Four words:
Bacon.
Flecked.
Ice.
Cream.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Sunday, July 11, 2010
La Manda's, White Plains
La Manda's Restaurant
(No Website)
251 Tarrytown Road
White Plains, NY 10607-1622
(914) 684-9228
Upon the recommendation of a friend who's frequented it, and despite the many negative reviews I've read online, I cajoled the husband to try out La Manda's tonight.
I've lived in Westchester about ten years and have passed this joint to and from work every day, and finally decided "tonight's the night."
Our first red flag was that we were caught off guard when we read on the menu "no credit cards." We quickly checked our wallets and figured out we had enough for dinner.
One of the things my friend raved about was their house salad, a simple yet enjoyable combination of greens and tomatoes, oil, vinegar, salt and pepper and maybe some oregano. I totally forgot about this when I saw they had escarole soup on their menu.
Sadly, the escarole soup seemed more like a chicken vegetable with some random noodles in it which they simmered some escarole in the broth. It was also curiously tangy. I'm hoping it's lemon in the broth. I can't think of any reason why escarole soup would be tangy.
As far as me and my stomach are concerned, we're on standby for some agita.
The husband opted for the lentil soup, which was also sorta tangy, which we're hoping was due to whatever tomato puree or other tomato product they put in the soup.
He opted for the chicken cacciatore (boneless) and I opted for the linguine a vongole. Both entrees fell short of our expectations.
For starters, the cacciatore seemed "off," as far as texture. The chicken cubes were stringy and the sauce had the consistency of Campbell's tomato soup, which was thickened with too much starch.
The linguine vongole initially appeared promising, as the bowl atop the dish revealed a veritable mountain of small clams. It was only upon opening each of the shells that revealed the amount of clam meat that would measure roughly that of the fingernail on my pinky. I now feel sorry for all those clams that gave their lives and died in vain for my disappointing meal.
The brodo that the clams and linguine were in, wasn't flavorful enough. No white wine and the garlic was hardly noticeable. Sure there were chunks of garlic, all golden and gently sauteed, leaving the chunks with a sweet and slightly nutty taste, but for garlicky punch... there was none.
We decided to cut our losses and not attempt their desserts or coffee. I'm sure the waitress was on to us, as we had plenty of leftovers which we politely declined being packaged up for left overs.
The decor is old and dated, and part of their charm. It's a place where time has stood still. It's a cozy, familiar local family run place, and probably looks not much different than it did when it opened in 1947.
The location is nice, with plenty of alternate, off street (as in, off of Rt 119) parking.
When we got in there, there was a small line, and a short wait. People seemed friendly enough.
Wasn't there long enough to check out the cleanliness of the bathroom.
Cost for our two soups, two seltzers, and two entrees came to nearly $46. Inexpensive. I could see this as a good selling point for this place.
The husband and I are both split on whether to return to try them out one final time before giving up on it entirely or putting it in the rotation for our "usual spots."
I hold out the (perhaps it may be false?) hope that the "golden egg" of this place is their chicken or eggplant parmesan or perhaps their pizza really is their specialty.
The husband says, and I quote, "There is no force on this earth which would make me go back."
I'm just glad we gave it a try.
For me, for the area, the "Kings" of this "genre" of family style Italian restaurant/pizzeria are Nicky's and Magnotta's. So, I'd like to find out for myself how La Manda's stacks up in the pizza department.
I'll be back. Just don't know when.
(No Website)
251 Tarrytown Road
White Plains, NY 10607-1622
(914) 684-9228
Upon the recommendation of a friend who's frequented it, and despite the many negative reviews I've read online, I cajoled the husband to try out La Manda's tonight.
I've lived in Westchester about ten years and have passed this joint to and from work every day, and finally decided "tonight's the night."
Our first red flag was that we were caught off guard when we read on the menu "no credit cards." We quickly checked our wallets and figured out we had enough for dinner.
One of the things my friend raved about was their house salad, a simple yet enjoyable combination of greens and tomatoes, oil, vinegar, salt and pepper and maybe some oregano. I totally forgot about this when I saw they had escarole soup on their menu.
Sadly, the escarole soup seemed more like a chicken vegetable with some random noodles in it which they simmered some escarole in the broth. It was also curiously tangy. I'm hoping it's lemon in the broth. I can't think of any reason why escarole soup would be tangy.
As far as me and my stomach are concerned, we're on standby for some agita.
The husband opted for the lentil soup, which was also sorta tangy, which we're hoping was due to whatever tomato puree or other tomato product they put in the soup.
He opted for the chicken cacciatore (boneless) and I opted for the linguine a vongole. Both entrees fell short of our expectations.
For starters, the cacciatore seemed "off," as far as texture. The chicken cubes were stringy and the sauce had the consistency of Campbell's tomato soup, which was thickened with too much starch.
The linguine vongole initially appeared promising, as the bowl atop the dish revealed a veritable mountain of small clams. It was only upon opening each of the shells that revealed the amount of clam meat that would measure roughly that of the fingernail on my pinky. I now feel sorry for all those clams that gave their lives and died in vain for my disappointing meal.
The brodo that the clams and linguine were in, wasn't flavorful enough. No white wine and the garlic was hardly noticeable. Sure there were chunks of garlic, all golden and gently sauteed, leaving the chunks with a sweet and slightly nutty taste, but for garlicky punch... there was none.
We decided to cut our losses and not attempt their desserts or coffee. I'm sure the waitress was on to us, as we had plenty of leftovers which we politely declined being packaged up for left overs.
The decor is old and dated, and part of their charm. It's a place where time has stood still. It's a cozy, familiar local family run place, and probably looks not much different than it did when it opened in 1947.
The location is nice, with plenty of alternate, off street (as in, off of Rt 119) parking.
When we got in there, there was a small line, and a short wait. People seemed friendly enough.
Wasn't there long enough to check out the cleanliness of the bathroom.
Cost for our two soups, two seltzers, and two entrees came to nearly $46. Inexpensive. I could see this as a good selling point for this place.
The husband and I are both split on whether to return to try them out one final time before giving up on it entirely or putting it in the rotation for our "usual spots."
I hold out the (perhaps it may be false?) hope that the "golden egg" of this place is their chicken or eggplant parmesan or perhaps their pizza really is their specialty.
The husband says, and I quote, "There is no force on this earth which would make me go back."
I'm just glad we gave it a try.
For me, for the area, the "Kings" of this "genre" of family style Italian restaurant/pizzeria are Nicky's and Magnotta's. So, I'd like to find out for myself how La Manda's stacks up in the pizza department.
I'll be back. Just don't know when.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
ON FIRE AT THE MOMENT: BENGAL TIGER
Nothing further to report at the moment; however, there are billows of black smoke coming from the building that Bengal Tiger shares w/Star Cleaners, etc.
ETA:
For more information, check out the article on LoHud.
ETA:
19 hours later... Looks like the Latin American Cafe also bit the dust in this mega fire. I hope they manage to come back after this! Their garlic chicken was orgasmic!
Good luck to all the merchants who suffered in the fire! Glad no one got seriously hurt!
ETA:
For more information, check out the article on LoHud.
ETA:
19 hours later... Looks like the Latin American Cafe also bit the dust in this mega fire. I hope they manage to come back after this! Their garlic chicken was orgasmic!
Good luck to all the merchants who suffered in the fire! Glad no one got seriously hurt!
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