With so many restaurants and cafes in Hudson County, the competition is fierce. The main test of any place is to keep the customers interested and coming back. The Frozen Monkey Café, 526 Washington St., in Hoboken has found its niche with changing visuals and simple home cooked food.
The atmosphere
The vibe of the place is unlike many of its competitors. It’s part dessert place, coffee shop, and art house all rolled into one.
The place is decorated in bright jewel tones of red, yellow, orange, and blue with artwork displayed like a gallery on the walls. The exhibits change every six weeks, which gives the place a whole new appeal with each new artist.
The lamps, chairs, and vinyl-topped tables are an eclectic mix of styles from different eras, but when seen together they balance each other effortlessly. It is candy for the eye.
Paired with the funky background music – which is sometimes jazz, but never generic pop – you have a siesta to save you from the ordinary.
Grilled sandwiches
Although already familiar with their extensive breakfast menu that is served all the time, I decided to try one of their sandwiches. I ordered the grilled crab cake Panini sandwich. The crab cake is made with lump crabmeat, fresh peppers and corn, which give the cake great texture. It is topped with watercress, bean sprouts and a spicy chipotle dressing that gives the sandwich a kick. It was served with a marinated three-bean salad and a pickle.
This rich dish of fish is by far one of the best in town. And not only does it taste good, it’s good for you. All of the sandwiches, soups and salads are prepared with attention given to healthy ingredients.
Other sandwiches include: grilled pork tenderloin, chicken pesto, grilled vegetable, prosciutto, Dijon chicken, and mozzarella.
They only use Antique Bakery Bread and Fiore’s Mozzarella.
The sandwiches are priced from $6.50 to $8.
Salads and soup
Another one of their specialties is their salad, which is topped with a homemade dressing. A few of the delicious choices are: truffle vinaigrette, rice wine vinaigrette or raspberry.
I tried the tri-color salad topped with chicken. This dish has visual appeal with the dark green spinach, radicchio and endive. The sharp taste of walnut crusted goat cheese balanced with slightly sweet taste of the spinach. The chicken was conveniently cubed, which made it much easier to eat and the dish was served with slices of fresh Italian bread.
The beautifully presented salad was an entrée size portion. Other salads include: salmon roulade, crab cake, beet and endive, pasta, warm lentil salad, orange chicken and more.
The salads are reasonably priced from $6 to $8.
Then I sampled one of the homemade soups, the butternut squash ($5.50).
The thick soup looked like a vegetable puree with the bright orange color. It was topped with tasty goat cheese croutons that added texture and flavor. Depending on the day of the week, there are other homemade varieties including: lentil, and Italian chicken with vegetable and more.
Although their menu is limited, great care is given to the choice of items.
More…
They offer a wide selection of hot and cold drinks including: coffee, espresso, cappuccino, coffee drinks, many iced and hot teas, sodas and juice. Also good are the specialty smoothies, protein smoothies and milk shakes.
The dessert list is extensive and they recently won the AOL voters choice awards for “best dessert place.” They have homemade pies, brownies, cupcakes, “cake of the day”, coconut cheesecake, banana bread, and more. In addition, they have a full service ice cream station that serves Tasti D-Lite brand and a large assortment of toppings.
While they don’t serve liquor, they will gladly cork your wine for $5.
Delivery is available to Hoboken, Jersey City, and Weehawken and all major credit cards are accepted. The hours are: Monday to Thursday from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m., Friday from 8 a.m. to midnight, Saturday from 9 a.m. to midnight and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.
The Frozen Monkey Café is located at 526 Washington St. in Hoboken. For more information, please call (201) 222-1311 or visit: www.frozenmonkeycafe.com.