Tuesday, October 16, 2012

10/13/12-Sandpiper Restaurant, East Haven, CT

Starving after a long day, Tom and I headed out to get dinner. I've been wanting to go out for seafood for a while now (I just don't feel like I got to it enough this summer), so we took a short drive down to Cosey Beach. This restaurant is in a prime location with a bright, clean interior. We waited about 20 minutes before being seated in a booth by the window.

I decided to deviate from my normal choices for dinner and went with the broiled cajun swordfish, served with a a side salad and french fries. The fish may have been a tiny touch overcooked but I could completely overlook that because the overall portion and taste was excellent--Tom agrees, as he stole more than one bite from my plate! Tom went with one of the night's specials--fried shrimp and clamstrips, served over french fries. He said the clam strips were average and comparable to most places and also said that the shrimp may also have been a tiny bit overcooked, but the portion size was nice.

Overall, we had a nice dinner. Service was prompt and the owner/manager could be seen walking around checking on patrons. A perfectly good place to stop in and feed that need for seafood!

www.sandpipereasthaven.com

10/6/12-Sakura Garden, Glastonbury, CT

Tom and I came here for my birthday dinner. When we arrived, we opted to go with regular seating versus hibachi tables and was brought to a lovely, modern dining room. You could watch the sushi chefs at work nearby, which was neat.

For appetizer, we got the beef negimaki, which looked like sushi! Thin beef strips that were rolled around a bunch of scallions and coated in teryaki sauce--really interesting, nicely plated and pretty tasty! Tom was excited to order sushi, so he got an eel roll and a shrimp tempura roll--he enjoyed both and voiced that he could definitely eat another roll. Instead I let him finish my entree, which was Yaki Soba. My noodles were ok, but not very exciting. I felt that they lacked in flavor and I've definitely had better.

We opted to skip dessert, as I had some awesome cupcakes waiting for us at home. We had an overall OK experience and if we came here again, we'd go for the hibachi.

www.sakuragardencuisine.com

Sunday, October 7, 2012

10/5/12-Namaste India, Southington, CT

Growing up in this neck of the woods, I sometimes feel like I've eaten at every place in town. Maybe, maybe not, but I sometimes get the sense that my options are limited and my family and friends choose to eat at the same joints over and over. Consistency is comfortable but I am always on the hunt for something new. We've been meaning to get to this place sooner, so when plans deemed that Tom and I would both be in Southington for dinner, there was no better time to give this place a shot. 

We went to dinner around 530pm and there was only one other table filled in the restaurant. The restaurant was tastefully adorned with culturally appropriate decorations and was a comfortable atmosphere. We were quickly seated, glasses filled and papadum and its accompaniments were brought over. For appetizer we tried the Jhinga Manchurian--crispy shrimp in hot cilantro garlic sauce. I can't say that I got the cilantro flavor--the sauce was more reminiscent of a bbq type sauce and although it was mild to our tastebuds, it was still very good. 

For dinners, I went with Chicken Curry and Tom had the Lamb Saag. My curry was very good, nice and flavorful--next time, I will definitely kick the heat up from mild. The chicken was nicely cooked and the portion size was great, leaving me with leftovers. The lamb saag was not exactly as we might have pictured it--the spinach was pureed and coated the lamb chunks. The flavor was surprisingly good and the lamb was a good match, with the Indian spice blend shining though. A large bowl of Basmati rice was also placed on the table for us to share and we also got a side of garlic naan, which of course, was excellent. 

Overall, we had a very nice dinner. It is nice to finally see an Indian restaurant in town and it seemed that the citizens of Southington appreciate it too from the steady stream of phone calls and takeout orders during our dinner. We would definitely visit again!

www.namasteindiact.com