Tuesday, June 28, 2005
alone at the counter...
April 27th
Ate today at California Pizza Kitchen www.cpk.com in the Westfarms Mall in Farmington, CT. Trying to find places to eat alone. Ate at the counter and made believe I was in Spain and it almost worked; anyway it was quite a comfortable and tasty lunch.
Had the White Balsamic Provençal Salad [1/2 portion]: Crispy greens, arugula and red cabbage in a white balsamic vinaigrette. Topped with feta cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, Mediterranean olives and Roma tomatoes. I added the Grilled Rosemary Chicken Breast. That with some slices of good white bread and a brewed iced tea made a great lunch.
The winner was the Grilled Rosemary Chicken Breast.
June 28th
Ate there again today, at the counter. Had the Herb Onion Focaccia appetizer for $4.79. The Focaccia was quite large and came with a bowl of diced Roma tomatoes, olive oil and herbs. Also had a cup of Potato Leek Soup for $2.99. Great lunch for not a lot of money.
The winner was the Focaccia and the price of the meal.
Ate today at California Pizza Kitchen www.cpk.com in the Westfarms Mall in Farmington, CT. Trying to find places to eat alone. Ate at the counter and made believe I was in Spain and it almost worked; anyway it was quite a comfortable and tasty lunch.
Had the White Balsamic Provençal Salad [1/2 portion]: Crispy greens, arugula and red cabbage in a white balsamic vinaigrette. Topped with feta cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, Mediterranean olives and Roma tomatoes. I added the Grilled Rosemary Chicken Breast. That with some slices of good white bread and a brewed iced tea made a great lunch.
The winner was the Grilled Rosemary Chicken Breast.
June 28th
Ate there again today, at the counter. Had the Herb Onion Focaccia appetizer for $4.79. The Focaccia was quite large and came with a bowl of diced Roma tomatoes, olive oil and herbs. Also had a cup of Potato Leek Soup for $2.99. Great lunch for not a lot of money.
The winner was the Focaccia and the price of the meal.
Thursday, June 23, 2005
Carrington's Closed but Elaine's Open
Went to Carrington's on the Berlin Turnpike in Newington tonight [with JB and WB] but they are closed for business. AND I had never eaten there. Another blog entry never to be blogged.
So we went to Elaine's down the pike.
Martini, Coke and Sam Adams draft beer to start. Then two Salads, honey dijon and blue cheese dressings.
Main dishes were Fried Cod Sandwich with Fries and Coleslaw for JB. Elaine's Special with Shrimp, Veal and Chicken and a side of Pasta for WB. And Mofongoman had the Penne Rustica with Calamata Olives, Sundried Tomatoes and Spinach.
Desserts were 'hard to tell' Chocolate Sundae, Three Chocolate Mousse Cake and Blueberry Pie. They were all out of Strawberry Rhubard Pie!
The winners were good ol' Elaine and her special dish, the dessert Cake and the Waitress.
So we went to Elaine's down the pike.
Martini, Coke and Sam Adams draft beer to start. Then two Salads, honey dijon and blue cheese dressings.
Main dishes were Fried Cod Sandwich with Fries and Coleslaw for JB. Elaine's Special with Shrimp, Veal and Chicken and a side of Pasta for WB. And Mofongoman had the Penne Rustica with Calamata Olives, Sundried Tomatoes and Spinach.
Desserts were 'hard to tell' Chocolate Sundae, Three Chocolate Mousse Cake and Blueberry Pie. They were all out of Strawberry Rhubard Pie!
The winners were good ol' Elaine and her special dish, the dessert Cake and the Waitress.
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
oH mY pHO mAI
Ate at Pho Mai on Main Street in Middletown tonight with a great bunch of dancers attending the Liz Lerman Dance Experience workshop at Wesleyan University this week. They were looking for a cheap [and good] place to eat so I suggested Pho Mai.
We started with three orders of Spring Roll; two Vegetarian and one Pork.
Most of us had Pho [great bowls of 'build it yourself' soup]. Each bowl came with a side of basil, bean sprouts, chiles and lime. A tray of condiments with hot sauce, oyster sauce, fish sauce and soy sauce was on the table with the chopsticks and soup spoons. I had the large order of Shrimp Pho.
There was one order of Rice Pancake which I will definitely order next time. One other order of a Tofu Stir Fry looked good also. An order of Stir-fry Vegetables rounded out the food at our table.
They don't have a liquor license but you can bring in wine or beer [from the package store down the street]. The other table did just that. We had water and fresh squeezed Salty Lemonade.
The winners were the freshness of the ingredients and the Salty Lemonade.
We started with three orders of Spring Roll; two Vegetarian and one Pork.
Most of us had Pho [great bowls of 'build it yourself' soup]. Each bowl came with a side of basil, bean sprouts, chiles and lime. A tray of condiments with hot sauce, oyster sauce, fish sauce and soy sauce was on the table with the chopsticks and soup spoons. I had the large order of Shrimp Pho.
There was one order of Rice Pancake which I will definitely order next time. One other order of a Tofu Stir Fry looked good also. An order of Stir-fry Vegetables rounded out the food at our table.
They don't have a liquor license but you can bring in wine or beer [from the package store down the street]. The other table did just that. We had water and fresh squeezed Salty Lemonade.
The winners were the freshness of the ingredients and the Salty Lemonade.
Sunday, June 12, 2005
Trash Ribs, if available...
Ate at Big Bubba's BBQ at Mohegan Sun Casino today [no I didn't win much money!]
Started with a Spinach Salad made from baby spinach leaves, red onion slices, bleu cheese and candied pecans. The dressing was like a lite Ranch. A great salad for $6.95
Had a Big Bubba's Brew draft beer which was pilsner-like and a little raw. [$5]
The main dish of this lunch was an appetizer portion of Trash Ribs which were the ends of great masses of ribs meant for platters too big to eat. [$6.95] This portion was quite the handful [mouthful] dripping with great barbecue sauce with just the right amount of heat for me. There was also a scoop of very good coleslaw included.
For others the sauce might be too calm but there was an array of hot and sweet additions on the table. You can tell when a place is serious about their barbecue when they have that great selection of sauces and hand towels instead of napkins.
The winners: the Trash Ribs and the Spinach Salad and definitely the PRICE of the meal.
Started with a Spinach Salad made from baby spinach leaves, red onion slices, bleu cheese and candied pecans. The dressing was like a lite Ranch. A great salad for $6.95
Had a Big Bubba's Brew draft beer which was pilsner-like and a little raw. [$5]
The main dish of this lunch was an appetizer portion of Trash Ribs which were the ends of great masses of ribs meant for platters too big to eat. [$6.95] This portion was quite the handful [mouthful] dripping with great barbecue sauce with just the right amount of heat for me. There was also a scoop of very good coleslaw included.
For others the sauce might be too calm but there was an array of hot and sweet additions on the table. You can tell when a place is serious about their barbecue when they have that great selection of sauces and hand towels instead of napkins.
The winners: the Trash Ribs and the Spinach Salad and definitely the PRICE of the meal.
Thursday, June 02, 2005
Marunong Tagalog [pero kaunti lamang, eh!]...
Visited Kainan, a taste of authentic Phillipine cooking, at 1030 Silas Deane Highway in Wethersfield for lunch today. They had just opened last week and I wanted to sample some more Filipino food [as I lived there for two years - 1970 to 72].
I tried the Lumpia [their version of egg rolls] and found them to be a cross between the 'usual' lumpia and Shanghai style. The pork filling was quite dense. This was an appetizer portion and was served with Banana Ketchup [with a bit of a kick].
The other dish I ordered was Pancit Molo. I am used to lots of pancits but the menu only had this one in the soup version and the others were all with Bijon [cellophane] noodles. I prefer the Canton style noodles and I guess those are on the dinner menu. The Pancit Molo was a large bowl of chicken broth with scallions and three huge 'wontons' filled with shredded chicken. The whole serving was quite bland until I asked for the condiment tray of shoyu, vinegar and patis. Pastis is the fish sauce that is the staple condiment of Filipino cooking. The shoyu and the patis jazzed up the bowl of hot soup. This was served with a large whole wheat roll [new to me].
The restaurant is decorated very tropically with all of the furniture imported from the Philippines. The menu is very representative of all of the regions of the country so I was not familiar with all the offerings of the Filipino_cuisine. After they get a little more settled I think [and hope] they will do fine.
The winner was the Banana Ketchup [but there were no losers].
I tried the Lumpia [their version of egg rolls] and found them to be a cross between the 'usual' lumpia and Shanghai style. The pork filling was quite dense. This was an appetizer portion and was served with Banana Ketchup [with a bit of a kick].
The other dish I ordered was Pancit Molo. I am used to lots of pancits but the menu only had this one in the soup version and the others were all with Bijon [cellophane] noodles. I prefer the Canton style noodles and I guess those are on the dinner menu. The Pancit Molo was a large bowl of chicken broth with scallions and three huge 'wontons' filled with shredded chicken. The whole serving was quite bland until I asked for the condiment tray of shoyu, vinegar and patis. Pastis is the fish sauce that is the staple condiment of Filipino cooking. The shoyu and the patis jazzed up the bowl of hot soup. This was served with a large whole wheat roll [new to me].
The restaurant is decorated very tropically with all of the furniture imported from the Philippines. The menu is very representative of all of the regions of the country so I was not familiar with all the offerings of the Filipino_cuisine. After they get a little more settled I think [and hope] they will do fine.
The winner was the Banana Ketchup [but there were no losers].
