12/27/08-Ted's Restaurant, Meriden, CT

After hearing things about this place for so long and seeing the burgers featured on the Travel Channel, I knew this was somewhere I needed to go and experience. FINALLY, we went there today. This place needs to be featured on Diners, Drive-In's and Dives because it is just that--a tiny little place with a great neighborhood crowd. While standing in the doorway waiting for a table, we were making small talk with the people around us also waiting and a man was saying how he lives out of town now, but when he drives through, he always stops to get his fix and bring some home. I knew then I was in for something good! Sat down after about 15 min and Tom ordered us lunch--a steamed cheeseburger for each of us and home fries to share. A few minutes later, this little piece of heaven arrived--it has got to be the messiest burger I have ever eaten, but oh man was it good--a huge hunk of cheese covered the burger with lettuce and mayo for me and it was soon devoured. My advice? Skip the home fries and order a second burger--you'll have wished you did. For the price ($4.25) you have nothing to lose trying this burger.

www.steamedcheeseburger.com

12/14/08-P.F. Chang's, West Hartford, CT

Needed to go to Westfarms for a few things this afternoon so Tom and I decided we would also grab lunch at the new P.F. Chang's to see what all the commotion is about this place. We put our name in while we shopped (45-1hr wait) and we did end up waiting all of that. After we were seated our waiter came over with some dipping sauces (but nothing to dip with? I'm a bit confused on that). He put together their signature sauce--hot mustard, soy sauce and red pepper sauce all into the soy sauce cup and mixed it together--definitely had a bit of a kick to it, but interesting taste. For our lunches, we both decided to try something different--we both ordered white rice with our entrees, Tom had the Mongolian Beef-"quickly cooked beef with scallions and garlic"--I had the Moo Shu Pork-"A chinese classic served with hoisin sauce and thin pancakes." Everything was great. Tom's entree had a sweet taste to it and was cooked perfectly and mine had a ton of mixed asian vegetables that gave it a bit of a crunch, but I would have liked a bit more pork in the dish. Overall, good experience--service was prompt, food was great and a nice, modern but casual atmosphere. Would defintely come here again, but would make reservations next time.

www.pfchangs.com

12/5/08-Angelico's Lake House, East Hampton, CT

With a gift certificate in hand, off we went to Angelico's Lake House. Right on Lake Pocotopaug in East Hampton, I can understand the draw of this restaurant--I bet it is beautiful in the summertime. We started with the asian chicken tenders tossed in an orange sesame glaze--very good. Warm crusty bread was brought out with a red pepper/garlic infused olive oil for dipping-nice and spicy. For our dinners, we both started with caesar salads with just the right amount of dressing. My entree was the Mesquite Rubbed Pork Chop--"Double bone pork chop, fire grilled with garlic mashed potatoes, char-grilled pineapple & topped with a smokey BBQ glaze"--Although I liked the flavor of the pork itself, I didn't quite get the BBQ sauce on top and I really think that more of a teryaki based sauce would have worked better, especially since it is served with pineapple. Tom had the NY Strip Steak--"A well-marbled steak grilled to perfection, served with garlic mashed potatoes & fresh vegetable medley"--definitely not up to par with the strip steaks we've had, it was very tough to cut and the flavor was just not there.

For the prices, I was pretty disappointed with how dinner turned out. I'd be willing to give the restaurant another try--maybe in the summertime for lunch, so I could enjoy the view and still hang on to my wallet.

www.angelicoslakehouse.com

11/2/08-Perk on Main, Durham, CT

Ahh, Black Friday! On our way back from hitting the great deals at the Clinton outlets, we stopped off at Perk on Main to get some lunch. Have I mentioned that I love places that are trying to be eco-friendly? I do--I just love it. I was super impressed on how eco-friendly this place tries to be--3 different cans to separate your trash into (regular trash--things that cannot be recycled, cans and bottles and biodegradables), a program working with farmers to take the coffee grounds for composting and a community water cooler to help reduce our carbon footprint--this place gets an A+ for all of the above efforts. Now, on to the food. Tom had the Swiss Army Ciabatta--Grilled Turkey Filet, Lettuce, Tomato, Bacon, Mayo, & Swiss with a side baby field greens salad with balsamic vinaigrette. I had the Fall Classic crepe--Hot Cinnamon Spiced Apple Pie Filling with caramel. After trying eachothers dishes, we decided that we would definitely be back, maybe next time for breakfast! A very cute place with a relaxed feel, easy on the environment and our wallets too!

www.perkonmain.com