Yobo, Newburgh

Calamari

We haven't been to Yobo in Newburgh since Clinton was President but I remembered it as being very good. One of my wife's co-workers was telling her that she went there recently and that she liked it. So off we went to see if it was still as good as we remembered. 

Inside Yobo is an eclectic mix of a Japanese Steakhouse and Chinese decor. There is a small pond in the main dining area with a fountain and there some small 'piracy rooms' with sliding doors. You can watch the sushi guy work and the hibachi guy is behind a glass where you can see him too. This all fits as the cuisine is Chinese, Japanese and Korean.

Egg Roll

We were greeted and seated quickly and then the dilemma occurred. What to order? There were too many interesting choices and I bounced between two types of duck, sushi and tempura.  I decided on the shrimp tempura for the entree and the calamari as an appetizer. Teresa went with and egg roll and the sesame chicken.

Sesame Chicken

The calamari was done in somewhat of a tempura fashion and was quite delicious. Regular readers know how I feel about calamari and that I expect it cooked right. This was cooked to perfection and came with a duck sauce with wasabi. The egg roll was huge, tasty and hot.

My tempura was a large portion with five shrimp (pairs) and vegetables. It was good, but having eaten the calamari done in a similar fashion I would have ordered the duck. The sesame chicken was excellent with large pieces of chicken that were moist with a crispy outside in a tasty sesame sauce. 

Shrimp Tempura

The service was excellent, attentive yet giving space. The food was excellent as well and came out at the right intervals with just the right amount of time between appetizer and entree. The ambiance very nice and welcoming. In short it was every bit as good as I remember and I will return soon. 

Perkins, Newburgh, NY

The Perkins in Newburgh is clean and bright with good service. I've been there a few times and what I like is the N'Awlans Eggs Benedict. It has shrimp, grilled chicken, sausage and a mildly spicy Hollandaise sauce. It comes with fruit and choice of potatoes (I like the breakfast potatoes) for about nine bucks. 

Lakeview House, Newburgh, NY

One of the fun things about  travelling to visit the grandchildren is that we  discover some interesting places and have some great food. Sometimes we don't have to travel far to find a treasure,  like the Lakeview House on Orange Lake in Newburgh, just a few miles from our back door.

We've been meaning to stop for quite a while and I've heard rave reviews of the duck, but we just never got around to it. That all changed when were there with a few friends to celebrate the retirement of one of them and the meal was the gift of her financial consultant. A free meal with old friends (we've known them for over thirty years) at a nice restaurant that I've wanted to try? Perfect.

The inside has a warm sort of 1940's feel to it with plenty of wood, tin ceilings, and windows overlooking the lake. There is a patio as well for warm weather dining. I recommend the Lake Room if you are there at sunset. They do have a large beer and wine selection, but most of the beers are lagers or German beers (sadly no IPA, stouts other than Guinness or porters). The waitress kept bringing me samples of a few beers to get me to find one I liked, but I stuck with water. I do like the fact that she tried though. In fact the whole restaurant was accommodating as one of our party has food allergies and they prepared his dish exactly as he asked. Another asked for her dish done a bit different for dietary reasons and they did so.

I started with the escargot au Provence. Sorry, no picture since I forgot I had the camera with me. The snails were cooked in butter, garlic, parsley, parmesan and some type of wine or vermouth that added a delightful flavor note. That was followed by a small salad with gorgonzola and balsamic vinaigrette. For the entree I had the Long Island duck shown above. It was a half duck with a crispy crust and juicy meat. The sauce changes daily and that day they had an apple sauce which was quite good. I must say that the duck lived up to its reputation. I also ordered desert, something I rarely do but since most of the table got something I followed suit by ordering the chocolate creme brûlée. Quite delicious, but very rich. 

Everyone else had a great meal. Teresa had the red snapper, a few people had stuffed flounder and one had a pasta dish. The overall consensus was very positive. Nice atmosphere, good view, excellent service, very good food at moderate prices (average entree $20 to $25). We will be back again soon, and probably often. They have a website for more information.

The Wherehouse, Newburgh, NY

Hot Spot Burger

I've heard a lot of good things about the Wherehouse in Newburgh, some from a nice Greek writer named Anonymous who has commented here, so it's been on my short list for some time now. Well, today we were coming back from Fishkill and decided to swing through Newburgh to check it out.

The restaurant is on the South part of Liberty Street, just a short block from Broadway, near Washington's Headquarters. The neighborhood is an area that is a few blocks from the booming restaurant row on the waterfront and right near where a couple of entrepreneurs are building a brewery. Inside the place is not too big, but warm with old album covers hanging on the brick walls, plenty of wood and a neat looking bar with quite a few tap handles. We were told to sit where we wanted and took a table near the window so I had better light for the pictures and we could keep an eye on the car.

The menu was extensive with plenty of good choices but there was a separate menu for the burgers and that's what I came for. There were two full pages of interesting choices. I decided on the Socrates, grilled kalmata olives and feta cheese, medium. Teresa debated between the Chicago Fire and the Hot Spot. The Hot Spot burger, shown above with hot peppers on it, was her choice and she ordered it medium well. I also got a Saranac Ginger Ale. 

Socrates Burger

When the burgers came they looked good. You can see what I mean by the pictures, they did a nice presentation. I tasted mine and it was very good, but much closer to well done than the medium I ordered. That said, it was still a delicious burger with plenty of flavor and it wasn't dry at all. The grilled olives and the feta cheese gave a nice flavor to the burger and complimented the beef. No ketchup was needed. I tasted Teresa's and it was good too, if not a bit busy with all of the flavors going on. There was a heat coming from the peppers, but tolerable without overpowering the burger. She said that the next time we go she wanted to try a regular burger and I agreed. I'll try a simple bacon cheeseburger. I didn't like the fries all that much as they were cut too large and were more like fried potato wedges, but that's more a matter of personal taste. I'll have to ask about other options and see if a side salad or mac and cheese can take the place of the fries.

The bottom line? Very good food, good service, nice ambiance and fair prices. The burgers were a shade under ten bucks each. When you're in Newburgh, skip the waterfront and head a couple of blocks uptown for a good burger. They have a website for information and you can Facebook them too.

Alexis Diner, Newburgh NY

The Alexis Diner in Newburgh used to be called the Lexus Diner until the car company sued them over the use of the name. It didn't matter that the diner had the name first, I guess the corporate suits were worried that some of their customers may not be able to tell the difference between a Japanese luxury car and a corned beef sandwich. They may have been right though, both a burger and a car can some deluxe, but who wants fries with a coupe? But, as Shakespeare said, what's in a name? The Alexis Diner by any name is one of the best in the Mid-Hudson Valley.

I can speak on this with some authority, I've probably eaten there somewhere between fifty and a hundred times and it's been very good almost every time. The few times it wasn't was a few years ago when I think they were temporarily under a different management, since that they've been back up to snuff. The menu is extensive, the service is good, and the prices are reasonable.

As for the food, the Rueben sandwiches are good, and huge, the Gyros are good and come with a small Greek salad (see the picture above), the burgers are good, the deserts are very good, the salads are fresh and huge, the omelets are fluffy, in fact, just about everything is good. Of course I follow my rule of ordering diner food in a diner. By the way, if you order a salad, order the small one because it is plenty even for me, and plan on sharing a desert too. The pie slices are big.

My daughter was visiting from North Carolina and we were watching Man Versus Food on TV. It was the episode where he ate a huge corned beef sandwich. Rachel said she wanted a Rueben. You see, they don't have diners in the South. They have places they call "meat and three', meaning you get a meat and three sides. We went and she got her rueben, I got a gyro (again I pronounced it right, yee-ros, and the waiter said gyro. Of course he wasn't Greek, he was Mexican) and Teresa got a burger. All were good.

Stop by sometime for a good meal. You won't be disappointed. For more info, visit their website.