Nobi, a really excellent japanese restaurant/sushi bar on Hooper Ave. here in Toms River – incredibly close. Daughter #1 loves the tea so much that she wanted to know what brand it was. Turns out, they were willing to sell us a bag. We now have a kilo of green tea. Whee! Now she wants a teapot for it. I tell you, you buy one thing, and you end up with too much stuff to fit in the house. . .

It looks like there are only two in our area, so last night we tried Aamantran, on Route 9 in Toms River. We were very pleased! The food was good, a bit more expensive than we were used to in North Jersey, but not by much. The samosas were not as chunky as the ones we’ve always had, with the potatoes and peas kind of mashed, but they were good. Audrey had Aloo Gobi, and it came in a smoky-flavored red sauce, also different from the way we usually have it, but very yummy. The thing we didn’t realize is that they have dosas on the menu. Next time we’ll have a nice masala dosa instead of the samosas. Not too many Indian restaurants serve them, and they’re lovely. (I can’t believe my mouth is watering at the thought of Indian food at 7:30 in the morning . . .)