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.

Tarry Lodge, Port Chester

One place I've been to repeatedly so far has been Tarry Lodge in Portchester. It's owned by Bastianich and Batali, and it's become one of my favorite rituals. After the husband and I go for our chiropractic visits, we then head off for our lunch date at Tarry Lodge.

Between the two of us, we have tried an assortment of things on both, the regular menu as well as their lunch/brunch menu specials. Things that have been "repeats" for us have been the gazpacho w/lump crab meat (for him), the beets agrodolce (for me), and sharing the chocolate cake w/blood orange marmalade and house made pistaschio gelatto.

My favorite starters have been (as mentioned above) the beets agrodolce, the lump crab w/piquillos, the melon w/shrimp, and this weekend, I had something off their brunch menu, which was mussels and baby clams in a garlicky broth--of which, I needed more bread (to NOT sop up the broth would be a total waste. It was great.).

We have tried the lion's share of their pasta offerings, with our favorites so far being the black tagliatelli w/lobster, and this week's take on tagliatelli which was plain tagliatelli (non black) w/a buttery affectation (I wouldn't call it a "sauce" as it wasn't really saucy). The dish had a buttery taste to it, with slivers of garlic and fresh parsley, a light hand of julienned jalapeno (not really overly so, trust me, it was nice) and roasted sweet corn. Not a kernel was left in the dish, trust me.

We've also tried an assortment of meat dishes, ranging from hen, and branzino, to pork, with our favorites so far have been the variations/offerings of lamb (especially the one w/a puree of fava beans!), and this week we had the pork chop, which came with sauteed Swiss chard (I believe) and sweet peaches.

And bucking our habit for the chocolate cake (which I believe we've had three times; the other times we've had the panetone bread pudding, lemon cheesecake, and gelato), we opted for the peach crostino (peach cobbler/buckle/brown betty. It was crunchy on top, hot and bubbling full of peach slices below, and was topped with a scoop of house made vanilla gelatto. Delicious, but still, I think next time, we'll go back to the chocolate cake! It truly is the best dessert of the lot.

Cost: An affordable luxury. I wish I could afford to eat there every day, but I am glad that it is accessibly priced for a good lot of people. Your meal can be as pricey as you want it to be, whether you come in for drinks and appetizers; come in for one of their lovely pizzas; or a multi-course dinner. I believe it's reasonably priced, not overly or underly so. It is priced JUST RIGHT.

Quality: The food is, in a word: EXCEPTIONAL. We have gone perhaps a half dozen times so far, and they are consistent, without a problematic meal in the bunch.

Quantity: No "nouvelle" or "haute" cuisine sized portions here. Hearty sized portions.

Service: Exceptional, agreeable, helpful, prompt, courteous, and un-intrusive.

Location: Corner of Mill and Abendroth in Port Chester. On street metered parking, with a lot across the street in two locations.

End Result: I've gone about a half dozen (or more) times, and was satisfied each time. I'm already planning my next trip there. I am ALSO planning on making that corn and tagliatelli dish here at home. It was delicious, and I can't wait to try to duplicate it!