In a square-mile town that can support (as of last week) 139 liquor licenses within its limits and a pizza place on practically every corner, it may not be so surprising that Hoboken also has a whopping four Asian restaurants all next to each other on one block.
But that’s precisely what it has on Washington Street between Fifth and Sixth streets.
Robongi, Wild Ginger, Hoboken Cottage, and Off The Wall provide an array of Asian cuisines to feed the needs of the locals.
“Everybody has their own styles and specials,” said Wild Ginger owner Dang Lee last week. “I think everybody is doing well.”
“The block has a nice mix of Asian restaurants,” said Hoboken resident Olivia Tornick, who said she eats out in Hoboken a lot.
How it happened
Hoboken Cottage is has been on the block for over 10 years, providing traditional Chinese food. Specials include the “Gold Coin” crispy eggplant and the “Little Bit of Every Thing” plate of chicken, beef, shrimp, scallops, squid, and pork.
“Business is great,” said Assistant Manager Chris Chow, who is part of a new management team that took over a few weeks ago. “We just switched to a new chef.”
Chow said that the business has changed and he hopes customers give it a shot.
“There are a lot of Asian restaurants in the world,” he said, “and there’s a reason why some are better than others. What matters is the chef and the quality. I don’t think it matters that there are so many [restaurants] on the block.”
Tornick is a fan. “They have the best garlic sauce in town,” she said.
Wild, wild East
Wild Ginger opened last May and is the newest of the four restaurants. They are a small chain of about 15 stores in New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut.
Their style is considered Asian fusion, offering sushi and other dishes like the wok-glazed ginger lobster tail and the Szechuan peppercorn on chicken, beef, tofu, prawn, pork, or scallops.
“We’re a unique combination from Southeast Asia,” said Lee.
While Lee thinks that the block of Asian eateries is “a little crowded,” he acknowledged that in this town, “It’s all about competition.”
Turning Japanese
robongi is authentic Japanese dining that has graced the block for six years. “It’s the only place in Hoboken for authentic Japanese,” claimed Manager Raymond Yau. He said, “The more Asian restaurants on one block, [the more it] creates a marketing presence.”
Otherwise, he said, “It’s really hard to say that it’s helping business, but we’re doing good.”
Like Wild Ginger, robongi also plates sushi, but supplements it with, among other things, a soft-shell crab tempura and a long list of rolls from the King Eel with avocado to the chef’s special Godzilla roll.
Yau said they could fill a whole block with Asian restaurants, and that would be all right with him.
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