Restaurant Week Portsmouth: March 26th - April 3rd, 2010

www.PortsmouthChamber.org/Restaurantweek.cfm

It's that time of year again my fellow foodies! The Portsmouth, N.H. Chamber of Commerce proudly puts on this bi-annual culinary event and this time around it has over 30 restaurants participating in it from around the Seacoast! It's nice to see some new additions taking part this year.
Portsmouth Restaurant Week is a great opportunity to dine out at some of the restaurants you either haven't been able to try yet or have been wanting to, but may be out of your budget range. The restaurants will be featuring a 3 course prix fixe dinner menu for $29.95 per person and some of the restaurants also will be featuring a 3 course lunch prix fixe menu for $16.95 per person. The Portsmouth chamber website will have the menus posted as soon as they become available so that you can see which ones where sound the most delicious to you.
I love this event and I think it is especially welcomed in times like today where the economy is "not so hot". Reservations are HIGHLY recommended and there are also many area hotels and inns offering special rates and packages during this event.
I hope you are able to make it to one or two and that you enjoy your time spent here on the Seacoast. See you around town!

Seaglass Restaurant- North Salisbury Beach, MA

http://www.seaglassoceanside.com/

4 Oceanfront

North Salisbury, MA

Located in the Pavilion at Salisbury Beach, the Sea Glass Restaurant and Lounge seems a bit out of place. The panoramic ocean views are phenomenal. I can't think of another seacoast dining spot that can match them. Large windows on the oceanside of the dining room seem to put you right on top of the waves. The decor is classy contemporary. A large mantled fireplace is the focal point of the dining room. The lounge area features a horseshoe shaped bar that is surrounded by smaller tables and seems to catch a fairly nice little crowd in the evenings. Sea Glass Oceanside offers a well rounded wine list as well. I enjoyed the house Jacob's Creek Cabernet ($5).

Beware, Sea Glass can be pricey, The menu is a la carte, but has a great selection of fresh seafood, farm to table vegetables, and a nice selection of steaks and meat dishes as well. There are a few vegetarian options as well. Even the most finicky of eaters can find something on the menu and Sea Glass is very accommodating in preparing your selection as you would like.

My companion and I could not pass up the Chilled Seafood Platter appetizer (market price $32). It had a selection of lobster meat (half a tail, half a claw), raw oysters(3), raw mussels(3), shrimp( 2), crab meat (a decent serving) and calamari (it does change depending on what the chef has in house that day). It was delicious, but the platter is much larger than the portions served on it which makes it seem like more than it is. I noticed several diners enjoying sharing this appetizer on their tables as well.

The specials' menu does not list prices and when I asked, my waitress said the Executive Chefs, Richard Lambiase and Scott Brandolini do not like to list the prices because they do not want your decision to be based on price. I don't know how I feel about that. Seems a little haughty. They will gladly quote prices if you ask. I always ask. I once was at a restaurant that didn't list the specials pricing and went with a surf and turf. It cost me $75! It wasn't worth it, but that taught me to always ask. My dining companion reminded me to mention the bread basket (you know who you are). The rolls were warm and the accompanying garlic & herb butter was amazing. They change the butter flavor almost weekly. A nice extra I thought. The menu at first seems a bit scattered, but the waitstaff will walk you through it if need be. I chose the fresh catch of Salmon ($17) for my entree and opted to have it grilled topping it with the red onion plum chutney (an additional $2). All fish and steak choices can be prepared grilled, blackened, pan-seared or baked. You can add a sauce to any fish or steak dish for the $2 upcharge. The salmon did not disappoint. I sampled my friend's Icelandic Haddock that had the honey balsamic glaze and that too was very fresh and perfectly cooked. ($18 + $2 for the sauce). An entree comes with choice of 1 side, but the sides are definitely large enough for 2, so you can easily enjoy a starch and a vegetable sharing both. We shared a baked sweet potato and creamed spinach. Post dinner we entertained ourselves by reading the dessert menu, but neither of us had the room, but I will say the selection will make your mouth water a bit, hahahaha.

The service was prompt and very knowledgeable about the menu. We never felt rushed which always enhances my dining experience.
This is an excellent restaurant for a great date, dinner with good friends or a special evening with family when you are looking for a little extra something, the great ocean view, and are willing to pay for it.
They also offer a Sunday Buffet Brunch By The Sea for $25 from 10:30am to 2:00pm. I will definitely return to Sea Glass and try the Sunday Brunch. I want to enjoy the view during the day.

Despite the enjoyable meal and setting I'm not sure that Sea Glass will be able to carry based on location. Although this area of Salisbury Beach is improving, it still has a long way to go to before it reaches upscale. It's a work in progress. It would be nice to see Sea Glass last though because it was a truly enjoyable dining experience.

Sea Glass is open Sunday thru Thursday, 11am-10pm and Friday & Saturday, 11:30am to 11:00pm.

Mission Oak Grill- Newburyport, MA

26 Green St

http://www.missionoakgrill.com/

Let me ask you this, when you are craving a perfectly grilled, juicy steak, where do you go? Do you know of a steakhouse on the Seacoast that hasn't let you down? I do. It's Mission Oak Grill in Newburyport, MA. Located up from the harbor a bit on Green St, Mission Oak Grill is my favorite Seacoast steakhouse. It's in an old church space which formally was the Kiwi Grill. It's open 7 nights a week and serves up hand cut meats that are perfectly grilled time and time again. As soon as you walk through the inner set of large wooden doors here, you will feel you have come to the right restaurant for your meal. The decor is simple, but exactly what I seek in a steakhouse atmosphere with its rich leather seating and dark woods. There is a long bar area to the side of the main dining that is always busy and they serve up a great bar menu that is half off - Sunday thru Friday from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM. The dinner menu covers you from Kansas City Sirloin (to die for at $28) to Alder planked Salmon ($23). I even indulge from time to time in their Bistro Cheeseburger ($12) which is 12 ounces of what a burger SHOULD be and often isn't. Another highlight for me with this restaurant is that they use a lot of local ingredients which I always like to see happening on menus. Time and time again, the service here at Mission Oak Grill has been top notch. I have not had any bad or disappointing dining experiences ever and I have been enjoying this restaurant for a few years now. This is where I often will take friends for special occasions or guests that are in town for a visit because I know how impressed and satisfied they will be with their meals. Thurs-Sun the restaurant is really bustling for dinner so reservations are highly recommended. The extensive international wine list is very impressive (and you know I am a huge wine fan) and the waitstaff is trained and prepared to answer any questions you might have about their wines and pairing options. They use to offer a really nice 3 course prix fixe menu that included a glass of wine, Mondays-Wednesdays I think it was that was an amazing bargain at around $29 and I was sad to see that they don't have that anymore, but would love to see them bring it back.

Upstairs from the main dining room, they do offer the Mission Oak Room for private functions and are often hosting comedy nights and special musical acts.

If you crave a great steak and a truly enjoyable dining experience, make your next stop here.

You can't teach taste and you can't teach style and Mission Oak Grill has both.

180 Restaurant & Bar-N. Hampton, NH

Specializing in Wood Fired Pizzas, 180 Restaurant & Bar has potential to be a really good pizza restaurant. It has taken over the location on Lafayette Rd (Rt. 1) that was formally Rosario's. They completely renovated the space and with limited seating (42) and a small bar area (seats 11) makes this establishment quite cozy. They installed a few big screen TVs also which makes watching a game while dining entertaining. Owned by 2 friends, Graham Pellerin and Brendon MacMahan of Kingston, N.H. and opened in May 2009 they are serving up some really good wood fired pizzas at a good prices (smalls average $11 and the large pizzas $15). It's nice that one of the owners if not both are working and I have always had decent service when I have gone for dinner or lunch although I don't think I have had the same waitress twice. I enjoy the Rockingham pizza which has bacon, goat cheese, caramelized onions and mushrooms. The Italian Sausage pizza is good too. I wasn't that impressed with the Chicken Parmesan dinner ($13.95) or with their other claim to fame which is the wood fired chicken wings ($10.95) that are topped with caramelized onions and served with points of flat bread. The presentation of the wood fired wings plate is appetizing, but they weren't evenly cooked and many of them were dry. The marinade I believe is prepared by Brendon's mom and although it does have some nice flavor to it, there just is something missing. The points of flat bread they are served with are dry crisps and the plate can do without them. Maybe thicker cuts of garlic toast would work better. There are a few sandwich options on the menu averaging around $7.95 each. I'm not a big sandwich fan when dining out and I have tried the chicken Parmesan and meatball sub, but again, they were both a little dry. Not enough flavorful sauce or cheese to really enjoy.

They offer a specials menu that they print out on a small piece of paper with even smaller print and nothing that has yet to knock my socks off. I do love a good wood fired pizza, but I wonder if 180's got that extra something to make it as a restaurant here on the Seacoast. They don't seem to be bringing their "A game". I hope that they are able to get it together and go that extra mile now in the beginning in order to survive. I think they need to have that fire in their bellies to make it happen like the one that is cooking up their pizzas.

Pierogies Plus, Inc. McKees Rocks, PA-online orders

http://www.pierogiesplus.com/

My parents grew up in Pittsburgh, PA. My fathers family is Slovic. My Grandma and my Uncle still live there and I have fond memories of helping to prepare and eating a variety of Eastern European foods that were made by my grandmother or my aunt or from my grandparents neighbors and brought over while we visited. I remember one of my favorite ethnic foods when visiting in Pittsburgh with my family were homemade Pierogies, made by the senior woman at a local church. They are a Polish traditional food, crescent-shaped, tender dumplings filled with a variety of fillings and very hard to find made the traditional way here in New England. Sure you can buy frozen ones at almost any grocery store sold by Mrs. T's, but although they are good, they still are not what homemade, traditional ones taste like. Believe me, I have looked for them, for years. I even recently found a family in Bedford, NH that sells them, but they were not what I remembered so my search has continued and recently brought me to the website of Pierogies Plus. I noticed too that Bobby Flay has had them on his Food Nation show so thought that was nice that they have been recognized nationally (although I have disagreed with Bobby Flay on a few restaurant recommendations and my father and I have had that discussion with him in person-that's another story though).

Pierogies Plus, Inc. opened in June, 1991 and is owned by Helene Mannarino who emigrated to the United States from Poland in 1974. Their foods are prepared in the eastern European tradition by eastern Europeans. The staff comes from Poland, Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. Many of them have been preparing these recipes for over 40 years! It's no wonder they are known for having the most authentic pierogies around. Seems like a wonderful little family-like business environment. Each pierogie is made by hand with (according to them) TLC. They just started shipping their pierogies again since they don't do that in the warmer months so I thought I would give them a shot and ordered 2 of the traditional pierogie flavors that I know well and love, the potato and cheese stuffed pierogies and the sauerkraut stuffed pierogies. You can order them by the dozen via their website and the traditional flavors are $10.95 a dozen and the specialty ones are $11.95 a dozen. They also have sampler packages too. I stick to what I know I like, but my grandfather and my dad always enjoyed the Lekvor pierogies (prune butter) and my mom favors the cottage cheese stuffed pierogies. We also call these little pillows of goody goodness, BELLY BUSTERS, ha ha ha. Have some and you will understand why.

I placed my order of 2 dozen potato and cheese and 1 dozen sauerkraut. I received a nice little email notice a few days later from the owner, Helen Mannarino letting me know my order had been filled and was on its way and to God Bless. I waited patiently for them to arrive via FedEx ground. They arrive ready to cook and are very easy to prepare. I always either boil them and then toss them with melted butter and onion or skip the boiling and saute them in melted butter and onion. When they arrived, I boiled them first for 3 to 5 mins and topped them with the sauteed onions and melted butter that I had cooked up. I'm not going to lie, I was nervous about having them. I have been let down a few times over the years by trying different pierogie makers and companies. I served them up to my parents and we sat down at dinner and took our first bites. Immediately, we were delighted! They were exactly how I remember they were having them as a child when visiting my Grandma and Grandpa in Pittsburgh, PA. DELICIOUS!!!!! I don't even think my parents and I spoke much while we had dinner that night, that is how much we were enjoying these pierogies! I was glad I ordered extra in case they were exactly what I was searching for because now I have more to share with friends! I recently introduced pierogies to my friend Heather and her family and her kids love them. They buy Mrs. T's because they are inexpensive and readily available, but I definitely will be passing Heather along the Pierogies Plus, Inc. website so that she can order some online and share with her family the taste what real, homemade pierogies are meant to taste like.

I have never blogged about ordering food online until now, but I wanted to share this with all of you in case you have ever had pierogies before and were also searching for them or if you would be so inclined to give them a try. Pierogies Plus, Inc. makes several varieties some of which sound great and perhaps eventually I will get around to trying, but if you have never had them before and you are curious, I highly recommend that you start with an order of the potato and cheese stuffed pierogies and see if you too fall in love with these wonderful little pillows of deliciousness from Pierogies Plus, Inc.