Bel Mare Ristorante
28 Maidstone Park Road
Springs
631-658-9500
Tuesday through Sunday, 5-10 p.m.
Every little hamlet should have an eatery like Bel Mare Ristorante. It is clean and casual, welcoming and very reasonably priced. To be honest, I can barely remember the decor and layout of the previous restaurant, Michael’s. Bel Mare has a white interior with black booths, a white tiled bar area, and black-and-white photographs on the walls. There is another dining room to the back with some stained glass windows and walls the color of Dijon mustard.
One of the best parts of our meal arrived at the table as soon as we sat down. It was a little bowl with green and black pitted olives, some oil with garlic and pepperoncini, and some warm rolls coated with herbs. The rolls were so good, you really didn’t need the oil for dipping, but we dipped anyway and then asked for more.
We began our meal with Caesar salad, calamari fritti, clams casino, and shrimp Sambuca. The Caesar salad was pretty good, with a dressing that was more creamy than zesty, but we gave it bonus points for having homemade croutons on top. The calamari’s batter could have been more crisp. It was a bit pale and rather thick. We were mystified by the slices of pickled banana peppers strewn throughout.
The clams casino portion was six small clams with a nice topping but missing the bacon. We wanted to try the shrimp Sambuca because the menu touts it (and several other dishes) as having chef Luigi’s “signature” sauce. The dish was six shrimp in a creamy, slightly anise-flavored sauce.
For entrees we ordered a special of the evening, pappardelle with pork ragu, chicken piccata, and eggplant Parmigiana. The pappardelle (made in house) was a good dish. The ragu was tender and slightly sweet, the pasta al dente. The chicken piccata was definitely more of a chicken Francese, as the boneless, skinned chicken breasts were served whole, not thinly sliced and pounded. They had a pretty thick floury coating that didn’t quite get cooked enough, but the lemony-caper sauce was nice and tart. The chicken was served with mashed potatoes and six string beans. Six seems to be the magic number here.
The eggplant Parmigiana was very good. Villa Italian Specialties in East Hampton makes my favorite version, and this one was equal to Villa’s. It had a good ratio of breaded eggplant, tomato sauce, and cheese. It was served with a mound of linguine in a mildly seasoned tomato sauce.
The service on the night of our visit was very good. Our waitress, Tatiana, was pleasant, efficient, and helpful. The manager, Mitch, was delightful. He came over to our table several times to chat and make sure everything was okay. The restaurant wasn’t very busy on this weekday evening, but the bar was busy and there was live music, a nice surprise.
Prices at Bel Mare Ristorante are very reasonable. Appetizers and salads are $9 to $17, pastas are $17.95 to $19.95, main dishes are $17.95 to $25.95, pizzas are $13 to $23, and desserts are $7 and $8. There is also a prix fixe menu.
Bel Mare was out of tiramisu, cannoli, and cheesecake on the evening of our visit, so we tried coconut cake, rainbow cake, and salted caramel ice cream. Most of the desserts are made in house. The coconut cake was very good — the cake moist and the cream cheese frosting just sweet enough. The rainbow cake (commercially made) was fresh and moist with a mild, almond flavor. The guest who ordered it said the chocolate ganache icing was good. The ice cream was good as well. One guest ordered a cappuccino, which came out lukewarm with Hershey’s syrup on top, so that was a wee bummer but no biggie.
Overall, we enjoyed our experience at Bel Mare and can see it being a nice, neighborhood family restaurant. It has fried mozzarella and lots of pizza options. This is the kind of place every hamlet should have, friendly and affordable, serving simple Italian dishes.
