“Try This Now” is a weekly feature that puts the spotlight on one of downtown Jersey City’s best cocktails, entrees, or desserts.
Cafe Batata is a new Brazilian restaurant in Jersey City’s village neighborhood. While its menu features a variety of sweet and savory dishes — the Brazilian chocolates and cheese breads are particularly great — the cafe’s signature dish is the batata suíça, a Brazilian specialty inspired by Swiss immigrants living in Brazil. It’s similar to the Swiss potato Rosti; it’s essentially a giant potato pancake made of grated potato in a frying pan. The batata suíça, however, is traditionally stuffed with a variety of items.
At Cafe Batata it can be stuffed with mignon champignon (filet mignon with mushroom), smoked salmon and broccoli, shrimp and cream, smoked turkey and cream, bacon and Brazilian cream cheese, and spinach and cream, to name a few. On a recent visit, I tried the smoked salmon and broccoli batata suíça. The potato has a crispy, hash brown-like exterior and inside it’s filled with generous portions of salmon and broccoli. The batata suíça is slightly larger than a traditional pancake, and one order is just about right for one person. (For an additional $1 you can get a handful of mixed greens to balance out the carbs). Served piping hot, the batata suíça is perfect for those nights you want to try something new and out of the ordinary. Cafe Batata is BYOB and recently started accepting orders via Delivery.com and Seamless.
Cafe Batata | 382 Second Street | Yelp
