Well, usually I feel like I post a positive blog but not quite this time. On Friday I went with our group of friends for our second visit to The Place in Guilford, CT. We went between 6:30-7 on a Friday. There were plenty of tables open but it was difficult to get the tables together for a group of 15 people. No one came over to us to seat us or ask us why we were all standing around. Eventually we went up to a waitress and she told us we could move the tables and stumps so that we could all sit together. Last time we went Michelle had an incident with bug bites so we made sure to bring bug spray and sprayed the area, our stumps, and legs quite well.
The Place is fun. It's a good place to go if you want to sit outside and have a relaxed, laid back time without having to do the cooking or waiting on, or if you don't have a place of your own to host such an event. The menu is short and simple and is posted on a wood board near the grills. They offer roasted clams, mussels, steamers, shrimp, salmon, blue fish, catfish, bbq chicken, lobster, steak, veggie bobs, roasted corn, and a few desserts. You can bring your own sides, drinks, etc. The food was better last time but I don't think it's really that great. It might have been fine, except the service was terrible. After we finally pulled the tables together, it took a while for someone to come over to us. They have a few sodas and water. She only brought over one pitcher of water and plastic cups. We all could've gone for a refill but it was hard to get someone's attention. She took our orders. We had quite a few steaks, a few shrimp, a salmon, a veggie bob and mussels for me, roasted clams, a blue fish and about 4 roasted corn. It took a long time for us to get any food at all. When we did, it was a few items at a time. I realize we had a large order and the food had to be cooked at different temperatures and for different amounts of time, but I just think that is terrible when a portion of your party is eating while the other portion is accepting $50 bets to steal another customer's egg roll. (Seinfeld reference) My mussels were okay. They were supposed to be in a white wine broth. They did not taste like any other flavoring had been put on the mussels. I do love a mussel so I ate them all but they lacked in flavor. I even added salt to the broth. They gave me a cup of broth but nothing to dip in that flavorless broth. All the steaks were cooked well-done regardless of the temperature requested. The roasted corn came out 10 minutes after everyone finished eating their entree and the clams came out 20 minutes after. The food was a little expensive. Granted, the menu mostly consists of seafood but even the corn is $5. I mean $5 can buy you 2 dozen corn if you time it correctly. I mean maybe even more than that!
To sum up, The Place is fun to go to for the place. The atmosphere is nice, the idea of it is pretty cool, but it's not a place to go to for great food. Maybe this was a rough night but I mean a Friday night in July? You should have your best staff on. The waitresses are all teenagers. Not that all teenagers are bad but these were teenagers with an attitude. I get that it's Friday night during the summer and you don't want to be working, but unless your banking on starring on the 19th season of "16 and Pregnant" then you better do your job. Last time we went I had ordered the lobster. I thought it was very dry. After watching a number of grilling cooking specials the Food Network, I've learned that you are supposed to parboil the lobster first and then put the lobster on the grill. The guy on "The Kitchen" even cut the lobster in half lengthwise and then put it on the grill. (PS- I recently boiled lobsters and they do not scream when you drop them in the water...) I didn't actually see them cook the lobster at The Place but I feel as though they didn't boil it first or if they did, they boiled it hours ago. Another note on the lobster, they do not have crackers so bring your own crackers. They gave me a rock when I was not prepared. I don't want any of my blog readers to look like dummies when they're out there trying my reviewed restaurants.
Now read on for my second re-visit. This re-visit is of West End Bistro in West Haven.
Today I went to West End Bistro after a nice sweaty beach walk with Amy and CJ. It was in the afternoon- lunch time. It was brutally hot and humid today. We were hoping to go in and cool off but the restaurant was a little on the warm side as well. We sat near the window. Again, the restaurant was empty, Two other people came in while we were there but at first, we were the only customers. The waitress was very nice and accommodating. We ordered the Reuben perogies for an appetizer. Delicious. They weren't as doughy as I thought they would be but then again I am someone who had her first perogie two years ago. They're not exactly my forte.
To eat, I ended up trying the "pigs in a blanket." I have to say I was disappointed. First of all, it was a total mess to eat. Yellow mustard was all over the top of it and while I ate it it looked like I had chicklets for teeth and my hands had mustard all over them. Second of all, the hot dogs were not Hummel's. I'm sorry but if you're a restaurant in West Haven, Connecticut, you need to serving Hummel's hot dogs. It was an all-beef hot dog. I just can't. You take that bite and ugh it's just so dark and unappealing. Third of all, the chili was not very good. It didn't mix well with the sauerkraut and mustard. I don't know which was really the worst part.. was it the mustard that tasted funny, or the chili, or the combination? Either way, I only ended up eating half and the fries were different. I loved the fries last time but this time they were completely different. Are there two different chefs that prepare them differently, are they testing out different recipes, or are they buying frozen fries? They were not as good and my hot dog was not very good either. I'm surprised I even got the half that I ate down. Amy ordered the chipotle chicken salad wrap. She liked it. She ate it. But she also wasn't raving about it. CJ didn't order anything he just looked cute and danced with me.
Because I was let down by the hot dog, I ordered a cupcake. It was a raspberry lemon cupcake. It was pretty good, though I mostly ate the cake and scraped off most of the frosting.
Overall, it was okay. I wouldn't say, "You should never go there," but I don't think I would say, "You have to get there as soon as possible." The burger was good, the hot dog not so much. I would like to go try it again but I'm also not in a rush. I'm afraid that sometimes I write these glowing, positive reviews because I WANT a lot of these restaurants to be good but they're not. West Haven needs to have some good restaurants. The location that was once Frankie's for what seemed to be 100 years, should be a restaurant. The old Friendly's building should be a Friendly's again, or something great. What about a Joe's Crab Shack? I think these restaurants just need to have the classics. I know places want to have fancy, exotic menu options to pull you in but that's not the best way to pull in customers. The food you make should be fantastic, amazing, out of this world. If you could just make a few classic dishes perfectly, you'd be all set. I don't think there's a restaurant in the area that I absolutely LOVE. There are places I like, places I go to frequently, but no where that I crave.
These most recent restaurant visits have been total letdowns. Maybe you'll have a different experience. A better one, hopefully. I'll keep you posted on my future restaurant visits. Until my next bite...
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