A special GoOutJersey feature: reviews of date places from “Both Sides of the Table…”

Steve: Rue du Jardin is a quaint French café located just off the beaten path of Washington Street. It is definitely worth venturing over there for brunch, if for no other reason than to try the specialty crepes. The overly-intimate seating arrangement made it difficult to maneuver, with some of the café regulars working on laptops as they had their midday coffee.

Maleka: It’s a tiny place, and kind of easy to miss, but after reading the menu outside – particularly the list of savory and sweet crepes – I figured we should give it a try.

Steve: I have to admit, I still have a hard time remembering the name of the place, but my lovely girlfriend recently explained to me that it is French for Garden Street, the street the café is on. We’ll see if that helps. Anyway, on to the food.

Maleka: Everything was organic, but they haven’t quite mastered the concept of flavor. My omelet was good, but not great. While you could tell the ingredients were fresh, it lacked flavor. You don’t have to sacrifice one for the other.

Steve: I didn’t mind my chicken, tomato and mozzarella omelet. I’m a firm believer in safety in numbers, so the more ingredients the better. The “house salad” on the side was interesting, but was probably an afterthought to justify the prices. The $40 total was by no means pricey, but I’ve definitely had less expensive brunches in Hoboken.

Maleka: I think it was a little pricy, but the Nutella crepe made it all worth it.

Steve: Obviously brunch was my treat (otherwise, there’d be trouble). The Nutella crepe, however, was amazing. I’m not one to eat dessert that early in the day, but I honestly think I would have been satisfied until dinner with three or four of those things.

To me, the down sides were all with service and not with the food. I felt like it took a long time for our waiter to say anything friendly to us (I refuse to take this opportunity to say something negative about the French. Some of my friends are French). But the most frustrating thing for us, as well as a few other patrons, was their lack of a little Twentieth Century invention known as a credit card swiper.

Maleka: The no credit card thing is stupid and inconvenient for everybody. The girls sitting next to us literally had to dig in their purses for change to pay the bill after finding out that their cards were of no use.

Steve: It’s particularly inconvenient for whoever has to run a block-and-a-half down the street to the nearest ATM. It’s not exactly a fun trek to make in February and I can’t imagine it would be in August either.

Maleka: Overall the experience was good, but that could be the Nutella talking. That’s pretty much all that comes to mind when I think about that place.

Rue du Jardin
343 Garden St.
Hoboken
(201) 222-2177

— by Steve & Maleka
Maleka, who moved all the way to the Garden State from North Carolina, prides herself on knowing the newest, best place to get a fab meal. Her boyfriend, Steve, originally from Philly, now lives in Hoboken and works as an associate producer in NYC.

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