j. gilbert's

With a scheduling conflict, we needed a quick bite to eat after Theater Works matinée. So we rushed over to Glastonbury...

j. gilbert's was packed at 4:20 on a Sunday afternoon. We found two seats at the bar and had our supper: The wine was fine [a white zin and my pinot gris], a Shrimp Cocktail [that old standby with the huge shrimp over a bed of julienned vegs/tortilla chips], Crabcakes appetizer [the really real thing], a slice of heavenly Chocolate Velvet Cake and some coffee.

With a $25 coupon, what could have been better? [and we got to where we needed to be on time!]

LUCE [guest review]

"We had a 6:30 reservation at Luce Saturday night.  We started out with shrimp cocktail and tomato/mozzarella salad.  Both appetizers were delicious. For main courses, we had the diver scallops and I had the porcini ravioli.  We shared, and thought both dishes were very good.  We also ate 2 baskets of the bread (OK, xxxx ate most of it) with olive oil.  We shared cheesecake and had coffee.  The service was really great, so we’d love to return some time".


bloginfo: check website here
blognote: this review was by friends who asked for a recommendation for an anniversary dinner

Forbidden City

YEAR OF THE GOLDEN TIGER!!!


Six of us celebrated here tonight for the last night of Chinese New Year. Next year will go earlier in the celebration week as they were out of a lot of the special dishes. Will not blog the entire meal but here are the highlights [my opinions]:


Castello Banfi Pinot Grigio was a great bottle of wine for the price [$34].


Three orders of Duck Breast and Clevedon Fried Oyster appetizers were almost big enough and rich enough for entrées [$15].


Australian Abalone appetizer was tiny and beautifully presented and worth the price [$15].


Mystery Box: a phyllo pastry box of shredded pork looked good [$10].


Outstanding entrées seemed to be the Orchard Crispy Shrimp [a Forbidden City signature dish $19], my Cheng Du Ribs were a huge portion of soy marinated goodness served with baby Bok Choy [$20] and the Mandarin Orange Beef which is a popular item on their regular menu $18].


Three desserts to share were the Pecan Tort which was more pecan than tort [$7] and two orders of Sorbet [$6] Pomegranate and my Lychee Blossom Jalapeño which was superb! And love their Tea menu; a Green Tea and two Jasmine Teas.


bloginfo: Forbidden City is one of my favorite restaurants.
blognote: Mario was not our server but he stopped by and was able to survey the table; service by Lilly was however very good.

Summer Shack

Visited Mohegan Sun Casino today and had lunch at Jasper White's Summer Shack. Good meal!

We split an appetizer of Blackened Sea Scallops [$13] with an avocado/corn relish and lime cream. Also split a half dozen Oysters [$2.85 each]; three Malpeque from Prince Edward Island and three Kumamoto from California. Both kind were delicious.

Then one order of crispy Fish Tacos [2 to an order $14] on soft flour tortillas with chipotle aioli.

bloginfo: check out their website
blognote: Bobby Flay's new Bar Americain is not open for lunch.
AND Wheel of Fortune was very, very good to me!

Backstage Café

Stopped the Backstage Café after an Open House in Hartford. We needed some light lunch. This café is associated with the University of Hartford. There were some passable Chicken Caesar sandwiches and a decent Mediterranean Plate with tiboule, hummus, stuffed grape leaves, pita bread and lemon juice packets. As you can see, they serve Pura Vida coffee.


Wouldn't go out of my way to eat here but if in the neighborhood and hungry it's okay.


bloginfo: 35 Westbourne Parkway and Albany Avenue, Hartford, CT [the old Thomas Cadillac building]


                               

O'Porto

O'Porto Restaurant in Hartford is one of my favorite restaurants [see other posts].

Was taken to dinner there last night; even better! The Taste of Hartford was still running so definitely that was our choice. See the website for info and menus.

It was difficult to choose one each of appetizer, entrée and dessert as there are so many good choices. But we did a good job...

One Salad and two Spring Rolls for appetizer [actually they are egg roll wrappers and fried and filled with  shrimp and cheese with a tomato cream sauce and some field greens, yummy]. I had a glass of Vinho Verde which went well with all the seafood.

One Mariscada, one Stuffed Sole and my Grilled Shrimp with a lemon/wine/butter sauce. All were pronounced delicious. I have had all three of these in the past [along with the great paella] and can't find a favorite.

We all had the Flan with port for dessert.

blognote: Service here is fantastic but also Katherine [sp?] is a great server with lots of personality.