Pete Wells, restaurant critic at the storied Times, absolutely thinks user-generated review website Yelp is a useful way to examine restaurants. Despite Yelp’s reputation in the culinary world as being filled with misinformed amateur critics, Wells says in a personal tech column at the Times that he looks at the site a lot because he’s “convinced there’s valuable information in there.”

In fact, people posting reviews to restaurants serving Asian cuisine might be the food experts Wells relies on as a starting basis of information. It’s not that Yelp isn’t without its issues, he notes, but he finds some of the reviews helpful for his work as a restaurant critic at the paper of record.

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Jersey City’s increasingly hot dining scene is getting a new addition from Pig & Khao chef Leah Cohen. Opening Thursday, September 21, Piggyback Bar is a casual Asian American tavern with a whimsical menu and killer Manhattan views.

Since Piggyback is a bar, the food is appropriately light-hearted, with mash-up dishes like a mapo chili dog, disco “phories” that include a pho gravy, and a kimchi pulled pork sandwich. Cocktails are similarly Asian-inspired, like one with Thai chili-infused tequila, watermelon juice, and manzanilla sherry. There are 12 beers on tap and 12 wines by the glass.

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