Saturday, October 27, 2007

Narin Thai - Dinner

Roasted Duck Curry ($13.00)
I started with an appetizer of Thai Spring rolls. They were light and crisp served with a peach sauce and a small salad. My main course was shredded duck in a red curry sauce. I ordered it "full hot" and it had a nice bite but did not blow off my head. The sauce was made with cherry tomatoes, green and red sweet peppers and of course, coconut milk and curry. It was served with sticky rice. For dessert I had sweet sticky rice with fresh mango. This three course meal was under totally under $27.00. It was wonderful and refreshing. Everything at the Narin Thai is presented beautiful and the decor is wonderful. It is located on the square at Newton with no parking lot but at dinner time there is plenty of parking on the street. This restaurant is only open for less than two weeks and I left at 6:00pm and there were four other couples dinning. I wish them well. It is a refreshing and healthy choice for Sussex County.

Friday, October 26, 2007

Hampton Diner - Dinner

Steak with Stuffed Shrimp ($17.95) As with other dinner choices here, you get soup, salad, vegetables and potato. I am not a big fan of stuffed shrimp (usually a blob of stuffing on top of the shrimp) so I took them home for lunch. I ordered the steak medium rare which I guess it was... along with being tough and with grizzle. When you go to a diner you should order diner food... well I did not this time and was disappointed. One should only order a steak in a grill place - definitely not in a diner. Unfortunately; it was raining; I wanted to get home so I broke a cardinal rule of eating out. When you go to a diner you should order diner food... well I did not this time and was disappointed. One should only order a steak in a grill place - definitely not in a diner. The Hampton Diner is just north of Newton on 206 with its own large parking lot.

Monday, October 22, 2007

Yetter's Diner - Dinner

Chicken Cassanova ($11.95)
This is two chicken breasts in a light brown gravy with large slices of mushrooms. Mozzarella cheese melted on top. It is served over pasta or rice (I ordered rice.) The dish comes with either soup or salad. I would liked to seen some vegetables also. Yetter's is typical diner food and you will be happy if that is what you are expecting. It was very busy when I was there and it is a pleasure to watch how the experienced servers work under pressure. It is an art form. Yetter's has their own parking lot and is north of Newton just past Ross's Corner on Route 206.

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Narin Thai - Dinner

Hot Pepper (Pad Krapao) ($13.00) Since I am not familiar with Thai food, on the advice of the waitress, I selected an appetizer (Chicken Satay - $6.00) which was slices of chicken in a bright peanut sauce over lettuce, diced cucumbers and red onions. The entree came with either chicken or beef or $2.00 more for shrimp. I was warned about the "Thai heat" so I asked for it to be "American hot" (my term.) There was just a little bite of heat so the next time I will ask for the full Thai heat for the spicy dishes. Both the appetizer and entree were wonderful. Both the taste and textures were bright and crisp. The entree was mostly a wide variety of vegetables with four large shrimp. Since it was the first time, I also ordered coffee and dessert (fried bananas on vanilla ice cream.) It was a very interesting presentation. 2" slices of banana were wrapped in a package of pastry and fried. Two of these packages were served over two small scoops of delicious ice cream. The Narin Tai restaurant is on the square in Newton (former location of Il Baccio, Thyme Square, and Peekays.) It is a pleasant change for the area. The food is bright, crisp and healthy. The only problem is the parking... you must park on the square or street. It is a BYOB place and there is a convenient liquor store around the corner on Spring Street. I will go back. I hope it lasts, giving us some culinary variety in the area. NOTE: I went on their first Wednesday night open and it was good to see two other couples eating at 5:30. They also appear to be doing a brisk take-out business. They are open for lunch with the same menu at cheaper prices.

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Everything homemade - lunch

Shrimp Salad sandwich ($7.95)
The sandwich was made on homemade toasted white bread and was served with a nice green salad. There is a poor selection of drinks. I chose a blueberry flavored green tea making the total for my lunch around $9.85. I was frankly surprised at how long it took my sandwich to appear for something that required minimal preparation. This is a trendy looking pastry shop and cafe. It is mainly a pastry shop and all the baked goods looked wonderful. The cafe menu is on a blackboard with only several items. Everything Homemade, Pastry Shop and Cafe is located in Olde Lafeyette Village so there is plenty of parking. The bakery goods look wonderful, but unless your wallet is bulging and you are looking for a trendy sandwich, I would find another place to eat for lunch.