Rye Ridge Deli
126 South Ridge St
Rye Brook, NY 10573 (Map it!)
Attendees: Jeffrey, Reid, Shelley, Sylvia
We chose the Rye Ridge Deli because they recently had a Groupon. So we got a pair of Groupons for 20 bucks each and we went off to eat 40 dollars worth of breakfast. This place wasn’t too far from us. Rye Ridge Deli is in the same shopping center as the Chipotle. That helped when I had to give some driving direction to Sylvia.
It’s most certainly a deli but with a diner appeal. We sat down and there was a waiter who was happy to take our order. He did, however, take a long time to do anything. Coffee service could have been faster. It even took a long time when we asked for the check. It was almost as if he was adding it all up in his head. Oh well.
I ordered challah French toast with a side of hash browns. The French toast had a good amount of cinnamon. The bread seemed a little squashed and not as fluffy as I’ve had at other places. The hash browns were nice and crispy. They did seem a little oily. After the meal, we decided to grab some dessert. The ladies chose some sort of Hostess cupcake and a chocolate mousse cheesecake. They actually ordered another kind of cheesecake but the deli was all out. I don’t remember what it was. Editor, do you remember? (Editor’s Note: Yes, the editor does remember. It was the marble cheesecake that was originally ordered.)
The food here was good. I don’t think I would have ever come here had it not been for the Groupon. Overall, it wasn’t too expensive. It was the desserts that really inflated the check.
The Case: Rye Ridge Deli v. The Westchester Breakfast Club
The Venue: A faux-NY Deli in a shopping center.
The Facts: I have some very good memories of the Rye Ridge Deli. When I visited home during college, I’d often fly into Westchester County Airport. Given Rye Ridge Deli’s proximity, my parents would often bring me there for some of the New York deli food that the South Side of Chicago lacked. The ritual would culminate in a post-sandwich trip to Cerbone’s, a bakery two doors down from Rye Ridge Deli, where my mother would buy me way too many rainbow cookies, because rainbow cookies were (and are) my favorite, and Cerbone’s had the best.
Like so many things in life, unfortunately, the reality doesn’t necessarily match the nostalgia. The food at Rye Ridge Deli was never knock your socks off, just adequate. And like its ill-fated cousin, Mt. Kisco Kosher, there seemed an inverse relationship between the amount of schmaltzy Coney Island-themed stuff on the walls and the edibility of what they served. At my and my family’s final visit, it took almost half an hour to get our corned beef and pastrami sandwiches, which came without pastrami or, for that matter, much corned beef. And the sandwiches were ice cold. And the meat was dry. You get the picture.
I haven’t been back since, and naturally, was a bit wary about returning. But Groupon called, and I answered. And, for the most part, I was glad I did.
I didn’t feel like any of my normal breakfast fare, but the Matzoh Brei caught my eye, and seemed a good compromise between eggs and starch. And as I was feeling ironic (or is that oxymoronic? schizophrenic?), I ordered a side of bacon as well.
The matzoh brei was tasty and filling, if just a touch dry. It was the perfect amount of salty, allowing me to add just a shake or two for texture without becoming overpowering. And the bacon, though it lacked any resemblance to strips, was crunchy and savory, as bacon should be.
As we were eating on the cheap, the group decided to order dessert as well. (“Dessert? For Breakfast? Only those crazy kids from the WBC…”) I abstained from the cheesecake, cheesecake being my greatest food nemesis outside the fresh tomato, but had some odd fraction of the Hostess-style cupcake, the “odd fraction” resulting from my poor cupcake division skills. The cupcake was fine, nothing to write home about, though I might have felt differently were I to have gotten a piece with the creme filling. As it was, I just got cake and frosting.
The Verdict: Next time you fly out of Westchester, and have some time to kill and room in your belly, stop by the Rye Ridge Deli.
Brrrr! It was a cold morning for the WBC as we made an early trip out for breakfast at the Rye Ridge Deli in Rye. (You may think I’m overstating the obvious by noting the deli is in Rye, but there are actually two locations both named Rye Ridge Deli: one in, duh, Rye and the other in Stamford CT.) Jeff had purchased a Groupon for the deli: two passes each good for $20 off our bill. If you haven’t signed up for Groupon, do it. They have some great deals for area restaurants, yoga studios, salons, etc. And, from time to time, they quote certain members of the WBC named Shelley.
Ok, my Groupon infomercial done with, let’s get on with breakfast, shall we?
The deli is very open and bright, with full length windows on two sides of the restaurant. It’s got a clean, airy atmosphere, different from some of the other delicatessens around the county, which I’ve found to be dark, cramped, and just generally old-feeling. We chose a table near the window, so that we could at least soak up some sunshine on this cold, cold day. Rye Ridge has a pretty comprehensive breakfast menu, including a numerous selection of omelettes and other egg combinations, more, I think, than you would find on your typical diner menu. Interestingly, I couldn’t find a basic lox/bagel platter anywhere on the menu, an item I’d expect to be a staple at a delicatessen. So, instead I chose the scrambled egg, lox, and onion platter, and for 50 cents substituted a bagel instead of toast. The platter also came with home fries. As usual, I just had water to drink.
It took awhile for our food to arrive, giving us enough time to swap stories of mandatory training sessions at our respective offices. (Scanner usage? Amazing, you can get a piece of paper onto a computer! Conference calling? You mean I can talk to more than one person? Amazing again!) The food looked delicious when it arrived. My large plate was full, with lots of nice breakfast colors and aromas. My platter contained 3 scrambled eggs with large chunks of lox and onion mixed in. It was kind of like a loose omelette. The bagel was lightly toasted, as I had requested, and the home fries were large chunks of potato with some green pepper mixed in. It’s always nice having large cuts of potato instead of the flat, greasy kind. The portion of food was very generous. The eggs were well cooked and never ending. The pieces of lox were generous with that nice salty Nova Scotia lox flavor. All combined, the various flavors on the plate blended well to provide a mouth watering morning meal. It was a filling, tasty breakfast.
Oh, but it doesn’t end there. We had to get the most out of our Groupon deal, so we saved room for some dessert. After reviewing the lengthy (and, unfortunately, mostly overpriced) dessert menu, we settled on a Hostess-style chocolate cupcake and a slice of marble cheesecake to share. Of the desserts, the cupcake selection definitely seems to be the highlight at Rye Ridge. They have about 15 selections ranging from basics like vanilla, red velvet, and black and white, to more creative flavors like pistachio, fluffernutter, and coconut. Our server soon returned and told us that there wasn’t any marble cheesecake this morning and suggested we try a slice of the chocolate mousse cheesecake instead. Um, yes!
The cupcake arrived first, and Reid interestingly divided it into four pieces. (If he had a major negotiation with a client depending on his cupcake cutting ability…let’s just say I don’t think the deal would go through favorably.) Reid’s cutting meant that only two of our group (Jeff and Sylvia) got to enjoy the vanilla cream in the center of the cupcake, while those of us who got the outside pieces (me and Reid), got no cream. But that’s OK, there was still cheesecake to be had. And have it we did. I was expecting an all-chocolate slice of cheesecake. Instead what we got was regular cheesecake on the bottom with a chocolate mousse layer on top. Different, but still good. I mean really, I don’t think there’s a wrong way to do chocolate mousee cheesecake. Chocolate? Good. Cheesecake? Good. Chocolate mousse cheesecake? Goooood.
This was a very leisurely breakfast, but not entirely by choice. The service was definitely on the slower side. To be fair, though, it appeared that our server was the only server in the deli this morning. We arrived right at 9, and didn’t leave until around 10:30. I didn’t mind so much, though; it was so cold outside and I was in no rush, plus everyone was in a good mood this morning. (Some mornings, especially early ones, some of us–ok, sometimes me–can be a bit fussy.) With our Groupon deal, the price of breakfast was quite reasonable. Our contribution was about $12 each. Even without a Groupon, the prices of the breakfast items at Rye Ridge seem reasonable. My scramble platter was $9.99, plus an extra 50 cents for the bagel. The desserts, however, are overpriced. $4.99 for an average-sized cupcake? $3.99 for some Jello? Rye Ridge is definitely worth the trip for a hearty, warming breakfast, but maybe get a cupcake only if you have someone to split it with. Or if you’ve been really, really good.
Tucked into the corner of a rather new looking shopping plaza in Rye Brook, is the Rye Ridge Deli. We briskly walked in, hungry and cold. Once we entered, we were immediatly confronted with a large display case filled with various cakes and a large selection of cupcakes. Then, another display case was filled with various deli meats and a large variety of salads. Once we made our way around the huge display of chips we then saw the dining area. Despite being a deli, this was a sit down restaurant complete with wait service and cloth napkins. Classy!
The menu was extensive, and very diner-like. After taking a lot of time to peruse the menu, I was torn. Should I go the semi-healthy route or go with the cinnamon raisin french toast I was eyeing? I ended up going the healthier route and got the Elizabeth omelet, which consisted of 3 egg whites with avocado, onion, zucchini, and mushrooms, with 7 grain toast and potatoes along with my cup of coffee.
The omelet was pretty good. I really liked the small avocado cubes dispersed in the omelet, which gave it a nice creaminess. The onions lent a nice sweetness to it. The zucchini was sparse, which was a good thing since it was bitter, most likely not properly sliced and diced, or it was just a bad zucchini. On the toast, I put a little strawberry jam from one of the prepackaged jam offerings. The toast was pretty good, but the potatoes were not so great. The chunks were huge, and at the end of the meal had the dreaded metallic-y after taste, which was unfortunate.
As we finished breakfast, we decided to sample a couple of offerings from the extensive dessert menu. After much hemming and hawing over what we wanted, we settled on a hostess cupcake and a chocolate mousse cheesecake slice. The slice of cheesecake was very large, and rather tasty. It was a layer of cheesecake, then a layer of chocolate mousse then a layer of cake, and the cake was covered in a chocolate icing. It was a lot of cake, but it was good, and still chilled from the dessert case. The cupcake was also good, and still slightly chilled from the case. The cake itself was moist, and the topping was good. But I still do not think it was worth $5. It’s a bit steep for a deli cupcake. Although it was pretty large, and their selection was large, none of them were very special.
The czar says: We went because of a Groupon, but I think Rye Ridge Deli is a nice place to go if you don’t want to go to a diner and want a slightly better-than-a-diner-like meal.