The Porter House: Montvale, NJ
My quest for exceptional burgers in New Jersey brought me to the Porter House in Montvale, NJ. I had reviewed their website for months before actually making the trek. I'm not sure why I didn't go sooner, but I guess it was the whole "Irish pub" vibe that I saw on the website. That's not to say I don't like Irish pubs. But I just didn't know if it or its burger would pull through. Both did.
The Porter House is serving a very very good burger in a very cool pubby atmosphere. Before I get to the burger I should get into that atmosphere a bit.
The story goes that the owner collected old "parts" from pubs in Ireland and had them shipped back to make his pub/steakhouse in Montvale. I'm no historian, but some of the stuff seems old and "real". The floor is rumored to be 100 years old, or something like that. There's old Irish-type stuff everywhere in the bar room (not so much in the dining rooms).
All-in-all the atmosphere in the front pub rooms is fun and casual. There is usually music in the background (not Irish), some TVs, and live music several times a week. If you're lucky your bartender will be Andrew, who is attentive and friendly. Other bartenders seem to have a tendency to spend more time talking to the regulars (not a bad thing) rather than refilling my beer or wine (a bad thing).
The Porter House has upwards of 25 beers on tap. Several wines are offered by the glass. The reds, whites, and a sparkler (all mysteriously interspersed in no particular order on the wine list) are surprisingly not offensive for the most part. The wine list proper has 75 or so bottles (vintages not listed), including Fuedi San Gregorio Falanghina, something you don't see very often, and an '82 Chateau Margaux for 1500 bucks, if you're in the mood. I asked about the storage of that particular wine, since I got the feeling the other bottles were just kinda laying around somewhere, and I was told that the staff is instructed to call the owner if someone orders that wine, and he'll get it from his personal cellar (presumably appropriately stored) and get it to the restaurant in minutes flat, by hook or crook. I'll take his word for it.
They've got a really nice outdoor patio with a bunch of seats, off the road and behind the restaurant. The dining room bright and a bit more formal than it should be. But not offensively so. There's an additional dining room upstairs, and I'm told they do private parties in one of those rooms. Sounds good to me.
The menu includes a bunch of Irish favorites and, to my surprise, dry-aged USDA Prime steak. Only the bone-in strip is dry-aged. Maddeningly the porterhouse for two is not. You really have to knock my socks off to impress me with your steak. I left with my socks on, you are assured. The wings, however, came close to taking my socks off. Nice blue cheese dressing with real chunks of blue cheese that suggested to me that we weren't dealing with a big industrial plastic container of the stuff. Although I could be wrong. But I hope not.
And the bad news, perhaps? They are also cigar bar and, as such, in accordance with NJ law, they are allowed to and do allow smoking. But only in the front rooms.
Oh yeah, that burger. It's really good. What can I tell you. Ask for the steak fries well-done.
The Porter House : 125 Kinderkamack Rd : Montvale, NJ : 201.307.6300
And they're opening another restaurant in Norwood veddy veddy soon.
Looks like a good burger, Tom.
My current favorite Irish bar burger is St James's Gate in Maplewood. It knocked Morristown's Dublin Pub from the running.
If Arthur's in Morris Plains qualified as a "bar" it would be a serious contender for good Irish burger.
Gotta put Montvale on my Go-To list...
Posted by: Rail Paul | August 15, 2006 at 08:25 PM
I find the whole "we imported parts of the place from Ireland" thing intriguing, as Egan's in Montclair claims to have done the same. Last night, I caught the last 3 minutes of a Food Network "The Secret Life Of...Irish Pubs" show, and they showed this company, which creates "authentic" Irish pubs: www.irishpubcompany.com
I'm not saying that The Porter House or Egan's are lying--just that it's interesting that this stuff is available.
Thanks for the info, though! That's a nice looking place, burger and patio--worth a trip! :-)
Posted by: Ev | August 15, 2006 at 10:02 PM
""And they're opening another restaurant in Norwood veddy veddy soon.""
'Jose O'Reilly's' in Norwood. Site of the venerable "Kormack's"
Posted by: ngatti | August 16, 2006 at 11:22 AM
that's right chef. and it's going go be...you guessed it: Irish and Mexican. could be, um, interesting.
Posted by: tommyeats | August 16, 2006 at 11:37 AM
Love the Porterhouse as well. Always a fan of their burgers.. with a side of their sweet potato fries :)
Posted by: Jenn | January 16, 2007 at 11:27 AM
A year after your review they have not gotten sloppy with the burgers! It was very good, with nice crunchy bacon, enough cheese, perfectly cooked, and a bun that didn't dominate the whole thing. We'll be back!
Posted by: Daniel | August 13, 2007 at 10:56 AM
glad to hear it's still good. But I've got an even better burger real close by. I just need to revisit it, say, today, to make sure it wasn't a fluke. You'll hear about it either way.
Posted by: tommy:eats | August 13, 2007 at 02:57 PM
Soooooooooo...Do tell.
Posted by: karen | August 15, 2007 at 08:55 PM
aw jeez Karen, I wasn't ignoring you, but rather I figured i'd get it together soon enough. but cleary, a month after your comment, i haven't!
but yes, I have found a place that has a very good burger, to an excellent burger, depending on the day. in Park Ridge, NJ.
Posted by: tommy:eats | September 14, 2007 at 10:33 PM
Tommy -
It's Patrick, from The Porter House. I have to pass on my thanks to you...been a while since your review, and I still have customers coming in saying that they saw your review and had to come in. We've built up a small fan base of our burgers and your blog. Thanks again!
Come see me for a beer and a cigar!
Patrick
Posted by: CigarMan | November 07, 2008 at 11:18 AM
Patrick, I'm glad to hear people are enjoying your burgers. As well they should.
Posted by: tommy:eats | November 11, 2008 at 04:01 PM
So where is this burger in Park Ridge?
Posted by: DHL | January 22, 2009 at 11:12 AM
The burger in Park Ridge is at the Park Steakhouse. However, it has been hit or miss.
On one trip I was told that they had ground the beef right there at the restaurant. I can only assume that scraps from their dry-aged steaks went into that meat, and the burger was outstanding. Up there with the burger at Lugers. On other days they use standard ground beef from their supplier.
They also tend to put some sort of garlic butter on the bun, which to my mind completely overpowers the burger. Burgers don't need garlic (although butter doesn't hurt).
I'm more impressed with their burgers than I am their steaks.
Posted by: tommy:eats | January 25, 2009 at 08:51 PM
I am a burger man myself and could have one everyday. I work up in that area and tried The Porterhouse burger twice and it was ok both times, they overcooked it both times. I actually prefer the burger at The Cornerstone in hillsdale, even. The Cornerstone overcooked my burger a couple of times (medium instead of m/r), but it remained juicy. I was probably also biased by the fact that I hate steakfries and really like battered fries (mmm extra crispy). Never ate a burger at the Park Steakhouse, I find the price hard to swallow for a quick work lunch.
Posted by: DHL | January 26, 2009 at 08:12 AM
I'm shocked it was overcooked. They've done a good job during each of my visits.
Never heard of the Cornerstone, but I'll look into it.
Posted by: tommy:eats | January 29, 2009 at 10:17 PM