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Rachel Martinez attacks a giant drumstick at Peck Peck in Teaneck.

(Peter Genovese/The Star-Ledger)

Wow, was it a sweet year.

And sour, spicy, creamy and crunchy.

But mostly sweet, as three of the top five dishes in my food year were desserts.

I was all over the map in 2013, which started with a statewide mac and cheese showdown (30 restaurants, delis and markets), proceeded to the Ultimate Jersey Diner Showdown for Inside Jersey (55 diners in 11 days); segued into a summer on the Munchmobile (90-plus restaurants) and various food events at Monmouth Park.

Finally, a visit to 40 food trucks for a statewide food truck showdown; winners will be announced in Inside Jersey's March issue.

And you wonder why I spent a week in Florida at the end of the year trying to run all this off?

Didn't work, by the way.

The single best thing I ate all year came from a cart - the chocolate peppermint ice cream from MilkSugarLove. Emma Taylor's ice cream is surpassingly creamy and hopelessly addictive. I drove 200 miles to Jersey City in a snowstorm to pick up a pint, and it was worth the epic journey. (For a list of my top 20 dishes of 2013, click here.)

My picks for best restaurants range from the breezily casual to charmingly divey. The list includes two food trucks, one diner, a BBQ joint, a soul food restaurant, a taqueria, a Chinese restaurant and a deli.

But my favorite restaurant of 2013 is a tiny place in Teaneck with four tables and yellowish walls.

Peck Peck — minimal menu, nonexistent decor, great comfort food — is my kind of place, and if you're reading this, probably yours, too.

BEST RESTAURANTS

The drumsticks at Peck Peck are the biggest I've seen anywhere. Are they from a chicken or from some giant prehistoric winged beast? If you're intimidated by larger-than-life-size food, order the regular wings here.

Korean fried chicken — usually twice deep-fried and available in spicy and garlic versions - is a different bird altogether from its Southern cousin. Korean fried chicken joints are concentrated in Bergen County. Peck Peck, low on atmosphere but high in quality, is the best of them. Peck Peck Korean Fried Chicken, 250 Degraw Ave., Teaneck; (201) 530-5858. Facebook page.

Taqueria Autentica is the coolest taco joint in the state, with comfy orange couches, blue walls and local artwork. The mushroom tacos and steak tacos are terrific, and the chorizo taco is not far behind.

On Saturday nights, owner Mike Natiello and crew cook such specialties as chuleta (pork rib eye) and tacos de oreja (pig's ear tacos). And his desserts, especially the chocolate cake and the goat's milk crepe, are delicious. Taqueria Autentica, 1035 Broad St., Bloomfield; (973) 320-4157; taqueriaautentica.com.

Let's face it — the state of Jersey barbecue is sad. Too many BBQ joints — and their patrons - singing the praises of "fall-off-the-bone'' ribs. True barbecue doesn't fall off anything. Fink's BBQ Smokehouse is funky - part bar, part restaurant, hardwood floors, classic rock playing. The ribs, with their seductive, smoky bark, are appropriately pinkish inside, a sure sign the pitmaster knows true 'cue.

The menu also includes not-so-ordinary dishes suc as pork belly stuffed with spicy greens, smoked sausage and Muenster; and wild boar ham and biscuits. Fink's BBQ Smokehouse, 26 W. Madison Ave., Dumont; (201) 384-3210; finksbbqsmokehouse.com.

Kevin Stanton is always eager to help the first-timer to Kevin's Salad Station. Do you want to try some mint in your smoothie? How about a special dressing in the salad? The surfer-dad uses compostible cups made of corn resign. The forks he hands out are made of bamboo; his regulars joke that they look like tongue depressors.

Stanton calls his truck menu "healthy fast food.'' I just call it good. Kevin's Salad Station, Westmont, Voorhees, other South Jersey locations; (609) 424-4282. Facebook page.

"Authentic'' may be the most overused word in the ethnic eats vocabulary, but Chef Jon's Authentic Chinese Cuisine can use the word all it wants. Skip the regular menu and proceed to the specials menu, dotted with edgier dishes, such as duck tongue with thee-cup sauce or fish head soup with tofu.

The Wuxi-style ribs, tender and smoky, finished second on my best-dishes list. The snow pea shoots and sauteed string beans are excellent, and I don't even like string beans. Chef Jon's Authentic Chinese Cuisine, 831 Route 10 east, Whippany; (973) 585-6258; chefjons.com

Three tables, six chairs, a restaurant located in a town not exactly known for its food. The Red Line Grill Express is not much to look at, but you'll like its Southern food. I'm a wing man, and their wings, plump and tender, were the best I had all year.

The catfish strips — more like hefty tenders — are fried just right. The ribs are nicely blackened and, yes, pinkish inside. The Red Line marks its "grand re-opening'' on Jan. 14. Red Line Grill Express, 1550 Summit Ave., Hillside; (908) 926-9464. Facebook page.

Dark Side of the Moo doesn't really have anything to do with Pink Floyd, but it's an apt moniker for the out-there meat dishes on Tyrone Green's food truck. Smoked alligator with picante sauce is his biggest seller, but you'll want to cross over to the dark, more adventurous, side.

How does wild boar over cranberries and shiraz, or smoked duck with apple brandy sound? Camel burgers? Yep, those too. This from a former commodities trader who left - more like ran away from - the 9-5 world to start his business. Dark Side of the Moo, Hoboken and Jersey City; (201) 953-1705; themoofoodtruck.com.

The retro 50s-styled Americana Diner turns out food at a prodigious rate — 40 cases of eggs, 250 pounds of coffee, 25,000 loaves of bread every week — without sacrificing quality. It's owned by the same folks who own the Skylark Fine Diner & Lounge in Edison; the Americana is better.

The omelets are first-rate; the grilled chicken whole wheat wrap made my best-dishes list. Americana Diner, 359 Route 130 north, East Windsor; (609) 448-4477; americanadiner.com.

Palazzone1960 in Wayne is a stylish, white-walled Italian pastry shop located, somewhat improbably, near Hooters and Willowbrook Mall. Good luck finding pastries and doughnuts like these anywhere. There's the lightly fried, sugary ciambella. The cream-filled bomba. The sweet-crusted pasticciotto. And Italian croissants, made with margarine, not butter, which makes them crispier. Palazzone1960, 190 Route 23, Wayne; (973) 256-2734; palazzone1960.com

Carluccio's is a dizzy, delightful combination of deli (300-plus sandwiches), museum (vintage typewriters and phonographs) and comedy club, with whimsical messages ("What happens in Vegas never happens to me,'' etc.) plastered everywhere.

Oh, and the food's good. Order sandwiches by number, not name, or you'll get a friendly lecture from one of the ladies behind the counter. Don't forget the free zeppoles at the register. Carluccio's, Willow Pointe Shopping Center, 184 Route 9 north, Marlboro; (732) 617-2227; carlucciosbrooklynheros.com.

