Prana Restaurant & Lounge

Since we didn't go out to celebrate Kevin's birthday on the actual day, we decided to go somewhere nice for dinner tonight. We went to Prana in Bloomfield, NJ. It's a really nice fine dining restaurant tucked away in suburban Bloomfield. Truthfully, it looks and feel too chic and 'New York City' like to be in a residential neighborhood :P They serve a fusion of Asian, Middle Eastern and Western cuisine (very interesting).

We arrived at Prana at around 7pm, a little early for the dinner crowd. The restaurant has two levels, a big bar and dance floor with some seating on the ground floor and some booths and regular sitting upstairs. The restaurant doubles up as a trendy and hip club (wayyy to hip for us old folks la) after dining hours :D

We were lucky enough to get a booth since we were early. It's really nice, with flowing drapes and suede seats. The lights in this section were turned down low and the decor is just so very nice!

The waitress brought over some pita and pompadums (yeah! pompadums :P) in a basket with three different kinds of dips while we were looking through the menu. I just love the dips. One was hummus, another was a refreshing mix of yogurt and something else and we couldn't really place the third one. It tasted something like BBQ sauce but tangy with a slight hint of sweetness. All three were really really yummy.

The selection in the menu wasn't very large. In fact, there were only eight appetizers, eight entrees and five deserts to choose from actually. However, everything on the menu looks good. We learnt that the head chef Jarette Bennette actually had his training at the Bellagio and MGM Grand in Las Vegas as well as St Regis in NYC. So, we were pretty excited to taste his food.

We knew that we would not be able to finish our entree if we each ordered our own appetizers. So, we shared an order of Duck Samosas ($12.00). Thank goodness we decided to share. There were five pieces and it was huge! The Duck Samosas was served with thick slices of Granny Smith apples and Quince sauce. The pairing of the duck and apples were really good, I certainly enjoyed the appetizer.

The birthday boy ordered Grilled Rib Eye Steak ($32.00). The Rib Eye was served on Horseradish Mash Potatoes with a tall stack of Buttermilk Onion Rings on top and Peppercorn sauce drizzled all around. Kevin wanted it to be medium-well and it came out exactly the way that he liked it. Nice and brown on the outside and juicy with a slight hint of pink in the inside. He said that it was really yummy.

I ordered the Potato Crusted Halibut ($23.00). Boy, was it yummy! The Halibut was served on a bed of Grilled Eggplant, with tiny Cherry Tomato halves and Scampi Beurre Blanc sauce. The Potato crust around the Halibut was so crunchy and nice. The whole dish just came together, the taste was just amazing.

By the time we finished our entrees, we really didn't have room for desert :( I was looking forward to try the Chai Tea Custard but I really couldn't take another bite. We were just too stuffed! Overall, we had a great time. It's nice to go out to a good restaurant once in a while to celebrate a special occasion. It's also really cool that we do not need to go all the way to the city to dine in such a fine restaurant but we managed to find such a gem in our own backyard!

Prana Restaurant & Lounge
21 Belleville Avenue,
Bloomfield, NJ 07003
Tel: (973) 748 6669
Fax: (973) 748 5891
Web: http://www.prananj.com/