Ditch Plains originated as Marc Murphy's casual seafood spot on Bedford Street in the West Village, inspired by Murphy's days out at the well-known surf spot, Ditch Plains in Montauk. About a year ago, Murphy opened an uptown location of his beloved downtown joint on the Upper West Side. Larger and more airy than its downtown sibling, it truly has the Upper West Side neighborhoody sort of feel.
The menu is a mixture of comfort food staples, classic seafood dishes with Murphy's twist, salads, and more. In the drink department there are plenty of inventive cocktails, a large selection of beers on tap and wines by the half and full bottle. For those of us who don't eat meat, I thought it was refreshingly nice that there were plenty of opportunities for tofu substitutions in dishes like soft tacos and hot dogs and wings if you were in the mood for those sorts of things.
After inquiring a bit further as to what the smoked tofu "wings" were we decided to try them because really when do you see that on a menu -- my curiousity was definitely peaked. What were they you might be wondering? Pieces of tofu shaped into wings and cooked in barbecue sauce? Well not exactly, they were strips of tofu grilled and sauteed with a "spicy" sauce and served with the classic carrots and celery accompaniments. Savory and delish for those of us tofu lovers.
So what about the cheese portion of the evening?
We decided to try their smoked mozzarella and ricotta fritters served with spicy tomato sauce. Now, I don't like fried things but the interior taste of the smoked mozzarella and ricotta with a light herbaceous seasoning was truly lovely and the exterior was a simple homemade dough. A riff on a classic American appetizer -- mozzarella sticks which are breaded and fried -- done well.
We also split a side of their sauteed zucchini which was simple, clean, and delish. They had quite an extensive list of sides which is nice if you wanted to supplement your meal.
Funnily enough, even though we went to a seafood restaurant, we had a completely vegetarian meal. But I would most certainly go back to try some of their fish dishes or even just for a drink at their bar, such a nice atmosphere.
Ditch Plains
100 West 82nd Street
NYC
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