City Island Lobster House

Until last weekend, City Island was an abstraction to me—a place I’d heard of but never given two seconds’ thought.

For the geographically-challenged (like me): City Island is a tiny island off the east coast of the Bronx, connected by a century-old bridge to the mainland. About 4/10ths of a square mile in area, it has under 5,000 residents.

The island’s main industries seem to be boat storage and seafood restaurants. There are dozens of restaurants along the island’s main drag (City Island Avenue), many of which seem to be interchangeable. They all look just a bit downscale and touristy, and it is hard to imagine how so many of them stay in business all year.

My friend had heard vaguely good things about City Island Lobster House, located on a side street just off the bridge, so we tried that. It looks like one of those generic seafood shacks that one expects to see every quarter-mile in New England shore towns. The website is as cheesy as the restaurant is.

The huge laminated menu takes a while to absorb, but there wasn’t much doubt we were having lobsters. To go to a “Lobster House” and order anything else would be silly.

The meal comes with a bounteous bread plate (above left) with terrific garlic bread, warm blueberry bread, and a bowl of olives and cheese. Caesar salad (above right) was totally forgettable; I assume they make them up well in advance, and pull them out of the fridge as needed.

The lobster was wonderful, but it was typical of slightly slapdash service that it was served with the bowl of melted butter tipped over. It took quite a while to get lobster forks, and after our meal the server claimed to be out of wet-naps before returning with them.

You won’t beat these prices in New York City: a 1½-pound lobster with salad and bread was $24.95 apiece. Cocktails are under $10 each. The total for two was under $70 before tax and tip. Is it a great restaurant? No. Do they have lobster nailed? Yes.

City Island Lobster House (691 Bridge Street #1, City Island)

Food: *
Service: Fair
Ambiance: *
Overall: *

Roberto

 

For years, I’ve been reading about the “other” Little Italy on Arthur Avenue, in the Bronx. It’s supposed to be less of a tourist trap. The food is supposed to be better. Last weekend, with my son in town, we visited the legendary Roberto.

The restaurant has been in a lovely townhouse on Crescent Street, just steps away from the main drag on Arthur Avenue, since 1989, when it was Tony & Roberto’s. In 1993, Times critic Molly O’Neil awarded one star. A few years later, brother Tony went back to Salerno, leaving Roberto Paciullo in charge by himself—still stopping by every table to ask how your meal was.

From most parts of the city, it is not especially easy to get here by mass transit. Fortunately, we live close by the George Washington Bridge Bus Terminal in Washington Heights, where you can catch the Bx36 bus to the corner of Bathgate Avenue and E. 180th Street. That still leaves you about eight blocks away, and you’d best have a map with you unless you already know the area. The closest subway stop, 182nd–183rd Streets on the D line, leaves you with a good 15–20 minutes’ walk.

Roberto does not take reservations except for large parties, and if you arrive at prime times you have a long wait ahead. We got there around 5:30 p.m. on a Saturday, and it was already nearly full. The hostess said she could seat us downstairs, which didn’t sound so good, but was actually a blessing. We were in a small, quiet room with about 6 tables, dominated by a long wine wall with hundreds of rare bottles, mostly magnums and double-magnums. Two hours later, when we left, the main dining room upstairs was noisier than a train station at rush hour.

The menu is long, and on top of it the server recited a dozen or more specials. Naturally, by the time he’d finished his lecture we’d forgotten at least half of them. We got the sense that large portions were coming, so we settled on one antipasto, two pastas and two entrées to share amongst three people. That turned out to be about right.

We started with a good spicy Cotechino ($14), or Italian pork sausage, with spinach and cannellini beans. Both of our pastas were specials. There were tender Agnolotti ($21) filled with goat cheese and braised short rib; and Fettuccini with a short rib ragoût ($25). I don’t think we actually meant to order short rib twice, but that’s what happens when recited specials go whizzing by too fast. My son made short work of Pollo Affumi ($21), or chicken with prosciutto and mozzarella, while we shared a tender Lamb Shank Ossobucco ($26).

None of the savory courses came out quite warm enough. Dishes weren’t heated before the food was plated, and they cooled a bit on the way from kitchen to table. The captain served us family-style, but anything left cooled quickly, since the original plates weren’t warm. Silverware was not replaced after our first course, but it was after our second.

Dessert was, I believe, a terrific almond cake with cinammon ice cream, which the three of us shared. (It’s the only food photo I took that is worth publishing.)

The wine list doesn’t seem to have any bargains, but we got a perfectly respectable 2003 Villa Puccini Chianti Riserva for $44.

I have no idea if we got the best, the worst, or the average performance for this restaurant. With such a sprawling menu and 240 covers a night, it’s inevitable there will be highs and lows. Everything was solid here, but the food was somewhat let down by the service. Still, it was a fun evening, and we’ll probably try it again sometime.

Roberto (603 Crescent Avenue at Hughes Avenue, Bronx)

Food: *
Service: Sub-*
Ambiance: *
Overall: *

Riverdale Garden

Note: The Riverdale Garden closed in February 2007. The owners said they would re-open if they could find fifty couples to purchase $5,000 apiece in dining credits. Eater.com reported that they had found just 16.

*

The Bronx is not exactly a hotbed of fine dining. The Zagat guide lists but twelve restaurants in the Bronx, and very few of them appear to merit a trip out of Manhattan. Well, at least one of them does. The Riverdale Garden is an oasis well worth the trip. Located just a block away from the 242nd St terminus of the #1 train, the restaurant is extremely easy to reach, and in a safe neighborhood. Valet parking is also offered.

Inside the Riverdale Garden, you are transported by a cosy farmhouse décor, with white tablecloths and an exposed wood-burning furnace. There are a couple of sofas by the furnace, and on a cold night it was wonderful to relax there and soak up the heat. As you’d expect, The Riverdale Garden has…an outdoor garden. As you’d also expect, it was not open on Saturday night in January, but we peered outdoors, and it looks like a lovely romantic setting for a return visit in summertime.

I ordered a wild mushroom risotto, followed by a braised lamb shank. The risotto was terrific, and the lamb so tender that a knife was entirely superfluous. My friend was equally pleased with the soup du jour and a tuna steak. For dessert, we shared a heavenly fruit compote with cinammon ice cream. We each ordered mint tea, which came in personal-size tea pots in a witty design I’ve never seen anywhere else.

All of that, plus one glass of wine (my friend does not drink) came in for under $100 before the tip. I can’t remember the last time I had a meal this good that stayed under $100. I was particularly struck by the fact that I had ordered practically the identical items recently at Café Gray (wild mushroom risotto and braised shortribs), and paid more than double that figure, although at CG we drank a bit more. There’s no contest as to which restaurant I’ll return to sooner.

The restaurant was full on a Saturday night, with what appeared to be an upscale clientele. Service was friendly and efficient. Appetizers are in the $6-10 range, mains $16-27. The menu changes seasonally, and the version shown on the website isn’t current.

Riverdale Garden (4576 Manhattan College Parkway, Riverdale, Bronx)

Food: **
Service: **
Ambiance: **½
Overall: **