stormshadow's Profile
bare bones pantry meals
I live in CT and fishing and hunting can get very expensive. However, if you hunt DEER and take at least two per season, you're doing well.
North Haven-Wallingford-Meriden axis of eats
I assume you'rereferring to Tatas (Puerto Rican).
Venison Pan Sauce
I hope you're cooking with the backstraps--they're the only portion of venison in my opinion that renders any type of fat in order to make a pan sauce. :)
Try a buerre rouge (sautee red onion or shallot, deglaze with red wine, then add butter--all while scrapingup any fond you may have).
Hungarian cookbook
Hey folks,
Can anybody out there recommend a hungarian cookbook and the reasons why you recommend it? Thank you in advance.
Chris
New Buffet in North Haven Ct Hibachi Grill
Another Asian buffet? Ugh. :( Too many, too many.
Breakfast in New Haven
Thank you thus far. I'll have to see if some of these places service to go orders.
Breakfast in New Haven
Hey folks,
I work in the city and am looking for a breakfast destination that is not a chain. Looking for Sandwiches on the go, not sandwiches in the ghetto. Help?
C
Blood sausage
Podlasie's in New Britain carries it. Never tasted Slavic blood sausage though--can't vouch for it.
New BBQ/Tex-Mex in Milford, CT
I agree with you on the Cookhouse. I miss the Branford one so badly. *tears*
Foodie driving through CT....what are some MUST try's ??
Bistro does make a great paella.
Corned beef in a Chinese sand pot. [moved from Southern New England boar]
Honestly, its hard to ruin corned beef.
Captain Seas, 905 N. Colony Rd, Wallingford, CT
I know that this restaurant has made it on Chowhound before, but it appears the posts are rather old. I hit this place on a whim today, and I must say I was pleasantly surprised. The place is an old IHOP building, I think. I ordered a clam strip platter, and they were absolutely OUTSTANDING. These clams were fresh, crisp--not greasy. Fresh cole slaw--you could tell it was made that morning--and not overdressed and gloppy like so many other places. The owners are very nice and came out of the kitchen to ask me how my meal was. I'll be bringing the wife back. They also serve hummel hot dogs, paninis, and lobster rolls. While I was in there, another customer placed a very large order for quite a few lobster rolls--looks like I'll have to give that a try as well.
Smoke N'Bones review
I'm aware that there have been other reviews of S&B, but my opinion differs a bit, so I thought I'd put in my two cents.
My wife and I stopped here after church on a Saturday night. The decor is that of a "to go" restaurant, so don't be expecting something that it's not. The place was very busy with people coming and going, so that was a good sign. Wanting to sample a few things, I ordered a pulled pork sandwich with Kansas City Sweet and South Carolina mustard sauce on the side. I also ordered a small shrimp po boy. My wife ordered a pulled chicken sandwich with Memphis sauce, mac an cheese, and collard greens.
The pulled pork, for it being legitimately smoked meat, tasted no better or worse than the pulled pork I make at home in my Dutch oven. I mean, I expect slow smoked pulled pork to taste a bit better than that. This was good, but nothing terribly special. The Cookhouse makes better BBQ, in fact.
The carolina mustard sauce was new to me though, and I liked it a lot. The po boy was nice and fresh with a LOT of shrimp on it--very, very generous. However, the breading was falling off every shrimp and was quickly becoming a soggy mess. Not a terribly bad po boy, but not like what I make at home either.
My wife's chicken was very tender and juicy--very good. However, her mac and cheese and collards were very bland--especially the collards. If they were made with any ham hocks, I couldn't tell.
I'll go back if I need a BBQ fix because it's close and convenient, but I wouldn't go out of my way.
Ok New Haven Hounds, tell me about the good pizza in New Haven that is NOT Sally's, Pepe's, Modern or Bar...
Tolli's in East Haven has some truly worthy gourmet pies--try to the shrimp florentine--it has a nice zesty lemon flavor to it as well. Abate's pizza on either Wooster street or in North Branford has excellent Wooster street style pie, on par with the other big names as well.
Also, John and Maria's in East Haven (I think) is also stellar.
Tony Z's--terrible pizza
Because it's in town, I finally tried Tony Z's tonight (Northford, CT) I tried to google their website to no avail. I was told that they just finished putting one up. So, I ordered something simple--a large pie with sausage (take out). I showed up and paid seventeen dollars for a large one topping pie--rather steep I thought. Got it home, let it cool just a tad. Opened the box and it looks like somebody stuck my pizza an inch from the broiler--runny cheese and sauce everywhere. It's not like this pizza took a tumble in my car on the way home either. I picked up a slice with two hands and could not avoid EVERYTHING just sliding off back into the box. Utter crap. Couldn't eat the crust either--thick and HARD. I won't be returning; there are too many other good pizza places in the area.
Pasta Vita , Old Saybrook Ct
I agree 100%. My wife used to get dinners to take home from there and they were...edible, and that's it. This place is average at best.
Mediterranean Bistro, East Haven, CT
My wife and I stopped for dinner on a Tuesday night, which was a good choice because it was not crowded. The menu is mostly Spanish, and has a large variety of tapas to choose from. My wife chose mussels in broth with some twice fried fries, and i had a duck confit salad. Both were excellent. Dinner seemed to be taking a long time, but the waiter brought us out free complimentary lamb raviolis, which were stellar. Dinner for me was Paella Valenciana (pork, sausage, chicken, clams, mussels, shrimp). The paella had a lovely crusty finish on it, and was served with half a lemon to juice over the paella. Divine. My wife had scallops and risotto, which was also fabulous.
There was also a complimentary drink at the end of the meal. I wanted dessert, but my stomach wouldn't let me :) I actually took half the paella home. Service was great, but expect slower service than what is normally had here in America. It was nice not to be rushed. I think the Europeans have it right in that regard. Five Stars.
Might I add, the prices were very reasonable--55 bucks for two.
Chicken Fried Steak - Lower Fairfield County
Sadly, I'm unaware of any good chicken fried steak in the state, let alone by county in CT :(
The Cookhouse used to have a very good one, but they took it off the menu.
Review: Cohen's bagels, Branford/Madison, CT
My wife took me to a wonderful bagel shop in Branford--Cohen's bagels. They also have a shop in Madison CT.
I ordered one of my usuals when I go to a bagel shop--a toasted cheddar bagel with salmon (lox) cream cheese. I was pleasantly surprised by chunks of salmon in the spread. The bagel itself had that lovely consistency of being crisp on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside. A very good bagel, on par with the best I've ever had.
It was so good in fact, I went up for another bagel and got a french toast with butter--as if the previous bagel could be topped--well it was--it tasted just like french toast--it was melt in your mouth good. A definite do-again. I would have given it five stars if the prices on the sandwiches weren't so high. Good eats!
North Haven-Wallingford-Meriden axis of eats
An overlooked town between north haven and wallingford is north branford. Doody's Totoket inn is an American "pub grub" establishment on Rte 80. The food is wonderful, but there are some quirks--service is not stupendous--we have complained about a particular waittress who thinks she's 'all that' and doesn't have to serve her customers--she'd rather talk to the next table over. Also, the hours on Sunday are not dependable. Events are often scheduled and they'll close the place to accomodate the event--very bad business policy. I will repeat though--food is good.
Since you mentioned New Britain, you can't help but try one of the polish restaurants in the area. I can vouch for Staropolska--classic Polish fare, decent prices. Great soup!
Puerto Vallerta--how is it?
My go to mexican joint is Jalapeno Heaven in Branford, CT.
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Jalapeno Heaven
40 N Main St, Branford, CT 06405
Puerto Vallerta--how is it?
Well, the wife definitely wanted to go here, so we went. We were a bit disappointed. The food was only mildly seasoned for the American palate. The carnitas that I got tasted like yankee pot roast--in fact I would rather have had pot roast. My wife got the Arroz con pollo (labeled on their menu as their specialty) which tasted like sausage and peppers, but with chicken.
Service was so-so; the waiter didn't even ask us if we wanted any more drinks.
We'll stick with our go-to mexican place.
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Puerto Vallarta
200 Main St, Middletown, CT 06457
6/09 Geronimo,, New Haven, Ct. : Southwestern? Oh Noooooo, Mr. Bill!!
Thanks for the warning!
Eli's on the Hill, Branford, CT
Took my wife out to dinner the other night at Eli's--finally--it's hard to find a time where they're not packed. It was hard to go into this building without fond memories (albeit for a very short time) of the Cookhouse, the previous establishment. I miss my BBQ.
Apparently my wife did too, because she ordered the pulled pork sandwich, slaw, and sweet potato fries. I was a bit more conservative with a bacon cheeseburger and sweet potato fries.
My wife's pulled pork was reportedly very good. I did notice that it was not the kind I'm used to, where it would have been smoking for at least 8 hours--still, she said it was excellent. Slaw needed work; SP fries were awesome!
My burger was quite good--very large, which justified the ten dollar price tag. I could be wrong, but I do believe that it was grass-fed beef, which results in a much stronger taste than corn-fed beef. Quite frankly, it's better for you too--until you order it with the bacon and cheese anyhow. Again, very good.
Oh, almost forgot--we did order some apps. just to try them. My wife got the spinach artichoke dip--it came with what looked like fried wraps (as in the wrap for a sandwich). They were somewhat greasy, but the dip itself was good.
I of course, had the buffalo wings. My wife's mouth was on fire, but I thought they were just the right temp--no celery necessary. Finger lickin' good.
All in all, a do again.
Bear and Grill--Brunch--Orange, CT
Before going I called, and their brunch starts at 11AM. Maybe your party was too large allen?
Agreed on charging 15 bucks for a six year old.
