La Chiquita Mexican Restaurant & Cantina-Salisbury, MA

188 Lafayett Rd (Route 1)

Salisbury, MA

http://www.lachiquitas.com/

I think I have driven by La Chiquita Restaurant & Cantina at least fifty times in the past year and a half it has been located on Rt 1 in Salisbury, MA. Never would I have known about this diamond in the rough if not for a tip from a friend to give it a try.

Family owned and operated, Ricardo (O.K, Richard) will welcome you as a part of his family and bring the true, traditional, authentic flavors of Mexico. Sure, the building is nothing special and the decor is far from fancy, but take my word for it friends, the Mexican food served up here daily will blow you away. Open 7 days a week, serving a FULL menu until 1am (yup, 1am), you just have to give it a try. The Cantina offers you over 200 different types of Tequila (see picture of Ricardo in front of the Tequila wall) and they don't mess around with their Margarita mix here either. It's made right in house in the traditional Mexico style. I had the opportunity to attend one of Ricardo's Tequila 101 dinners which are now being offered every Monday night at 7pm. For only $29.95, you can learn all about Tequila, sample 3 different types hand picked by Ricardo, have dinner AND enjoy a house margarita with your choice of one of the three Tequilas you sampled. I learned about the 5 points of Tequila, why some leave me with huge headaches the next day and why some do not.

The food is amazing. The flavors bold and fresh. Everything is house made from the chips and salsa served up at 3 different heat levels, to the tortillas and the cactus salad. As part of my dinner, I chose the El Indio dinner combination plate ($12.99 on the menu). It included a huge side cactus salad (a cold pear cactus salad with fresh tomato, onion, cilantro, lime juice) and a chicken tamale. One bite of my tamale and I knew immediately I will be a new regular here. It was better than the tamale I enjoyed while visiting my friend Amy in San Diego who took me to a farmers market. I don't think there wasn't a clean plate in my group at the end of our meal. Two fellow diners had the Zapatas combination plate ($11.99) and they both inhaled the chile relleno (a battered cheese stuffed poblano pepper) that came along side a beef or chicken burrito. Another diner in the group went for the La Suiza ($10.99) which has 3 enchiladas, one chicken, one cheese and one beef served up with green and red sauce. All the combination plates are served with rice and beans. At the end of the Tequila 101 lesson and meal, we enjoyed our margaritas and it was seriously one of the best margaritas I have ever had.

In addition to the Monday night Tequila 101 dinners there is different entertainment nightly including Latin dance lessons on Tuesdays. If you go and have to drag a friend or two that aren't big fans of Mexican food, don't worry, they also have nightly American dinner specials and the Wednesday night all you can eat BBQ for only $10.00 is hard to beat. He even will host this by request for a larger group or gathering on the weekends if you call and ask him to. There is also a 2000 square foot patio off the back that is great in the summer. You can even play KENO while you dine if you want to. I have a friend Kristin that I think is a closet junky for that game. All football season you can watch the Patriots games and every time the Pats score a touchdown, they serve everyone a Mystery Margarita shot. What is it you ask? Well, any tequila bottles that have 2 ounces or less at the end of the night Ricardo pours into one large container, mixes it up with the house margarita mix and you have the next days Mystery Margarita (color and taste changes daily and it is on the Margarita menu for $7.50). All the Margaritas are 16 oz servings too and you don't see that often around these parts with the short pours. Every Thursday night during the month of October, Ricardo is running the Rocky Horror picture show at 10pm and in January there will be Mexican cooking classes offered. The next time you want authentic, good, homemade Mexican food, make the trip to Salisbury, MA and tell Ricardo your friend the Seacoast blogger sent you.

Anneke Jans- Kittery, Maine

60 Wallingford Square- http://www.annekejans.net/

Open all week from 5pm to close.

Downtown Kittery is often missed. Most people who travel into the area, scoot right up to the outlets and never really find themselves in the small, quaint heart of downtown Kittery. That's a shame really since perfectly placed on the corner, there is a wonderful little restaurant very well known to the locals called Anneke Jans. Owned by Donna Ryan and Andy Livingston this bistro style joint fills up fast and rightly so. Chef Charles Cicero offers ups some wonderfully creative dishes on the menu that change often and are full of flavor. The decor is simple with dark color schemes that give off a very seacoast New England vibe. The bar and dinning areas of the restaurant are both small so I highly suggest reservations or be prepared to wait a while for a seat.

I enjoy starting off my my meal with a glass of wine from their large and well rounded wine list while I eagerly wait for a dozen or so of the raw oysters (the last time I visited, it was the little Pemaquids) served with Bloody Mary & Preserved Lemon Mignonette (love, love, love the Preserved Lemon Mignonette!).

I will share with you my top 3 dishes here although it's a tough decision to blog only 3 and they will surely change as the menu does! The Seared Duck Breast with a blueberry glaze served with wild rice pancake and grilled asparagus for $27. the duck is moist, the glaze enhances the rich fatty flavor of the duck and the wild rice pancake I think is a nice change to have for a starch. The Roasted Half Chicken served with polenta and a mushroom ragoût for $19 is well worth it and delicious! I know, most will tell you when you dine out, don't be boring and get chicken, but this bird at Anneke Jans is worth being the "boring one". My favorite dish here hands down, so far is the sunflower seed encrusted Sea Scallops with a sunchoke puree, edamame cipollini and a light lemon cream for $27. The last time I dined here, I agreed to spilt my scallop dish with one of my dinning companions who had the sirloin strip and although the sirloin was very good, I was sad for having to agreed with the meal trade. ha ha ha.

Whether you find yourself around Kittery for the shopping or just by chance your cruising around the coastline, I definitely think that you should venture into Anneke Jans and see for yourself what the happy, full gathering of the locals is all about.

Fat Belly's- 2 Bow St., Portsmouth NH

Fat Belly's has made this one very easy for me to add to my reviews. Don't waste your time or money here unless you are just having a few beers. Move right on down the road to the plethora of other, better restaurants that Portsmouth has to offer.

The Tavern at River's Edge- Exeter, NH

Located below street level at 163 Water St. in downtown Exeter, The Tavern at River's Edge has a great menu to offer you in a casual dining setting. I have been a regular diner for a number of years and often opt to sit in the bar area where you can order off their lighter fare menu or their full dinner menu. I also like that a glass of their house Cabernet (Sycamore Lane) is only $5 a glass. I have yet to have a disappointing meal here and have almost always enjoyed the service. I'm a big fan of their Tavern Wings which are deep fried, then baked and you can have them finished either with spicy hot barbecue or sesame soy sauce ($9). I also like the blackened haddock sandwich- a decent sized pan seared creole filet of haddock topped with optional red pepper mayonnaise and french fries ($8). It's served on a big soft bulky roll and can really hit the spot. Their hamburger is average, but I have yet to find one that isn't on the Seacoast. Off of their full dinner menu, they really have a nice variety of meal options to choose from. When I in the mood for a little more than the lighter fare options, there are two dishes here that I usually go back and forth on. The Chicken Frangelico is a large serving of nut encrusted breast of chicken pan seared topped with a Frangelico cream sauce and finished with long grain wild rice and roasted vegetables ($18). I really like the Frangelico cream sauce (but who wouldn't?) and I find for the price, the portion is well worth it. My other favorite here is the Vegetable Lasagna. You can order a smaller portion of this delish dish for $12 or you can get the full diner portion for $16. I like to find restaurants that offer you the small meal options since I enjoy an appetizer before dinner I rarely can enjoy a large dinner out. The lasagna has roasted eggplant, hot house tomatoes, button mushrooms, onions and spinach layered with mozzarella and ricotta cheese with a smoked tomato cream. Here again (like the Chicken Frangelico), the sauce really makes the dish special and different.It has a very rich flavor that really takes the lasagna to a higher level than one that you would have just with regular tomato sauce. I also must mention that on the weekends they serve up one heck of a piece of prime rib! The chef here does change a few items every couple of months which is always nice, but he knows well enough to keep a few of the popular "staples" on the menu. The bar area is small, but the restaurant dining room is much larger. I really like the location of this place too, it's like by walking downstairs, below street level, you're a part of some secret or something. I don't know that might sound silly, but I think it's an Exeter town secret worth sharing.

Ron Jillian's- Hampton, N.H.

Ron Jillian's is a small, well known, casual Italian restaurant located along Route 1 in Hampton, N.H.. There is limited seating as well as limited parking so if you are heading in on a weekend evening, be prepared to wait. Half the restaurant is a small bar area that fills quickly with the locals. The food here is flavorful and the service for the most part is friendly and helpful. There is nothing fancy about the decor and when it's busy it can get really loud, which to me is always a good sign of people dining out and enjoying themselves.

****Update 11.9.09- I don't know what has been going on at RJs the past 6 months or so, but I have seen a decline in the quality of food served as well as the odds on getting good service. A new chef perhaps? I am curious to see if this downward slide continues or if they get their act together. I recently had the Lobster Mac n Cheese and it just wasn't as good as it was. Very disappointing.******

We started our meal with an order of the Bianco Sauteed Mussels ($9.95). They are a heaping mound of fresh PEI Mussels sauteed in garlic, white wine and herbs. I really enjoy them, but I think they can pull back a bit on the garlic. I was paranoid the rest of the evening with my killer garlic breath! For dinner we enjoyed their Eggplant Parmigiana ($13.95) and their Chicken Parmigiana ($14.95). The portions here are no joke! You will almost always have enough leftovers for another meal and you will see many people leaving the restaurant with their little bag or two of leftovers. Each entree here comes with your choice of soup or salad and these days, not having that a la carte is very much appreciated. Ron Jillian's offers a good selection of daily specials and menu options that expend beyond Italian and their brick oven pizzas. On this visit, they had a broiled haddock special that looked delicious. My absolute favorite meal here is served as a special on Sundays (although I did luck out once and they had it on a week night!) and it's their Lobster Macaroni and Cheese ($18.95). I love this dish. You get a huge portion of this rich, cheesy special that has big pieces of fresh lobster meat throughout. They don't skimp on the lobster meat at all! I say give Ron Jillian's a try and if you can manage, make it there on a Sunday for the Lobster Mac n Cheese.