Asian Bistro

October 25, 2011

Was I in Tokyo or Manhattan? No, I was in Rocky Hill at the newly opened Asian Bistro. What a gorgeous establishment; the decor is stunning. Aside from the dining room where I sat in a comfortable booth, there is a sushi bar, a lounge and a hibachi room.

I had the Sushi Lunch special which included salad or a good bowl of miso soup. There are four choices: sushi [$12], sashimi [$13], sushi/sashimi combo [$15] or my Signature Roll of the Day [$10]. Today's roll was the Volcano Roll the contents of which vary by sushi chef. Mine contained salmon and salmon skin, white tuna and rice with a nori wrapper then deep fried. There were various other veggies and sauces with just enough spice to make it a perfect lunch! This was accompanied by a glass of unsweetened iced tea [$2] with lots of lemon. There are many other lunch options but I will have to go back for dinner and try the Pork Katsu and/or the Yaki Soba.

bloginfo: Asian Bistro is located at 396 Cromwell Ave [very near Jake's Wayburgers] in its own little plaza. Telephone 860.563.8886. There are three earlier versions in Mansfield and Shelton, CT and in NY at Portchester.

blognote: I hope they will heed my request and get rid of the present music and use some soothing dinner music [perhaps from Japan].

October 27, 2011

Night and Day!!! What a difference a [the] day makes. What was subtle and calm and pleasant during the day became brash and loud and unappealing during the evening. Visited tonight with three friends looking to show off my new find.

Started with an order of Edamame [$5] and the Thai Calamari [$9] for appetizers. Both were good but not special. Two orders of Chicken Pad Thai [$11] which were good [I tasted some] then an Unagi Don Combo [$18] which should have been sushi but because of the request for brown rice [$1 extra] it came plated. My Hong Kong style pan fried Noodles with Vegetables [$8] was subpar and edible only after much scrambling to wet the noodles. 

Nice extras were the warm hand wash set-ups and the hot tea. The only Japanese beers were Sapporo and Kirin but BIGBOTTLE ONLY shouted by the waitress. She was aggressive to say the least. It seems like everyone was having first night jitters or something. 

blognote: Music was the same loud radio station.

Biscotti é Dolci Bakery

The real translation of Biscotti é Dolci is 'too many temptations'! What a great variety in such a small space. There were so many things appearing from the kitchen in the back that  I could have exceeded my weekly caloric intake in just a few moments. I was good and only bought some Italian bread but I will go back and surrender.

bloginfo: Biscotti é Dolci Bakery is located at 621 Main Street [Route 99] in Cromwell, CT.
Phone is 860 635-BAKE.

blognote: This is where the Aloha store was located diagonally across from Millane's Nursery.

Rossini's

Had an impromptu supper tonight at Rossini's in East Hampton. It is their 20th anniversary and were celebrating all over the place: free glass of wine, free mini cannoli, gift basket raffle and free cookies. What a deal but we love this place anyway. I had a small white seafood pizza with shrimp and calamari, garlic and mozzarella. The other order was the combo Italian grinder and a small salad. We had the complimentary mini cannoli for dessert. Ending up taking lots of food home and some cookies too. I might even win something. What a deal!

Max Amoré

We ate here tonight to celebrate a birthday [no, not mine for once] and participate in the CT Restaurant Association $20.11 Week. What a fantastic meal it was.

We three started with a salad of baby greens, gorgonzola dolce, Nodine’s smokehouse garlic bacon lardon, crispy fried artichokes, fig vinaigrette and it was super delicious. Then one entrée of wood grilled swordfish, locally foraged hen of the woods mushrooms, baby leeks, fingerling potatoes, white balsamic pepperonata. The other two entrées [mine included] "Sunday Gravy" long rigatoni, boneless beef short ribs, house made meatballs, hot link sausage, San Marzano tomatoes, shaved ricotta salata. These were accompanied by a glass of Pinot Grigio, a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon and my Meritage ELO St Supery. The pasta dish was so rich that I brought half of it home! Desserts [as above] were the ice cream cookie sandwiches. 

'Sunday Gravy'

The Creamery ice cream sandwich

bloginfo: All of the Max restaurants were participating in the $20.11 promotion and Max Amoré is one of my favorites.

'rememberable' tastes...

With my $15 coupon from a previous visit I enjoyed the BBQ Salmon Salad with baby greens, tortilla straws, smoked corn-black bean relish, ancho chile onion rings, honey lemon vinaigrette [$18] and a glass of Toasted Head Chardonnay [$8]. Super delicious huge salad and great wine! So with a generous tip the whole deal came to $16.70.

New Britain Diner

Another birthday lunch here at the New Britain Diner at 1130 Corbin Avenue. Real close to the NBMAA and that's where we were for the Provincetown Exhibit. I had the Greek Burger with feta cheese, lettuce and tomato on a nice sesame roll. Opted for coleslaw instead of fries to make believe I am on a diet. I had a choice of salad or soup and chose the delicious Chicken Orzo [with pasta and no orzo] filled with tender chicken and lots of veggies [$8.95].

My hostess had the Crabmeat 'stuffed' Sole with a [not so] green salad, sweet potato and corn. Lots of food for a good price [$8.95].

blognote: We skipped dessert but I came home with a homemade piece of pear pie for supper.

'rememberable' tastes...

Visited Hartford Baking Company this afternoon. A little late in the day for the full assortment of goodies but was able to snag a loaf of caraway rye. Had a coffee and a little pumpkin loaf while friend had coffee and a raspberry thingy. Both delicious!

bloginfo: the staff there sure knows their breads...was amazed at the questions people ask and the fact that they could answer them

blognote: don't know why I always end up going into the parking lot exit...guess I am not paying attention or fantasizing about what I am going to order