Wednesday, June 17, 2009

6/10/09-Shady Glen, Manchester, CT

Went out to dinner tonight with an old friend and decided to bring him here since I have not been here in years myself and I knew he would enjoy it. A very cute, retro diner feel--it's like you stepped back into the 50's--with a nice friendly waitstaff to go with the family-friendly vibe. My friend took a cue from me and we both ordered the special--the "Bernice Platter"--a cheeseburger grilled with fried cheese wings all around it. Although the cheese itself may not be the tastiest I've ever had and the burger itself is average, it certainly is the most unique burger I've met. The platter also came with french fries and lettuce and tomato to top our burgers and the waitress brought over a caddy of condiments for our liking. We were both stuffed after our dinners that we did not get to enjoy their wonderful ice cream but I can tell ya from experience that the quality is superb. A definite great place to go for a casual outing with some good friends.

No website, located on Middle Tpke. East in Manchester.

Friday, June 12, 2009

6/12/09-Wentworth's Ice Cream, Wallingford, CT

A nice comfortable evening, great for a walk downtown to get a cool treat. Tom and I took a walk down to the sister location of this local ice cream joint to get our favorites--I had a cup of chocolate chip cookie dough with their fantastic homemade whipped cream and Tom had a cup of their mint chocolate chip--both were very creamy and sweet, just perfect on a night like tonight.

Incidentally, while we were there, trying to get up to the counter to see the menu selections, a family was taking up all the counter space and the young girl behind the counter nicely asked the father to move down a bit so the people coming in could see the menu--he had a fit and spouted off to the girl, which was completely uncalled for and then him and his clown shoes stormed out. All of us around the the counter reassured the girl that the guy was a jerk and she was doing the right thing and didn't deserve to be treated that way. While we were enjoying our ice cream outside we saw the man and his family step into a brand new Mercedes--hmm maybe someone thinks he's entitled?? Lesson observed--be nice to the help, they are doing a job like the rest of us.

No website, on Center St. in Wallingford

6/6/09-Black Eyed Sally's, Hartford, CT

DMB night#2, this time with Miss Sunny!! Had an awesome time reconnecting with an old friend!

We grabbed a light dinner before the show and thankfully we were both thinking about getting the same things so we were able to share. We sat out on the sidewalk patio since the weather was so perfect out and Sunny started with a Blue Moon while I enjoyed the 'Southern Slam' which was nice and fruity and went down smooth. A small basket of cornbread was brought to us--I am a sucker for cornbread and this one was nice and moist! For our dinner, we split the Pulled Chicken Quesadilla--Hand pulled chicken, smoked cheddar, cherry peppers, sour cream & salsa--just the right amount of heat for me! We also split the Chopped Salad with shrimp skewers--Mixed greens with cukes, tomatoes, roasted red onions, blue cheese, toasted pecans and a honey Balsamic vinaigrette--found out after we ordered that we both do not like blue cheese so next time, we'll do feta :)

Good service with great company and an even better evening! Would definitely recommend and cannot wait to go back and try their southern specialties.

www.blackeyedsallys.com

6/5/09-Hardware City Tavern, New Britain, CT

Continuing my party weekend, Kirstin and I got dinner here before heading to see DMB. They have recently changed their menu and brought back some old favorites that were previously discontinued. To celebrate, for starters, we had the honey mustard wings and the peanut butter wings (I know, the peanut butter wings sound gross but trust us--they are fantastic!). For our dinners, Kirstin had the portabella sandwich served on a ciabatta roll with fries--she said she really liked it, especially the huge pieces of sundried tomatoes that adorned it! I had the grilled chicken sandwich on a ciabatta roll with the "wing" sauce of my choice--Icky (bbq, honey and buffalo)--served with fries--very good, nice big piece of chicken. I also had a Snickers martini, which had quite the interesting taste to it and Kirstin had a Stella.

Service was very friendly and quick. Great start to an awesome night!

Saturday, June 6, 2009

6/4/09-Sakimura, Meriden, CT

Worst day of work ever! When I got home, I said to Tom that we were not cooking--we were going out! We did it up--started with a scorpion bowl and it was amazing (and I drank it by myself)! Then we started with Tatsuta Age (japanese version of chicken fingers) and it was served with a sesame sauce--very tasty! For our entrees, Tom ordered sushi--eel/cucumber/avocado, shrimp cucumber, tuna roll and eel sushi. I ordered the beef teryaki which was served over sliced marinated onion with white rice--very good, loved the sweet flavor of their sacue. All the dishes were very artfully prepared. The place is very sleek and modern looking (the tree painting on the wall is from Pier One!) and the staff was very helpful and attentive. A great dinner after a really terrible day!

www.sakimuract.com

5/29/09-Calypso Creamery Cafe, Middletown, CT

After dinner at La Boca with Jeremy and Amanda, we walked down the street to what we thought was Praline's to get ice cream for dessert--lo and behold, it had changed! The new Calypso Creamery is now designed like a tiki hut but has the same concept as the old place. Both Amanda and I had small scoops of ice cream, which were good (they are still making their own ice cream) but the boys ordered chocolate shakes with chocolate sprinkles and both were very disappointed! There seemed to be far too much milk in the shakes, ruining the consistency. Next time we'll hit up Durham Dari-Serv!

Main St., Middletown