Now that I no longer live in the area, my mom likes to let me know about the new restaurants opening up.
“Oh… you have to go to the new Indian restaurant. It’s a grocery store too, but they have a buffet! Your dad went there and got all this food for 6.99! Go buy lunch there today and get another so you have lunch for tomorrow…”
I was too busy eating to actually take pictures (plus they kinda sucked). My uncles, on the other hand, took the time out to snap photos, like the one above.
I am feeling a whole lot older now- two of my cousins turned 21 this month! One of them celebrated this weekend by inviting the family to dinner at Gilligans. I’ve driven by this place plenty of times, but never actually ate there. I’ve heard from people… who in turn heard from people, that it was a good place. And it must be, because on a Sunday night (after 7) it was packed. For a party of 16, we must have waited for about 45 minutes before they would set up a table for us.
We started with two calamari appetizers, which were two pounds a piece. It was pretty darn good, and didn’t last long. Dinner ended up being six lobster dinners for two. SIX. Lobsters were good, but on the small side. Just a few clams, and tons of mussels. I split it with my mom, which meant she barely ate one lobster and left the rest to me. And I did finish all of it, although not in one sitting.
For dessert, my aunt bought what I can only describe as a chocolate bombe cake. The cake was almost sponge cake-like, filled with whipped cream and fresh strawberries and bananas. It was frosted with whipped cream and coated in cake crumbs. The cake was light, and had just the right amount of richness. She bought it from B & W Bakery in Hackensack, NJ if you’re wondering.
I’ve been wanting to bring M to The Saloon for quite some time now. It’s definitely the type of place that he would be interested in, and I’ve talked about the place enough that it piqued his interest. This weekend M came down so we could check out the Barclays tournament (hot, lots of standing, not really my thing), but before then we stopped by The Saloon for some lunch.
If you’re familiar with Pearl River, then you know that it is chock full of bars. If you wanted to do a pub crawl, bar golf… this if your town. I still haven’t done either, but I’m seriously thinking one should be in the works for my birthday.
Anyways, The Saloon is where it starts. It’s a pub, but they also have a small dining section. This is not an adults-only kind of place, there are always kids eating here. There is some seating outside, but I never see anyone out there eating.
Irish placemats? Yeah… we’re in Pearl River. The menu items are typical of pub fare, but aside from the corned beef & cabbage, there is no Irish food. Lots of Italian though.
M chose the quesadilla, mostly in part because Mags had ordered it before and liked it. And because of her previous experience with their guacamole, he was a bit hesitant to slather it on top of his food.
Hesitant for a minute. Then he gave in. Then he realized why Mags felt the way she did. He kept talking about it, so it must have been good.
It was a toss up between the Saloon burger and the taco salad. And you see which ended up winning. Compared to some other taco salads I’ve had, this was pretty good. They use chili for their taco meat, which I have no issues with. Lots of cheese, chopped tomato and lettuce. Served with sour cream and salsa. They could have cut the lettuce a little smaller, but other than that I have no complaints. It was good! The bowl was a fried up flour tortilla, but even that I had no problems with. I kept breaking the edges and stirring it in with the rest of the salad.
I tried my best to finish it, but I was stuffed. Will have to try this one again.
Our food and drinks came out to just over twenty dollars, before tip.
The Saloon
45-49 West Central Avenue
Pearl River, NY 10965
845-735-5300
