Tinker's Main Seafood and Grill

For me, the initial best test of a seafood restaurant is the Fish and Chips. Well, Tinker's Main failed on this one. Guess I need another visit as the other food being served looked good.

We both ordered the Fish and Chips [$8.95]. While it arrived piped hot, it lacked a lot [poetic?]. The fries and coleslaw were both prefab and the tartar sauce was too sweet. The fish itself, lightly battered, was firm and fresh but did not have a lot of taste.

bloginfo:detailed info here
blognote: the 'MidDay Music' organ concert at Central Baptist Church next door was great. The concert is held every third Thursday at 12:10 [donations accepted].

Royal Buffet and Grill

To finish off my weekend of gluttony, I ate at Royal Buffet in Manchester. I was invited to a private birthday party for a one year old Vietnamese baby from our church. Now who would pass up that opportunity?

Lots of Asian food, seafood, noodles [pancit canton], rice and sushi. The oysters were a big hit as were the crab legs. My favorites were the General Tso's chicken and the boneless spareribs.
Also saw a turkey being carved, grill to order, pizza, mac and cheese.
Desserts were abundant but I gorged on fresh mango and elephant ear cookies.

bloginfo: Royal Buffet website and menu here.

Restaurant du Village

Festival Diane Goddess of the Hunt: She was an earth goddess associated with the moon. Patroness of hunters, of the wilderness, wild animals, and of women and fertility. Depicted with her bow and arrows, the tools with which she roamed mountain forests hunting stags. Chefs Cynthia and Michael Keller prepared this culinary tribute to the season here at Restaurant du Village.

This is our annual pilgrimage to this fine restaurant with extraordinary food!

amuse bouche: home cured duck breast on toast

hors d'oeuvre: Tarte Flambée à la Vigneronne - hearth baked round of yeasted dough topped with grapes, shredded duck confit, walnuts, Roquefort cheese and créme fraîche [contrasts of sweet, savory & crunchy]
Served with Abymes Vin de Savoie

appetizers: Caille Grillée Salade d'Hiver - grilled marinated quail served warm on a nest of winter salads [exquisite] or
Carpaccio de Chevreuil pan-seared pepper coated venison served very rare in paper thin slices with fresh horseradish sauce
Served with Mas de Gourgognnier

main course: Médallions de Chevreuil Sautés aux Baies de Genièvre Flambés au Gin - sautéed medallions of venison with a juniper sauce accompanied by rosemary roast pears and potato and celeriac purée [the perfect combination of texture and taste]
Served with La Sacristie de la Vielle Cure

dessert: Bûche de Noël - traditional French 'Yule Log' sponge cake filled with a decadent chocolate butter-cream and decorated with meringue mushrooms
Served with Muscat St Jean de Minervois

bloginfo: Restaurant du Village site here
blognote: $75 for four course tasting menu
There were two other main course choices: Civet de Lapin - a rabbit ragout and Grand Flétan Rôti Risotto Forestière - roast halibut filet with a wild mushroom risotto

ABC Pizza

This isn't their logo but they don't have a website.

Had heard lots of good things about ABC Pizza in Cromwell so decided to try them out. A good choice for a chilly night.

App: Garlic bread with cheese. Lots of cheese but not anything different from many other places.

Beverages: Chianti and a couple of Sam Adams Winter Ales

Entrées: Two orders of Veal parmigiana with and not over pasta. Very tasty, crunchy fried veal with lots of good cheese. Huge helpings. Other entrée was Eggplant rollatini with pasta. These all came with choice of soup or salad; we all chose salad [with different dressings] and good yeasty rolls.

bloginfo: ABC Trattoria and Pizza is located at 316 Main Street in Cromwell. Telephone is 635-4338
blognote: All in all, a well-prepared meal at a decent price; good neighborhood place. Service by Sandra was friendly and attentive.

Puket Café

I didn't get to Thailand as was planned. Would have been there for the past two weeks in Chiang Mai via Bangkok but cancelled the trip due to the political problems there. Good choice!
But I did get to Puket Café in Wethersfield today for lunch. I had been to this site when it was a Filipino restaurant but hadn't visited this one. Another good choice.

We split the House Salad [$6]. It was a good-sized portion of veggies, fried tofu and a peanut sauce.
My entrée was Massaman Curry with Chicken [$8 lunch portion]: The curry put forth a good warmth and had peppers, onions, potatoes and fried peanuts. The jasmine rice was moist and ended up in the bowl making a thick gooey taste of Thailand.
The other entrée was the Ginger Garlic Beef with vegetables and mushrooms. It had a good flavor and for $8 made an excellent lunch.

This is definitely a place that needs another visit or two. The menu is huge and all of orders going to other tables looked very good. For a Thursday lunch, there were quite a few diners and for a good reason: the news is out that the food is fresh, delicious and inexpensive.

bloginfo; menu and directions here
blognote: decor still Filipino; service excellent