Review: Tete in New Brunswick

Milhojas, a pastry filled with Spanish-style caramel and topped with powdered sugar, is among the dessert items available at Tete in New Brunswick. (Credit: Jennifer Bradshaw)

Nestled among the grid of narrow streets that surround the Middlesex County courthouse are plenty of teeny little restaurants, brimming with quality homemade food.

Off the beaten track of George Street and Rutgers University student-packed Easton Avenue, this area is not exactly conveniently located between the College Avenue and Cook/Douglass campuses, but venturing into this area will undoubtedly provide some cheap, quality eats.

Tete (pronounced Teh-tay), a new addition to this hive of homemade delights, is situated in the shell of what used to be Coco's Grill and Cafe. It's a tiny (two truly is a crowd inside the place) counter service Peruvian-style place that's warm and inviting, despite its location between two parking garages.

When searching for Tete, located on Spring Street and behind the Ferren Mall, don't blink or you'll miss it. Look for the green awning with the Tete name in red on it, underneath a large, yellow sign still bearing the closed Coco's name.

Once inside, the counter staff/cooks/servers (all three of them) will lift lids off steam trays to show you the day's lunch specials (served from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.) detailing the herbs and sauces that went into them and what they are served with.

For $6.95, you can get a plate of meat, rice and beans and a large bowl of soup or a salad. Tete's offers five different entrees Monday through Friday from a list that usually contains two types of chicken, one fish dish and some kind of pork or beef.

The server advised that the pork chops were fairly popular on the wet and frosty day that I visited, but I opted for chicken with mushroom sauce and herbs, preluded by a large bowl of vegetable soup.

The soup was a simple chicken stock, filled with penne pasta and chopped carrots, potatoes and asparagus, and it tasted as though it had been simmering all morning long.

The chicken with mushroom sauce was a francaise-style chicken breast, pounded very thin and dipped in egg batter. A creamy sauce with herbs and thinly sliced mushrooms was poured over the top, covering the cutlet and leaving some extra to fold into the softball-size mound of soft white rice served on the side. It was warm and soothing comfort food, -- perfect for a wet day.

Limited seating

Seating inside Tete is practically nonexistent, with only two or three small tables and a bar area against the wall with four tightly tucked chairs. Despite the lack of seats, the staff was still very accommodating, bringing plates over as I asked for them and clearing them away, in between putting together takeout orders.

Not everyone enjoys hearty food for lunch, but salads and sandwiches also are available, including the La Butifarra (slow roasted ham on a Portuguese roll) as well as burgers (among them the Campesino Burger, which is topped with plantains, a fried egg and salsa criolla).

After leering into the dessert case for a while, I decided to sample milhojas, which is made of flaky sheets of pastry similar to phyllo dough, filled with ooey gooey dulce de leche (a Spanish-style caramel) and topped with powdered sugar. It is super sweet and crispy, and it flakes all over your clothes. The portions are large enough to share, but you won't want to.

My entire meal, plus a $1.25 bottle of water, came to $11.45. That's more than I usually spend on lunch, but the portion sizes are huge, and the food tastes very fresh. How did it sit? Just fine: Cream sauce isn't always the smartest thing to consume during the work day, but I didn't feel weighed down or uncomfortable. It was one of meals where I felt truly satisfied by what I ate, and that rarely comes during lunch breaks.

If looking to sample larger dishes, come back for dinner. The restaurant stays open until 9 p.m., but don't bring a large group: You might end up having to eat out on the sidewalk.

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