Orleans transplants who come up here and they come and try the food and we get so many positive responses from them.”
Just like the real New Orleans, there is something special going on at Oddfellows every night. They run special on certain nights, including “martini night” one weeknight and a free Stella Artois glass on another. Friday and Saturday nights have DJ’s starting at 9p.m. At other times, the restaurant hosts karaoke and a dart league.
Starting in late April, they’ll have a “crawfish boil” one weeknight each week, in which they boil crawfish in the pot in the courtyard and sale it by the pound. “There is special way to eat it,” Dawn Dimonde confirmed. It involves twisting it, sucking out the juices from the head, and eating the meat from the tail, but you can ask someone there to show you.
Best yet, like many of their specialties, the crawfish is shipped from New Orleans. In fact, it is shipped the morning of the boil! (Maher said it is more expensive to order them now because it took them longer to hatch due to the tough winter.)
Happy hour runs from 4 to 8p.m. each weeknight with $2.50 beer pints and $5 New Orleans hurricanes. There are also drink specials for Sunday football.
The restaurant includes nine televisions to enjoy.
And last but not least, their biggest event each year is, of course, the party that surrounds the week of Mardi Gras in February.
Oddfellows Rest Louisiana Bar and Restaurant is located at 80 River St., across from the Hoboken train station. It can be reached at (201) 656-9009. They can host private parties and are open several days a week. See www.oddfellowsrest.com for more information. – HR

 

Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler @ Oddfellows
by TheBoken on January 22, 2010

Cravin’ Cajun? No need to head to New Orleans—just go down to River Street, where Oddfellows Rest dishes up po’ boys, gumbo, crawfish, jambalaya, and other Cajun and Creole concoctions.

Named after a well-known New Orleans cemetery, Oddfellows may look like just another Hoboken bar and grill on the outside, but the restaurant has crafted an authentic New Orleans-style menu that has yet to be matched anywhere in our area. In fact, Zagat’s has christened Oddfellows the “New Orleans of the North.” And deservedly so.

My most recent visit began with a mouth-watering crab and shrimp gumbo. We scraped the bowl clean with pieces of warm cornbread, then moved on to our entrées: chicken and andouille sausage jambalaya (which provided enough leftovers to feed two the next day)

and char-grilled catfish. And no New Orleans-inspired meal would be complete without a dessert of warm bread pudding—simply delicious. 

Oddfellows has a full bar, which of course offers up New Orleans’ signature Hurricanes. There is also an extensive list of specialty drinks that include pomegranate, key lime, and grape popsicle martinis, as well as a nice wine list and beer selection. 

To top it all off, Oddfellows features a week-long Mardi Gras celebration—the only one in New Jersey, according to the restaurant’s website. 

Laissez les bon temps rouler!

ZAGAT Review 2007 / 2008

"A piece of N'Awlins" near the PATH is the deal on this Hoboken Cajun-Creole where work-weary former "frat boys" dig the reliably "spicy" "happy-hour" scene at the bar that's chased down with some "satisfying" bayou vittles; some say it's just the right cure for a jambalaya "fix" especially if you've "never been to Louisiana."

 

Hudson Current
05/15/08
By: Diana Schwaeble
Current Editor

It’s crawfish time!
Oddfellows Rest in Hoboken kicks off annual festival

Spice up your spring with Cajun cooking at Oddfellows Rest, which runs until June 24th. This annual tradition takes place at this Hoboken mainstay that is known as “New Orleans of the North” with its authentic Cajun dishes. Every Tuesday the crawfish are flown in fresh from Louisiana and simmered in spices until tender. “It’s a taste of the South,” said Hilary Morris, who is a bartender/manager at Oddfellows. “The season is so short. It’s like a novelty every year.”

By The Pound
Described as a cross between a lobster and a shrimp, these mid-sized delights are in peak season April through June. Head chef Carlos Cruz, who has worked at Oddfellows for a dozen years, prepares the special mix of spices that are added to the giant sized pot needed to boil the 100-plus pounds of crawfish. The rest is basically time and patience as the broth has to simmer so the crawfish, red potatoes, and corn-on-the-cob absorb the spices, he said. Cruz said the key is the spices which includes paprika, Cajun spices, white and black pepper, lemon juice, garlic and, of course, the chef’s special touch. The result is tender meat with a slightly sweet spicy flavor. Cruz described the proper way to eat the crawfish. “Open it up a little bit and suck on the juices in the head and tail,” said Cruz. “The potatoes and the corn make people happy.” Oddfellows serves platters of the tasty crustaceans with a heaping portion of red potatoes and corn-on-the-cob that are also boiled in the tasty blend of spices. Guests can order it by the pound. Crawfish is also a healthy food as they are high in protein, low in fat, and easily digestible.
General Manager Missy Dimonde says that a one pound serving is an appetizer portion, while a two-to-three pound serving is an entrée. Dimonde described a technique for opening the crawdaddies. Make a quick twisting motion with the head, do a slip back of the shell, pinch the bottom of the tail, and pull out the meat. “A lot of people say that the head is the tastiest part,” said Morris.

A Hoboken Tradition
Oddfellows Rest, which is owned by Jerry Maher, has been serving up authentic New Orleans food for the past 14 years and celebrates Mardi Gras and crawfish festival every year as a tribute to the Bayou. This fall the restaurant will celebrate 15 years in Hoboken. When Maher created Oddfellows, he wanted to design a restaurant that had the look, fell and taste of a traditional New Orleans bistro. The restaurant is resplendent with authentic New Orleans memorabilia including Mardi Gras masks and beads, high ceiling fans, tile floors in the dining room, and celebrated Jazz musicians hanging on the walls. This charming eatery also has a sidewalk café and outdoor courtyard in the back that is the next best thing to visiting the Big Easy. Maher says that customers look forward to the crawfish every year. Guests can enjoy any one of the signature drinks like the Hurricane, a sweet and satisfying rum punch or the refreshing Mojito. In addition to the seasonal crawfish platters, guests can indulge in other Louisiana treats like the delicious po’ boy sandwiches, spicy jambalaya, etouffees, crispy fried catfish, entrée salads, and much more.
Oddfellows Rest, 80 River St. in Hoboken is open seven days a week for brunch, lunch, and dinner. The Crawfish Festival runs every Tuesday night until June 24th with the exception of May 27th. For more information, call (201) 656-9009 0r visit www.oddfellowsrest.com.

 

THE HUDSON CURRENT
02/23/2006
By: Diana Schwaeble
Current Editor

Mardi Gras
Oddfellows honors the Big Easy

Oddfellows, the Louisiana-style restaurant and bar, prepares to kick off their annual weeklong celebration of Mardi Gras. This year, the celebration becomes more poignant as they remember Hurricane Katrina. Oddfellows salutes its sister city in shades of purple, gold, and green, as New Orleans continues the traditional carnival festivities.

New Orleans style

Those who haven't ever experienced Mardi Gras in Louisiana can experience it from Feb.23 through Fat Tuesday. It has become one of the premier seasonal events in Hoboken, giving people a taste of New Orleans right here in Hudson County.

Walking in you might feel that you have been transported to a tavern on Bourbon Street with the festive lights and beads strung on every available surface. Even the overhead bar lights have been transformed with the traditional colors. A colorful float takes center stage in the room. Positioned high above the crowds, costumed staff members will throw beads, masks, and trinkets every night. To add to the ambiance, live jazz bands will perform all week.

The Voodudes, a seven piece Louisiana funk band, will play on Fat Tuesday (Feb. 28). The band has played every year during Mardi Gras since Oddfellows opened 13 years ago.

"It's the party of the year where everybody is here just to have fun," said Jerry Maher, one of the owners of Oddfellows.

To help with the bead toss, there will be models on the premises making sure everyone looks festive.

"People love the beads," said Maher. "Everyone really loves to catch them."

According to Maher, every year the celebration gets a little bigger, especially on Fat Tuesday when there is a line at the door by 4 p.m.

"All you see are smiling faces," said Maher. "It seems like people come out in a positive mood."

Cajun cooking

But Mardi Gras isn't all bands and beads. There are traditional foods along with the party. They serve Cajun and Creole food that would make any transplanted New Orleans native proud.

The homemade, buttery cornbread served warm out of the oven is a delicious complement to the spicy food. The rich Etouffee, which comes in a chicken or crawfish variety, is a savory stew served over a bed of rice. It is flavored with peppers, onions, and spices and simmered for hours.

One of their signatures dishes is the Jambalaya that comes in a seafood or chicken variety. Jambalaya is a hearty mix of rice and meat that is flavored with Cajun spices. The chicken comes with big chunks of andouille sausage, which give this dish an extra kick.

On Fat Tuesday, there will be a "Jambalaya Shack" in the bar area just serving bowls of Jambalaya and crawfish Etouffee.

Fat Tuesday

On Fat Tuesday patrons are encouraged to come in costume and masks for the grand finale, which includes the crowning of the King and Queen. According to Maher, the identity of the King and Queen is kept secret until Fat Tuesday. The special ceremony, which includes the crown and the unique beads, is kicked off with the parade around the bistro as the band plays, "When the Saints Go Marching In."

And don't forget to try their signature drink, a red punch called a "hurricane." It is the best rum punch this side of the Bayou.

Oddfellows in Hoboken, (80 River St.) celebrates Mardi Gras with a week long celebration. There will be live music, beads, masks and more at both locations. For more information, please visit: www.oddfellowsrest.com or call: (201) 656-9009 in Hoboken.

Star Ledger
     The good times roll on and on at Hoboken's Oddfellows Rest, a first-class Cajun-Creole eatery whose impeccably cooked,creatively seasoned food may come as a shock to restaurant-goers used to coarse imitations. Oddfellows Rest takes its name from a New Orleans cemetery, but there's nothing moribund about the lively,spirited cooking turned out by Louisiana verteran Wayne Haney. This isn't the crude, cliched, heavily peppered product passed off as New Orleans cooking by so many half-hearted kitchens. From the bracing seafood gumbo through the robust red beans and rice to the ravishing pecan pie, this food comes from another dimension altogether. Mint juleps, lifted from an adjoining page of Southern culture, are on hand for a sparkling accompaniment. English-born co-owner Jerry Maher, a self-described "Wall Street boy" who now handles the business side of things, and his future wife Liz opened this downtown spot as a tavern about 31/2 years ago. A year later, New Orleans-born Liz Maher -- a dancer who'd lived through the Hoboken renaissance -- was inspired to import the cooking of her home turf to their struggling bar. The response was so enthusiastic that Oddfellows Rest doubled in size a year ago, taking over the space of an adjacent real estate brokerage. The establishment still has a cheerily raffish air befitting its near-waterfront location next to the PATH station.The spacious taproom opening into a pool parlor hosts New Orleans musicians on Thursday and acoustic performers on Sunday. Two brick-lined, painting-hung dining rooms to the side offer a more formal setting. For al fresco dining there's an outdoor courtyard and a pleasant streetside strip from which diners can gaze across the Hudson at the Twin Towers. As refreshing as the view, is the generous, moderately priced fare. Flavors are at once subtle and intense. Drawing an important distinction between spicing and seasoning. Maher assures initiates that flavor counts for more than heat. Oddfellows Rest has drawn more than local recognition. It made news in its specialized field when it was hailed by America's Catfish Institute as one of the top 10 U.S. restaurants serving farm-raised catfish. Lucky diners who sample that dish will ratify the ranking. An extensive menu is supplemented by artful specials. On a recent visit, one excellent special appetizer consisted of creamy sauteed crabmeat and artichoke hearts ($6.95) enlivened with onion butter on fresh leaves of baby spinach. The texture was as gratifying as the taste. A winning starter from the regular menu was the savory shrimp remoulade ($7.95), its pureed vegetables lightly sparked by Creole mustard. The overall effect was upbeat and gently pungent, not at all sweetish. Lightly breaded nuggets of okra, served in grand portions, were indubitably authentic. So was the peppery but well-balanced gumbo ($4.95 cup; $6.95 bowl) poured around crawfish complete with pincers. We passed,however, on the alligator and boudin sausages ($5.95) Among Oddfellow entrees, one night's special catfish fillet ($13.95) was a melting, meaty delight. Panseared lightly rubbed in flour and daubed with a colorful sauce of garlic and ginger, accompanied by a bowl of green tomatoes, it proved to be a many-flavored treat. Another fine special ($13.95) brought good fresh cod (substituting for salmon) together with shallots and sauteed spinach in a zippy mustard sauce, all topped by a tangle of shoestring fried potatoes. This was a dish worth lingering over. Savory crawfish etoufee ($12.95) slowly simmered with onion, celery and peppers in seafood stock and served with rice, proved to be another stomach-warming pleasure. Finally there was the simple, straight-forward bowl of un-mushy red beans and rice ($9.95) served with shallots and torpedo-like slices of memorably well-spicedd Andouille sausage. This "traditional meal of laundry days" provided deep and rousing satisfaction. Haney, a former pastry cook, kept the quality level high with his hand-crafted desserts (a remarkable $4.95 each), as impressive in quantity as quality. His four show pieces are that fabulously rich pecan pie, cinnamon cheesecake seemingly laced with brandy, a first-rate, raisiny bread pudding and a dense chocolate mousse with a surprise bonus of toffee at its core. This is convincing food, only lightly modified for tamer Northern taste buds. Fans of Cajun or Creole cooking will be entranced; suspicious novices will find it a revelation. Like good New Orleans jazz, the food at Oddfellows just keep swinging.

 USA Today
     NON-FRENCH DINING: The Catfish Institute, after scouring the USA's restaurants to see which do best with the farm-raised version of the fish, has crowned these winners: Taylor Grocery & Restaurant, Taylor, Miss.; Oddfellows Rest, Hoboken, N.J.; Jax Fish House, Boulder, Colo.; Hagy's Catfish Hotel, Shiloh, Tenn.; Cafe Aspen, Fort Worth; Five Feet, Laguna Beach, Calif.; Daphne Lodge, Cordela, Ga.; Catfish Cafe, Lynbrook, N.Y.; Green Street Grill, Cambridge, Mass.; and The Ark, Riverside, Ala.

 ZAGAT Review 2004
     Hoboken earns the honorific "New Orleans of the North" thanks to this "fun Cajun-Creole" "hot spot" serving "comfort food in the ya-ya style"; they pack in the "after-work yuppies" who "roll up their sleeves", shout "oo-wee" then tuck into "good, solid" fare like "fabulous jambalaya" "at reasonable prices", and "if the cornbread doesn't blow you away the Hurricanes definitely will!"

 ZAGATsurvey
     Top 3 Cajun New Jersey
Well-seasoned Cajun food, a "nice patio" and "happening bar scene" gives diners an "excellent taste of New Orleans" at this Hoboken mainstay; some claim the "decent" edibles are overshadowed by the pub, which they dub a "fun joint."