From savory to sweet, Port’s vast selection will satisfy any craving
Summer may be coming to a close, but that doesn’t mean your taste for adventure has to end. Port Washington offers a number of restaurants, from family-friendly eateries to exotic bistros to sweet shops, that offer a vacation for your taste buds that doesn’t have to end with the coming of fall.
Harbor Q
In the mood for a barbecue, but don’t want to fire up the grill? Harbor Q is a family-friendly spot that offers cook-out cuisine for dine-in, delivery or pick-up. From 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily, the lunch menu offers sandwiches, sliders, wings and barbecue classics served with a gourmet side or soup. Dinner offers more extensive options, like a homemade chili mac and cheese bowl appetizer; 24-hour dry-rubbed and marinated ribs that are smoked in the pit room and served with two sides and cornbread; Kobe beef burgers, and a create-your-own burger option with choice of patty, toppings and side.
The create-your-own salad menu allows diners to personally choose each ingredient. Harbor Q also offers great specials, including a free appetizer with a $40 minimum purchase weekdays, and two-for-one draft beers all day Friday. And, if you’re craving one last blow-out barbecue or just want to host a party with some great Southern-style food, Harbor Q’s catering menu offers several packages, all sure to please partygoers.
84 Old Shore Road • www.harborq.com • 516-883-4227
Nikkei of Peru
Cultures clash in a new and delicious way at Nikkei of Peru, a fusion of Peruvian and Japanese food that creates a totally new cuisine and a scrumptious way to satisfy cravings for sushi as well as adventure. Typical of most Japanese restaurants, Nikkei of Peru is closed on weekdays for a two-hour gap, serving lunch from 12 to 3 p.m. and dinner from 5 to 11 p.m. On weekends, however, the eatery is open from 3 to 11 p.m.
Weekday lunch specials are served with soup, salad and rice along with dishes such as assorted sushi rolls and sashimi or arroz con pollo, which is Peruvian chicken with a Japanese twist, topped with anticucho or teriyaki. Maki lunches are also available, where you can order two or three specific rolls for a great price.
For dinner, myriad small plates are offered, like Tacu Tacu Bites, which are crispy rice with spicy tuna, salmon and yellowtail, various special rolls and sashimi, as well as Nikkei special entrées, also served with soup, salad and rice, including the dish Jalea Mixta, which is mixed seafood with vegetable tempura. Nikkei of Peru hosts special events and caters.
55 Shore Road • www.nikkeiofperu.com • 516-439-4201
Bosphorus Café & Grill
A Mediterranean restaurant that specializes in Turkish cuisine, Bosphorus Café & Grill guarantees an authentic dining experience, despite being thousands of miles from Istanbul. The lunch and dinner menus include cold and hot appetizers of hummus, babaganush, falafel and pan-fried liver cubes; the chef recommends ordering Lavas Hollow Bread, which is made-to-order.
The eatery also offers salads, soups, seafood dishes like Branzino, an imported Mediterranean sea bass served with rice, and chicken or lamb kebabs that are served with red cabbage pickles, rice, onion, grilled tomato and bell pepper. From-the-oven dishes include Ispanakli Pide, which has a golden crust and is topped with sautéed spinach and feta cheese.
An extensive gluten-free menu is also available, as is a dessert menu that includes the award-winning dessert of Kunefe or shredded wheat with a layer of melted cheese, topped with pistachios and syrup.Bosphorus offers a dazzling culinary brunch on Sundays, plus a catering menu.
138 Shore Road • www.bosphoruscafegrill.com • 516-321-9999
Bistro Etc.
As summer turns into fall, Bistro Etc.’s menu will change, too. Its New American fare evolves seasonally, with modern and inventive interpretations of American and international cuisine made with fresh, locally sourced ingredients. The current menu offers starters like shishito peppers, which are blistered, mildly spiced Japanese peppers with ginger, sesame and green onion, and entrées, like the featured New Zealand rack of lamb.
The menu specifies which dishes can be gluten free on request, and has a vegan menu as well, which offers grilled marinated tofu, vegetable shepherd’s pie and the featured toasted farro, which is Middle-Eastern spiced roasted cauliflower with golden raisins, chick peas and lemon tahini sauce. House-made desserts include treats like banana strudel.
Bistro Etc.’s wine list is also diverse and seasonal, the beer menu is meant to be closely paired with the dishes offered and specialty cocktails are creative and handcrafted. The eatery offers a Culinary Dinner Club, which sends members a newsletter with dates, times and menus for special dining experiences, such as the Wild Game Dinner that will serve exotic meats like antelope, elk and ostrich one night in 2017.
43B Main Street • www.bistroetc.com • 516-472-7780
Douglas & James
Also known as Sweet Treats on the Wharf, Douglas & James ice cream parlor, located near the Town Dock on Manhasset Bay, is well-loved by Port residents. The shop is cheerful and busy—and packed with people, candy and homemade ice cream. Flavors include Chunky Chocolate Peanut Butter, Vanilla Swiss Almond, S’mores and Black Raspberry Chunk, with the choice of eating from a cup or a cone.
The cookie cone is embedded with M&M’s to add a delightful taste and crunch to whichever scoops you choose. The parlor also serves frozen yogurt, sorbet, sugar-, lactose- and gluten-free options, plus a wall lined with jars that are filled with candy, a glass case displaying fudge and a choice of coffee or espresso.
Although it closes during winter, this family-run shop will be open through late October or early November, so it’s not too late to grab a sweet treat on a warm night and walk along Manhasset Bay to watch the sunset, cone or cup in hand.
405 Main Street • www.facebook.com/sweettreatsonthewharf • 516-708-1706
La P’tite Framboise
Though located in the heart of Port Washington, you’ll swear you’ve been transported to a bistro in France at La P’tite Framboise, which offers a vacation for your senses with its authentic decor and cuisine. The dinner menu is filled with elegant French dishes that include hors d’oeuvres, les salades, les moules (mussels), entrées, plats du jour (plates of the day), a raw bar and sautéed clams.
Some highlights include escargots persillee, which are snails in herb-garlic butter; bouillabaisse (on Fridays), which is a Southern France fish stew with shellfish, noisette potatoes and fennel saffron broth; and several mussel dishes of espagnole, anise, Provençal or mariniere. A small sandwich section is also available for the less adventurous.
The bistro offers brunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sundays, and serves salads, mussels, sandwiches and entrées, as well as a price-fixed menu, with several varieties of crepes, poached eggs, omelets, pancakes and French toast. On Mussel Mondays, a bowl of mussels, French fries and a glass of wine or beer cost only $23.
294 Main Street • www.laptiteframboise.com • 516-767-7164
La Parma on the Bay
Located on Manhasset Bay, La Parma on the Bay offers outdoor tables and beautiful views from the windows indoors to soak up the last vestiges of summer. A family-owned and operated chain of restaurants, with other locations in Williston Park, Huntington and Oceanside, La Parma has the recipe for success with family-style portions of delicious Italian food that are perfect for sharing with family and friends on a special night out.
The dinner menu offers hot and cold appetizers and pasta dishes with a choice of pasta, including whole wheat and gluten free, along with different sauces paired with meat, seafood or vegetables. The eatery also offers meat, seafood and poultry dishes big enough to satisfy the hungriest diners, and even has vegetarian specialties like eggplant parmigiana and rollatini.
At lunchtime, only individual portions are available, and options include appetizers like fried calamari, cold antipasto salads, many choices of pasta and several main courses, including the fish of the day. The wine list is extensive, and La Parma also caters weddings, holiday parties and birthdays.
415 Main Street • www.laparma.com • 516-439-4960
