What would you do?

[flowerbug]

changing how you talk to yourself is one of the hardest things to do.

 

[Zeedman]

Perhaps a silly suggestion... but when I find myself in an area I'm not familiar with & looking for a meal, I ask a cabbie. They usually know how to find whatever you are looking for, be it food, entertainment, or lodging. Just be specific about the kind of place you want, so you don't end up in a dive bar.

 

[meadow]

My guilt over eating applies to ALL food and drink, no matter how small

Oh maaaannnn, that does make it tough.

I'm so glad that you've already found some possible contenders!

 

[Pulsegleaner]

Perhaps a silly suggestion... but when I find myself in an area I'm not familiar with & looking for a meal, I ask a cabbie. They usually know how to find whatever you are looking for, be it food, entertainment, or lodging. Just be specific about the kind of place you want, so you don't end up in a dive bar.

A decent idea, except that isn't how cabs work around here. Around here, in order to get a cab you have to call for it from the depot and tell them where you are, where you are going, and how many people are going. I don't think they have "standing" or "roaming" cabs (well, there are a few places where a few will congregate, like the railroad stations, but those are the exception). Since we are driving, calling a cab would be sort of silly.

I think I have four good leads to work with (I thought I had five, but one of them either I can't find the link for anymore or has temporarily closed and I didn't notice). If we stay in Larchmont, there are two places with French Dips that will work, with the decision relying more on whether my parents want to sit down or not (one of then has the better sounding [and better reviewed] sandwich, but the other has a wider and gentler menu which would probably make it easier on them.

If we wind up in Mamaroneck, there is a diner with a spinach pie, and an Italian place with a Spedini all Romana, which, while technically just and appetizer, tends to be plenty big enough to work for a lunch (a Spedni all Roman/ Mozzarella en Carozza is a deep fried mozzarella sandwich covered in sauce [preferably an anchovy caper sauce])

 

[Pulsegleaner]

Back from the trip and here is my review.

We were able to work out a deal where I could hit ALL of the restaurants I wanted (well, all that were available, one of the French Dip places it turns out doesn't open until 5:00 PM) , I realized I could just get some of the orders to go and eat them on later days (I had a good report on my physical on Monday, and have no desire to erase my progress now.). So going down.

Larchmont Tavern: The place we actually sat down at, and probably the biggest disappointment of the day. Mom and dad were perfectly happy with their food, but it turns out that there, a French Dip is just a cold roast beef sandwich with a cup of au jus (a proper French Dip is warm, and also has melted swiss or gruyere, and sautéed onions. So unless the Balboa I picked up to go from there as well wows me, I don't think we are ever going back there.

Mamaroneck Diner and Pizza: I haven't eaten the spanakopita yet, but I tasted a crumb of the filling as I was putting it in the fridge, and it SEEMS okay.)

Enzo's: Again while I haven't eaten the Spiedini yet, I did get to lick sauce off my fingers while I was putting it away (as I feared, it leaked quite a bit on the way home, and while I DID remember to bring a Ziploc for that eventuality, I turned out that it was too small for the container.) Sauce tasted okay (and it is the sauce that makes a Spiedini/Carozza). If I really like it, and ever go there again, maybe I'll try some other things (I think they had a pasta in a sage butter sauce that sounded good.)

As a bonus, while my mom was in the embroidery store (which is why she wanted to go on this trip in the first place) I found a little shop next door that specialized in gourmet French imports, and was able to get a box each of the Flavingny violet and pine pastilles (which I love, and which are very hard to find now.)

 

[AMKuska]

Do you do food reviews? You sound so knowledgeable about flavors and what different kinds of foods are supposed to be like. :3 When I eat something I can tell you if I liked it or not, but hardly any other details. I just thought a french dip was a beef sandwich dipped in broth, didn't know it was supposed to be hot.

 

[Pulsegleaner]

Well, to be fair, I don't definitively KNOW it's supposed to be hot. But every OTHER one I have had has been, so that's a pretty good indicator.

I SORT OF do food reviews. That is, if I have something and I like it, I will tell other people about it. And I used to do sort of reviews of restaurants in the NYC Chinatowns on Chowhound (under the name jumpingmonk). But it's not like I do this sort of thing officially.

And I often know when a dish is NOT good, what is needs to be added to improve it, or removed.

 

[flowerbug]

i'd expect the sandwich to be warm. no other comment about what goes on it as i've had it several ways and all of them were edible.

glad you could get out.

 

[Pulsegleaner]

i'd expect the sandwich to be warm. no other comment about what goes on it as i've had it several ways and all of them were edible.

The I envy you. In my time, I have had some VERY bad dips. Places where they cooked the roast beef into leather, and the place that didn't realize there is a difference between au jus and beef gravy. And, of course, the place whose version would be great, EXCEPT that they can't trim their beef correctly, so half the meat is actually gristle .

But of course, there are some AUTHENTIC things they can do to sandwiches I can't abide either. I love Philly Cheesesteaks, but you NEVER catch me eating one with Cheez-Wiz!

And when I go to the one place outside of NYC where I can get a Chicago Italian Beef, I have them leave the giardiniera off.

 

[Pulsegleaner]

Second day addendum

The Balboa failed to impress, so I'm not going back to that place again (technically, they also have a sausage and peppers sandwich, but I can get a decent one of those at literally any Italian restaurant or pizza parlor.)

The speidini didn't taste as good as I thought it would (whether it was just the way it was it it was or because it had lost all its sauce, I do not know.) I'll probably go back to the place some day anyway for the cavatelli piemontese (pasta with shredded sausage in a sage butter sauce with fontina) so I may try it again then. Then again I didn't feel great after eating it, so maybe it's too much for me now (I'm still getting used to modifying my diet to take into account the new apparent spike in my lactose intolerance.)

The spanakopita was good, I will definitely get that again.