Hungry Travels

A word about Chinese food in Westchester: bleh.  Aberdeen rocks, and thumbs up on Bao’s ma po tofu, but other than that, eesh (That’s one “bleh” and one “eesh”; I may soon add an “ugh”).

The Chinese take-out situation’s not much better.   It amazes me how throughout the county, the take-out all tastes the same!  Is everyone cooking from the same bad recipes?  The food’s too greasy, there are too many filler vegetables and the sauces are goopy and cornstarched to death.  Here it comes…

Ugh.

New Wah Yuan (no relation) in Port Chester doesn’t exactly break they mold.  They suffer from the same problems as other take-out spots.  But just when I’d lost all hope, I discovered their surprisingly consistent Singapore noodles.

It’s roast pork, shrimp, chicken and a few shredded veggies over spicy curried vermicelli.  Not terribly difficult to make, but sort of time consuming with all the prep work, so sometimes it’s easier to pick up a batch.

Speaking of noodles, have a look at this Chinese restaurant near my office on E. 45th St.:

I’m waiting for the P.C. police to come storming in and shut the place down.  That’d be a shame, because if you ignore the mildly offensive logo and name, you can get tasty noodle dishes and noodle soups here at reasonable prices, especially for midtown (lunch will run about $7-$10).   I especially like the thick, almost chewy texture of their pan fried noodles.

I guess my point is, when all else fails at a Chinese restaurant, poke around for the noodle dishes.  They’re usually a safer bet than the entrees.  When I go to Wah Yuan these days, I get one thing, and one thing only.  Hasn’t failed me yet.

New Wah Yuan Chinese Restaurant
262 Boston Post Rd.
Port Chester, NY 10573
914-939-7776 

Oriental Noodle Shop
135 East 45th St.
New York, NY 10017
212-697-2353 

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A few weeks ago a co-worker emailed me—  her parents were coming to town and she needed suggestions for “cheap eats” restaurants in Westchester.  I emailed her back a few ideas, including Ebb Tide Seafood in Port Chester.

What was I thinking??

I obviously had a brain cramp.  Unfortunately, it’s a recommendation mistake I’ve made before. Ebb Tide’s a lot of things, but inexpensive is not one of them. Comparatively it’s no more expensive than other Westchester seafood restaurants, but the informal dining room and bait shop mere feet away from the food counter lead to a certain expectation… then you spot the market prices on the big chalkboard and whoa!

I get that seafood is inherently pricey, especially if it’s good quality.   Add in outdoor dining and a water view and you’re going to pay for the experience.

Oh you’ll pay alright.  On my most recent visit to Ebb Tide the going prices were $29.99 for sauteed lobster tails, $17.95 for seafood chowder, and $14.95 for the lobster roll.

I’ll say this— the homemade toasted bread kicks ass.  It’s a wonderful change of pace from the standard hot dog bun and makes a perfect vehicle for fresh lobster.  But look closely…

Is it?  Could it?  Could he have?  It is!!  There’s imitation crab meat in the lobster roll and Poppie peed on my sofa! (Greetings to the ten people who got that joke).

Maybe it’s real crab, but it sure tasted like imitation crab, and besides, what’s it doing in my $14.95 lobster roll?  I had two incredible lobster rolls this summer— one at J’s Oyster Bar in Portland, ME and the other at Spanky’s Clam Shack in Hyannis, MA— and neither was filled with anything but chunks of pure lobster.  

Perhaps I need to recalibrate my thinking— after all, $14.95 is less expensive than driving to Maine or the Cape.   And the lobster roll (plus whatever’s in it) IS pretty good.  So okay, I’ll curb my outrage.   I just need to drill it into my head: Ebb Tide is not a cheap eat, Ebb Tide is not a cheap eat…

Ebb Tide Seafood
1 Willett Ave.
Port Chester, NY 10573
914-939-4810
 

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Last week I told you about my $3.50 pork banh mi sandwich in San Francisco.  Time to talk about another of the world’s great sandwiches: the Cuban sandwich, that perfect marriage of pork, ham, cheese and pickles.  

Now I’m no Cuban sandwich expert, but I have had my fair share, and what I find interesting is how they’re made differently wherever you go.  When you order a reuben for example, you know what you’re going to get and how it’s going to look.  With a Cuban, every restaurant has its own variation of this classic; that’s part of what makes the sandwich interesting.

So without further ado, let’s look at two Cuban sandwiches in Westchester…  

Sometimes when I’m in “inhale food” mode after a hard workout, I’ll zoom over to Maselli’s Deli in Port Chester for one of these:  

A very respectable Cuban with thin slices of pork and ham, gooey Swiss cheese, and chopped pickles. Maybe a little too heavy on the cheese, but I just pick off the excess.  And at $5 (well, $4.99), it’s a bargain.  

(Note: I would tell you more about Maselli’s other offerings, but I can’t, since I get the exact same thing every time I go there: a Cuban and a cup of minestrone.  I’m Rain Man without the Wapner obsession.)

For a different style of Cuban sandwich, try Corona’s Lunch in Sleepy Hollow.   My boss, Paul, has been raving about this tiny Spanish Caribbean eatery for a while… today, he joined me there for lunch.  

The first thing you notice about Corona’s is that there’s no sign outside, there are no tables and the customers are all Spanish-speaking regulars.   A true hole-in-the-wall that passes my “authentic food sniff test.”

(The “authentic food sniff test” is something my family and I use when it comes to Chinese restaurants— it’s unscientific, but extremely accurate.  When you try a new Chinese restaurant, look around— are there Chinese people eating there?  If the restaurant’s a sea of black hair, that’s usually a sign the food’s good.  If it’s a bunch of, ahem, non-Chinese ordering crab rangoon and egg foo young, run, run away.)

Anyway, Paul ordered a chicken sandwich and some other goodies for his family; I went right for the Cuban.  We took our food down to Pierson Park in Tarrytown and I unwrapped my sandwich.

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With the opening of a new Q Restaurant & Bar in Mt. Kisco, let’s take a moment to revisit the original Q in Port Chester— specifically, their pulled pork sandwich.  Here’s a Captain Obvious statement: It’s good. 

For $10 you get a mound of succulent pulled pork on a soft bun, plus a side.   Maybe not a “cheap eat”, but a good value considering the quality.  The pork comes dressed with crunchy cole slaw and pickles— a nice touch.  Top it off with lettuce, tomato and red onion, and dip it in the extra bbq sauce.  That my friends, is a messy and hearty sandwich that’ll satisfy any pork craving. 

To all you Mt. Kiscoans (Mt. Kiscoites?), enjoy the arrival of your very own Q!   Let me know if the pulled pork sandwich is worthy of a drive up. 

Q Restaurant & Bar
112 North Main St.
Port Chester, NY 10573
914-933-7430

487 East Main St.
Mt. Kisco, NY 10549
914-241-7420 

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Oh, f.i.s.h….. I wanted to love you.  I really thought I was going to.  In the end, I liked you.  It’s not you, it’s me… wait, where was I?

f.i.s.h. (Fox Island Seafood House) is the waterfront restaurant in Port Chester that’s notoriously hard to find, and as the restaurant group and I found out, has notoriously sucky parking. We must have come at the heart of the dinner rush because the cars were backing up like the end scene of Field of Dreams. The poor valet was running around trying to direct the logjam and grab everyone’s keys.  

I walked into the restaurant, saw the rest of the group, and we hung out at the bar for a few minutes. After 10 of the 12 had arrived, I told the hostess we were ready to be seated.  She looked up and said, “I can’t seat you until your entire party arrives.”  Thanks, nice to be here!  I know, I know, restaurants constantly get screwed by inconsiderate groups who are late or don’t show up for reservations (Frank Bruni explains both sides of this thorny issue much better than I can).   But seeing how this was the start of my f.i.s.h. experience, a smile and a “Hi, welcome to f.i.s.h.!” would have been nice before being fed the company line.   To be fair, the hostess did sit seat us after I explained that we were practically all there.

One thing you need to know about f.i.s.h.— it’s l.o.u.d.

The restaurant’s all glass, wood floors and hard surfaces, so there’s zero sound absorption.  I felt like I was yelling the entire night— and trying to talk to people at the end of the table? Forget about it.

But enough about noise, let’s talk food.  The group ordered dishes like steamers (delicious), lobster rolls and paella.  Karen got the linguine with white clam sauce.  It looked excellent.

I ordered one of the specials, wood roasted whole bronzini with fingerling potatoes and Greek salad.

The bronzini probably should have been yanked out of the oven a few minutes sooner.  The meat under the backbone was tender and perfectly cooked (the best spot was right behind the head), but the meat above the backbone was overdone and dry.  And for something that was “wood roasted”, the fish was curiously lacking any wood flavor.  The fingerling potatoes were under-seasoned (next time I’m smuggling in Bacon Salt).  But I loved the goat cheese on the Greek salad.

For dessert, key lime cheesecake.  

Very good— less dense than regular cheesecake and appropriately tart.  I was kind of hoping for a bigger serving, though.

The food was solid, if not spectacular.   But the night was filled with little missteps in service.  First we had to ask the waitress three times to bring extra bread.  Then Karen’s clam linguine came with chili flakes even though she had specifically asked that they be left out.  And finally, for some weird reason, the waitress only asked half the table if we wanted dessert, while ignoring the other half.  I didn’t even realize this until Heike brought it up later.  Sorry Heike!  Had I known, I would have given you some cheesecake!

So there it is.  f.i.s.h. and I didn’t fall in love, and we’re definitely not soulmates.  But I’ll give it a second chance. Maybe we can be friends.

GRADE: B

f.i.s.h.
102 Fox Island Rd.
Port Chester, NY 10573
914-939-4227 

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