Mango's in Branford, CT

Mangos in Branford, CT is a Key West style restaurant.  It is nestled in a little courtyard just off Main Street in the center of town.  My wife and mother took me there for my birthday.  The wife and I love Key West and have been there several times.  I was really excited to be swept away back to the island by the food at this establishment.  Unfortunately, I was disappointed. 

The meal started with drinks (of course).  Sam Adams Octoberfest was sounding good to me.  I read the menu over and over, trying to decide what I wanted.  So many thinks sounds amazing.  I finally settled on the Mangos Burger.  I know it sounds boring, but check this out. 
 

There was the burger (obviously) topped with fresh avocado slices, cheddar cheese, fried onions strings, and jalapeno barbeque sauce.  Before I even got to taste my food, disaster strikes!  We all got our meals; I cut my burger in half for the picture and all I see is red.  As in, UNDERCOOKED meat.  The wife’s was undercooked as well.  Everyone else got chicken or vegetarian meals.  So I ask the waitress if they can cook me another burger because this one was too rare.  She fully agreed with me and took it back to the kitchen.  (Side note: This restaurant has a small open kitchen and I was within earshot of the chef.)  I hear the chef yell something about the Mango burger and a few minutes later I have my dinner in front of me.  I was amazed at how little time it took to fire up another burger.  So, again I cut my dinner in half for the picture and I’m amazed to see my burger is already cut in half.  They scraped the topping off my burger, threw it back on the grill, then put fresh toppings on and a new roll and sent it back out to me. 
 

Now, if I was truly a professional, I would not have stood for this.  I would have complained to the waitress, demanded to speak with the chef and/or the manager, and I would not have eaten that dish OR paid for it.  However, I was with my family, it was my birthday, and they were already eating.  Instead of making a scene I choked down my now overcooked twice grilled burger with “fresh” toppings.  At least they didn’t spit in it…I hope. 

The avocado was indeed fresh as I could tell from the bright green/yellow color and its creamy texture.  The flavor was totally lost under the sharp flavor of the barbeque sauce.  The sauce was tangy but did not have any hint of jalapeno and actually tasted like it was off the shelf; not made in house.  The onions were very thinly sliced onion rings which added a nice texture to the meal.  And the cheese was just plain old orange cheddar.  My side was fries which were fresh looking (skins still on) and tasted like they were twice fried.  First they were par fried, then fried again to crisp them up when someone ordered them.  

I have eaten at this restaurant before and I had enjoyed it.  I’m not sure if they changed chefs or just stopped caring about the food they serve.  Either way, I will not be rushing back to Mangos anytime soon.

Eli's on the Hill

Eli’s on the Hill is a new restaurant in Branford, CT and is the sister restaurant of Eli’s on Whitney in Hamden.  When I first walked in my attention was drawn to the bar area.  The bar was large and surrounded by bistro tables and stools.  There were more LCD televisions than I could count both on the inside and outside of the soffit above the bar.  At first I thought this was going to be another typical sports bar wanna-be.  Once we were seated I glanced at the menu.  The choices were astounding.  The appetizers seemed to be your typical pub variety, but the dinner choices ranged from burgers to gourmet pasta dishes and more.  

We started with the loaded nachos.  A heaping pile of tortilla chips topped with cheese, tomatoes, beef chili, scallions and jalapenos.  The cheese was thoroughly melted and the chips were crispy and not too salty.  The chili seemed to be made in house, but I’m sure the chips were not.  I do have to mention that this appetizer took a long time to come out.  However, the restaurant it new and I will chalk that up to the staff still getting used their new digs.  My pint glass was kept full which in turn kept me a bit happier.

My main course was the Chicken Eli, listed on the menu as chicken breasts marinated in a light white wine sauce accompanied by cherry peppers, sweet bell peppers and potato hearts.  When it arrived, I was amazed at the size of the portion.  I ended up getting three meals out of it.  There were four large pieces of chicken breast swimming in the mix of peppers and white wine sauce.  The potato hearts were russet potatoes shaved down a smaller size and sliced in half.  The entire dish was overcooked but the flavor was all there.  The potatoes fell apart, the peppers were soggy with absolutely no crunch and the chick was a bit dry.  On the other hand the sauce was nicely assembled with just the right amount of hot cherry peppers and sweet bell peppers.  I enjoyed the kick that the cherry peppers added throughout the entire dish.  Then there was the garlic.  I’m Italian and I love garlic.  With the amount of garlic that was in this dish it should have been listed in as one of the main ingredients.  Large half cloves of garlic appeared on almost ever fork full I ate.  After the first few enjoyable bites, the garlic started to overpower the flavor of the pepper wine sauce and the dish quickly turned to garlic chicken in a white wine sauce.

The menu options all sounded good and there are several other dishes that I would like to try.  Most likely I will return to Eli’s on the Hill and try a different menu option.  Hopefully by then the cooks are used to the new menu, the wait staff is a bit more trained, and they run out of garlic.

Thanksgiving Day 2008

Thanksgiving is a great time of the year.  Most of the leaves have dropped from the trees in New England.  People fill their calendars with time off from work.  Family comes to visit. Every store in town has a sale.  Oh yeah, and food.  Enormous amounts of food.  The average American eats upwards of 5,000-7,000 calories on Thanksgiving.  I ate my fair share, and then some. 

Dinner this year was at my in-laws house.  I arrived early to help with the turkey and left the wife behind at home making mashed potatoes.  To my defense, I did peel five pounds of potatoes before I left.  I had also made herb butter from the night before seasoned with fresh chopped sage, thyme, rosemary, salt and black pepper.  I wrapped it in cellophane, formed into a log, and froze overnight.  Once the birds were prepped and cleaned I sliced the herb butter into chips and placed them under the skin of the turkey, making sure to evenly distribute them.  I also made a few small cuts into the meat of the turkey and jammed some butter into the meat.  Once that was finished I massaged the remaining butter on the outside of the bird and seasoned with salt and pepper.  The oven already preheated to 325º, the birds went in and the timer went on.  

After picking up the wife (she had prepared the mashed potatoes and an antipasto dish) we headed back to the in-laws.  My mother-in-law was preparing the sides when I returned.  Her stuffing was reinforced with fresh celery and onions that had been sautéed in a large skillet before being mixed with the bread and seasonings.  Green bean casserole was assembled in Corningware with those little fried French onions layered on top.  A vegetable medley was seasoned with a simple mix of butter, salt, and pepper.  Trust me, it’s all it needed.

While we were putting the finishing touches on all the dishes the family was devouring the antipasto tray the wife had made.  I probably ate half of it.  It consisted of two different types of cheddar, Pepper Jack, sharp provolone, pepperoni, marinated eggplant, pepperoncinis, marinated artichoke hearts, giardiniera salad, and crackers.  I could have eaten just that for my meal and been satisfied.

After several bastings of the turkey (and three hours of cook time) the turkey was removed from the oven, basted one last time, and flipped breast side down to rest.  This was also the best time for me to mix the drippings with the *cough* jarred gravy.  This was a trick my wife saw on TV to make your store bought gravy taste more home made.  It definitely did the trick.  Most jarred gravies are too think and plain.  Adding the drippings (which include some fat, butter, and seasonings from the birds) adds layers of flavor to the usually flat jarred stuff and thins it out to a more home made consistency.  

Being my in-laws house, my father-in-law had the honor of carving up the turkeys.  Yes, that is an electric knife circa 1980 that he’s using.  I don’t want to talk about it.  Once everything was ready we rang the dinner bell and the hordes came charging towards the food table.  It was a whirlwind of food, family, drinks, and yelling; like a family of Tasmanian devil’s at an endless feast.  After the commotion quieted down I helped myself to a plate.  At this time I also realized that I had tasted everything we had made so far and I was already full.  What the heck, it’s the holidays, right?

I ate it all.  I finished my plate.  The herbed turkey was perfect.  You can taste the traces of fresh herbs throughout the meat and skin.  I was lucky enough to get a piece that had one of the pockets of herbs I made.  The potatoes were rich and creamy and the stuffing was perfectly seasoned with just the right textures of crunchy vegetables and slightly soft but not soggy bread cubes.  The vegetables and of course cranberry sauce were also present on my plate, if only for a brief amount of time.  I was so excited to eat, I didn't even get a picture of my plate.  Here is a shot of some of the dishes.  (I must apologize to my Mother-in-law for not getting a full picture of her "tablescape").

All in all it was a good meal.  I was content.  Filled to the limit with what our forefathers supposedly ate on their Thanksgiving Day with the Native Americans.  I was happy, almost euphoric with so much amazing food jammed into my digestive system.  I could have died a happy man.  Then I was reminded of dessert.  You’ve got to be kidding.

Five pies.  You’re NOT kidding?  How am I ever going to make room?  There was the ever present apple, two pumpkins, a chocolate lemon, and a blueberry crumb.  Oh.  My.  God.  I opted for a small slice of apple and a slice of blueberry crumb.  No cool whip, there’s not enough room.  I know the pies were store bought but it didn’t matter. After the pounds of savory salty foods I had just consumed I required something sweet.  And boy was this pie sweet.  The apple was tart and sweet, laced with cinnamon and brown sugar.  The blueberry was topped with large chunks of tightly packed crumbs consisting of butter, sugar, cinnamon, and who knows what else.  It was heavenly, until I got to the end.  Then I felt sick.  I had eaten more than my capacity.  More than any human should eat in one sitting.  So I did what all men do when they eat too much.  Watch football and fall asleep.

*Balloon art by Kurt Beckley of Balloonbenders.com