Beach Eats: A Day at Jacob Riis Park
Aside from snacking at home, I love to eat at the beach! The sweet smells of salt-tinged air and fried foods from the boardwalk never fail to stoke my appetite. My friend Kris and I made a date to meet up at Jacob Riis Park, one of the beaches on the Rockaway Peninsula, for a full day of lounging and eating so we could see what new additions had been made to the food court. Come and see what we ate!
Shanty’s
Shanty’s menu leans Asian with a full selection of dumplings, spring rolls, and poké bowls - but it was a neighboring patron’s serving of Coconut Shrimp ($15 for 6 on the specials menu) that won over my heart (and nose). The Sweet Thai Chili sauce for dipping had a great kick and wasn’t gloopy or overly sweet. I also ordered their Togarashi Fries ($7) which were SO good. The Japanese spice mixture is heady with chili pepper, sanshō, ginger, and orange peel which gave the thin, crispy fries an irresistible taste.
La Cevicheria
Kris decided to get a Chicken Salad Sandwich from La Cevicheria, which might have seemed like a weird choice seeing as that this place is known for their varieties of Peruvian-style ceviche. After I stole a bite, I could see why she was in the mood for it. Perfectly seasoned and tender chicken salad, tangy with garlic and sauce, topped with salty, crunchy potato sticks, nestled in a toasty bun is very hard to resist!
Davey’s Ice Cream
After wolfing down our lunch, we retired to the beach for sunbathing, chatting, and leaping into the foamy surf. I don’t know about you, but those activities make me very hungry for ice cream treats. We walked back up to the boardwalk to see what Davey’s Ice Cream would be serving up.
I decided upon a cooling soda float ($10.75) made with Boylan’s Orange Soda and huge scoops of Davey’s Vanilla Vanilla Ice Cream. Dreamy Creamsicle vibes for the win!
Now with a belly full of all of this goodness, you’d think I’d be full. Even though all of this was very satisfying, something was missing. I was pondering what I’d forgotten to get, when I heard the cheerful (yet, insistent) ting-a-ling of bell, which could only mean one thing….
MARINO’S ITALIAN ICES!!!!
I picked up a coconut ice for myself and a neon green and yellow lemon lime ice for Kris. Our joints were a little creaky from sprawling out on the beach all day, and Kris got a tiny bit burnt, but these are tiny tolls to pay for the languid summer of my dreams.
Bonus: There was a keyboard player getting into some very chill-wave, Bruce Hornsby-like grooves up at the boardwalk while were chilling with our drinks! No idea what his name was, but I was digging it.