MR. WHIPSNADE'S
FLORIDA
FOOD PATROL
Many people from New York like to go to Florida. There are many New Yorkers who have been permanently transplanted down there and have relatives visiting them all the time. So we think that we should review Florida restaurants too.
Of course, all of Florida, with the exception of the Panhandle seems to be very popular with New Yorkers, but we are especially going to concentrate on Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties -- the South Florida region where most of us have settled, either for retirement or the winter season. That's where they had such trouble counting the votes! Does that tell you something?
We haven't decided yet whether we'll do the traditional thing and give "star" ratings (on this page, maybe palm trees) to restaurants, because the "star" system does not take into account the specific fine points of good and bad.
THE RASCAL HOUSE
17190 Collins Ave, Miami
Beach
The Rascal House has
been a Miami Beach tradition for many years and has a worldwide reputation. It
is certainly crowded there, and there's often a wait to get a table. The best
time to go is in the afternoon between the traditional lunch and dinner hours or
very late at night (it's open 24 hours). There's a full menu, but the Rascal
House specializes in Jewish (not Kosher) food (
Cholent
was a recent blackboard
special and for $12.95 the portion is probably enough to share), but especially
Jewish Delicatessen. If you are a New Yorker and devotee of the Carnegie and
Stage Delicatessens in Manhattan, you should feel at home at the Rascal House.
There's a huge and busy staff both out in front and in the kitchen and they are
courteous and clean (we actually saw one in the Men's Room voluntarily washing
his hands). Before you order there are loads of
Half-Sour Pickles, Cole Slaw,
and a variety of fresh rolls and bread. On one busy afternoon the
Cole Slaw
was
somewhat disappointing -- lacking in taste, and even though Mr. Whipsnade
doesn't prefer Cole Slaw with too much mayonnaise, this had just about none. The
bread and rolls may be worth the visit alone, and there are enough of them to
take home.
Fresh Rye
and
Pumpernickel, Challah Rolls, Onion Rolls,
and something
we haven't seen in years -- a
Pumpernickel Bialy
. Deli sandwiches are generally
good and you can order a half sandwich if you're not that hungry. But it might
be best to stick to the sandwiches -- an oversized
Hot Dog
at $5.95 was
generally tasteless. Soup is good to start out with. Although the
Clam Chowder
wasn't exactly jam-packed with clams, it was a very good soup. On a recent
visit, the fish was a great disappointment.
Red Snapper
was a Blackboard
Special -- a whole fish was fried, a half broiled, so we thought we'd try the
half. There was a lot of skin, and it was really hard to find the actual fish
which was also undercooked and not at all fresh.
Tarter Sauce
accompanying the
fish, had it been good, would have given some relief, but what they served,
while it looked like
Tartar Sauce
, did not remotely resemble Tartar Sauce in
taste, proving to be a watery mixture with a predominant onion flavor. Mr.
Whipsnade's party left the Rascal House feeling they had been ripped-off.
Despite our disappointment with the Rascal House when visited in late November,
2000, we will give it another try, this time sticking to something like
Corned
Beef
or
Pastrami
. After all, a restaurant with such a great reputation and
consistently huge crowd can't live on the praise of yesteryear alone.
