Green (sauce) with envy
Until very recently, the bulk of my knowledge about Newark came from watching Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, which meant that, if I went there, (1) I would get mugged, and (2) especially if I was walking down the street with an Indian dude. Luckily, I made the trip anyway (and the Indian dude showed up 15 minutes late, so I was safe).
Our destination was Coimbra, a Portuguese favorite in the Ironbound section of New York's homely but not-at-all-shy sister city. I had high hopes for the baby goat, which had been heavily touted; but it wasn't on the menu and, for some reason, it didn't occur to any of us to ask about it. We did, however, stumble upon the seafood with green sauce (about $20, feeds two, and comes with a whole friggin' lobster in it, people), which makes me more excited than a teenaged girl getting her first cell phone.
The sauce, despite its moniker, actually looks a bit like reconstituted condensed chicken soup (Mmm!), but it has the savoriness of a rich stock, the sweetness of shellfish, and the silkiness of oxtail. And, of course, plenty of garlic. Naturally, I refused to wash my hands after eating, so that I could sniff my fingers for the rest of the evening (sexy, I know) and think back to the amazingness that was this sauce. It went over really well at the swanky Rivington Hotel (whose bouncer, incidentally, was even skinnier than I am) and at some dive bar even later, where I drunkenly slobbered over a Filipina rock star who was being a very good sport about it all. (As in, not throwing her drink at me.)
Lest I didn't make it pretty clear already, this dish alone is worth the trip out there. By the end of the meal, my dinner companions were already sick of hearing me talk about it.
Also a hit was the pork with clams ($14 or so, also feeds two), which turned out to be a pretty good combination. The sharpness of the clams cut the richness of the pork very well, although I wish the pork had been slow-braised so that it would have come out more tender. A close third was the grilled chicken--moist, charry, and smokey pieces of butterflied leg and thigh that were perfectly cooked.
The few other dishes we got were fairly lackluster. The grilled calamari was a bit tough for me, and the linguica should have had more spice and a lot less salt. The house red wine is very good; the sangria is boring. Skip the dessert.
Coimbra (map)
637 Market St., at Somme St. (about 0.9 miles from Newark Penn Station)
Newark, NJ
973-491-9811
Our destination was Coimbra, a Portuguese favorite in the Ironbound section of New York's homely but not-at-all-shy sister city. I had high hopes for the baby goat, which had been heavily touted; but it wasn't on the menu and, for some reason, it didn't occur to any of us to ask about it. We did, however, stumble upon the seafood with green sauce (about $20, feeds two, and comes with a whole friggin' lobster in it, people), which makes me more excited than a teenaged girl getting her first cell phone.
The sauce, despite its moniker, actually looks a bit like reconstituted condensed chicken soup (Mmm!), but it has the savoriness of a rich stock, the sweetness of shellfish, and the silkiness of oxtail. And, of course, plenty of garlic. Naturally, I refused to wash my hands after eating, so that I could sniff my fingers for the rest of the evening (sexy, I know) and think back to the amazingness that was this sauce. It went over really well at the swanky Rivington Hotel (whose bouncer, incidentally, was even skinnier than I am) and at some dive bar even later, where I drunkenly slobbered over a Filipina rock star who was being a very good sport about it all. (As in, not throwing her drink at me.)
Lest I didn't make it pretty clear already, this dish alone is worth the trip out there. By the end of the meal, my dinner companions were already sick of hearing me talk about it.
Also a hit was the pork with clams ($14 or so, also feeds two), which turned out to be a pretty good combination. The sharpness of the clams cut the richness of the pork very well, although I wish the pork had been slow-braised so that it would have come out more tender. A close third was the grilled chicken--moist, charry, and smokey pieces of butterflied leg and thigh that were perfectly cooked.
The few other dishes we got were fairly lackluster. The grilled calamari was a bit tough for me, and the linguica should have had more spice and a lot less salt. The house red wine is very good; the sangria is boring. Skip the dessert.
Coimbra (map)
637 Market St., at Somme St. (about 0.9 miles from Newark Penn Station)
Newark, NJ
973-491-9811
posted by Dave Lee at 12:39 PM
3 Comments:
Sorry to tag an unrelated question onto a post- but I know you are the man to ask. Can you recommend a Toubab shop? I've promised to find Bissap juice for someone and I happen to recall that you live in the right nabe for it.
You can get bissap juice pretty much all over the neighborhood here, but I've only seen it in the relatively fresh form. Then again, I haven't been looking for cans. I'll keep an eye for out it the next time I'm on 116th Street.
Success! Thanks a lot. Hope all's well
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