The Service Disappoints at Bantam Bistro

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Restaurant: Bantam Bistro – 432 Bantam Road, Litchfield, Connecticut

Bantam Bistro is located within the historic Litchfield Inn. We went to check it out a few weekends ago and, while the scenic views and gorgeous interior are beautiful, they can’t quite distract you enough from a disappointing dining experience.

Atmosphere

Bantam Bistro is located right off the main lobby of the Litchfield Inn through a set of wide French doors. The restaurant is modest in size, with dark woods, dark khaki colored walls and touches of modern lighting. A row of booths sits along the far wall tucked individually behind arches. We were seated in one of these booths and they have a very private and segmented feel – a nice touch.

House made Gnocchi

House made Gnocchi

Food

We had our fill on this menu, ordering:

  • House made Gnocchi: local zucchini, peas, arugula pesto and truffled pecorino
  • Crisp Calamari:  pesto pomodoro, asiago aioli, tossed with chili and garlic
  • Grilled Pork Flat Iron: fennel sausage and broccoli rabe, creamy polenta and a smokey demi
  • Pan Seared Scallops: cauliflower-potato puree, cippolini and mushroom ragout
  • Grilled Steelhead Trout: shallots and haricot vert, almond basmati and a crab and chive buerre blanc
Crisp Calamari

Crisp Calamari

It took FOREVER to get our food. However, when it did arrive, everything tasted great. The house made gnocchi was delicious, coated in lots of melted pecorino cheese and tender vegetables. The gnocchi was very plump and absorbed a lot of the oil from the melted cheese. The result was a very flavorful dish.

Grilled Pork Flat Iron

Grilled Pork Flat Iron

The grilled pork flat iron came out as grilled pork sliced and placed over polenta, sausage and broccoli rabe. That’s right – two types of meat in one dish – I was in heaven. The pork was very heavily peppered and the fennel sausage gave this entree a little kick to it. This was a big dish and even I was full after finishing it.

All of us thoroughly enjoyed our food, although the overarching comment was that everything was very heavily seasoned.

Pan Seared Scallops

Pan Seared Scallops

Service

The service is where this meal went south. We had a reservation and requested a booth. When we arrived, the restaurant was fairly empty, with only a few occupied tables. However, all the occupied tables were booths, leaving no empty spaces for us. We were told it would be a five minute wait. Ok – no big deal at all. We gladly said we’d wait a little bit for a booth and the hostess told us we could sit in the room next door while we waited. Nearly 20 minutes later, we were curious what was going on. We discovered the table had been cleaned and ready for us for 15 minutes. The hostess completely forgot to let us know.

Our waitress wasn’t much better. The service was unprofessional, sloppy and slow. The waitress had poured nearly a full glass of wine before remembering she had to offer us a taste first. We had to proactively ask for water refills numerous times and at the end of the meal we were never asked if we wanted dessert. Instead, the check came and we got the impression it was time to leave. Our food also took an eternity to arrive at the table. I don’t know what the kitchen was doing since the restaurant was practically empty, but they need to get their act together.

Value

The prices range from $10-$14 for appetizers and average in the low $20 range for entrees. If you put the prices up against the quality of food, the value at Bantam Bistro is great. However, add in the low quality service and I’m not happy to be paying these prices.

The Verdict

Bantam Bistro serves up some great food with terrible service. The entire meal, while delicious, was underscored by continuously shoddy service that detracted from the overall experience. Bantam Bistro needs to get its act together. If this is how things are when the place is practically empty, I’d hate to see what it’s like on a busy night. If you’re around the Litchfield Inn and hungry, keep going. I don’t recommend Bantam Bistro and will not be going back.

Bantam Bistro on Urbanspoon

A Taste of Spain is Coming to New York City

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I’m pretty excited for this upcoming Spanish fast-food chain opening. The Spanish restaurant chain 100 Montaditos is gearing up to open the first of what they hope will be 20 locations throughout New York City. The first location is anticipated to be at 176 Bleecker Street. There’s no word on when it will officially take over and open but this summer seems likely.

100 Montaditos is known for it’s 100 varieties of the Spanish mini-sandwiches known as montaditos. These tiny creations are priced between $1 and $3 and filled with anything you can imagine – chorizo, meatballs, pulled pork, goat cheese, Spanish tortilla, fried calamari, tuna salad, and grilled chicken, among many others. A full menu can be found here.

100 Montaditos

Photo courtesy of 100 Montaditos

Summer Means Lobster Rolls! Abbott’s Lobster in the Rough

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Restaurant: Abbott’s Lobster in the Rough – 117 Pearl Street, Noank, Connecticut 

Summer is quickly approaching, and for food lovers that means plenty of seasonal shore restaurants are open, and serving lobster rolls! Abbott’s Lobster in the Rough is no stranger to being reviewed. In fact, they excel at it, winning numerous awards for their lobster rolls, including being named About.com’s “Best Place to Eat a Lobster Roll in New England” in 2012.

Abbott's Lobster in the Rough

Abbott’s Lobster in the Rough

Atmosphere

Abbott’s embodies your “no frills” seasonal shore restaurant. Casual is the theme. An oversized menu board is on display as you walk up to the counter where you place your order. From there, it’s help yourself as diners stake out a seat at any of the indoor tables or the more than ample outdoor picnic tables lining the water. Shortly after, your number is called and you go fetch your food, which comes out on cafeteria trays and is served with plastic utensils. Don’t expect anything fancy here, and be sure to embrace it.

Abbott's Lobster in the Rough Menu Board

Oversized Menu

Food

The lobster rolls at Abbott’s aren’t the kind that come doused in mayo, although you can get that if you want. Abbott’s hot lobster roll is simply lobster and butter on a seeded, toasted hamburger bun. The large chunks of lobster that make up the sandwich are perfectly formed together (one could say almost like a sandcastle if you want to keep with the beach theme). This sandwich is warm, buttery and delicious. Lobster tastes great to begin with and Abbott’s knows you don’t need to do that much to it to make one hell of a lobster roll.

Abbott's Lobster in the Rough Hot Lobster Roll

Hot Lobster Roll

Service

Aside from ordering at the counter, Abbott’s is self serve. You only have yourself to blame if the service sucks.

Inside of Abbott's Lobster in the Rough Hot Lobster Roll

Hot Lobster Roll

Value

Lobster rolls aren’t cheap, especially at seasonal restaurants right next to the ocean. Be prepared to spend some money. A lobster roll will set you back $15.95. You get a good amount of lobster for this price, but in the end, it’s still a hamburger-sized sandwich.

The Verdict

Abbott’s can be a little touristy and off the beaten path, but if you want one of the best lobster rolls in Connecticut, be sure to check them out. Abbott’s shows us that there’s no need to ruin a good thing with lots of different sauces. Sometimes, all you need is a little (or a lot) of butter. 

Abbott's Lobster In The Rough on Urbanspoon

Ippudo

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Restaurant: Ippudo – 65 4th Avenue, Manhattan, New York

I’m probably one of the few people that went to college and stayed away from ramen. Ippudo, constantly crowded, often with hour-long waits, was the perfect place to change that.

Atmosphere

Ippudo can best be described as an experience. The staff is high-energy and yells out in Japanese to greet diners every time they’re brought into the dining room. (I’m assuming they’re saying ‘hi’.) Along one side, an open kitchen displays numerous ramen chefs churning out bowl after bowl while waiters and waitresses scurry around the restaurant. The dining area is decked out in dark wood and features communal as well as private seating. It can best be described as extremely organized chaos. 

This is all assuming you can get a seat. The wait at Ippudo can stretch into the 3+ hour range on weekends.

Bar at Ippudo

There’s ramen everywhere at Ippudo!

Food

I had no idea what to expect at Ippudo. As someone new to the world of ramen, the menu is a little overwhelming. I ended up settling on:

  • Hirata buns with pork: steamed buns filled with your choice of either pork, chicken, or eggplant & eringi mushrooms served with Ippudo’s original spicy buns sauce (you know them as pork buns)
  • Akamaru Modern: the original silky “Tonkotsu” (pork) soup noodles topped with Ippudo’s secret “Umami Dama” miso paste, pork chashu, cabage, sesame kikurage mushrooms, scallions, and fragrant garlic oil (I added a poached egg and braised pork belly to this)

I’d heard rumors about how good Ippudo was and those rumors were dead on. Two pork buns came out as the appetizer. A good-sized pork belly was nestled in between a freshly steamed, doughy bun. It was a little bit spicy and came with iceberg lettuce. 

Akamaru Modern at Ippudo

Akamaru Modern with a poached egg and braised pork belly

I had no idea what to expect with the ramen. I was greeted with an enormous bowl of a steaming hot concoction. I quickly dove in and was met with a very rich, flavorful broth filled with lots of noodles and an ample amount of pork belly. Man was this good! The pork belly was by far my favorite part. It literally dissolved as a I tried to get it into my mouth. As I looked around, everyone else was closely huddled over their bowls, a clear sign Ippudo does things right. I tend to engulf food extremely quickly but at Ippudo I was met with chopsticks, and this forced me to take my time and taste all the unique flavors of the ramen – there’s a lot of stuff in there!

Service

The waiters, waitresses and chefs all yell to greet you when you walk into the main dining area. Enough said. The service was attentive and quick. You may be met with a long wait just to get into Ippudo, but the host/hostess is friendly and on top of the ever-growing wait list. 

Value

The pork buns ($9) and ramen ($21 with my additions) is more pricey than I expected. You’re not breaking the bank here, but it’s clear Ippudo knows the clientele is going to keep coming back regardless of pricing.

The Verdict

For my first venture into the world of ramen, Ippudo was a solid start. I don’t have anything to compare it to, but if this is the standard, sign me up for some more. I definitely will be going back to Ippudo (and getting there early so I don’t have to wait) and I suggest you do the same.

Ippudo on Urbanspoon

Eat a Burger and Win Money!

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Now here’s something I can get behind. In honor on National Burger Month, Bill’s Bar and Burger is featuring two limited edition burgers as well as giving away cash. That’s right, you can win money just by eating a burger. There’s not much better than that in my book.

Throughout the month of May, check out the Bill’s Bar and Burger Facebook page. Each day (Monday-Friday) they’ll post a number. If you’re lucky enough to order that number burger on that day Bill’s will give you $50 in cash on the spot!

As far as burger specials, Bill’s is featuring a Meatloaf Burger (Meatpacking District) and West Coast Burger – avocado, cheddar, red onion, salsa verde (Rock Center).

Bill's Burger Bar National Burger Month

Photo courtesy of BR Guest Hospitality

L&W Oyster Co.

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Restaurant: L&W Oyser Co. – 254 5th Avenue, Manhattan, New York

Only about six months old, L&W Oyster Co. is one of the newest additions to Manhattan’s seafood (more specifically, oyster) scene. The folks behind Almond are behind this oyster house. 

Atmosphere

The restaurant can best be described as black and white. It gives off both a casual and upscale vibe at the same time that portrays casual elegance. Don’t get the impression that the folks at L&W are suffering from an identity crisis. Quite the opposite. They’ve captured your typical “by the beach” seafood house and brought it to Manhattan – casual during the day but classy at night. The interior features whitewashed booths, industrial copper lighting fixtures providing light to a row of booths, black wood floors and your typical beach-themed artifacts.

Exterior of L&W Oyster Co.

Exterior of L&W Oyster Co.

Food

The menu at L&W (note that this is slightly outdated as the menu is evolving) immediately threw me off. It’s organized in a very creative way. There isn’t a dedicated section for appetizers, entrees, sides, etc. Instead, L&W categorizes its food by ‘small things,’ ‘medium things,’ ‘bigger things,’ ‘booze stuff,’ ‘sparkly stuff,’ etc. I felt like this was almost liberating and allowed me to peruse the entire menu without being confined to ordering one thing from each category.

Brooklyn Clam Chowder

Brooklyn Clam Chowder

I’m a sucker for clam chowder so I of course had to give the Brooklyn Clam Chowder a try. This cream-based chowder wasn’t your typical New England clam chowder or your Manhattan clam chowder. It’s a hybrid made with beer from the Brooklyn brewery. The color may have been slightly off-putting – tan, off-whiteish – but the chowder itself was delicious. It had enough small bits of mussels in it and was a nice consistency (not too liquidy and not too thick) to keep me happy. There were also small crunchy nuggets in it as well which I believe were taking the place of your usual oyster crackers. This was a nice way to differentiate this chowder from others.

Cioppino

Cioppino

Next up was a Cioppino (fish stew) complete with mussels, chorizo, other seafood goodness I can’t remember, all topped with a small pile of yellow rice. There were lots of mussels in this dish and I loved the combination with the seafood combination with the chorizo. I was stuffed afterward and didn’t have any bread to mop up the stew but am sure it would have been just as delicious as everything else was.

Service

Our waiter was very enthusiastic and on top of everything from the start. The food came out at a steady pace and our wine and water glasses were consistently refilled. What more can you ask for? Unfortunately, the service did slightly deteriorate toward the end of the meal and we were left waiting to order dessert for quite some time.

Value

L&W is on the pricier side, with oysters around $3 each, ‘small things’ and ‘medium things’ around $13-$16 and ‘big things’ in the upper $20 range. That being said, if you’re willing to spend some money, L&W has a menu set up for exploration.

The Verdict

L&W Oyster Co. does the perfect job of combining casual and elegant along with delicious food. The relaxed atmosphere puts you at ease as you look through a menu that disrupts the traditional way food is supposed to be ordered. I loved the Brooklyn Clam Chowder and the Cioppino and would gladly visit L&W again to try some of the other items on the menu. If you’re in the Flatiron District and looking for some seafood, you won’t be disappointed with L&W Oyster Co. 

L&W Oyster Co. on Urbanspoon

Did Someone Say “Belgian Feast”?

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Restaurant: Jacques Brasserie – 204-206 East 85th Street, Manhattan New York 

Last week, Hailey and I checked out Jacques Brasserie on the Upper East Side. The restaurant has a “Belgian Feast” special where for you get a pile of mussels, frites and a draft beer from Sunday through Thursday 5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. Any menu that has the word ‘feast’ in it is right up my alley – we of course took full advantage of this special.

Atmosphere

It’s been a long time since I visited France, but if I were to envision what a French restaurant looks like, Jacques Brasserie fits that stereotype. The restaurant has a small outdoor seating area and indoors is covered in dark wood and old French posters. There are lots of mirrors throughout the space to make it feel larger than it actually is (not that it’s particularly small to begin with). It may just be me in my old age (28 years old, yikes!) but the place gives off a somewhat old-timey feel.

Exterior of Jacques Brasserie

Exterior of Jacques Brasserie

Since we were there for mussels, I immediately jump to compare Jacques Brasserie to one of my favorite mussel places in New York City – BXL. Aside from the fact that one is French and the other is Belgian, I’d say BXL has a bigger bar atmosphere whereas Jacques Brasserie feels more like an actual restaurant. Take your pick for what you’re looking for.

Interior of Jacques Brasserie

Interior of Jacques Brasserie

Food

Let’s get feasting! The “Belgian Feast” special comes with a heaping pot of mussels, frites and a draft beer. On the menu, you have a choice of various flavors ranging from Marinieres (Chardonnay, garlic, parsley) to Provencale (tomato, garlic, basil) to Dijonnaise (mustard, shallots, garlic). Not wanting to get too crazy, Hailey and I decided on:

  • Marinieres: Chardonnay, garlic, parsley
  • Poulette: Chive and cream

Mussels at Jacques Brasserie

Mussels at Jacques Brasserie

First things first, you get a nice basket of warm, fresh bread sliced from a baguette placed on your table. If you’re asking why this is important you should probably just stop reading. This is essential so you have something to dip in the sauce leftover from the mussels.

Frites at Jacques Brasserie

Frites at Jacques Brasserie

I’m a guy and I can put down a lot of food. Whenever I eat mussels I often have to down a lot of the little guys until I even feel remotely full. However, the mussels at Jacques Brasserie are nothing short of enormous. These are probably some of the largest mussels I’ve had in a long time and I surprisingly found myself pretty full after eating a bucket of them. In addition to the mussels, the frites were crispy and a nice golden brown color. They were coated in lots of salt which made them nearly addictive.

Service

The service at Jacques Brasserie was nothing short of great. Our waiter almost seemed enthusiastic to serve us, like I was doing him a favor. A side effect of eating mussels is lots of leftover shells. The staff eagerly shuttled discarded shells away so we were never left with anything resembling a Jenga-style pile of mussels waiting to tip over into our laps.

Value

For $22 you get a heaping bowl of mussels, frites and a draft beer. I challenge you to find a better deal with the same quality of food and atmosphere. Great value!

The Verdict

Jacques Brasserie has been a neighborhood staple on the Upper East Side more more than 20 years. I’m not sure how long they’ve been doing their “Belgian Feast,” but it’s one hell of a deal. The food was delicious, the service was superb and Hailey and I had a great experience. The only downside is the “Belgian Feast” only runs from 5:30 – 7:00 p.m. so it can be a little tough to get there for those working a little later into the night. However, if you can skip out of work on time than head on up to the Upper East Side for a little taste of France. You won’t regret it. 

*This meal was provided free, courtesy of Jacques Brasserie. 

Jacques Brasserie on Urbanspoon