Recent openings in Rehoboth Beach highlight an international craving at the beach
Jeff Neiburg
The restaurants and eateries lining the streets on the coast along the Delmarva Peninsula feature a lot of what one would expect a beach town to offer.
There’s fresh local seafood, French fries and pizza. On the boardwalk, there’s funnel cake and hot dog stands, ice cream, sandwiches and more seafood and pizza.
Vacationers to beach resorts, in most cases, are fine with this. Cheap, family-friendly environments make sense for vacation.
But if recent openings in Rehoboth and elsewhere are any indicator, the growing year-round communities have sparked a movement among those in search of non-traditional beach fare. And that includes much more International than sushi, which has become a mainstay in most regions.
In the last month, Rehoboth has seen openings of an Indian restaurant, Indigo, downtown and out on Coastal Highway, Minh’s Bistro is serving Vietnamese food in the new retail building that also houses Rosenfeld’s Jewish Deli. Soon, in the Safeway shopping center on Coastal Highway, a ramen restaurant will open.
Indigo and Minh’s are seemingly the first of their kind in Rehoboth.
“There’s a huge excitement about ethnic food in general,” Indigo’s Raghu Kumar said. “People want to have diverse flavors, not just tomato sauce on pizza.”
Thinh Pham, owner at Minh’s Bistro, has been coming to the area from Maryland to visit his in-laws every once in a while for the last 15 years.
“The last three years or so I saw a lot of development going on,” Pham said. “I did some research here and there. It’s a beautiful beach, a beautiful area for retirees. There’s a lot of baby boomers retiring.
“I had been up and down for 15 years and had never seen a Vietnamese restaurant.”
That’s changed.
READ MORE: Indigo in Rehoboth provides rare Indian flavors on Delmarva
The population is increasing yearly, and the desire for new and different flavors on Delmarva has increased with it. The dining scene on Delmarva, and especially in the Sussex County region, has taken off of late.
Down in Ocean City, where pizza joints and picnic tables to take a mallet to crabs are most popular, restaurants like My Thai and OC Kabob give eaters a non-traditional ethnic option. As does the Vietnamese restaurant, Pho-Char, which opened earlier this year.
At OC Kabob, where authentic Mediterranean food is served up, those in the mood for some international flavors will find affordable options and traditional Mediterranean dishes like falafel, hummus, baba ghanoush, spanakopita and, of course, kabobs. All of those can be finished off with baklava for dessert.
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Owner Muayyad Abu, the second owner of OC Kabob, which has been open for 10 years, says people still thank him when they come in to eat for offering different flavors. The menu, he says, encompasses much of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern region. Abu is Jordanian. The original owner, Abu said, was half Greek and half Jordanian.
"Most of our customers know about the food," Abu said. "They come from D.C., Baltimore, New York. They've traveled to Turkey, Jordan, Greece. We are authentic."
Those authentic flavors may soon be coming to Rehoboth.
Abu said a deal is in the works to open a second location. He's currently scouting a location on Baltimore Avenue and final details are being worked out. They'll call it Rehoboth Kabob, Abu said.
Abu pointed to the quality of people and their knowledge of food as a reason why Rehoboth is so attractive to him. "They know the tastes," he said. He said he has seen many Rehoboth residents coming in and expressing their desire to see a restaurant like his there.
The same happened to Warren Rosenfeld of Rosenfeld's deli, who expanded his classic Jewish deli footprint from Ocean City to Rehoboth earlier this summer. Rosenfeld's is probably the only place to find herring, kishka, knishes and other Jewish treats in the area.
"I always ask my customers where they're from," Rosenfeld said in an earlier interview. "Naturally, I have a lot from the Ocean City area, and a lot from Philly, New Jersey, D.C., and Virginia who are (in Ocean City) on vacation. But I also have quite a few who travel from Delaware."
READ MORE: New Jewish deli opens near Rehoboth
Kumar of Indigo experienced something similar. Having operated a well-known Indian restaurant with his father, Suraj, in Annapolis, he, too, would have people coming in who vacation and spend time in Rehoboth and surrounding beach towns.
He didn't need much convincing.
“I think there’s a huge craving, especially in this part of the state,” Kumar said. “People are very transient. They’ve lived in New York. They’ve lived in D.C., Maryland, Virginia and they’ve traveled abroad. There’s a huge craving and they always get excited when something new comes in.”
Here, a list of some places on Delmarva offering International cuisine:
Indigo
Cuisine: Indian
Where: 44 Rehoboth Avenue, Rehoboth Beach
Hours: Monday to Sunday, 11:30 a.m.-10:30 p.m.
Call: 302-212-5220
Website: indigorehoboth.com
Minh's Bistro
Cuisine: Vietnamese
Where: 18949 Coastal Highway, Rehoboth Beach
Hours: Closed on Tuesdays, open 10-10 Wednesday-Monday
Call: 302-703-6626
Website: minhsbistro.com
OC Kabob
Cuisine: Mediterranean/Middle Eastern
Where: 11505 Coastal Highway, Unit 31, Ocean City
Hours: Sunday-Thursday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., open until 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday
Call: 410-524-5524
Website: ockabobgrill.com
Cabañas Restaurant
Cuisine: Salvadoran
Where: 18388 Coastal Highway, Lewes
Hours: Open daily 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Website: facebook.com/cabanassrestaurant
My Thai OC
Cuisine: Thai
Where: 13727 Coastal Highway, Ocean City
Hours: Open daily 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Website: mythaioc.webs.com
Rosenfeld's
Cuisine: Jewish delicatessen
Where: 18949 Coastal Highway, Rehoboth Beach
Hours: Open daily 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Website: rosenfeldsjewishdeli.com
Pho-Char
Cuisine: Vietnamese
Where: 11805P Coastal Highway, Ocean City, MD
Hours: Sunday-Thursday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., open until 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday
Website: N/A