Forbidden City

Ate here at Forbidden City on Main Street in Middletown yesterday. It was an 'exploratory' luncheon, details to follow...

soups: WonTon and Sweet Sour
entrées: Triple Delight [chicken, pork and two jumbo shrimp] and Ginger Chicken.

Both meals were superb.

bloginfo: the restaurant is now Zagat rated: Very Good to Excellent
blognote: Forbidden City is in the old Bob's Store [but you sure wouldn't recognize it]

glas [and another birthday party...]

GLAS is a good place to celebrate birthdays, I guess. That is one beautiful room [didn't like the holiday decorations though as they detracted from the glass sculptures].

DiL2B got celebrated there last night by my son and mofongoman.

Started with an order of Dayboat Calamari which came with two dipping sauces. Tasty but could have been crispier.

I had my new drink, Bicyclette, of Campari and white wine; strong this time.

Entrées were Duck Steak over Duck Confit Hash [delicious], New York Strip steak [overcooked and tough] with Loaded Baked Potato and the Cajun Ribeye with Roquefort and Fingerling Potatoes [excellent and a huge cut]. Also had an order of Tempura Green Beans for the table [fabulous].
Desserts [all specials of the night] were Blood Orange Sorbet, Apple Cranberry Cobbler with Cinnamon ice cream and Pumpkin Cheesecake and a decaf Latte. All of the desserts were excellent.

bloginfo: glas is located at 2935 Main Street in Glastonbury, CT
telephone: 657-glas
bloginfo: Jacqueline was our server and she had the New York strip taken off the bill. The service was, as always, excellent.
the chef tends to one-up the cooking temp: medium-rare came out medium, etc.

Restaurant du Village

Festival Diane Goddess of the Hunt 200t at Restaurant du Village...
Celebrated from November 28th to December 16th


Salade du Automne avec Faisan Fumé et Gougére á a Vigneronne
Autumn Salad of Bosc pear, peppery watercress and cranberries with smoked pheasant and savory Roquefort pastry puffs with golden raisins and walnuts
Served with Cocktail Alsacien Crément á la Poire Williams

Soupe de Ceps et Marrons
Boletus mushroom and chestnut soup garnished with toasted chestnuts
Served with Georges de Bœuf, Morgon, Cru Beaujolais 2006

Rôti de Sanglier a l'Ancienne
Roast wild boar with whole grain mustard and sage [2 entrées]

Médaillons de Chevreuil Sautés aux Baies de Genievre Flambés au Gin
Medallions of venison pan-seared with juniper berries and flambéed with London Gin [my entrée]
Served with Château d'Or et de Gueules, la Bolida, Costieres de Nîmes 2004

Entremets des Arbres
Hazelnut parfait with maple lace cookies and bittersweet chocolate sauce
Served with Domaine de Coyeaux Muscat de Beaumes de Venise 2002

bloginfo: Restaurant du Village is located at 59 Main Street in Chester, CT
www.restaurantduvillage.com
blognote: this is our annual holiday trek to fine cuisine

Houlihan's

Ate tonight at Houlihan's in Glastonbury. Nice easy meal.
We started with an order of Calamari with the new spicy sauce, one Tillamook burger with the Mandarin Orange Couscous and two Fish Tacos [one with Fries and the other with Rice and Black Beans (excellent)]. No dessert because it had started to snow [good excuse, huh?]

Sally's Fish Camp

No 'Doubt' about it, we had a great time tonight. Stopped in at the Gallery on Pearl to see the Connecticut High School finalists in their Art Show. Then a great performance of 'Doubt' at Theater Works. Before dinner we had drinks at America's Cup, the bar in the Goodwin Hotel. Very nice, cozy and civilized. I tried my first, and now to be my regular, before dinner 'Bicyclette.' This is half Campari, half white wine over ice; great.

Dinner was at Sally's Fish Camp. We started with the warm French bread and butter [just like the old Pastis]. The place has been totally remodeled and you cannot find any traces of the original Pastis. This was great for me as the old place was one of our favorite restaurants and WE no longer exist.

One of the group had a voucher [from Theater Works] for a free bottle of wine so we all shared a bottle of Vinho Verde.

The entrées were all very good. They were: Linguini alla vongole: little neck clams steamed in parsley, olive oil, garlic, and white wine over linguini [$20.00 ], Campfire Grilled Trout with a citrus salsa over a roasted potato and artichoke hash [$19.00], Pan Seared Chilean Sea Bass over mashed potatoes and sautéed spinach with a roasted garlic chive butter sauce [$26], Fried Camp Platter [fish, shrimp, clams and calamari] [$20].

I opted for two appetizers: the Hearts of Romaine with shaved Parmesan, baked garlic croutons, and Caesar dressing, garnished with fried sardine [$7.00] and a Hot Pot of Steamed Mussels and Clams with a lemon garlic broth [$10].

blognote: They wanted to charge extra for another serving of coleslaw [the teeniest little aluminum pot] give me a break!