Montclair’s Glenridge Avenue gets another new restaurant as MishMish Cafe, serving brunch, lunch and dinner, opened December 2014 in the former Blue Suede Shoes space.
It’s hard to believe the space, created by chef/owner Meny Vaknin, hasn’t been a restaurant forever. MishMish has a warm decor, plenty of tables and an open kitchen table with bar-style seating where you can watch dishes like shakshuka, the traditional poached egg dish with Isareli/Tunisian origins, being prepared. There’s also house made Turkish bourekas and freshly made hummus, the latter elevated to so much more than just the ubiquitous paste you find at the grocery store.. There’s even a Mediterranean take on tacos, with octopus, smokey eggplant or lamb kebabs.
Speaking of octopus one of our favorite dishes was the charred Spanish baby octopus with fennel puree, marinated chickpeas, blood orange and Marcona almonds. MishMish has strong Mediterranean influences but offers a menu with something for everyone, including a seasonal vegetable plate. The menu offers small dishes which you can combine or share to make a meal or larger, more substantial dishes like grilled hangar steak or a slow roasted local chicken.
Desserts we loved — a sinfully rich chocolate mousse, unexpected at a Mediterranean restaurant but definitely welcome — and a shredded wheat, honey and goat cheese tart.
MishMish Cafe, 215 Glenridge Avenue, Montclair (973) 337-5648
Two friends and I ate lunch here yesterday and it was absolutely delicious! I had three small plates (hummus, beets & fried cauliflower), one friend had the lamb burger and the other had the Sloppy Joseph. Our poor waiter must have thought we hadn’t eaten in days, because we finished every last scrap of food. Portions were great, but we couldn’t stop ourselves. Next time, we’ll save room for dessert, as both the chocolate mousse and kufefe (sp?) looked awesome. Congratulations to Meny, who came out of the kitchen to thank us, but really it was we who should have been thanking him. I can’t wait to visit again!