Pho 88

Ended up at Pho 88 on Park Street today for my Wednesday lunch tour. I had the names of one Thai and two Vietnamese restaurants on my list. I couldn't find two of them; I think the Thai restaurant moved. The culinary gods were with me; this little place rocks.

I wanted a Vietnamese pancake but couldn't find it on the menu. The waitress pointed it out to me under the appetizer section translated as 'Vietnamese Crepe.' It is number 9 [$8.95] on the front page and says Vietnamese Crepe: a traditional mixture of shrimp, pork, bean sprouts and a delicate sauce folded into a rice powder pancake. It was crispy plateful with the above mentioned pork and shrimp with an array of cucumber and greens the only one of which I could identify was lettuce. There was an accompanying bowl of clear dressing and shredded carrot. That sauce and a couple of squirts of a brown paste spiced it up. I did not use the red chili paste labeled HOT!
After ordering and requesting just water to drink, I noticed the Smoothie list. There was a large variety of smoothies available [they even had Durian but that is another Filipino story!]. I ordered one made of mango but they were out and I substituted avocado. One of the best smoothies I have ever had [$4].

bloginfo: Pho 88 is located at 1999 Park Street, telephone 233.1928
blognote: the waitress I had spoke very good English so you won't have trouble with the menu

Butterfly Restaurant

Celebration dinner here tonight with a party of eight relatives and friends.

Started with a bottle or two of Pinot Grigio and a double order of Peking Duck [for two]. The duck was wrapped tableside and the eight legs were devoured quickly. Everyone had one of the three offered soups: Egg Drop, Wonton and Hot Sour.

We then went on with a table full of Mango Shrimp [special that night], Sweet Sour Shrimp, Pork Egg Foo Young, House Fried Rice and House Lo Mein. Also, one of my favorites, the Dried Sautéed String Beans.

It was a wonderful meal with good friends and lots of fond memories.

bloginfo: Check out the menu here.
blognote: This graphic is very special; see the poem ['J'] it inspired under the May 10th date in my poetry blog.

J Restaurant|Bar

J Restaurant|Bar is a great place for lunch; can't wait to try it for dinner. Ate here today on the 5th week of my 8 week lunch tour.

Saw the descriptions of the Salmon BLT and the Filet Panino on their excellent website. I opted for the BLT and what a good choice that was. Their wording was: SALMON BLT Grilled Atlantic salmon, bacon, roasted tomatoes and mixed greens served with an herb aioli on toast [$14 ]. My wording was: YES; just go order one! The salmon was perfectly grilled and and the aioli was a treat [it was served on a nice roll not toast]. It came with good fries.

bloginfo: They have a nice wine special on certain nights and they are open after matinée for Theater Works and Hartford Stage on Sundays and have a theater offer, too.
blognote: The restaurant is in the space where Pizza Plus was located.

Max Amore

An invitation to help out with a gift card and my addition of a nice bottle of Montinore Pinot Gris made for a great evening out tonight. This was at Max Amore, my favorite restaurant in the Max Restaurant Group.

There was a $24.95 prix fixe menu that two of us couldn't pass up. A choice of two appetizers: Caprese Salad with yellow tomatoes [hers] and a Corn Chowder with Applewood Smoked Bacon [mine]. The other party had the Mussels Fra Diavolo [$9.95] and he shared them with us. All the appetizers were fine as was the wine [so poetic]. The bread basket was the usual good selection, the olives [my favorites] were delicious and the roasted garlic was lukewarm and not runny as I like.

The solo entrée [from the regular menu] was a special of Linguine with Clams and Sausage. We [of the prix fixe menu] both chose the Lobster Risotto which was rich and creamy with a good portion of lobster pieces.

Dessert choice was a Crème Brûlée [hers] and an Apricot Tart with Tahitian Vanilla Gelato. Three capuccinos ended a terrific meal.

el Comerío

Here it is week 4 of the ACC Tour. I am halfway through the tour today!

Went to Comerío on Park Street. This used to be one of our favorite Puerto Rican restaurants but hadn't been back for a long while. Welcome Home, Tomás!

I had Carne Frita [fried chunks of pork] which had a great crust, rind and lots of delicious meat. The rice was Arroz Amarillo con Gandules [yellow rice with pigeon peas] and a bowl of habichuelas [the beans one expects on rice] which were very tasty with some good pork floating around.

The above [two pieces came home for the soup I made] and a Pepsi One came to $9.50. Money well spent!

bloginfo: el Comerío is at 158 Park on the corner of Hudson, one block down from Main
blognote: don't even think about parking on the corner in front and running in to pick up something para llevar [to go] as it is a bus stop and they were ticketing like mad.

Ruby Tuesday

Had a nice 'business' lunch here today.

Avocado Turkey Burger with slices of fresh avocado, Havarti cheese, and applewood smoked bacon [$8.95] and a never-ending iced tea.

bloginfo: click here for menu

el Bajío

Week three of the ACC Tour [after class culinary tour] in Hartford ended up at el Bajío. I had heard that the individually ordered tacos were good as was the torta.

So we tried to try a chorizo torta but had to substitute a biftec one due to a chorizo shortage. The torta [$6] was good and the biftec had a great smoky barbecue taste. It was not as large as I was used to. The three tacos [$2.50 each]: pollo asado [chicken], el pastor [spicy beef] and carnitas [roast pork] were all a little dry. Everything got a lot better with some red [hot] and green [smoother] salsa were added. We each [2 of us] had a refresco [$2]; his was orange soda and mine cidral [a favorite apple soda in Mexico].

This is a nice, clean and colorful room. The telenovela in Spanish was raging and then the jukebox got going. So the air became colorful too.

bloginfo: el Bajío is located at 285 Franklin Avenue, Hartford, CT 860.296.2695
blognote: the tortas are much better at Iguanas Ranas in Middletown [check out that review]