Text 16500, 74 rader
Skriven 2007-06-09 07:47:58 av DAVE SACERDOTE (1:123/140)
Ärende: Lunch, Friday
=====================
After Lynn's graduation ceremony I treated the family to lunch at
Hazard Grill, on Hazard Avenue in Enfield.  In attendance were
Guest of Honor Lynn, Maryanne, my sister Lori and her son Drew,
my Mom, and me.

We were hot and a little dishevelled from baking in the bleachers at
the graduation, but there was no lunch rush at the restaurant (uh-oh...)
and we were quickly ushered into the cool and darkish interior which
still bears some of the decor of the original tenant, Red Lobster.

The waitress was excellent: friendly and attentive without being
obsequious or annoying.  It was early yet (barely 1230) and the sun
hadn't helped our appetite, so we ordered lightly, mostly sticking to
familiar items we were pretty certain we liked.

Maryanne: Tuna salad wrap, fries: Pretty standard, low wrap-to-tuna
ratio which was decent.  She said it was a bit wetter than she liked
and the seasonings were strange (she was expecting industrial grade
plain tuna salad) but other than that it was good and she finished
it all.  Fries were interesting-looking cylinders of potatoes, rounded
at the ends, with random protrusions of what looked like fried batter
clinging to them. Although they were decent and crispy and not too
salty, they looked like they had been extruded from a steel die into
the hot oil.

Mom: Fried oysters with remoulade on the side:  Eight plump oysters,
lightly breaded and fried a little too much (though she enjoyed them
nonetheless) on a bed of leaf lettuce with a little condiment cup of
remoulade.  The remoulade was much more like French salad dressing
than real remoulade, and I suspect that they dump an envelope of 
something into a scoop of mayo to make it.  Mom liked the oysters
though said they were a bit overdone, and then proceeded to spit
pearls for the remainder of the meal.  Tiny transluscent beads the
size of barleycorns - worthless, of course, but for the laughter
value at Mom's expense. [g]

Lori: Chicken quesadilla: Massively oversized tortillas grilled with
brilliantly orange cheese and thick slices of carved chicken breast.
Some onion and green chile were there too, and it was served with a
mild salsa. Lori requested sour cream on the side (which arrived
immediately - our waitress was truly on the ball.)  Too bland for 
me, but not for Lori, who rarely eats anything hotter than pepperoni.

Drew:  Pulled pork sandwich: Nicely prepared pork, tender and juicy,
served on a big Kaiser roll.  Points off for topping it with lettuce
and tomato (!), the tomato painted with decorative stripes of some
kind of sweet, cheap BBQ sauce (!!)

Lynn: Grilled sirloin steak tips:  Done to a turn and served in what
seemed to be a real reduction of deglazed grill, these were rather
good and exactly what Lynn expected.  Flavorful and tender even though
they would have been cooked too much for me.  Lynn picked around
the mushrooms.  It was served on a bed of spaghetti which absorbed
the gravy and juices and was delicious.

Me: Clam chowder:  A somewhat disgusting soup plate ladled full of
thick, starchy paste the consistency of gruel.  Lots of clam parts
and tater cubes.  Heavily seasoned with black pepper without many of
the other flavor notes of chowder.  Certainly no dairy to be seen
whatsoever - the whiteness of the broth owed every bit of existence
to wheat starch, guar gum, and raw flour.  Quite fricken' typical of
most restaurants' New England Clam Chowder, to be perfectly frank.
The two little packets of oyster crackers they served with were
excellent.  And I ordered a Paper City Ale, draught, as well.  That
was murky dark amber, thin head, but with a rich chewy maltiness and a 
strong hoppy finish.  I should have ordered two of those and a
pickled egg - I would have enjoyed my meal a lot more.

$60 for the food and bevs; I added a 25% tip for the stellar service.

---
Minutus cantorum, minutus balorum, 
minutus carborata descendum pantorum
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