On the Pasadena peninsula, half the summer happens away from a kitchen. Downs Park, Fort Smallwood, a cousin's boat, somebody's dock. The food question gets answered badly and repeatedly: a cooler of sandwiches that go soggy, or a bag of fried food bought forty minutes too early. This is a guide to what genuinely travels, written from Ritchie Highway, and the principles hold regardless of where you buy it.
The three enemies of takeout food
Steam. Hot food in a closed container makes its own weather. Anything crisp becomes soft within fifteen minutes. This is what ruins fries and fried chicken, not time itself.
Temperature drift. Hot food heading to room temperature passes through a range where it is neither pleasant nor, after a couple of hours in a Maryland July, safe. Food designed to be eaten cool skips that problem entirely.
Movement. Anything with sauce pooled on top rearranges itself in a car or a boat. Sauce under the food travels. Sauce over it does not.
What travels well
Sushi rolls. The best travelling food on any Japanese menu, because they are designed to be eaten cool. California Roll, Shrimp Tempura Roll, Avocado Roll and Hibachi Chicken Roll are all $7.85, the Green Dragon Roll and Dancing Shrimp Roll are $9.85, and the Salmon and Avocado Roll is $10.85. Keep them in a cooler, not in the sun, and they are as good in three hours as they were in the shop.
Bento boxes. $12.85 to $15.85. Sealed compartments, so the sushi does not touch the hot food and nothing pools. The single most practical thing to hand somebody on a boat.
Bone-in wings. They hold heat longer and survive being jostled better than boneless. Dry-seasoned flavors travel best of all, which means Old Bay and Lemon Pepper. Sauced flavors go everywhere.
What does not travel
Loaded fries. $10.85 and $11.85, excellent, and they have about a ten-minute window. Eat them in the parking lot or do not order them. Open hibachi plates. Fine for fifteen to twenty minutes, then they steam. Order the bento instead if there is any distance involved. Tempura and anything battered. Same problem as the fries. Boba with ice. It dilutes. If the drive is more than fifteen minutes, order it for the drive rather than for later.
How much to bring
Under-ordering is the standard error, and it is worse on the water where nobody can top up.
Half a day out, four people. Four bento boxes, one twenty-piece wing order in a dry flavor, plus drinks. Around a hundred dollars and nobody is hungry. Full day, six to eight people. Six to eight bentos, a thirty-piece wing order, two or three extra sushi rolls, and extra rice. Rice is the cheapest way to add volume, at $2.95 for white and $4.95 for fried. Add a third more than you think. Sun, salt air and swimming make people hungrier than the same group would be indoors. This is consistently true and consistently forgotten.
Packing it properly
Keep sushi and bento in a cooler with ice packs, not loose in a bag. Keep wings out of the cooler, because chilling them makes them worse rather than safer over a few hours. Do not stack hot containers. Stacking traps steam between them and softens everything in the middle of the pile. Order it for the time you leave, not for the time you plan to eat. Everything here is cooked when the ticket comes in, so a pre-order timed to your departure means it goes into the cooler at its best.
Ordering from Ritchie Highway
We are at 8036 Ritchie Hwy, Suite 1-C, which puts us on the way out for most of the peninsula. Lake Shore, Riviera Beach, Green Haven and the Fort Smallwood side are all a short drive east, Downs Park is close, and Glen Burnie and Severna Park are about ten minutes either way.
Visit us
Food that survives the trip, on Ritchie Highway. Flame Japanese Hibachi Pasadena, 8036 Ritchie Hwy, Suite 1-C, Pasadena, MD 21122. 443-628-6850.
