Don Pepe Steak House: Pine Brook NJ
Don Pepe has a good reputation over the last 30+ years, so good in fact they opened 5 restaurants since. Today my brother took me to one we have not been to, Don Pepe’s Steak House in Pine Brook NJ (www.donpepesteakhouse.com). It seemed that $10 was expensive for a mussels appetizer, but when it came, it was enough for 3 or more. Served in a garlic and light wine sauce, I found myself filling up on bread to soak up all the great sauce. If only I had known, I would not have gotten a 2nd appetizer to share (real crab cakes, 3 big ones) nor would I have ordered Mariscos con Rallarines en Salsa Verde (shellfish such as half lobster tail, scallops, clams, shrimp & more mussels) sauteed in garlic, plenty of parsley served over linguini. I wound up eating all the shellfish and taking most of the linguini home since I was stuffed. It was the freshest seafood I had since I was in Brazil. I know it was billed as a steak house but their sister restaurant up the road was famous for seafood, and I was not in the mood for meat. My brother had the black sea bass over broccoli rabe, everything was great. The only thing I would have complained about was the white wine sangria which used more orange juice than other fruit juices, but it still tasted good. I think the total price, with tip came to $120 with an after-dinner cordial. Not cheap, but certainly not bad considering we both took home food and we could have gotten 3-4 meals out of it.
JRCX 