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Green Bay, WI: Wally’s Spot Supper Club

I went to Green Bay (via the Milwaukee Airport and a 2 hour drive each way) for a business trip. We were in Wisconsin for just about 24 hours, but in that time, we had to make a stop for dinner. I was with someone that spent time in Wisconsin and she recommended going to a Supper Club, which is popular in WI. She found Wally’s Spot Supper Club and we plugged it into the GPS.

After miles and miles on a highway without much of anything, we drove into Green Bay by a bunch of strip malls. And then the GPS told us we had arrived and I looked beside us to see a building that really can only be described as resembling a strip club. It had a neon sign rotating on a giant round marquis. (Check out their site if you want a taste of the classiness)

But hell… we were in Green Bay. So I was up for an adventure.

We went in and it was immediately evident that this was a local’s joint. Everyone knew everyone and I had to remind myself that we were not in New York City anymore as we were juggled around and finally seated by the bar tender in the dining room, which resembled a catering hall with a lovely drop ceiling.

Trying to leave my judgements beside, I couldn’t help but feel like we were a sore thumb as we pulled out or iPhones and snapped pictures, but hell, why not.

Most entrees come with a salad bar, which wasn’t too big but had all the right things to put together a good salad. (And it kind of reminded me of a Charlie Brown’s Steakhouse, a place I have no embarrassment admitting to loving)

The bread came out and it was quite tasty, though I can only assume that the shiny stuff on top was butter?

Our meals also came with soup, for which an option was French Onion. The waitress then asked if we wanted melted mozzarella on top for an additional $1. I was quite taken aback that French Onion soup could possibly be served without cheese, but we sprung the extra $1 and got it. We were in Wisconsin, afterall. This was just okay. The cheese obviously being an afterthought meant that there were no burnt on bits (which is the best part of the soup, in my opinion) and the soup tasted similar to the canned variety to me. I think French Onion Soup is typically also served with a more flavorful cheese, like provolone, so it was not what I was hoping for.

I got the surf and turf and went with a prime rib and scallops. The scallops were some of the most boring, tasteless scallops I’ve ever had (serves me right for ordering in a very land locked state) but the prime rib was quite flavorful and the jus with it was nice and meaty.

It was served with “hash browns” which was a plate of very thin, grated potatoes that were not quite crispy and had just about zero flavor. Shame. This could have been an awesome version of a latke. Miss.

My coworker got the New York strip steak. I just had to laugh when I saw it was served with two pats of butter right on top. I mean, sure, steak with butter is great, but this was just two pats… right on top. She seemed to enjoy her steak though.

Even though we were stuffed, they mentioned that one of their waitresses is the baker and makes everything from scratch. So along with the orange sherbet that came with the meal (on the right in the picture below… egregiously colored but nicely flavored), we got the banana cream cheese and the chocolate mousse cakes.

The banana cake was very nice, which a great moist banana bread flavor. Though the icing was a bit under-flavored, the cake made up for it.

I really liked the chocolate mousse cake. Not too sweet, not too bitter, all the right textures.

And did I mention that the pieces were HUGE?

Overall, Wally’s Spot was just too easy to make fun of as being a midwest “hot spot” with mediocre food. Some things were very good, some were very bland. I see why this place is liked by locals, however, I was happy to return to Manhattan.

Total Nom Points: 5.5 out of 10

Tags: banana cake, chocolate mousse cake, french onion soup, green bay, new york strip steak, prime rib, restaurant review, restaurants, salad bar, scallops, steak, supper club, supper club green bay, travel restaurants, wally's spots, wisconsin

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Categories Eating Out, Travel

Westport, CT: Red Hen in the Westport Inn

15 Oct

After a lovely team event near my Westport, CT offices, I went out with my friend to grab a nice dinner before driving back to NYC. We checked out Yelp and made some calls to see who could take us right away. The Red Hen in the Westport Inn said they were having a slow night and their ratings were quite good, so we decided to check it out.

Sure enough, they were quite empty. The chef was at the bar and we were one of just two seated tables in the small restaurant off the lobby. We instantly fell in love with the decorations. The doors as dividers with this fun farmhouse feel. Really loved it.

The chef came over to our table and instantly started chatting us up. His love for food and excited for this restaurant was palpable. He talked about how he sources all of his ingredients as locally and sustainably as possible. He talked about wanting to step everything up a notch and we gave him some ideas of what we wanted to try and told him to have at it.

The first thing we tried was the zucchini fritters. These were tasty, but I’m not sure if they were right. The inside of the fritters was more like zucchini dip. Not raw, per se, but I wasn’t sure if that was really how they were intended or if they were meant to be solid all the way through. I did like the balsamic reduction on top, however.

Then we tried the vegan spring rolls. These had a few peppers in it, but I managed to pick around it. I liked the idea of it and the hoisin sauce was good, but I’m not sure I could recommend it.

We also tried the sundried tomato and basil sausage. It came with a cilantro dijonaise sauce and the cilantro was a perfect compliment to the taste of the sausage. But the sausage itself was a bit overcooked and dry. Bummer.

I saw bacon crusted arctic char on the menu and had to try it. Turns out, the chef makes a bacon paste-like substance to crust the char. It came with mashed sweet potatoes and grilled squash. Everything on this place was very good. The char was perfectly cooked and the bacon was a great compliment. There was an awesome char on the squash and zucchini and the sweet potatoes were tasty.

We also decided to try the grilled cheese with a side of brussels sprouts. The grilled cheese was a special version that had a mixture of cheeses and came with an onion jam.

And boy was it special. Everything else we tried at The Red Hen was good but not special, and for the most part not flawless. But this grilled cheese was awesome. Exactly what grilled cheese should be (and better). Nicely browned and toasty bread (but not too much of it) with a hearty, flavorful cheese and the sweetness of the onion jam. Mm mm mmm this was good!

The brussels sprouts were just okay. I like them roasted and crispy much better.

Overall, I think the chef’s excitement actually set expectations too high. I know exactly what he’s going for, but the food wasn’t quite there. There was a lack in depth of flavor in most of the dishes we tried and some executional problems. But everything was still quite good and that grilled cheese was something special! I will certainly return and probably order a bit differently next time. But I still recommend.

Total Nom Points: 6.5 out of 10

Tags: arctic char, bacon wrapped fish, brussels sprouts, chicken sausage, connecticut, grilled cheese, onion jam, red hen, restaurant review, restaurants, squash, sweet potatoes, vegan, vegan springrolls, westport, westport inn, zucchini fritters

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Categories Eating Out, Travel

Honeymoon: San Francisco, CA – Umami Burger (FINALLY!)

20 Aug

We had spent a good amount of time in San Francisco on a prior trip, so we really only spent a few hours in the city before our flight back home.

The only place we made a point to stop at was Umami Burger.

All my California friends sing the praises of Umami burger constantly, but we were yet to get one in NYC (that all changed just a few weeks later). So this was our chance.

Umami burger has a regular menu but then also has specials that align with the individual location. This being San Francisco, the specialty burger was the Bacon-Wrapped Scallop Burger: hand-chopped scallop patty, crispy pork belly, sweet chile sauce and yuzu-garlic aioli. We went without the chile sauce due to my allergy, but we certainly didn’t miss it. This was one flipping fantastic burger! The scallops were so sweet and so flavorful and everything on it just made for a decadent and flavor rich mouthful.

We also tried the Truffle Burger which came with house-made truffle cheese and truffle glaze.

Do not let looks deceive you. This burger looks simple but the taste was outrageous. Super truffly and the burger patty itself was packed with rich flavor.