Food Quest: Bleu Squid

I LOVE this place! Mandy and I went on a rainy day and sat inside(they have picnic tables outside for warm weather). They have cute little seating inside(not much though) and we loved the decor!

They don't have a website so I'm guessing on what we got....

M- Lobster Grilled Cheese(It was AMAZING!)

-Assortment of cupcakes

K- Grown up Grilled Cheese(I've had it plain and with bacon! So good)!

-They always have the best soups! I've never not liked one.

-DIRT BOMBS! They are cupcakes rolled in cinnamon/sugar. I crave these! Haha.

L- Kids grilled cheese with bacon(He loved it!)

-Mac&Cheese(He would only give me ONE bite!)

What I liked:

GREAT service

AMAZING food

GOOD prices!

The owner really aims to please

Kid friendly food

Outdoor seating for warm weather

If you call ahead they will have it all ready for you!

What I didn't like:

The inside isn't the most child friendly(breakable jars and not much space)

Not much seating on an icky day.

If you want to join in on the food quest, read the section at the top of my blog, make sure you read the "rules", post on your blog then come back here to link up!

Food Quest! An idea.

Last year, a good friend of mine and I started the Food Quest. We started it as a way to get out and try new foods at new places. It was so much fun! Asking people(that we knew or didn't) where they like to eat and taking a day to go try new things. I tried so many new foods and found so many things that I now LOVE! I like the idea of posting on my blog so that other people who might move into the area(or already live here) can find new & exciting places to eat.

So, the point of this blog....who would be interested in taking part of a monthly link-up of a fun place to eat in your area? Or even, post about a resturant or even a new recipe that you tried? I think it would be so neat to see all the good places to eat all over are, and since we travel so much, it would be nice to have an idea of where to eat(or steer clear of!).

Let me know if anyone would be up for it!

Food Quest: Jasmine Thai

After the old folks home Thai place we went a month or so ago, I wanted to go to a better place. Mandy had heard of one that had GREAT reviews, so we went(twice). Thai is my new favorite!!!! This place was really great. The staff were amazing from the get go, not in your face but they cared if you were alright and taken care of.

 

Jasmine Thai

 

What we ordered:

Shared- Jasmine sampler.Spring roll(2),curry puff(2),fried wonton(4),crab rangoon(2)shrimp tempura(2)Served with sweet and sour sauce. (The sauce was AMAZING. We loved everything except the crab rangoon just because we don't like that type of dish. The curry puff was great, tasted just like the curry I had in Bahrain!)

M- Mango curry.With bell pepper,basil,red curry paste,mango,coconut milk and choice of meat. served with steamed jasmine rice. (As always, we shared our main dishes as well. We got this HOT which was good but had a little more kick then we thought it would. lol. We also got it with Chicken. The mango was an amazing touch!)

K- Amazing sauce.Sautéed with peanut sauce on the bed of steamed broccoli,tomatoes and choice of meat.served with steamed jasmine rice. (Got this with Chicken as well. I have a love for peanut sauce....really, I have dreams about it. This was AMAZING. Just perfect. The tomatoes were a little out of place, but oh well!)

Shared dessert-  Ice cream with fried banana (This was really good! I've never had anything like it).  Thai donut (Mandy & I can't stop talking about this dish. It was the most amazing dessert I've ever had! The sauce was sooo good that came with it to!) 

 

 

*Sampler

*Amazing Sauce

*Mango Curry

*Fried Bananas

*Thai Donuts

Big picture is the main dishes together

 

Pros:

Amazing staff

AMAZING food!!!!!

Great atmosphere

Lots of seating

Child friendly (no children's menu that we saw)

Lots of food for your money

Great prices!

 

Cons:

Hard to substitute on things like the sampler

^^that's it^^

Picnic & Food Quest!

The other day we were driving around and J said he wanted some Ice cream. We looked up "other" in the food section of our GPS and found a place called Cows & Cones. So we went!

Cows & Cones

What we got:

J- he got oreo coffee ice cream in a waffles cone (He LOVED it)

K- I got a banana split with brownie dough ice cream, hot fudge and marshmallow! (The best ice cream I've ever had. seriously)

L- He got a vanilla cone dipped in cherry (he got one once at DQ and has been obsessed ever since)

We walked around the grounds while we ate and saw all of the animals, they have cows, sheep, chicken, pigs and bunnies. The grounds are really beautiful and the animals are tons of fun to look at.

They had a few benches, bistro tables and even some picnic tables you could sit at to eat. We chose a table up by the chickens away from most of the crowd. We ate in peace then walked around a bit more. You could even bring a blanket to sit on the hill above the animals if you wanted to.

This place isn't far from the base here, so if your ever near there on a hot day, stop by and get some amazing ice cream!

Food Quest: Pauls Pasta

I love pasta. It's one of those things that I could eat daily(don't worry I don't!). Paul's is a place that everyone knows of or has heard of when they have lived here for a bit. They are great! The food is priced great and they make their food fresh daily (even the pasta!).
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Normally when I would go I would play it safe and get the Chicken Alfredo(which is really good!).....but for the sake of the food quest I told myself I would try new things. So I did!
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Paul's Pasta

What we ordered:

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M & K- We both got a salad, with the lemon poppyseed dressing....ick. The dressing wasn't the best. Then we both got the Lobster Ravioli - Small(smalls are good sized, I couldn't even finish mine. The larges are HUGE!). Choice of sauce Alfredo, tomato or pesto (we got Alfredo). ( It was AMAZING! soooo good. I'm glad I tried it. I'm doing my best to try as much seafood as I can while I live here.)

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L- He got the Buffalo Mac-n-Cheese - Small. Just like it sounds, drenched in a cheddary "buffalofredo" sauce, a kick of heat and a light gorgonzola crumb topping (Wow!!!! Landon is a great eater, but I didn't know if he was really going to eat this. Oh he did, but he had to fight Mandy and I off to do it! I will for sure be getting this when I go back next!)

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For dessert!- Landon got a chocolate chip cookie. Mandy and I shared the carrot cake and the deep fried cookie dough. The cookie dough was my favorite! It was sooooo good, it's something that I will make sure I get again.

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Pictures!

This first picture is of all the food....can't you tell! Top left over and down.

• The salad with the dressing on the side.
• Buffalo Mac&Cheese!!! YUMMMM!
• My Lobster ravioli.
• The Fried Cookie Dough
• Carrot Cake
• The big picture is the main dishes together with the amazing bread sticks they serve with their pasta.

Pros:

Great atmosphere

Nice staff

You can eat inside or out on the patio (that over looks the water!)

GREAT FOOD!!!!

Good prices

Great amount of food for your money

Kid friendly (small children's menu, they can can get a small of anything, really)

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Cons:

If the outside deck isn't open (during the winter) then you might have a problem finding a place to sit if it's busy.

Parking can be hard. You can park on the road or behind the building. Once again if it's busy you will have a problem.

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These are the pictures of Landon during dinner and one of us outside leaving to go home. We are having so much fun doing the food quest!

Food Quest: Thai Sawasdee

I've never had Thai food so I was really excited when someone told Mandy & I that we needed to put it on our quest. The decor was nice and modern and a little romantic....but it smelled. BAD. We decided it smelled like an old folks home that had cats. Thank goodness you can get it to go.
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Thai Sawasdee

What we ordered:

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Shared- Summer Roll (2). Fresh soft rice skin wrapped in shrimp, minced chicken, noodles and vegetable served with clear peanut sauce (so I said I would try new things on this quest. I've never had shrimp before, and I'm glad I started with this since I couldn't really get the texture. This was alright. The rice skin was too think and made me gag a few times and the "peanut sauce" was mostly just vinegar with peanuts floating on the top)

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K- Satay (Chicken or Beef) (6). Grilled marinated your choice of meat on a skewer served with peanut sauce and cucumber salad (the "cucumber salad" was a joke. It was some salad floating in vinegar) But the chicken was good and the peanut sauce was decent (AZU's was way better if you ask us).

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M- She got some soup (no idea what it's called since they just brought it) the soup was bad. It was cabbage flavored water. We each tried it and then it sat on the table. Red Curry. Red curry paste with coconut milk, bamboo shoots, bell pepper, snow pea, basil and your choice of meat (she got chicken). This was soooo good. I think this dish made the whole thing worth while. I will for sure be getting this next time I order from there. The coconut milk makes it amazing.

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Pros:

Nice atmosphere

Good prices

Good amount of food

They do orders to go

Child friendly(no children's menu)

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Cons:

Smelled of a strange kind of funk

Not the best food (hit or miss)

Did I mention the smell?

Food Quest: AZU Restaurant and Bar

Mandy took me out to this restaurant for our first girls night. I have to say that it's not child friendly (I would say maybe 10-12 and up would be fine....but not geared towards kids at all). Its a great date place. lol. Dim lighting and tables for two (that can be pushed together for larger parties). The food was so amazing I think about it often. They call their menu eclectic American, and I think it's a great choice of words. They do have a breakfast, lunch and dinner menu though we only went for dinner.

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AZU

What we ordered:

Shared- Field Greens salad. Apples, gorgonzola, walnuts, oranges, sun dried cranberries & balsamic dressing(I was surprised how well this tasted. Mandy ordered all the food that night since she had been there before and I hadn't). Chicken & Beef Satay. Chili glazed with peanut sauce and ginger dressing (This is the dish I think about often. It was the most amazing thing I have ever eaten.....no joke).

M & K- Lobster Mac & Cheese (Wow. Sounds not so good, but I swear it was amazing!)

We will be going back within the next few months and I will try to get picture then and update this!

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Pros:

Amazing food

Great date place

Good atmosphere

Good food selection

Decent amount of seating (but could have a wait time)

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Cons:

Not child friendly

Pricey(but worth it)

Some(read: one chick) of the staff wasn't the most friendly

Food Quest: Milagro (mexican)

I love me some good Mexican. Mandy and I went here a few weeks back(yay for girls night out!) and it was soooo good! It's a little restaurant so if you decide to go, don't go at peak times or you will be waiting since it fills up quick! It's child friendly though they do not have a children's menu, they will help you find something for your child. Also large groups could be hard due to the number of tables (only about 10 tables max in there).

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Milagro

What we ordered:

Shared- Salsa y Chips trio of salsa & corn chips (most amazing thing ever! 4 different kinds of sauce for dipping your chips in. Mild salsa, hot salsa, sour cream and a green salsa(which was the best))

M- Tacos al Pastor two mini tacos of citrus marinated pork with grilled pineapple on soft corn tortillas (I tried this, didn't think I was going to like it but I LOVED it!). She also got the special which was beer battered fish tacos.....most amazing thing I've ever eaten!

K- Sopa Azteca crisp tortilla strips & roasted chicken in rich guajillo pepper broth garnished with diced avocado, cheese, pasilla pepper flakes & sour cream (amazing soup, a must have). Enchiladas Rojas rotisserie chicken wrapped in a corn tortilla, baked in an ancho chili sauce, garnished with cilantro, onion, cheese & sour cream (it was good. I'll switch it up next time. The sauce was good but the extra cheese was a little overpowering)

Took home for J- Mole Poblano braised half chicken with a traditional Mexican chocolate & chili sauce (He loved it. He was so excited when I called and told him that they had Mole)

I have a feeling that we will be going back here often. I will add picture within the next month or two and update this post.

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Pros:

Great food

Great service

Fun atmosphere

Authentic Mexican food

Decent prices

Great amount of food for the money

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Cons:

Not a lot of tables (could have a wait)

Not 100% child friendly (but they do try to make it work)

Food Quest: Bobby Flay's Burger Palace

Mandy and I are doing a food quest. We've already gone to a few places but I didn't take any pictures. I'm going to be putting those places up and I will go back and add pictures once we revisit the restaurant. We've gone to some REALLY amazing places so far, all here in Connecticut! The rules are: No big chains (no one cares if we go to Applebees), reviews must be 100% honest!, pros and cons must be for the resturant only and the more hole in the wall the better!!
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So first up is......

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Bobby Flay's Burger Palace!

What we ordered:

M- L.A Burger(with chicken breast instead of beef) it had cheddar cheese, tomato, guacamole and watercress. With a side of sweet potato fries with the most amazing honey mustard horseradish dipping sauce.

K- Palace Classic Burger (well done!) it had American cheese, lettuce, tomato and red onion. I got a side of onion rings and french fries with the BBP fry sauce (I'm not one for fry sauce so I didn't care for it)

L- Kids BBP Burger Deal. Classic cheese burger with nothing on it, side of fries and a kids drink.

It was a really neat setup. You order, take your number and go sit down, when your food is ready they bring it to you. This is Lan waiting for our food.
Mandy's food. The sauce was soooo good!

Landon's food.
My food. I heart lemonade!

Huge onion rings.

Best fries I've ever had!!! Seriously.
All of the sauces you could use on the table.

Yellow mustard, Ketchup, Jalapeno hot sauce (which we all LOVED!), burger sauce(the next favorite) and Chipotle ketchup.

We tested them all out. The green in the middle was gone first. lol.

Getting our left overs to go.
Leftovers again.

Mandy & Landon. He could be her kid, I swear he looks more like her then he does me!

Landon and I getting ready to head back to the car. After stopping off to get dessert that is!

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Pros:

Great food!

Fun atmosphere

Amazing prices

Great amount of food for your money

No wait/good amount of seating

Very child friendly

Did I say great food?

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Cons

You have to walk through a casino to get to it (some smokey areas)