Rhode Island – Writing With My Mouth Full

Where to Eat in Narragansett: Matunuck Oyster Bar

We spent a weekend in Narraganssett, Rhode Island to usher in Summer 2010. After a delayed departure from New York City and a four-hour plus drive to the Ocean State, our first order of business as soon as we checked our borrowed digs by the beach was to get dinner. There were a few restaurants recommended to us in the area, but we were looking for that quintessential New England scene rather than an easy stop by the mall. The Matunuck Oyster Bar won out after looking at their menu online: no veal scaloppini and no shrimp scampi specials.

It was packed when we walked in and button-down chambray shirts with shorts were the uniform. The wait for two was about an hour, but we hadn’t been standing at the bar with our Merlots and whiskeys for too long when we were called to be seated.

We started with a bowl of white chowder–chowdah, as they say in these parts–with potatoes. The Rhode Island style of chowder is my favorite kind because it’s more watery than thick; more seafood than cream. We balanced that with an arugula salad with white beans and onions pickled in balsamic vinegar. We ordered the local pond oysters with the fresh littleneck clams and split the cod sandwich to wrap up dinner. I neglected to note the oyster varieties, only remembering one as briny (our preference) while the rest were sweet and juicy. The cod was no different from other fish sandwiches I’ve had before, leading the Dr. to describe it as â€œa glorified Filet-O-Fishâ€–to no fault of Matunuck’s owners of course; it’s just the boring nature of cod.

We asked our waitress if the weekend was the first time the restaurant has been busy this season. She told us that it’s been busy for the last few weeks, but this official start of summer will steady business. The service was surprisingly attentive even for a front of the house staff made of mostly teenagers. The best part was the price: our entire meal cost less than $45 including the much lower state tax of 7%.

Matunuck Oyster Bar is at 629 Succotash Road, South Kingston, Rhode Island. Call to check how long the wait is before you leave the beach 401/783.4202.

Where to eat in Wakefield: Phil’s Restaurant

We wanted to go to Surfin’ Tacos to cure our hangovers, but they were still preparing to open when we stopped by. When we saw the menu, we realized it wasn’t a tacqueria per se, but more like a Chipotle type of place. Across the street, the line of high school and college-age kids outside Phil’s Restaurant caught our eye.

The origin of diners can be traced back to the 1850s when a Walter Scott from Providence supplemented his income by selling coffee and sandwiches at night from a horse-drawn wagon parked outside the Providence Journal newspaper office. There really wasn’t a reason not to eat in one while I was already in the state.

Well, okay, there is one: how awful you feel after eating a plate of three eggs, corned beef hash, white toast with butter and a plateful of potatoes. Although at the time very satisfying, I felt I was going to get a stomachache after. Big breakfasts from diners can be excellent, you just have to have the stomach for them.

Phil’s Restaurant is at 323 Main Street in Wakefield, Rhode Island. You won’t miss the American flag. Just walk in and wait to be seated.

Where to eat in Matunuck: Jim’s Dock

Jim’s Dock was a good start to our quick weekend in Rhode Island. After a long morning drive, we were famished. We checked in at Blueberry Cove Inn to drop off our stuff and got back in the car to find food. We were near Narragansett and were surrounded by water, so seafood with a view of the Rhode Island Sound just seemed like the best choice.

At Jim’s Dock in East Matunuck, we were seated outside next to a pier where children jump off to get in the cold water. We watched as fishermen gathered their poles for the day. There were lobster buoys hanging off the walls and a variety of beach signs decorated the restaurant entrance. As we walked in and felt sand between our toes, I fell in-love again with summers in the east coast.

When traveling to hot destinations, I try to stay away from deep-fried foods because I eat a lot of those at home. I’m also not a big fan of mayonnaise, so a lobster roll does not really excite me. I prefer eating raw seafood and cracking crabs while wearing a bib. In Rhode Island, I broke all my rules. We ordered the clam cakes, deep-fried batter you have to eat in order to find the small jewel of clam inside. I pulled mine apart to find them because even a Filipino girl can only eat so many fried bread. The Dr. ordered the lobster roll after hearing that Jim’s has one of the best in Rhode Island. As much as I like decadence, I was a bit surprised that their lobster roll mostly had lobster meat and so little mayo. I’m not complaining because for $16, I got my money’s worth, but we ate a lobster meat sandwich, not a lobster roll.

Jim’s Dock is at 109 Succotash Road, East Matunuck, Rhode Island. Just follow the path to the beach on your way to East Matunuck or call 401/783.2050.

Where to eat in Providence: De Wolf Tavern

10:25pm – train back to New York City, delayed
12:10am – finally on board, but with an announcement that we’d arrive an extra hour late
1:00am – somewhere outside Providence when “the train’s axl hit debris”; delayed another extra hour “to switch machines”
4:00am – somewhere in Connecticut, stalls for forty minutes
6:00am – somewhere in upstate New York, stalls for half an hour
6:18am – sunset, still on the fucking train!
7:30am – back in Harlem, kissing my own pillows on my own bed

I thought riding in trains was supposed to be romantic. I am still wondering how the Europeans can take me from Amsterdam to Belgium, but the United States can’t even get me from Providence to New York City under the three-hour schedule.

The boy and I started laughing at ourselves when we first heard of the delay at 10:30pm because I originally rescheduled my 5pm train. I ended up missing the 7:30pm as well because we were having too much fun over dinner. It stopped being funny at midnight. He had to drive at least two hours back to Maine to go to work at 7am, but he couldn’t stand to leave me waiting in the station alone. He only left after the Amtrak clerk told him the train was five minutes away from Providence.

Despite the inconvenient and frustrating ending to our reunion, we exhausted Rhode Island during the twenty-four hours we spent there. On Friday, he picked me up from the train station at 9pm. We had 9:30pm dinner reservations at De Wolf Tavern so we hurried and drove to Bristol. The staff at the restaurant was accommodating. They still honored my request and sat us by the fireplace even though we arrived fifteen minutes before the kitchen was scheduled to close.

Our meal was one of the most refreshing we’ve had in a long time. Almost every dish had an Indian influence, a nice break from the predictable French taste we’ve gotten used to in fine dining. With our Glenlivets, Guinness beers and sparkling wine with orange-spiced rum, we shared three appetizers and a main course. The tuna carpaccio was served with green mango salad in mustard oil and verjus chutney. The tortellini was stuffed with king crab meat and drizzled with sauce made of fried curry leaves that tasted deliciously nutty. The quail legs were roasted and came with a pretty boring salad of iceberg lettuce and bacon and ranch dressing, but the infused tandoor flavor in the quail perfectly came out at every bite. The medium-rare rib-eye steak completed our meal with crunchy haricot verts and mashed potatoes. To end the night, we also split the cafe au lait ice cream on top of warm pumpkin bread. Esquire Magazine might have prematurely picked The Modern as one of its 2005 restaurant of the year, but they hit the bull’s-eye with De Wolf Tavern.

De Wolf Tavern is about a thirty-minute drive from Providence in Rhode Island. It’s at 259 Thames Street in Bristol. Call 405/254.2005 for reservations.