Maureen’s Kitchen :: 108 Terry Road

A staple of the Smithtown area for as long as I can remember, Maureen’s Kitchen started out as a trailer-style diner on the north side of Terry Rd (anyone remember the cow-painted Honda?). Several years ago they relocated to a large barn-style building on the south side of Terry Rd and increased their size and presence. Maureen’s kitchen is best described as an upper class, gourmet “greasy spoon“. Be aware though that Maureen’s does NOT accept credit cards — it is cash only and some menu options are fairly pricey (e.g. $6.50 for a kids PB&J).

Jennifer ate:

Vegetarian version of the Sliced Chicken, Eggplant, Asparagus, Roasted Peppers, Mozzarella & Pesto on Grilled Rye — without the chicken, of course! ($10.25)
Unsweetened Iced Tea ($2.25)

If you’ve read our blog before, you know that not only am I a strict vegetarian (not vegan), I also try to eat healthy as well. That means as little as possible of anything fried, anything too oily or creamy, as few as possible processed grains (white breads and most pastas) or refined sugars, food dyes and processed foods. If at this point you say, “I don’t care, just get to the food, what else is there to eat?!”, please scroll down to Chuck’s review. If you’re saying, “yeah, me too”, then please read on.

I’ve been to Maureen’s a few times before and have always opted for a breakfast-type food because Maureen’s is well-known for their pancakes and omelettes. But I’ve never been very satisfied with their breakfast food so I found an interesting-sounding sandwich and had them make it without the meat. (There are no meat-free sandwiches on their menu.)

I like unsweetened iced tea because I can sweeten it with just a little sugar and avoid all the processing that’s involved in pre-sweetened iced tea that comes in cans and bottles. They brought me a big glass of ice, with a little bit of tea on top. The rest of the tea came in a cute, but completely useless container which did not pour out the top but rather dribbled tea all the way down the side and all over the table. Once I was able to actually drink some of the tea, it was quite tasty.

Our food arrived very quickly — much more quickly than any time I had been there in the past — so I didn’t really have time to admire the decor, which is cute-ly themed with cows and cow patterned everything. (Hence the very large cow out in front of the restaurant.) It was a very diner-feeling food arrangement (without anything to snack on while waiting) of sandwich cut in half, pickle and red potato salad.

It is here that I must pause to complain. Yes, complain. Because while the sandwhich was yummy, the potato salad had BACON in it. It was mixed in and very hard to see since the chunky red potato skins were mixed in, too. So after going through the process with our server that I wanted a chicken sandwich WITHOUT the chicken, she didn’t feel it was necessary to inform me that the potato salad contained MEAT. Chuck said he has heard of bacon in potato salad but this was a first (and hopefully last) for me. Fortunately for the staff at Maureen’s, I did not ingest any bacon.

So, the sandwich was pretty good. However, the menu neglected to mention that the eggplant was breaded and FRIED. (Once, at TGI Friday’s, I ordered eggplant parmesan. And while I figured the eggplant would be breaded and fried, I never imagined that it would also contain a breaded and fried mozzerella patty, which made it virtually inedible if I didn’t want to die of a heart attack before my 40th birthday… but I digress.)

Even though I was surprised by the breaded and fried eggplant, it was relatively light-tasting and the rest of the sandwhich was very good and bordered on delicious. (Deep fry just about anything and it tastes good.) The asparagus was cooked well and the balance was great. I couldn’t really taste the pesto, but I could see it. The allover flavor was really dominated by the fried eggplant. The pickle was great. I love a good pickle with a sandwich.

We didn’t stay for dessert. We were full and Chuck was afraid I would embarass him by reprimanding the server for not mentioning the MEAT in a supposedly meat-free side dish like potato salad. So I spared him — this time.

The bottom line:
Eggplant (fried!), asparagus, roasted peppers, mozzarela & pesto on grilled rye – Pretty good.
Iced tea – good, if you can get it into your glass!
Potato salad – it had BACON in it! (Yuck.)
Overall rating: In my opinion, Maureen’s is overrated. I quite like Chuck’s description of it as a gourmet greasy spoon type eaterie (gourmet in pricing only). In my handfull of visits, I’m underwhelmed.

Chuck ate:

Salsalito Turkey, Coleslaw, Swiss Cheese & Russian dressing on Bakery Rye bread ($8.75)

I’ve been to Maureen’s quite a bit over the last several years but usually for breakfast. So it was nice to go and have lunch and see what it was like without the ridiculous weekend crowds (seriously, you’d think that Billy Joel was doing a signing there on a Sunday morning).

The place is decorated in turn-of-the-century cow, with white black and red all over the place. Everything about this place screams COW (even the two life-sized wooden cows out front). Did I mention that there are cows everywhere? Anyway, it’s a fun place with ample room in the booths and a diner-style counter with the griddle-kitchen in full view. We were seated and served quickly – so (against what you’d think) this made a great, quick lunch stop.

I opted for the Salsalito Turkey sandwich grilled (instead of “cold”) and it was really quite good. I would have liked the turkey warmed through a bit, but the rye was crispy, the cheese was melted and the Russian dressing had a very good flavor (better than most). All-in-all this was a great sandwich and very filling. On the side I had the potato salad, which required some salt and pepper and as you no doubt have already read above, it has bacon in it. Luckily I was able to recognize this and stop Jennifer before she chewed any of it (close call). The sandwich was finished off with a 1/4 slice of a dill pickle (very good).

Soft drinks are served with glasses and the can, so no fountain drinks FYI.

The bottom line:
Salsalito Turkey Sandwich – flavorful and filling.
Potato salad – good but a bit bland.
Overall rating: Maureen’s Kitchen is a great lunch spot with fast service and tasty food with a gourmet tilt. There are no reservations though, so if you want breakfast, get there early.

Hotoke :: 41 Rte. 111, Smithtown

A tasty new Smithtown treat is Hotoke, a Japanese hibachi-style restaurant boasting the “Fusion Sushi” title you see so often these days. Hotoke is in the Uncle Guiseppes’ shopping center, just south of Main Street in Smithtown.

Jennifer ate:

Hibachi Lunch: Vegetable ($6.65)
with Buckwheat Noodles ($2.75)

We’ve been waiting for this place to open since we’ve been running low on interesting Smithtown eateries that we haven’t blogged about yet. And it was worth the wait! Interesting decor as you walk in, it’s dark but inviting and the restaurant is really set up with three distinct eating spaces that flow well into each other. The bar area is first, which, I imagine, is bustling at happy hour, but not so much at lunch. A more traditional dining room area is central, followed by hibachi-style seating in a somewhat closed off area of the dining room. (That’s the group-type seating where the chef cooks on a large, flat surface while doing fancy things with knives and sauces, and you sit with strangers. Doesn’t appeal to me, but has a large following by those who enjoy playing with their food (or having their food played with).)

The Vegetable Hibachi Lunch meal was outstanding! Of course, first came the mushroom soup and standard Asian salad with ginger dressing on iceberg lettuce, both were good. With the meal they brought out two tasty dipping sauces, one mustard (wasabi) and one ginger (reminiscent of the salad dressing). Both were very interesting and I couldn’t decide which way I preferred the already tasty veggies, alone or dipped in one of the sauces.

When you order the Hibachi Lunches you can also add on either hibachi fried rice or buckwheat noodles. Both were tasty, but the buckwheat noodles were outstanding! And far healthier than fried rice.

We finished off the meal with a dessert this time, the traditional deep-fried ice cream, which is always delicious! It is definitely big enough (and calorie-laden enough) for two to share.

The bottom line:
Vegetable Hibachi Lunch– Really, really good!
Buckwheat noodles – Try them!
Overall rating: Another superb addition to Smithtown’s collection of yummy Asian eateries. And it’s new so go check it out!

Chuck ate:

Hibachi Lunch: Chicken ($7.65)
with Hibachi rice ($2.75)
2 pcs. Smoked Salmon Sushi (a la carte) ($5.50)

Mmmmmm sushi. Seriously either you love it or you don’t. I (happily) love it and I get it every chance I can. My beloved smoked salmon came to me on an intriguing rectangular plate, tasty and sticky white rice and wasabi. It was good, real good and whetted my apetite for the coming Habachi lunch.

Unlike Jennifer I enjoy the Habachi Chef and the culinary antics that ensue. The performance aspect of the meal makes it more of an event than just “let’s eat!” and I like that. The lunch was exceptional, I found the ginger salad dressing tastier than other eateries we’ve blogged about and the Habachi chicken and rice were fantastic. As Jennifer stated, the sauces where excellent as well.

While I am by no means as enthusiastic about dessert as Jennifer is (particularly ice cream) – tempura ice cream is just plain awesome.

The ambience was great. I really liked the dark wood feel and the floorplan makes it perfect to host private parties. They also have a bar, so why don’t you saddle on up for happy hour and have yourself a Saki?

The bottom line:
Chicken Hibachi Lunch and Rice – Flavorful and light.
Smoked Salmon Sushi – Awesome.
Overall rating: Yeah, gotta agree with Jennifer. Hotoke is a great place and a fine addition to Smithtown’s excellent foodscape.