Before heading to see It’s Complicated at the Edgewater Multiplex Cinemas, we had a quick dinner at Baumgart’s Cafe at City Place. I’ve written about the Englewood location of Baumgart’s, and the menu is basically the same at the Edgewater branch. The main difference is that the one in Edgewater is not BYO (they have a liquor license), and the décor is less diner-like and a bit more funky/upscale. The restaurant is pretty large and spacious, with tall ceilings and huge windows that look out onto the Hudson River and a view of Manhattan in the distance.
We started out with our favorite steamed house dumplings, which are filled with a shrimp and vegetable paste. The dumplings are soft and flavorful, and it comes with a pile of mildly pickled vegetables.
Steamed house dumplings with pickled vegetables
Next we had cold sesame noodles, which were surprisingly spicy. Not burn your mouth spicy but there was a definite kick at the end, which I found to be pleasant and a good contrast to the otherwise creamy and sweet sesame sauce. The noodles are fat udon-style noodles and have a nice chewiness to them. This is one of my favorite versions of cold sesame noodles.
Cold sesame noodles
The bbq spareribs are also some of the best that I’ve ever had. The large ribs are tender and meaty, never too fatty or greasy. The glaze is flavorful and finger-licking good.
BBQ spareribs
Our last appetizer was also our favorite – chicken with pine nuts. The chicken is chopped into little pieces and is stir fried with chopped scallions and pine nuts in a flavorful and tangy brown sauce. You spoon the mixture into iceberg lettuce leaves and eat it like a lettuce taco or burrito. We often fight over who gets the last lettuce leaf with this dish.
Chicken with pinenuts
We decided to try a few new dishes this time around, including the Chinese eggplant combination that featured pieces of shrimp, calamari, chicken, and eggplant in a garlicky brown sauce. Chinese eggplant is the thin purple skinned eggplant and has a sweeter flavor than the standard Italian eggplant. There are less seeds and the flesh doesn’t get as mushy when it’s cooked. I thought the dish was really flavorful and the brown sauce was delicious when spooned over rice.
Chinese eggplant combination
Another new dish for us was mixed vegetables with shrimp. The vegetables included broccoli, asparagus, and carrots stir fried in a mild brown sauce. The vegetables tasted fresh and still had a bit of crunch to them. The shrimp were large and tender, a nice match for all the veggies.
Mixed vegetables with shrimp
For our last entree dish, we went with an old standby – sesame chicken. Even though Baumgart’s uses all white meat in this dish, the chicken is really surprisingly moist. The outside is crispy and the sesame seeds are stuck to the chicken with a sticky but not too sweet sauce. It’s really one of the better versions of sesame chicken that I’ve had, although I actually wish they would put more sauce on the chicken because it really has a good balance between sweet and savory.
Sesame chicken
To finish off, we shared a bunch of different sushi rolls. The Rainbow roll featured slices of tuna, yellowtail, salmon, and snapper on top of a roll filled with avocado and imitation crab. The Jersey roll had yellowtail and tuna wrapped inside and was topped with slices of salmon and salmon roe. We also had a Woodpecker roll and a Titanic roll, but I don’t remember what was in them. All the fish was really fresh though, and each roll is quite large.
Titanic roll, Jersey roll, Woodpecker roll, Rainbow roll
We didn’t have time for dessert because we were trying to make the movie on time, but otherwise, the ice creams here are fabulous and should not be missed. Overall we’ve found that the food is consistently good across different branches of Baumgart’s. It’s not totally Americanized Chinese food nor is it totally authentic, but it’s something a bit unique and is always tasty and well prepared. Service is fast and efficient, sometimes a bit too fast, as they might bring out entrees before we’ve finished off our appetizers. Still, the restaurant serves up a nice variety of reasonably priced Chinese, Japanese, American, and even Thai food, and I’d definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a casual night out or a quick bite to eat before a movie.
Baumgart’s (multiple locations)
59 Promenade @ City Place
Edgewater, NJ