LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth |
EATING Out |
by Barry Becker |
Not Your Average Irish Eatery
Lately I have been finding myself heading to Stoney Lonen (208 Second St., Rehoboth Beach) with some regularity. After another long, long day, it's just the ticket to get a table overlooking the busy street, order some appetizers and unwind with good company and great food as we watch the world go by. The spiced fried oysters, served with a homemade tartar sauce, are one of my favorites. I've also had the steamed mussels in a light tomato broth, and of course my favorite, the spiced fried calamari with homemade marinara and horseradish sauce. The calamari is crunchy and perfect, and the dipping sauces are a delicious complement. And let's not forget the smoked salmon pat with homemade sourdough garlic croutons, which is definitely another favorite. When we visited Stoney Lonen for this review, I added a few more items to the above repertoire, including the Asian BBQ grilled shrimp skewer. The large shrimp, grilled with a teriyaki sauce and served with fresh pineapple salsa, were one of my favorite sides. We also had a bowl of steamed littleneck clams, luckily accompanied by a thick warm bread stick to soak up the wonderful garlicky butter broth. After a hefty round of seafood appetizers, we tried the Caesar salad, which is served with smoked salmon in the dressing instead of the traditional anchovies. What a great difference! Definitely give this a try, especially if you normally shy away from these because of the anchovies. The house salad came with cucumbers, carrots and tomato, and was dressed with a very tasty and light house ranch dressing. As you would expect from an Irish eatery, there's plenty of seafood and Irish fare, including corned beef and cabbage with boiled potatoes, and dark ale battered fish and chips (which are great). But tonight we chose the grilled Atlantic salmon with horseradish sauce, spiced wild rice and grilled asparagus. The fish was very fresh and flavorful, a huge portion perfectly done, and the sauce, delicious (how can you go wrong with horseradish?). We also tried the grilled petite filet and crab cake, served with mashed potatoes and asparagus. This was absolutely divine, the filet thick and perfectly red and juicy, tender enough to cut with a fork. The crab cake was wonderful, too, packed with crab meat and very tasty. Yum! For dessert we had a lot of options that sounded wonderful, including pumpkin cheesecake, chocolate pecan pie, and chocolate fudge brownies. We chose the key lime pie with blueberries, which was everything a key lime pie should be, tart and limey, along with a warm apple blackberry crumble with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce and a buttery crumb topping. Just writing this makes me want to go in for another huge portion; it was out of this world! Stoney Lonen is a great find, with some of the most moderate prices in town for wonderful food, ample portions, attentive and friendly service, and a great atmosphere. Now in its second season, if you haven't discovered this little gem yet, don't let the summer go by without checking it out! |
LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 11, No. 10, July 27, 2001. |