We were visiting someone at Lenox Hill Hospital and heard great things about Sable’s Smoked Fish, which is a few blocks away. It has been around since 1992 when it was founded by folks who learned their trade at Zabar’s. They nailed the classic, old-school feel and the vibe screamed bagel shop.
We decided to sample their nova lox, whitefish salad and tuna fish salad along with bagels. We had the highest expectation for the nova since they are best known for it.
The bagels are not made at Sables so they were never going to be fresh out of the oven. They were good but not great. They had the golden color with a slight crunch to them. Much better than any bagel shop from Florida but not extraordinary for NYC standards.
The lox was good but in the premier leagues. We felt that the nova was on the bland side. Exceptional Lox is mild, delicate, and subtly smoky flavor. It should not be overly salty. The flavor should be balanced and allow the natural taste of the salmon to come through. This lox was somewhere below the top level, more akin to a good average lox.
The whitefish salad was best tasting appetizer that we had. I believe that it was a high-quality smoked whitefish. The flavor was lightly smoky, not overly salty or fishy. It tasted fresh and creamy. To be perfect, I would have preferred a chunkier whitefish salad.
The tuna salad was the weakest of the appetizers. It starts off as a dark tuna color. I am partial to the white albacore tuna which tends to be a much white tuna fish. This crosses over to the taste. It was just not the light flavorful tuna that I expected.
Sable’s is definitely a step up from the neighborhood bagel shop but it is not in the class of the premier ones. I would recommend a visit if you are in the neighborhood.