New Haven - Not so bad really

"Bespoke/Sabor (now combined) is the epitome of trying too hard. It does seem like a lovely place for drinks, particularly in the summertime. The service, contrary to other reviews, was excellent. Although we were not dressed to impress, we were quickly seated, and the servers were really so friendly and helpful. It is in fact a beautiful location - as beautiful as I remember Roomba being. Overall, I was optimistic that we were going to have a great meal.

We were feeling quite happy with our mojitos, and our appetizers started out OK. The duck confit eggroll was delicious, a perfect combination of tastes, and the mozzarella/heirloom tomato had an excellent mozzarella if an under-ripe tomato.

Then our main dishes came. The special monkfish, which I was told was "flying out of the kitchen" in the empty restaurant, was obviously something they were trying to get rid of. There was a distinct "fishy" smell when it was brought to our table. Luckily the monkfish was overcooked so it's doubtful we'll get sick. It was served on a mushy crabcake, and the serrano-wrapped monkfish was a poor flavor combination. I actually separated the two. The asparagus was OK.

My friend had the duck. We all tried a bite - it was a bit tinny. duck is a hard dish to cook - they failed. The mashed plaintains however were good.

Her husband had the tuna. It did not say it was deep-fried - what a strange choice. The interior was raw, which is good - but the funny part was the "cold" part of the tuna, was the fried section! It had obviously been cooked earlier and was sitting around. He didn't like any part of his meal and it was sad because he hadn't had the appetizers with us. So his whole meal was a disappointment.

Most dishes suffered from too much complexity without the right flavor combinations, too much time spent on presentation, not enough on the food itself, or poor quality ingredients. It is trying to hard to be haute cuisine, but the best chefs know that ingredients count, simpler is better, and your food must exceed your presentation. I wish they stuck to Nuevo Latino as in Roomba. I remember Roomba had great food. They have failed with their attempt to go fusion.

It is also more expensive than Roomba was, and we paid the bill, thinking there was no way we could let our friends help pay for such a bad meal. I felt so guilty for selecting this place for a nice dinner out. The food was so bad that almost nothing else mattered. It was a downer.

Another note - they have the strangest chairs in the upstairs dining room. the chairs throw you backwards into an inclined seating position, making it hard to get close to the table and making your knees hit the table itself. It was as if form was chosen over function, once again."

I never expected to like New Haven. Yes, there's crime. There are panhandlers on every corner, and an abandoned building on every street. Their theater district has as many closed theaters as open ones. However, they also have a vibrant restaurant scene, several clubs clustered in the same area, beautiful old buildings, and an excellent public transportation system.

Quick Tips:

Play Magazine, on every street corner, is the place to get listings on local events. Also, for cheap food, check out the food stands outside of the hospital and near Yale.

Best Way To Get Around:

Yale provides a free bus and I can walk everywhere, so I don't use the transportation system. That said, my local friend said the bus system is excellent. There are even hybrid buses and a completely electric trolley for the environmentally conscious.

The New Haven Hotel is as large as any chain, but it calls itself a boutique hotel. While it may have a ubiquitous look and feel, it is unique in several ways. For one, there is an entire floor here reserved for recovering hospital patients. For another, they are known as "the quiet hotel" and to their credit, I have not once been awoken by rowdy guests.

The rooms are spacious and decorated with simple darkwood furniture. Every room has a television, AC, and wireless internet access. There are kitchenettes and large common areas on some of the floors, and the hotel also has extensive and fast room service. Some rooms have a great view of New Haven. I currently have a view onto a parking lot under construction. This is nice, however, because it blocks out the sun and I can sleep later.

Health-conscious travelers will especially appreciate the heated indoor pool and the associated gym and racket club. Any guest can use the gym, which is quite large with many weight machines, treadmills, ellipticals, and an aerobics studio. I certainly have no excuse to get out of shape while I'm here.

The hotel's biggest selling point is its location. It is smack in the middle of the theater district, in between Yale University and the Yale-New Haven hospital. In my two weeks here, I haven't needed a car except to go to a grocery store. The hotel is surrounded by restaurants of all cuisines and price levels. Also, it seems to be the location of a number of bars and clubs.

I recently had the opportunity to stay at the Omni Hotel, a luxurious retreat in downtown New Haven. I was incredibly pleased with the amenities at the Omni Hotel. It all started when I entered my room, with the bedspread already folded down and two mints on it. Then I looked out the window. From the 11th floor, I had an amazing view of Yale's rooftops, every decorated spire silhouetted against a blue sky.

The Omni's location is very central, near the theaters, restaurants, and Yale. It was a bit further to my jobsite, but it's right next to the New Haven green.

The Omni has an emphasis on health that appealed to this self-confessed fitness freak. They offer in-room exercise equipment if requested. Their gym was amazing, all brand-new equipment. My treadmill had an attached flatscreen tv with a remote control and headphones! And their jogging map is great! I've been running in New Haven for two months and most routes brought me near sketchy neighborhoods and past homeless people. Their route was clear, very green, and I saw many other female joggers too.

I even got to try their food. On the last day, I ordered a Breakfast-To-Go. Instead of traditional room service, it's delivered in a bag - orange juice, bagel sandwich, and coffee. This is a fantastic idea for business travellers!

On top of all this, wireless access is 100% free. No passwords, no hassle.

Claire's Corner-Copia is the kind of restaurant I look for in every city, and I was happy to find such a place in New Haven. Serving vegetarian food, baked goods, smoothies, breakfast, and coffee, it meets all of my daily nutritional needs. Traveling on business, it isn't often that you can feel virtuous about your food choices, so I was glad to find Claire's with its organic veggies and support of local farms.

The friendly service here helps too. You order at a counter, but your meal is delivered to a table in the homey dining room on the corner of Chapel and Elm. The atmosphere is one of a cafe, with your choice of tables in a large, dimly lit room. College students seem to frequent the place and it can grow quite lively in the evenings.

On my first visit, I ordered the All-American veggie burger, a chocolate chip cookie, and an iced green tea. This came to just over $10. The iced green tea was authentic, and the cookie was soft and chewy. The burger came served on a thick whole-wheat bun with mesclun, onions, and a tomato. It also came with a side of pasta salad. To its credit, this was no gardenburger but a thick, homemade veggie burger.

I returned the next week on a Monday night, and Claire's was hopping with customers. Still, I received my meal of nachos promptly and it was delicious! As always, I was able to seat myself at a quiet table and my food was brought to me after ordering. This is a great restaurant to kick back in with your reading material, a casual environment with better-than-casual food.

It is difficult to briefly sum up the menu. There is tex-mex galore, weekly special quiches, flatbread pizzas, pastas, and delicious salads. Claire's also offers up a waist-widening array of baked goods, from pies to scones to rice pudding. The drink menu is equally illustrious, with many types of teas, coffee, frozen drinks (including mojitos!), and juices. I have eaten at Claire's once a week for two months and I still haven't finished exploring the menu.

This Indian restaurant is perhaps the most beautiful I have ever seen. They have taken their two-level lot and redesigned it into a gorgeous interior space. Elements of India pervaded, but in an elegant sense. You never felt they simply visited a market in India in order to tack random paintings of Vishnu up on the walls. The first floor is a bar, the upstairs is the restaurant, and within the upstairs, there is a tiny loft area with lots of cushions and a low table. It has plenty of privacy and looked to be the most romantic seat in the house!

All around me, diners exclaimed that they had to come back more often. Most were out-of-towners, because apparently good Indian is hard to find in the wilds of Connecticut. I thought the food was average. My sweet lassi was delicious, but my malai kofta was rubbery and my rice overly moist. That said, perhaps that is not their specialty.

I would love to come back here and try their extensive martini menu, including the Mumbai-Martini.

I went to Samurai to treat myself to a relaxing meal. Seated in the corner of this bright sushi restaurant, I ordered hot sake and two rolls. The sake was really reasonably priced at 3.50 USD. By the time my rolls arrived, I was very excited. I had ordered the Ninja II and the Fire Dragon. Both were excellent examples of creative maki and rivaled Boston's best sushi restaurants. The ninja roll turned out to be a spicy salmon roll with tempura flake. The Fire Dragon was a variation on the Dragon roll theme. It was an eel roll, wrapped in avocado and a thin layer of salm, topped with the mayonnaise and the sweet sauce, and then sprinkled with tobikko. It was hard to get it all in one's mouth at once, but very delicious. Their maki and sashimi selection was extensive, and they also had cooked Japanese food.

The staff here was very attentive to my water glass and I noticed they were also very attentive to the other patrons. For example, as soon as someone finished eating, they would notice and clear their table. I was delighted at how quickly my bill came, as I was eating alone and didn't feel like lingering even though the restaurant was very nice.

Villa del Sol offers up passable Mexican food in their brightly colored dining room, or out on their veranda. Their College Street location is very convenient to my hotel, so I have been there several times.

I could describe Villa del Sol in a single word - "variable." One day, the service is constant and attentive. The next day, it's difficult to flag down a waitress. Some days, their food is creative and tasty, and other days it is one step down from Taco Bell.

They do have a great menu for a Mexican restaurant in New England. There are plenty of choices for the low-carb dieter, because it isn't all tortillas and rice. They do have a few interesting shrimp dishes. They also have all the Tex-Mex schlock that Americans have become accustomed to. Their specials are far better than the rest of the menu, which is, I suppose, what makes them specials.

Villa del Sol also makes a good and inexpensive margarita. You can definitely eat here, have a drink, and stay within your per-diem. Diners often get a free dessert on top of their meal.

Heaven in New Haven for foodies and design freaks alike, Roomba is a beautiful restaurant with amazing fusion cuisine. Roomba fuses Latin with some Eastern influence. The restaurant is located in Sherman's Alley, off of Chapel Street near the Green. It has a basement location, done up tropical-style. On all my visits, I have had the pleasure of dining alfresco in the minimalist patio in the alley.

The prices here are not for the thrifty. A shared appetizer plus an entree cost over $40 for one person, not including drinks or dessert. The food, however, is well worth the price, and it tastes like a bargain.

The introductory bread, served with a delightful cilantro-lime dipping sauce, only starts your experience. Definitely listen to your waiter recite today's specials, and you'll find yourself transported just by the descriptions. Although you can order steak or chicken, fish takes center stage on the menu. My favorite meal here is the Pepita, a white fish served over a malanga (taro root) puree. Desserts aren't to be missed either.

The owner and chef started out with a food cart on the streets of New Haven. With his talent for business and great food, he has come far and is the pride of New Haven. This restaurant is by far the finest in town, something that would be praised in Boston or New York and is out-of-this-world in New Haven.

I visited the Gotham City Cafe one Wednesday to check out the local goth/industrial night, Flux. The club layout is beautiful, with a large bar lit by chandeliers on the first floor. The second floor rambles like a mansion, with nooks and crannies and hallways leading to a large dance floor and additional bar rooms. Some areas have comfortable couches. It was all a lot more upscale than I am used to!

As for Flux, the music was terrific. There were two DJs throughout the night, and both played a good variety of new industrial and synthpop and ethereal/ambient/gothic. The dance floor space is more than sufficient for the crowd.

The crowd was one of the features of the night. I found Connecticut goth clubgoers to be very outgoing and friendly, and found myself in many conversations throughout the evening.

Sometimes Flux will have bands and performances. Also, Gotham City Cafe hosts other events, including a very popular college night.

The Gotham City Cafe is located very conveniently near Yale and the hospital district, on the corner of Crown and Church streets. There is ample parking nearby, although the neighborhood may not be entirely safe late at night.

The Casablanca Boutique intrigues from the outside, with its brightly colored coin scarfs displayed in the window and the dulcet tones of Arabic music wafting out into the street. Staying open far later than its advertised 8pm closing time, the boutique is as lively as the nearby restaurants and bars.

The store is like a museum of African, Moroccan and Middle-Eastern artifacts. One wall displays African masks and statues. Another is covered with the heavy gold jewelry worn by the Berbers. Belly-dance costumes provided the main draw for me, everything from simple cholis and harem pants, to elaborately beaded bra and belt costumes.

The owner, Mr. Alouah, does alterations and custom tailoring. The advantage of this is that any belly-dance costume can be customized to fit. I purchased a gold-beaded set and he replaced the ties with Velcro. He also took out the waist of a skirt so that I could wear it around my hips.

Mr. Alouah is familiar with many of the dancers in New Haven and can help with both clothing choices and finding belly-dance instruction. You can also sit and have a chat with him, talking about his former film career in Morocco, his family, or his frequent trips around the world. In the hour I spent in the store having my costume customized, several friends of his dropped by to visit. He also invited me back to the store any time I wanted to visit. Such personal service is infrequent in the States.