Bangkok Spice Restaurant

Lunch today at Bangkok Spice in Glastonbury next to Whole Foods. Had seen this place before and finally made it to eat here.

Had the lunch special of Lobster Pad Thai [$12 luncheon size]. The pad thai was very good but could have had some more heat. The lobster was tough and after talking to the proprietress I found out why. The cook had used precooked lobster meat and had not sautéed it in the wok. The Iced Tea [$2] was excellent. Might try it again but maybe not.

Baltyk European Deli

Overstuffed, messy and delicious; that's the bio for my sandwich today. Stopped at the Baltyk European Deli on Wethersfield Avenue after a meeting in East Hartford. I was going to get a $5 Footlong at you know where but saw this place and stopped. Glad I did!


I had a Sweet Capicola and Polish Bologna sandwich [$3.50] on a hard roll with a strong Polish Cheese, lettuce, tomato, mustard and mayo. Bought a Nectarine nectar [99¢] in a great little bottle. 


bloginfo: Baltyk Deli is located at 731 Wethersfield Avenue in Hartford [right next to where Truk Vietnamese Restaurant used to be]. Telephone 860.296.0600
blognote: Lots of 'dzien dobry' going on but the young woman at the counter is fully bilingual!

ION Restaurant

Busy, busy, busy today at It's Only Natural Restaurant in Middletown. Needed a late lunch so was wandering around Main Street; everything I saw was closed [or closed until dinnertime].

Remembered ION was hidden away in the back near the parking lot, so tried that. The place was quite full for this time of day so I found a table in the back room [too rainy to eat on the deck].

Had a lunch special of Coconut Curry [$15] which was chock full of vegetables [onions, yellow peppers, zucchini, carrots and jalapeño] with tomato, chopped cashews and fried tofu wedges [croutons?] over brown rice. The curry was described as spicy but had just a little heat; tasty and filling. Finished up with a Chai [$3.50 (dairy)].

bloginfo: best to enter from the back where the deck is
blognote: need to bus the tables more quickly as they sat cluttered and people couldn't find anywhere to sit in the 'sit anywhere you want' mode. Perhaps it was the change from lunch staff to dinner staff?

Lake View Restaurant

Belated, belated birthday lunch here today in Coventry, CT. Had been in this restaurant [before renovation] a very long time ago. Derailed wedding reception; help me forget!

Started with a large and common salad with the usual iceberg lettuce [some field greens sprinkled in], canned black olives, grape tomatoes and cucumber with a decent house dressing of oil, vinegar and 'spices'.
Came with decent rolls.

Three entrées; Baked Lasagna [$12.99], Chicken Teriyaki [$14.99] and Mashed Potatoes with skins and my Eggplant Parmesan [$12.99]. The servings were HUGE. My eggplant was an excellent version of the dish with a tasty, chunky sauce and crispy eggplant over a ton of spaghettini.

bloginfo: website with menus
outside deck looks great with a view of the lake, too bad the weather was chilly
blognote: Good service, Tom was our server.

The ODD BALL

Real Art Ways held their annual fundraiser, the Odd Ball, on Saturday night. What a blast!

I will give props to the fantastic apps and finger food.

The highlights were:
Antipasto Sticks, Salmon Lollipops, Sangria Shooters, Sushi and more Sushi with great sauces, Sausage Sliders, Guacamole Cones/Mashed Potato Cones with toppings and Mac/Cheese Bites. My favorite was the Chinese Noodle booth where they created several noodle dishes in little white 'take away' boxes [chopsticks and all].

bloginfo: had my picture taken in the lasch/photo studio [in the cinema] and HERE IT IS!!! Look at all the pictures. Go to Gallery and click on my picture The Odd Ball.

blognote: I think I was the oldest person present; will check with Will Wilkens [NOT!]

Firebox Restaurant

Wonderful dinner here at the Firebox Restaurant tonight: birthday celebration, fantastic meal. beautiful room and a great server.

Started with wine: Rosé Coeur Estérelle, 2008, Côtes de Provence, France and a Red Varietal La Posta Argentina [both $9]. Then shared a Roasted Beet Salad: Citrus Vinaigrette, Arugula, Pickled Shallots, “Beltane Farms” Crispy Goat Cheese, Beet Purée [$10] which was delicious.

Entrées were the Stonington Sea Scallops: Roasted Fennel & Onions, Fingerling Potatoes, Roasted Tomatoes, Nicoise Olives, Lobster Reduction [$28] and my "Pork and Beans": Cider Brined Duroc Pork Chop, Braised “Cranberry” & “Scarlett Runner” Beans with Bacon, Onions & Collard Greens [$25]. Bothe entrées were superb!

Desserts were a Chocolate "Semifreddo": Pistachios, Crème Anglaise [$9] and my Raisin Pecan Bread Pudding: Almond Praline, Whipped Cream [$7]. The Chocolate Semifreddo was the winner.

bloginfo: Firebox is in the old Billings Forge building on Broad Street. Read the website for some great info. 

blognote: Christi was our server and she was great.

Happy Easter!

Here we go with PEEP SUSHI!  

I found this on Facebook, way too cool.

and RICE KRISPIES SUSHI!
from Salon.com

Humacao Restaurant

I was having a mofongo attack so went back to Humacao [the restaurant here, not in Puerto Rico!]. Didn't realize it was so long ago. Anyway, I can't find decent or readily available mofongo around here so went to East Hartford.

Had Mofongo over Pernil; what a combination of plaintains, garlic and roast pork[$7 with a soda].

blognote: Since my blogger name is Mofongoman I need to do more research on this item. Yummy!

4/11/08 [earlier review]


Found a clipping on my bulletin board from last month, so I decided to try the Humacao Restaurant for some Puerto Rican food.
Great little neighborhood restaurant with delicious, authentic food and very nice people!

I had a lunch special of fried porkchop with rice and beans, fried plaintains. The lunch special is the inclusion of rice [white or yellow] with beans and the fried plaintains. There were 15 different choices of meat. What you order is what you get: a fried porkchop is 'una chuleta frita' and vice versa; real home cooked Puerto Rican food no gourmet trappings here.

Also ordered mofongo; my usual over-ordering, so the mofongo got the 'llevar' treatment and became a to-go item for tomorrow's dinner. The car still smells of garlic, my favorite aroma. The mofongo came with/without meat; I opted for the vegetarian version.

Staff is very friendly and efficient. They handle loads of people at lunchtime and are completely bilingual. Will go back for dinner soon.

bloginfo: Humacao is located at 245 Silver Lane in East Hartford. Phone is 568.9500
Humacao Restaurant [great music and menu lists prices]
blognote: mofongo is my blogname and I will taste test this version and blog more later.
MOFONGO UPDATE! Saturday, April 12th
Had the mofongo for dinner today with some linguiça [with pineapple from Whole Foods] and it was great. I fried up the linguiça and added the mofongo which I had steamed in the microwave. I ended up frying it up all together and it was very moist and crunchy, too.