Pimentos-Exeter, NH

Last night I was out and about the Exeter area with a friend of mine. We were done work for the day and wanted to shoot downtown for a drink or two. We went to the downstairs lounge at Pimentos at 69 Water St. I like the lounge here. It has a nice feel to it and the drinks are average in price. We got a high table top and decided we were going to share a lite bite while chatting and catching up with each other. Our waitress suggested the stuffed dumplings. She said that they use to have pumpkin ones that were delicious and now had new ones on the menu that were artichoke and baby spinach stuffed dumplings with a goat cheese sauce. I figured we would give it a whirl. I drank my glass of house Cabernet and my friend drank a glass of Blue Moon (bottle, not on draft). OK, let me ask you this, picture in your mind what you think DUMPLINGS should look like....you see them? OK, our waitress brings this plate over of 4 very small, very flat ravioli looking things that are covered in the goat cheese sauce. First thing out of my friends mouth was "those are NOT dumplings!" I was puzzled myself, but we each tried one. They weren't anything to write home about, that was for sure. The goat cheese sauce was very bland and didn't really have that goat cheese bite you often taste when it's a sauce. Four tiny, thin raviolis for $9.00....WHAT? Are you serious? The regular dinner menu at Pimentos has some nice sounding dishes on it, but I think they are overpriced. Exeter didn't need a wanna be fine dining restaurant, they need some place reasonably priced with good food to keep the people coming back. The upstairs dining room was empty and including us there were 5 others in the downstairs lounge. Our waitress came over to clear our plates and asked us what we thought of the dumplings and I told her I didn't think they were much like dumplings at all and that they had no real flavor to them. She still stuck with her story that the pumpkin ones were really good, but that maybe she shouldn't be recommending these new artichoke and baby spinach ones. A few minutes later when she brought the check, she said "I stuck my finger in your sauce on the plate when I took it and I agree, the sauce was really bland." That was interesting. We finished our drinks, paid and left. I will go back to Pimentos downstairs lounge again, but only to have drinks. I will pass on the lite bites next time. I think maybe they are overshooting here with the menu. Guess time will tell how business does for this new joint.
UPDATE OF PIMENTOS-3.14.09- I'm done with this place. I have been back 3 times since I wrote up the review and last night was the last attempt to see what others like about this restaurant. As soon as my friend and I sat down (downstairs at one of the high tables in the lounge area), the waitress came over to let us know that they are out of ALL chicken dishes and sandwiches, the haddock sandwich and the steak tips. I asked her how is that possible for a Friday night? She said they were busy Thursday night and didn't get any of those items back in for the weekend. I ordered Malbec and for dinner had the steak baguette (the waitress recommended this) that came with their pomme frites. The meat was fatty and the pomme frites were really oily. I didn't finish my meal because I was full....of disappointment once again! My friend was hungry and liked the hamburger she ordered. I asked about desserts, but was informed the kitchen was closing so if I wanted something I should decide quick (it was almost 10), I passed. When I was brought my 2ND glass of wine, it was full of cork pieces. I drink a lot of wine (don't take that the wrong way, ha ha ha) and I wasn't going to drink this glass. I asked nicely for a new glass of Malbec and watched our waitress bring it over to the bartender. The bartender looked at it and then looked at me with one of those looks like tells you she really doesn't care about the cork in your wine and was bothered that she had to repour. When the waitress returned with it, she asked if she could bring us our check because she wanted to go home for the night and that the bartender would pick up our table. We cashed her out and although we were there for about another 45mins, no one ever came back to our table to check on us or ask if we wanted anything else. I guess because the bartender was busy hanging out at the bar serving one of the owners, a few other workers off the clock and a couple of friends. Bye Pimentos, good luck.

The Green Monkey for Restaurant Week

86 Pleasant St

Portsmouth, NH
http://www.thegreenmonkey.net/

Of course you knew I would be all over Portsmouth Restaurant week. Who in their right mind wouldn't be with the state of the economy? Tonight I dined at The Green Monkey to enjoy their fine food and libations. Owner Deb Weeks was working the floor and was excited to already be enjoying what was going to be another booked evening for the restaurant. That's a great sign of others being out and enjoying this week of special treats. Owned by partners Phelps Dieck and Deb Weeks, The Green Monkey will be celebrating its 5Th year anniversary on the 22ND of this month. Deb and Phelps also take care of their baby across the street, Brazo (another gem of mine). The restaurant has a clean, sleek modern feel to it and there was a good buzz of tables conversing which is always a good sign of happy guests. The bar is small but was consistently busy with a youthful crowd. Although my eyes wandered over their delicious menu, I wanted to make sure that tonight I took advantage of their participation in Restaurant Week and ordered off of the Prixe Fix 3 course menu for the bargain price of $29.95. I started my evening by with a Thai Mango Fizz ($10) served with their signature tail hanging monkey, I enjoyed this sweeter martini. My dining companion had a Dirty Swedish Girl ($10) which is their pour of a dirty martini and a good one at that. My first course choice was a salad served deconstructed and consisted of a slow roasted mixed beet salad, a generous cut of walnut crusted goat cheese, fresh greens and served with a thyme & Meyer lemon vinaigrette. I know its just a salad, but I haven't enjoyed one as much as I did this one in a very long time. meals were served with a basket of warm, crusty, sour dough bread accompanied by a garlic infused butter. My dining companion chose the 2ND first course option of an acorn squash and apple bisque topped with toasted seeds and cardamom cream. The bisque was smooth and very tasty. The cardamom cream I thought was a nice touch. My second course pick was the Chicken Trio with stir fried vegetable lo mein, marinated breast dressed with a 5 spice jus, crispy soy line drumstick and 2 chicken and leek dumplings. The trio was very good and I especially loved the dumplings, but left most of the lo mein on the plate as it was too salty to enjoy. The other option for your entree off of the prixe fix was the House made Fettuccine with grilled eggplant caponnata and shaved NH tomme cheese. My dining companion really enjoyed. I sampled some of it myself and thought it was really good too. Nothing really beats house made pasta! OK, ready for the dessert options? I chose the pumpkin spice creme brulee with maple sugar cookies over the cherry and cognac bread pudding and I definitely think I picked the winner. The brulee was perfect and was so rich I was sad that I couldn't finish it, but glad that someone else at the table did for me. Our waitress Betsy was great. She was prompt and friendly and always came to the table with a smile. What really made the evening enjoyable was the warm hospitality that Deb Weeks provided. When you are welcomed into a restaurant as Deb welcomes you, you know you will be back again and again. Thank you Deb, chef Patrick, Phelps and the rest of The Green Monkey staff, keep up the good work. I will be seeing you again soon for those pumpkin seed encrusted scallops!

Portsmouth Restaurant Week-Nov 10th-16th

Take a bite out of Portsmouth's Restaurant Week, it's a great opportunity to visit some of the best restaurants that Portsmouth has to offer at great prices!
Nov. 10-16, Participating Restaurants include: Agavé Mexican Bistro Dos, Black Trumpet Bistro, Blue Mermaid Island Grill, Brazo, The Carriage House, The Dolphin Striker, The Dunaway Restaurant at Strawbery Banke, The Green Monkey, Harbor's Edge at the Sheraton Harborside, Jumpin' Jay's Fish Café, The Library Restaurant, Pesce Blue, The Portsmouth Brewery, Portsmouth Gas Light Co., Radici, Ristorante Massimo, Rudi's Portsmouth and The Wellington Room.
Restaurant Week Portsmouth will feature three-course prix fixe menus for $16.95 per person for lunch and $29.95 per person for dinner (does not include beverages, taxes or gratuity). Reservations are strongly recommended.
To book reservations, diners must contact the individual restaurant(s) of their choice. On Saturday, Nov. 15 participating restaurants will only accept Restaurant Week reservations for parties seated prior to 6:30 p.m.

Details: Visit www.restaurantweekportsmouth.com or call the Greater Portsmouth Chamber of Commerce at 610-5510

Harbors Edge, Sheraton Harborside, Portsmouth, NH

http://www.sheratonportsmouth.com/dining.cfm

I have to say, I was very disappointed in my dinner at the Harbors Edge at the Sheraton. I was surprised too since I have spent a holiday meal there, Easter last year matter of fact and really enjoyed it. My dining companion ordered the Chicken Scallopine ($20) which came with the title of "a house favorite" and was Panko crusted sauteed chicken cutlets, olive oil, garlic, mushrooms, fresh mozzarella,
Lemon basil butter sauce, grilled asparagus and creamy wild mushroom risotto. The chicken really lacked any flavor and although the asparagus was good (how can you really screw up asparagus though?) the risotto was way too thick and unenjoyable. I ordered the Pan Roasted Salmon ($24) with warm tomato shallot compote, white truffle oil, creamy wild mushroom risotto and grilled asparagus. I had to agree with my dining companion on the risotto here, I don't know whether the cook just had an off night with the risotto or just wasn't in the mood to care. You know good risotto when you have it. The salmon was average in taste and was a small portion size for price. We skipped apps and after both of us having disappointing entrees, we skipped the desserts too. The dining at dusk menu is good bang for your buck(served 5pm-630pm) and available if you seat upstairs in the lounge ($13.99). I would think twice about eating a meal downstairs in the main dining room though.

Flatbread Company- Portsmouth location

http://www.flatbreadcompany.com/

Flatbread Company originally started in 1998 with the Amesbury, MA mills location. Now they have locations in Portland, ME, North Conway, NH, Canton, CT, Bedford, MA and Paia, HI. If you have yet to set foot inside any of their locations, add it to your list of must try pizzas. When you first enter a Flatbread Company restaurant, you can't help but be drawn in my the huge wood grilled fire that is surrounded by an open kitchen so you can watch your pizza not only be prepared, but also cooked. The atmosphere of the 3 locations I have visited have all been warm and welcoming and visiting a Flatbread Co to me always feels like a treat. This visit to the Portsmouth NH location right down 138 Congress St I took someone who had never heard of or been to one before. As soon as we walked in, he knew he was in for something special. He said he thought we were just going out to a run of the mill pizza joint. O contrar! We got a cozy little table for two right by the kitchen and the wood fired oven. We were waited on by Grant who was very friendly and prompt with anything we needed. We each started our meal with a glass of Rex Goliath Cabernet ($7) and we split the house Organic Salad with Heart Song Farms goat cheese ($7.50). It has organic mesculin and sweet leaf lettuces tossed with organic celery and carrots, tossed sesame seeds, arame seaweed and a homemade berry vinaigrette. For our pizza, we shared a large homemade Sausage pizza with sauce ($18 and more than enough for two people to share). It has nitrate free, maple fennel sausage, sun dried tomatoes, caramelized organic (I don't think i need to keep typing organic, you get it by now, the have only organic products) onions, mushrooms, whole milk mozzarella and grana padano cheese (a sharper parm taste) baked on bread dough that is topped with their wood fired cauldron tomato sauce. If we hadn't of shared the salad, we easily could have polished off that whole pizza, but we brought a few slices home. I knew my dining partner enjoyed the meal when he sat there and said he wished he had his sweatpants on. HA HA HA! We passed on dessert, but they have a killer (HUGE) homemade brownie sundae with Annabelle's vanilla ice cream ($6.25) or their homemade gingerbread with Annabelle's pumpkin ice cream. YUM. The stated purpose of the Flatbread Co. is to create a restaurant that is authentic, truthful and real. I think they have accomplished that. Enjoy!