Culinary Capers in Ct.

I have read lots of wonderful reviews about this restaurant which made me want to try it. I took a look at the menu on their website and realized that the tapas menu in their lounge was going to be perfect for us.

We arrived at about 6:30 on a Tuesday evening and the lounge was hopping. There was one of the tables along the wall empty and we quickly made our selves comfortable. This is one of those tall tables for two with tall stools with a rich burgundy vinyl seat. The bar dominates the room and all the bar stools were filled with people laughing and talking. The lounge is not a quiet romantic spot, the tables are quite close and the noise level is very high.

Service was excellent. Our waitress noticed us as soon as we came in and had menus in our hands directly. There are two menu’s in the lounge, the tapas and the meals. In the meals area they offer seasonal, regional (now it is Savoie France) and the specials. The regional and seasonal menus change monthly. Before I tell you all the choices you will have I want to tell you what we ordered.

As I already stated I checked out the menu online and saw that they had Thai mussels in a coconut red curry sauce, how could I resist. I also ordered a side of their homemade fries. Al ordered the Philly Cheese steak and an order of the homemade fries. Our waitress came by and asked if we would like bread with our meal and brought us warm crusty rustic bread and olive oil to snack on.

The fries will stun you, they are a huge serving with a creamy mayonnaise based sauce for dipping. We really could have shared but we are glad we didn’t have to. They were perfect, perfectly cooked, perfectly salted, perfectly delicious. My mussels were beyond perfect. I am a bit of a mussel snob and these certainly rated with the best I have ever had and the sauce, where do I begin? Let me put it to you this way, they serve the mussels in a bowl and they give you a soup spoon as well as a little fork. You will use that spoon to finish up the broth like soup, it’s that good.

Al’s Philly steak was very nice as well. Exactly what you would expect a smallish hoagie roll with slices of beef and cheese and fried onions. There was lettuce and tomato served on the side with a pickle spear.

Some of the other offerings on the lounge menu included steak on a stick with a peanut dipping sauce, Savoie cheeses, a meatloaf sandwich and a Cuban sandwich. One of the specials on this particular night was crab empanadas.

Since the regional and seasonal change monthly I can’t promise that any of these items will be offered when you come but whatever they have will be great.

Located on scenic Route 1 this is a simple one story building shared with another business. You will recognize it by the red and white striped awnings. Inside the decor is simple, it is not one of those lush Indian restaurants. One nice touch though was that the table covers are fringed shawls. There is also Indian music playing so there is an attempt at atmosphere. But that isn’t what this restaurant is all about, it is about award winning Indian food.

I only get to eat Indian food every year or so because Al is not a big fan and I have to always work some kind of trade off with him, I visit 50 steakhouses with him and we get to have 1 Indian meal for me. Yes I know I should just go without him but I digress.

We arrived right at the beginning of dinner time so we were the first ones in the dining room. We sat down with our menus and a dish of papadum, which are very thin cracker with cracked pepper in them. They are large and there were three for us to share with three little containers of sauce. They really needed no embellishment being quite delicious on their own.

Al looked at the menu as if it was written in a foreign language, oh wait, the names are foreign but anyway he asked me to pick something he would like. I made a quick decision and ordered Mualai Murgh for him, boneless chicken pieces and mushrooms cooked on a mild spiced and creamed sauce topped with cashew nuts. I ordered the Chicken Vindalo Chicken cooked in a spiced and pungent curry sauce, medium hot. I also ordered the mango chutney, an order of Nan (unleavened homemade bread cooked in a clay oven) and a bowl of the coconut soup.

The coconut soup is so good it could be a dessert, it is served warm and has coconut cream, sweetened milk and pistachios. I have never tasted anything quite like it and I could easily become addicted. The Nan and the chutney arrived at the table at the same time as the soup.

Just as I finished the soup our meals arrived. In the center was a large copper dish with the basmati rice and then Al’s dish and my dish. As we lifted the lids the whole area was filled with the fragrant scent of Indian spices. They were both wonderful, Al’s was mild with a very creamy sauce and mine had just the right amount of heat. If we had any complaint it was that there were very few cashews in Al’s dish.

We were too full to order dessert but before our check arrived we were served a small bowl of very creamy rice pudding to share. It was the perfect ending to a very enjoyable meal.

Service was darn near perfect and we never wanted for anything.

Lenny and Joe’s Fishtale is a Westbrook institution. In the summertime you can’t even get near the building. On this Friday night in March we didn’t have to wait to be seated but the restaurant was quite full. We would have had a 10 minute wait for a booth so we opted instead for one of the small center wooden tables. What is really unique is that put two side by side so basically when you sit down you feel like you are joining the people who may be seated at the table next to you. Actually it was an older couple who we thoroughly enjoyed taking to.

Lenny and Joe’s has two locations, one in Westbrook one in Madison. Madison does not offer table service. Westbrook also has patio dining which is covered in plastic in the winter to offer additional seating. As you walk in the front door take a look at the wall full of t-shirts, in this part of the country it is hard to go very long without seeing someone wearing one.

The menu offers a vast selection of seafood dishes and even a few for the landlubbers. The menus are printed daily so there is a daily special added to the top. Today it was salmon.

I ordered the scallops which is sea scallops cooked with a light breadcrumb topping and a spritz of butter. This scallops tasted buttery but there was not butter dripping off the sweet and delicate scallops. It was a really good sized portion served in an oven proof dish. You get two side with it. I choose the salt boiled red potatoes and the coleslaw. The potatoes are out of this world. Four good size beauties cooked to perfection. The coleslaw is also very good, not at all limp or soggy, fresh, crisp and green.

Al ordered the baked scrod and he requested that it be cooked with the butter and crumb topping. He chose the same sides as I did. Among the others offered were french fries, fried zucchini, and onion rings.

We started with an order of onions rings as an appetizer and they are really good.

As you wait for your meal a hot loaf of bread on a wooden board is delivered with fresh butter. We sat there enjoying this treat as we watched huge platters of fried seafood pass by, clams, calimari, scallops and shrimp, catfish, talapia, sole, and lobster. Oh yes, you can get a nice hot lobster or crab roll, done the way we in Ct prefer, hot with butter not cold with mayo.

This is my favorite seafood restaurant and believe me I am not alone. In the summer time you will find a line snaking out the door any time of day. Off season you may be a little luckier and not have to wait in line, but that is only a maybe. While you are here be sure to get your official Lenny and Joe’s Tee shirt.

Located on Route One in Old Saybrook Nancy’s restaurant has an interesting history. For several years a very upscale restaurant called Rosemary and Sage occupied the building where Nancy’s Restaurant is. The one night a car drove through the building. Luckily no one was killed but the building sat empty and battered looking for over a year. When it first reopened it was still called Rosemary and Sage but featured a new menu and before long a new addition to the name "Nancy’s".

This is a beautiful restaurant with warm gold walls, crisp white linens and real napkins. All the tables gave oil burning candles and fresh flowers. There is a very nice wooden bar where you can eat or drink and a more formal dining-room. This evening we sat in the dining-room. It was a Monday night at around 7:30pm and it was dead all over town, we had the whole room to ourselves.

Because of the circumstances service was flawless but I have to say I have eaten here several times before and service has always been stellar. You have the choice of ordering from the dinner menu or from the grill menu. The grill menu offers smaller portions and more casual meals.

We began our meal with the lobster and artichoke fondue. Well not really , we began with the bread basket and stuffed our face with the buttery garlic bread. The fondue came served in a ramekin with real discernible chunks of lobster claw meat and creamy artichoke. It was surrounded by toasted Italian bread triangles. We made short work of it I can tell you and it was outstanding.

For my main course I ordered the Riviera pear salad. Fresh greens are covered with slices of pear, Gorgonzola cheese and candied walnuts. Around the side are Bermuda onion slices, diced tomatoes and thick cucumber slices. It is served with a balsamic vinaigrette and honey. It was a heaping plate full and the different flavors and textures are perfectly balanced.

Al chose one of the specials, a tenderloin club sandwich. Slices of fillet with lettuce and tomato on toasted bread. A heaping pile of french fries filled the center of the plate and also a small container of coleslaw. Al asked for it medium rare and it was cooked perfectly and was of such a generous size that he took home two of the four quarters.

What we could have ordered.
Appetizers:
Pan Bronzed Mozzarella
Clams Casino
Chicken Liver Pate
Sirloin Carpaccio
Scallops Rumaki

Soups:
French Onion
New England Clam Chowder
Scallop and red bell pepper bisque
roasted tomato and garlic

Entrées:
NY Strip
Beef Wellington
Filet Mignon
Lobster Madeira
Scallops Dore
Jumbo lump crab cakes
Linguini Pescatore
Scampi Blanco
Stuffed jumbo prawns
Chicken Parm

The desserts are all made on site and include carrot cake, chocolate mousse, caramel crunch cheese cake, and apple crisp.

Staying at Waters Edge it would seem that the natural thing to do would be to have Sunday Brunch there since their brunch has been voted the Best in Ct. on more than one occasion. What kept us from doing that was the $29.95 per person price. If you are looking for a carving station and all the fabulous desserts then this is the brunch for you. We however wanted something less expensive and less extensive. We had seen a sign along the road that said Sun day brunch $12, this was more in line with what we wanted to spend.

New Orleans Restaurant is exactly what you would expect, a creole, Cajun restaurant that serves lunch and dinner daily. The sign that identifies the entrance leads in through the kitchen which is a little disconcerting so we walked back out and went into the front door. Other people did come in through the kitchen so I guess that is okay.

The interior is very attractive with a dining room on one side and the bar on the other. The brunch was served in the bar area. We were the first people to arrive this day at 10:15am; the brunch begins at 10am. We looked over the offerings on the buffet, chicken gumbo, jambalaya, pork loin Beaumont, crawfish etouffee, homefries, kielbasa, and scrambled eggs. When we first checked out the serving dishes the egg dish was empty. Our waitress assured us that eggs would arrive fresh, the cook doesn’t like them sitting around he makes them fresh when customers come in. There were also English muffins to toast, a fresh green salad and a fruit salad. Seemed like a nice buffet for $12. If you prefer you can order off the brunch menu which has an omelet with crab, andouille sausage, spinach and cheese, poached eggs, and chocolate French toast among other offerings. The Big Bad Daddy sounded like something Al would like, a 6oz NY stripe steak on a bed of spinach and an English muffin with lobster sauce, homefries and fresh fruit, all this for $14.

The scrambled eggs came out shortly and we headed up to fill our plates. The eggs were excellent and so the cook is right, fresh is best. I loved the chicken gumbo, I even went back for a second bowl. Al’s favorite was the jambalaya.

If you like an alcoholic start to the day Mimosa’s, Bloody Mary’s, Bayou Blue, Hurricanes, Sangria and Cajun Coffee are offered. In case you are unfamiliar Cajun Coffee is New Orleans community coffee and Puccino liquer. We opted for coffee straight and black, and our cups were kept well filled. While this isn’t the best brunch I have ever had, it was very good and very well priced. The selection is small but the quality of the offerings is high.