Bigelow's Clam Shack (Long Island, NY)

ABF & I have been driving by Bigelow's Clam Shack (in Rockville Centre, Long Island) for a good 6 years, but it wasn't until last weekend that we finally went inside and tried the goods.

It is a tight little space with a bit of seating around the countertop, and a steady business in take out orders.

ABF & I started with Stewart's black cherry soda, a splurge all its own.

I was beyond hungry, and I wanted a little bit of everything... but I really wanted the clam strips. We ordered the clam strips appetizer to share. This was beyond delicious- fried but not greasy, chewy but not rubbery, and a salty briny taste that reminded me of a day on the beach in the best way.

We also got some onion rings (did I mention how hungry I was?), and they were okay. Just okay. The breading at Bigelow's tasted very bland to us. However, they offer plenty of condiments at the table, from hot sauce to vinegar, so I suppose that's the point. You can change the flavor with every bite.

ABF ordered the fish & chips with flounder. This was tasty, and quite a large serving of fish (three pieces), and also came with fries. Skip the fries.

I ordered the fried cod sandwich. This also came with 3 big pieces of juicy cod. I got a slice of cheese as well, because I apparently I decided to go all out on this meal. Soda, fried food, AND cheese? Why the hell not?!

My sandwich was good-- delicious fish, even better with the tartar sauce, but I, too, could have skipped the fries.

Bigelow's was also a very welcoming spot, with great service and friendly staff. They checked in on us a few times (more than one person, even) to make sure we were enjoying the meal and that we got everything we ordered (oh boy, did we!)

We walked out of there stuffed to the gills (ha), but I still found myself wishing I'd had more clam strips. I'd go back in a flash for the clam bellies sandwich (yum!) or more clam strips, but I'd skip the onion rings & fries the next go-round.

Bigelow's Fried Clams
79 N Long Beach Road
Rockville Centre, NY 11570
(516) 678-3878

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Five Pennies Creamery

Summer might be taking its last few, humid gasps, but that doesn't mean ice cream season is anywhere close to ending! One random Sunday night, ABF and I dashed over to Rockville Centre's (Long Island) Five Pennies Creamery for a sweet treat.

Five Pennies gets its name from the song made famous by Louis Armstrong and Danny Kaye-- that song's a favorite of the store's owner, Danny Levine. The inside of the store looks like a step into the wayback machine-- it has an old-timey ice cream parlor feel.

So what did I order?? Yes, I spent far too long weighing my decision, but if you saw how many amazing, delectable options there are, you might not judge me so harshly. Danny has more than 100 different flavors on tap at Five Pennies. I had a few tiny tastes of different flavors before settling on an interesting combo: one scoop of banana pudding, one scoop of Boston Cream Pie.

I don't know how they did it, but the folks at FPC managed to take the flavors of both these classic desserts and turn them into cool, creamy, frozen form. There's no funny chemical taste or crazy ingredients. THIS is the essence of summer, childhood, and other happy memories.

ABF went with a classic sundae (can't remember his ice cream flavor) with chocolate syrup and peanuts-- his favorite way to eat ice cream. I have to admit, it's quite a good combo, but that night there was no order envy. I was quite happy with my choices.

The ice cream was top-notch, and the friendly staff made us feel welcome from the moment we walked in the door. I hear Five Pennies has recently done a remodel, which gives me the PERFECT excuse to go back and try more flavors- see the changes!

What's YOUR favorite ice cream flavor? Mine is usually black raspberry, but at Five Pennies, it's the Boston Cream Pie!

Five Pennies Creamery

11 N Park Ave

Rockville Centre, NY 11570

(516) 608-4344

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Palace of Wong

Palace of Wong has been on the Long Island restaurant scene since 1969, and it's been on my 'List' for about 4 years, when ABF moved just around the block from it. It reminds me of the restaurant featured in that scene from "A Christmas Story" where the family goes out for Chinese food (after the neighbor's dogs ruin their Christmas turkey!)

ABF's mom told us it used to be a fancy spot, where couples would get dressed up and meet for cocktails-- fun!

It's a lot more casual now, but the fancy drinks are still there and the prices are still decent.

I ordered a Zombie, a nod to ABF's love of shows like 'The Walking Dead,' and my love for things that taste like candy.

This drink is no joke-- several types of rum, including 151, and just one drink will have you feeling a little loopy. Deliciously loopy.

ABF Ordered the egg roll for his appetizer, and gamely shared a bite with me. Egg rolls don't normally float my boat per se, but this is one of the tastiest ever had. So tasty in fact, I went back for second bite.

His entrée also came with wonton soup. I just can't get into the wonton soup. I don't know if it's the texture, flavors, not liking the pork filling, but this just isn't for me. I didn't even bother tasting it, but ABF was very happy with it.

Palace of Wong actually has a section of the menu labeled for 'Indecisive People.' Yes, thank you, that's me! I went with the Empress, which is filet mignon and white meat chicken with mixed veggies. 

The filet mignon was perfectly cooked, medium, and the veggies were good, but I wasn't a fan of the brown sauce which clumped up a bit.

ABF ordered the cashew chicken, which was tasty, but not spicy at all (despite the warning pepper logo on the menu). The rice, which I normally ignore, was perfectly sticky and tasty. I liked his dish MUCH better than mine.

At the end of our meal we got the requisite fortune cookies (with a 'fortune' perfectly picked for me, even after just 1 Zombie drink), and some delightfully crunchy almond cookies. Those cookies were great!

Excellent Advice

Palace of Wong may have underwhelmed me with the entrées (not bad, just not GREAT), but the apps and drinks alone are reason enough to pop in for a bite...and a sip!

Palace of Wong
348 Sunrise Highway
Rockville Centre, NY 11570
516-764-3240

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La Fondita (Happy Start of Summer!)

Summer has unofficially kicked off, and if you're heading out east on Long Island, ABF & I have a great place to recommend: La Fondita! And as of today, La Fondita is open 7 days a week for the summer!

Thank you, Foursquare, for introducing BBF and me to this jewel of a place! It was close by, affordable, and OPEN, which is rare at that time of year (this was a few weeks ago, not quite full-blown summer season).
La Fondita is located right on Montauk highway, so whether you're coming or going, it's an easy stop.

Everything there is made fresh and it shows--both in looks and flavor. I went with one single fish taco and two shrimp tacos. They're small tacos, so 2-3 per person should do the trick.

Fish taco-- get 2!

That fish taco was phenomenal-- I'd settle happily for two of those on my next visit.

Shrimp Tacos

The shrimp, fresh, crunchy veggies, and homemade tortillas were tops. My shrimp taco was a bit too liquidy and my tortilla fell apart, but that did not stop me from devouring it.

ABF ordered the seafood burrito: a fried fish fillet wrapped up in a freshly-made tortilla. OutSTANDing, though admittedly not so photogenic. I went back for two bites of that seafood burrito-- perfectly-cooked fish, crunchy slaw, and tongue-tingling salsa.

Jarritos & Mexican Coke (real sugar, no HFCS)

 Bonus: they also have one of my favorite sodas: Jarritos, and another favorite of both of ours: Mexican Coke. These are made in Mexico and use real cane sugar, not high fructose corn syrup. If you have not yet tried one of these, make this the summer you do so!

While we contentedly finished our food, we saw a lot of people came into get take out. There's also a decent outdoor seating area that will no doubt be full once the warmer weather gets going. The staff are friendly and welcoming, our food was fresh and arrived quickly, and it's a great spot to fuel up before getting back on the road.

We loved every morsel of our meal at La Fondita, and will be sure to swing by a few more times this summer. I can imagine grabbing a fish taco and a Jarrito at the end of a sunny, sandy day-- bliss!

La Fondita

74 Montauk Hwy

Amagansett, NY 11930

(631) 267-8800

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Shake Shack-- on Long Island!!

I was visiting ABF on Long Island (he taught me, tho I often forget, that you're never "in" Lawn Guyland, as I say it, you're ON it), running our standard (and beloved) run to Trader Joe's, when a familiar sign jumped out at me.

"There's a Shake Shack here!?" I practically yelped.

And out the window went our earlier dinner plans! Spontaneous AND delicious!

Unlike most NYC locations, there was no line snaking outside around the building. Just a few folks who were there for their very first Shack-sperience were ahead of us.

We waited just a few minutes at our repurposed table (deliciously hipsterish) before the buzz sounded-- yum!

I went for my usual (and I rarely have a 'usual' somewhere, but I do here.. or at least I did.. until now.) Shackburger (which is a single patty, cheese, and the Shack sauce, lettuce and tomato). Crinkly fries (my favorite!) to share with ABF, and an unsweetened iced tea.

ABF got the SmokeShack Burger-- single patty, Niman Ranch applewood-smoked bacon, chopped cherry peppers, and, of course, ShackSauce.

Oh my word. This burger. I am getting it next time. The sting of the peppers (not painful, just perfect). The bacon. The everything-coming-together-awesomeness. Whoa. New favorite!

We squeezed in a small dessert-- half-sized Old Country Rocky Road concrete, which was chocolate custard, marshmallow sauce, chocolate truffle cookie dough, and almonds. Sound the trumpets! It was marvelous! The almonds were practically pulverized, deactivating any dental dangers. They were the perfect bit of crunch without putting any molars at risk. (Note: from the menu, "5% of the sales [for this dessert] go to Island Harvest, Long Island's largest hunger relief organization.")

I love that Shake Shack is so consistent from location to location, and I appreciated how friendly and welcoming everyone on the staff is. It's also one of the cleanest kitchens/dining areas I've ever seen.

We are SO going back there, and I'm getting the Smokeshack!

Shake Shack

860 Old Country Road

Garden City, NY 11530

516-620-2880

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Artisanal Cheese & Merliance

Are you new to Stuff I Ate? Thanks so much for visiting! Join the fun on my Facebook page with a lovely like-- and please feel free to chime in and share your favorites with us!

ABF & I love Long Island's wine country (we visit a lot-- and I'll have a link to those other visits at the end of this post)-- but we were happy to hear that several winemakers would be coming to US in the city!

Winemakers from Clovis Point, McCall Vineyard, Raphael, Sherwood House Vineyards, T'Jara Vineyards, and Wölffer Estate Vineyard are all members of Merliance, which is Long Island's Merlot Alliance, dedicated to focusing production on Long Island merlots, which they believe will raise the bar for wines from all varieties.

The event was hosted at Artisanal Cheese's 10th Avenue location. Wine + cheese = RSVP from LKP (and ABF and That Sara & Mike and my friend MK!) Our small group was there at 3 on the dot, where they had a pre-class cheese & wine reception. These people have my number, big-time.

They had a fondue pot bubbling, wine pouring, and more cheese, fruit and crackers on the table. It's my kind of party!!!

I do love a good gooey, stinky, cheese, and Epoisses is one of my favorites (and, legend has it, a favorite of Napoleon's. Dude knew good cheese.) I literally can't bring this cheese home unless it's for a party, because I cannot be trusted to pace myself. Its messy ooziness & strong odor might scare you off at first, but it is actually a warm, smooth, buttery delight to taste, and I don't even mind the sort of mushroomy flavor I notice with it. Oh, je t'adore, Epoisses!

They also had the 2010 Merliance (seen in first photo), a blend (and I'm quoting the Merliance site here) "consisting of two barrels of merlot, chosen to be representative of the vineyard and vintage, from each Merliance member: Clovis Point (Jamesport), McCall Wines (Cutchogue), Raphael (Peconic), Sherwood House Vineyards (Mattituck), T’Jara Vineyards (Mattituck) and Wölffer Estate Vineyard (Sagaponack)."

This won't be released until Spring 2013-- how cool to get an early taste! It's delicious, and I'm a Merlot convert! ABF was the one who convinced me to give Merlots another chance, especially Long Island ones. He's a smart guy, that ABF.

The classroom was right next door, and it's a huge, well-lit space with a sweet kitchen setup at the front (behind the panel). But no one was really looking at the kitchen-- we were looking at the seven (7!!) glasses of wine at our place settings, forming a ruby half-circle over a tempting plate of cheese. We had a glass from each winemaker AND the 7th glass was the Merliance blend. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday!

Mmmmm...cheese.

The moderator and cheese expert was Max McCalman, Arisanal's Dean of Curriculum and former Maitre Fromager at NYC's Picholine restaurant. He is the man who brought the "Cheese Clock" to Artisanal. He suggests looking at your cheese setting as a clock. Start with the mildest cheeses at the 6 o'clock setting, then work your way, deliciously, clockwise, ending with the strongest (in our case, a marvelously moldy Shaker Blue).

Our first cheese was the Chaource, and my WORD it went with every single wine so smashingly. It's a cow's milk cheese from France, where it's been made since the 14th century. It is GOOD. Get some.

We tried a bunch of other cheeses with every single wine, and those sips definitely started to catch up with me. I didn't bother taking shots of every single cheese and every single glass. I just sat back and let the panel do their work while I enjoyed the liquid fruits of their labor.

The wines were so delicious that they even won over Sara & Mike, who normally avoid Merlot in general. In fact, we were teasing Sara (of NYCNomNom) for finishing ALL of her wines before the class had ended! I then finished all of mine so she wouldn't be alone (because I'm a good friend-- and those wines were delicious).

Everyone on the panel was interesting, approachable, and truly passionate about their work, stopping to chat afterwards with anyone who had a question.

I was especially looking forward to hearing from John Leo, the winemaker at Clovis Point, a favorite of ABF's & mine. I went up to him after the talk to tell him what a great staff he has, how we love their wine (we are wine club members there) and their location, how often we bring friends out to try it as well, and he generously offered me a bottle of the 2007 Vintners Select Merlot, which my friend Mike then encouraged him to sign. John is a good sport-- he not only signed my bottle, but he posed for a photo with me after.

Yay, Clovis Point!

The wines were all delicious, but the Clovis Point and the T'Jara Merlots were my favorites, as was the Merliance! All were super drinkable wines I'd happily bring to any party-- or open at home any day of the week!

For more on Artisanal, go here! For more on the Merliance, visit their site here!

And go HERE for more of my visits to Long Island vineyards/wineries!

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