Port Jefferson
We’ve lived in Port Jefferson, Long Island New York for just over two years now, my wife and I. After many years in Queens, NYC. We’ve loved it. To begin with, the lack of noise was weird. From our new house in the early days, the bull frog chorus was overwhelming! It still is in the summer, but we like it. And it was also odd that at night most neighbours just stayed in. Excuse the incorrect spelling of neighbors; I’m English!
Now we don’t notice those quirks of a quieter town. And Port Jeff itself is vibrant and often busy Downtown, or “Downport”.
In fact many people we’ve met who moved from NYC to out here (some many years ago) feel like they want more quiet/less people now. One or two have said, “we need to move to Montauk!”. And beyond that is… Scotland.
There is often a lot of free live music in PJ in the summer, sometimes of mixed quality but we’ve seen a few excellent cover bands. The Black Country Beatnix remain a favourite. This summer, Fleetwood Macked (Mac’ed?) make an appearance. If it’s the park by the pier, you can take along your own picnic blanket.
Of course we still enjoy NYC very much, and train trips into Manhattan. You simply need a book or a walkman and just patience, or all three.
Anyway, it’s beautiful out here. The coastal areas, North Shore, South Shore, North Fork and South Fork are often the most attractive but some of the inland towns in Suffolk County also have lovely, leafy streets and some of the best cuisine and things to do.
Oh, we never get tired of the wildlife either: wild rabbits, deer, turtles, wild turkeys and so on. If you head out east, it’s all vineyards, breweries and distilleries, farmstands and even tractor shops but also popular scenic main streets.
For food and drink here are some of our best finds and old favourites, not just in our own town but in the towns and countryside at all points of the compass in Suffolk County, Long Island. And I’m going to paste one or two items from some menus (mostly dishes we’ve tried) to save you the bother, along with some photos of the food and of ourselves…
Billie’s pub now has a back deck. At first, from the outside It looks like a typical sports style bar, but the music often blasting from there is stellar (in our opinion). British eighties alternative. And we finally went in late last year and enjoyed the relaxed feel and historic fittings & bar food (and have been back several times). The vibe is kind of like an old Brooklyn neighbourhood pub.
Grumpy Jack’s a little out of town has been mentioned in my blog before. Always lively, the food is top notch. Everything, except perhaps the shepherds pie which is a chili/shepherds hybrid (unless they’ve changed it). I love their bangers and mash and fish and chips. It’s loud at the bar but that’s part of its appeal. And they have specials night, like pasta Monday.
To eat in our town, the pinnacle for us is Curry Club at Saghar (“Home of the sea”), especially seated atop the rooftop with a view of the harbour, the traffic of life flowing. Downstairs is tastefully done out now too though. The dosas (large crepes rolled and filled) are simply huge, but we can never resist the curries. Achari is one favourite.
Italian is well covered in PJ too, with our recommendations being The Pie and Pasta Pasta. We’ve only been to Ruvo once, so we’d have to try that again as it was just a 7/10 to us. But really, any reasonably sized town in NY will always have some quality Italian.
For fine dining, Fifth Season is wonderful and they support local farms. A sample of their menu below and some photos…
above, on my birthday my fillet mignon (Fifth Season)
With the atmospheric lights, the roaring Harleys, the boom of the ferry horn and the tourists mulling about eating ice creams, you can enjoy yourself just sauntering or consuming on any budget really. You might get minor irritations and a mild clunkiness from too many noisy visitors in Port Jeff, that you get in any nice seaside town, but it’s worth it because the upsides far outweigh this.
Saghar in PJ, below (with friends). My brother also treated us here recently, but this photo best captures some of the magic of the rooftop ambience
For Asian food, we like our local take-out and dine-in – although I never see anyone dining in – now called Mountain Sea. For quality crispy duck, delightfully old-fashioned Golden Dynasty in St. James is great as is the small, busy Thai Gourmet in Port Jefferson. Also it’s worth mentioning Jamaican Flavors shack in PJ (when the jerk pork is at its best, it’s outstanding) and food trucks just off the highway like Pupusas.
Our absolute go-to bar used to be at Old Fields BBQ in Setauket (a more sedate and beautifully green next-town-over from PJ) but is frustratingly closed. We tried Ixchel, the new Mexican restaurant and bar in its place. Very nice service, but we disagree with reviews and found it to be very average at best but at high prices. We miss Old Fields!
West of PJ you have Setauket, Stony Brook, St James and Smithtown and are all are great for dining though and all really lovely towns.
Setauket
We love the Farmer’s Market on Friday afternoons! Much better than Port Jefferson’s, we think. Breads, beer and cheeses aplenty and usually a live band.
Stony Brook
For rarer occasions perhaps, the Country House is a picture postcard of a restaurant inside and out, and dates from 1710! Very romantic, and they have an impressive, detailed way of decorating in every season. The food is elegant and delicious too, though needless to say a bit more of a blow-out for dinner. We’ll try it more casually sometime too.
And, yes, it’s said to be haunted. We’ve never been for Halloween…
below, with family at Country House
We’d passed DJ’s Clam Shack in Stony Brook many times, and finally tried their lobster rolls recently. Top, top quality! Their mothership is in the Florida Keys, I think.
Also, in Stony Brook: we haven’t been for a while, but excellent afternoon tea at Robinsons. And classic American brunch at a Crazy Beans, which has a younger vibe.
O Sole Mio, a very popular place, is recommended too. They’re not afraid of oil, and some items look a bit too oily to me but the entrees are a very high standard and they have the best puttanesca I’ve had since Piccolo Sogno in Queens!
St. James
It’s a classy, tranquil town with always a lot of places you’re happy to linger in. We like the buzz and the tacos at Del Fuego (a small chain). But there’s a lot of places still to try. And Mickey’s for ice cream is a must for us. You have the small St. James Brewery tap room too.
Smithtown
Osteria Umbra is another occasional place, fine-dining Italian that we’ve only been to once so far. It turned out coincidentally that we went on jazz night (bashing heavy drums!) but the food was wonderful. It’s unusual to find Umbrian cuisine. Marie had the black truffle pasta (flambe’d, no less!) and I pork carved from a suckling pig off the spit on a memorable evening.
*Maialino 44
Slow Roasted Rotisserie Suckling Pig Cooked Over our Wood Fire & Served with Mashed Potatoes
Veal Ossobuco 47
Slow Cooked Braised Veal Ossobuco with Gremolata and Mashed Potato
Chilean Sea Bass 54
Roasted Chilean Sea Bass with Warm Farro Salad and Basil Pesto
If you head the opposite way, these are in geographical order as you drive East, near to far:
Mount Sinai/Miller Place
There is the main road through each of these towns, but chilled, leafy spots as well. We go often to the pretty and quite casual Turkish restaurant Mavi, which sits in a picturesque setting near a rustic gift shop opposite and also the fire station in Mount Sinai. The food is always great (try the Turkish cigars, sigara borek, starter), and it’s BYOB. We love the fireplace.
Mavi (above)
Miller Place also has a Crazy Beans and we like it better than the one in Stony Brook.
Rocky Point
Zona Out East is our go-to diner, and very clean and friendly too.
We were really excited to finally, finally finally find the best gyros within reasonable driving range at Greek Tastes! They’re only open four hours a day, but worth the trip for sure. And the guy (manager I think) that we were talking too was proper Greek.
Riverhead
Surprisingly (seemingly?) low on Polish eateries considering there’s a Polish enclave in Riverhead, there is at least Birchwood of Polish Town. Even so, still not that much Polish on the menu but it definitely has that very old fashioned, dark wood and stain glass Northern European/Central European feel and quirkiness. We’d like to go to the Polish Festival.
Maple Tree Barbecue is a little place we’ve been to a few times, with some choice cuts, and is high quality and friendly with a small bar. If you can make it across that narrow busy road your quids-in!
Mattituck
Now you’re getting out to really quaint, countrified territory. Love Lane is, well, very nice indeed if small. We really enjoyed Eastern Front Brewing, just outside of Love Lane. It has a fine range of ales and supports artists (much like myself).
Love Lane, Mattituck (from bing images)
Westhampton
Three of our top fine dining choices in New York, probably THE three are:
Keens Steakhouse, NYC
Fifth Season, Port Jefferson
and
Flora, Westhampton.
Flora is tastefully perfect inside, bright and – well – floral decor, and all the dishes we’ve tried have been first rate. We went with family last year, and we all shared their infamous ‘plant pot’ dessert, which is ice cream topped by chocolate soil and a mint leaf!
FLORA HOUSE SPECIALTIES Feature of the Moment* Seared Scallops GF .44 corn, chorizo, candied Fresno peppers, buttermilk reduction, jasmine rice Shrimp Sherry G ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..40
jumbo Gulf shrimp, lobster risotto, grilled summer corn, sherry cream, fresh tarragon Prime NY Strip*GF ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….54
herb demi-glace marbled potatoes, roasted mushrooms, shallot, black truffle butter Lobster Ravioli ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..44
butter poached lobster, blistered heirloom tomato, sherry reduction, crispy leeks, Madeira foam Soba Noodles V………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..30
snow peas, carrots, kale, red cabbage, onions, tahini dressing, toasted coconut Sweet Basil Chicken GF ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………34
pomme purée, roasted summer squash, pesto cream, toasted pine nuts Grilled Salmon GF…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….35
Then inland and South:
Patchogue
I’m sure I’ve mentioned both but we particularly enjoy two places so far: Donatina pizzeria, with its more-ish Detroit style (craving the spicy one with Mike’s hot honey right now). And it’s handily close to Record Stop to browse vinyl albums, although you will have to move the car again.
Above, Detroit style pizza at Donatina (deep pan, very crispy edges and base)
And Reese’s 1900 is great too, a cosy Irish pub-restaurant.
Centereach
Istanbul Cafe is a real find, and we keep wanting to go back there. The mixed grill is terrific. Last time we went everyone dining appeared to possibly be of Turkish extraction in what was a full restaurant. And that’s a great sign. They also have an attached bakery.
Selden
Picchu is one of the best Peruvian cafes we’ve tried, and amazing value. Gotta love the llama décor. We always go for the salchipapas/rotisserie chicken/salad combo. And don’t be stingy on the green sauce!!
Babylon
It’s hard to find top quality true Spanish food sometimes, in New York. I mean cuisine from Spain.
chorizo at Noa Market, Babylon
Noa Markets is a casual drop-in, and very good. We bought our paella pan from there.
And in Bayshore, the rock music themed Rock City Dogs is fun for American staples. And the owner is a real character.
Obviously there are loads and loads of establishments in Suffolk County not mentioned here, and a multitude more we’ve never even tried but this a good cross-section here and hopefully this is helpful info (and a little entertaining)!
TravelHoglet 