NJ Dining: Babylon
Babylon Mediterranean Restaurant
606 Kinderkamack Road
River Edge, NJ
Last August, Babylon, one of our favorite Turkish/Middle Eastern restaurants was forced to close when its lease was not renewed along with several other stores in the ill-fated Huffman-Koos shopping center in River Edge. Needless to say, I was totally bummed out by this development — not only was Babylon a great dining value but it also made some of the best Turkish and Middle-Eastern food that you could find in Bergen County. To get anything comparable, you had to go to Patterson or Union City. While we still had Kervan in Cliffside Park (a restaurant that has seen better days, its hardcore Turkish crowd long gone) and Samdan in Cresskill (admittedly solid Turkish place, but just didn’t have the precise atmosphere or taste I was looking for) they just weren’t the same — Babylon’s doner and other kebabs were made fresh from scratch daily, and had a definitively home made flavor that couldn’t easily be duplicated.
However, all was not lost. In Late March, Babylon re-opened only about a mile away from its original location, on Kinderkamack Road on the site of Shanghai Restaurant, which had closed six months before. The owners completely renovated the interior, and now Babylon, menu unchanged, with prices more or less the same, is back and better than ever.
Babylon storefront on Kinderkamack Road in River Edge
Babylon returns! Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more.
The space, previously a beat up Chinese restaurant, has been completely renovated to be a charming white tablecloth Middle Eastern casual dining restaurant.
Cold Eggplant/Tomato Appetizer, served with toasted Turkish bread. A great starter on a balmy evening.
Chicken Adana Kebab, served with Rice and Bulghur Wheat Pilafs and salad.
A side of grilled vegetables
Doner Kebab (Gyro) and Kofta Kebab (spiced ground beef patties) combo. Like all of Babylon’s kebabs, The Doner is made from scratch daily using Kosher Lamb and Veal. I’d easily rank it as good as Beyti Kebab in Union City, which is my current Turkish benchmark.
May 16, 2007 at 3:15 pm
[...] local area, including Kervan (and its short-lived sibling, Sapphire in Tenafly), Samdan, Babylon (recently re-opened in River Edge) and a whole bunch who’s names elude me. Beyti is a good half an hour to forty minute drive [...]
December 18, 2007 at 3:25 pm
I’m afraid for Babylon. We are semi frequent customers at their new location and they just don’t appear to be getting nearly as much business at they did before… we were there 6-7:30 on Friday night and there were only 5 tables.
March 18, 2008 at 12:24 pm
Have not tried babylon since it reopened.
Has anyone tried the Turkish Kitchen that opened near Babylon?
They will be fighting each other for their customers.
I think babylon is dELICIOUS. The new one is Not bad,
But now there are two Turkish restaurants two blocks apart in a not very Turkish neighborhood.
Kervan etc has Turks living nearby. River edge is not a Very Turkish neighborhood so ethnic food will only find their way into the hearts of spmeone who wants to try sonething other than Chinese, Japanese or Indian one night. I hope these guys can both stay in business just two blocks apart
March 24, 2008 at 8:49 am
[...] cuisine, and I’ve eaten at a number of very good Lebanese (1) (2) and Turkish restaurants in Bergen and Hudson County and have prepared a number of authentic dishes at home. But Paterson always [...]