Republic Cafe, Manchester, NH

Almost 3 years ago, I wrote about a cafe I discovered in Manchester, NH, that proved me to me that New Hampshire does have some innovation in the dining scene.  My original review was of lunch with my parents, with a fun take on fish & chips.  I recommended the restaurant.

I followed by own advice, and returned two years later, for dinner with my mom and sister.  It was again quite good, and, for some reason, I never published that review, until now.

I continued to follow my own advice, and returned this summer, for lunch, with my mother and Ojan's family.  I enjoyed it again, although, at this point, I think I'd like to try somewhere new.

If you didn't read my original review, I suggest you start there.  Then check out the summer 2015 review, and finally, the latest.

Update Review #2, Summer 2016

My next visit to Republic Cafe was for lunch, with a rather interesting assortment of individuals: my mom, and Ojan's mom, dad, brother, and Ojan himself.  I was visiting his family down near Boston, and needed to then go visit my family in New Hampshire.  At the same time, his family was going on vacation in New Hampshire, but no where near my family.  Manchester was the half-way point, so we agreed to all meet there so I could transfer from their car to my mom's, and we'd continue on our way to Lebanon.

Since we weren't exactly sure what time we'd arrive, I didn't make a reservation, which proved to be problematic.  6 people, busy weekday lunch service, at a location that doesn't really have tables that can seat 6.  In fact, they had only one table that can seat 6, and it had just been filled.  We were quoted 1.5 hour wait for that table.  I suggested pushing together some of the smaller tables inside, but was told that those are reserved for walk-ins (which we were ...) and that we couldn't take them all over, that the owner likes to always have tables available for walk-ins.  I suggested waiting for a few of the smaller tables outside to finish (many had food or were paying), and then push those together.  They didn't think that would work.  The staff really wanted us to split up, but, that kinda defeated the purpose of getting the two families together.  Finally, Ojan pointed at a tall table for 4 in the front of the restaurant, and just said that 2 of us would be fine kinda standing on the side.  We'd be out of the way since the table was right in front along the wall, and we really didn't mind standing, as we'd be in cars all day.  They agreed to this, and it was fine, although, yes, a bit hard to fit everything on the table.

Anyway, as on my previous visits, I was impressed with the quality of the food.  I genuinely enjoyed several dishes.  We finally tried dessert, which, was the weakest part of the meal.

Service wasn't great however.  Ojan's mom ordered an entree, and it never came.  The server delivered dishes to everyone else at the table, and didn't notice that he didn't bring one to her.  She didn't say anything, assuming it was coming.  10 minutes later, literally, I finally flagged him down to investigate.  It took me that long to get his attention.  He then realized it never came, and that the kitchen never even started the order.  He said he'd get it going right away.  Her food came long, long after the rest of us finished, and no one really apologized for the error.  The meal was not comp'ed.  I also had to flag the server down to order dessert, again, after trying for quite a while before he paid attention to us.  The cafe was busy when we arrived, but by this point, it was not busy at all, and he just kept walking away, or was even just standing on the side drinking coffee.  I wasn't impressed with the service.

I'd still return, as they really do serve quality food, well prepared, but, the menu doesn't really seem to change except for the specials, so at this point, I'd like to try somewhere else.

Appetizers and Mains

Bread and Oil.

I'm not one to fill up on bread before a meal, but, I wanted to just try it again.

I ripped off a tiny chunk, and, then promptly devoured my whole slice.  And then Ojan's slice.

I really liked it.  The bread is just pizza dough, the same they use for the flatbreads, but it is fluffy, fresh, and served warm and toasty.  I like bread like this, it reminds me of the pizza bread rolls they had a pizza place in my town growing up.

And, the oil.  Super flavorful, high quality.

I enjoyed the bread and oil far more than any other bread in a restaurant in recent memory.  I'd gladly eat more of it, and would actually consider trying a flatbread next time to experience more of it.

Kellie Brook Panini, Side Salad. $11.

"Ham, baby swiss, onion jam on sourdough rye with poached egg."

Ok, this was delicious!

Let me rewind though, because, you might be wondering why I had this in the first place, as, well, I don't like sandwiches, simple salads, or poached eggs.

Ojan suggested getting a panini, and normally I wouldn't be interested in one, but, so many people raved about the Kellie Brook in reviews, and, I knew it wasn't a panini, but rather, an open faced sandwich.  Still, a sandwich, and still, poached eggs.  What was I thinking?  I guess I knew I was hedging my bets, as we were sharing a few things.  If I didn't like it, I had plenty of other food to eat.

But, wow, it was good.  The bread was soft, fluffy, fresh, and a decently thick slice.  It was smothered in creamy, melty, flavorful cheese and bits of ham.  The poached egg on top did add a luxuriousness, but, I could have done without it.

The best element was the onion jam on the side.  Oh man.  Sweet, but also intensely flavorful.  It went soooo well with the cheese and ham.

The salad on the side was just mixed greens, with cubes of cucumber and tomato.  I tried a few bites, but, meh, salad.

I only cut off a chunk of this to try originally, and after I devoured my portion, I found myself stealing the plate back, and then even going for the chunk Ojan had cut off for himself.  I really, really loved the fresh bread, cheesy goodness, and the onion jam together.

I'd get this again, actually.  Splitting with one other person is still probably the right move, as it would be a lot of richness for one person.

 Falafel Fried Fish. $19.

"With hand cut frites & two sauces."

Since I remembered liking the falafel fried fish the first time, we ordered it again to share.

This time, I was much less into it.

The fish was flaky haddock, two large chunks, coated in the falafel coating.  The coating was crunchy, but way too oily this time.  The fish was fine, not fishy, but, not particularly great.

I again didn't love either of the creamy dipping sauces.  I wanted to, since I love aioli, but, alas, neither one quite did it for me.

Under the fish was also another sauce, which I thought was a mix of red peppers and ground nuts perhaps, but others thought was tomato based.  I also didn't love that.

The fries also didn't impress, thin fries, a bit soggy, nothing special.  I did again love the little fried capers mixed in though.

So, overall, I actually didn't like the dish this time.  The fish was too oily, I didn't like the fries or sauces.  I wouldn't get it again at this point, but, others did seem like it.

Ojan's brother ordered a seared tuna special served with risotto that he seemed to enjoy, his father opted for a lentil stew that he didn't really like, and his mom, a burger that she felt was cooked exactly as she ordered.  Mostly, successful orders.

Dessert

I was always too full to order dessert at Republic Cafe before, but, I figured that with a large group, we could order one and split it.  I really wanted dessert, particularly as so many people rave about their signature dessert.

Iced Decaf Americano. $2.75.

To go alongside dessert, I ordered coffee, iced due to the hot weather.

My iced americano was very, very strong.  I liked it once I watered it down, but originally, it was a bit much.  Not really a problem, since we had a jug of water on our table and this way I basically got twice the iced coffee, but, worth noting.

The ice melted quickly, leaving me with just chilled cold coffee.  Luckily, Ojan had a glass of ice left over from his cream soda, so I added it in, but otherwise, I would have been disappointed.

Solid effort, and fixable, but, the form it was served in was not very good.

Loukomades. $6.50.

"Fondly known as Greek doughnuts. Tossed in honey and topped with hazelnuts."

We never ordered dessert at Republic Cafe before, but after reading so many rave reviews of the loukomades, I made the decision to order a batch for our group, even though we were all stuffed.  I knew the donuts would be little donut holes, and, with a group of 6, I figured we'd make a dent, even if everyone just wanted one bite.

The donuts came as an order of 7 irregular shaped balls, all freshly fried and hot.  They were a bit greasy, but not too bad.  Hot and fresh dough, but, somehow, they didn't have much flavor.  I love fried dough in all forms, but, this just didn't wow.

On the plate, under some of them, was a smear of yogurt.  It was tart, and, as everyone agreed, really strange to serve with doughnuts.  I get what they were going for, but, the thick, tart yogurt just didn't really work as a dipping sauce for the doughnuts.  The yogurt was good with the sweet sticky honey though, which also did kinda work with the doughnuts.

Finally, some chopped hazelnuts were sprinkled all around.  Again, didn't really work with the doughnuts, but did work with the yogurt.

This dish felt a bit confused.  The yogurt, honey, and nuts made sense together, although, not quite a dessert.  The donuts were fine but pretty plain and boring on their own.  But, I didn't want to put it all together.

We didn't finish this, and I wouldn't get it again.

Update Review #1, Summer 2015

My second visit to Republic Cafe was for dinner, rather than lunch, this time with my mom and sister.  The themes of the meal were pretty much the same as my first: very fresh, flavorful, well spiced, good food, served in a casual setting.

There were little things throughout the meal that made it obvious to me that we were dining in a place with lower standards than I am used to, like failing to bring share plates, no serving utensils, and refills that never came even when we asked.

But overall, it was good, and we had a nice meal.  I look forward to more of their seafood specials.

Patio Seating.

It was a beautiful evening, so we still sat outside in the front, even though there were booths and bar seats available inside.  The tables and chairs are all brightly colored and quite charming.

Complimentary Bread and Olive Oil.

Once we ordered, we were asked if we'd like some bread and oil to start.  I appreciated that they asked, since so often the bread goes untouched, or people prefer it to not be brought, so it was nice to have it explicit.

The bread was served slightly warm, I think fresh off a grill.  Clearly house made, and it had a nice char to it.  My sister said it reminded her a bit of naan, which I did sort of agree with.  I think it is the same as what they use as a crust for the flatbreads.  Anyway, for bread, it was quite good, and a nice change from standard table bread.

It was served with a small dish with olive oil, with sesame seeds and perhaps some other seasoning.  My sister and I were both disappointed that the other seasoning didn't really come through, and it was basically just olive oil.

Overall, though, still quite good.  We did note that no bread plates were provided, so we didn't really have anywhere to put down our pieces of bread.

Cold Antipasti: Red Quinoa, Beet & Moroccan Spices, Apples & Beets, Carrot Masala. $10.

One large section of the menu is antipasti, each available for $4 each, or you can get any trio for $10.  Last time , we tried the North African spiced pickled vegetables, this time, my sister picked three.

I wasn't really planning to have any of them, but, curiosity got the better of me, so I had to try them all.  Plus, didn't they look stunning?  We did a great job of selecting items with such vibrant colors!   Unlike the bread, the antipasti was served with small plates for us to share, but without any serving utensils.

Along with our three selections, the platter included a bunch more of the yummy bread.  Since none of the antipasti we selected were really spreads, this was a bit strange, but my sister was quite happy to have more of the bread.  It would have made more sense with the bean dip or hummus-like selections.  Anyway, same bread, still good, less char on it this time.

The quinoa was my least favorite, as I don't really like quinoa.  The texture is just strange to me, but, the spicing was good, with citrus notes.

Next was the apples and beets, both julienned.  They were clearly fresh, not crazy crisp, but also not mushy.  The apple was very tart, the beet was very ... beety.  Fine, but not really something I was into.

Last was carrots.  These were crazy crisp and fresh.  Clearly they hadn't been prepared long in advance.  I loved the crunch.  And, like everything else on the platter, well spiced.

I wouldn't have ever ordered any of these things, so I wasn't in love with any of them, but I could appreciate them for what they were.  Very fresh ingredients, nicely prepared, expertly spiced.  My mother and sister both loved them.  Very light and perfect for a hot summer night.  $10 price for the platter was quite reasonable.

White Sangria.  $8.

To go along with my meal, I decided to stick with the summer spirit, and get a glass of the white sangria.  It was pretty much what I expected, light, fruity (citrus), refreshing.  Not too sweet, not too boozy.  It fit the mood perfectly.

My sister had the housemade lemonade which she raved about, and my mother had ice tea.  She did ask for a refill before our mains came, which never came, until our server remembered it and noticed when she was clearing our dishes.  She brought it immediately then, so points for that, but, a slight mis-step.

Dinner Special: Skate Wing.  $24.

The main menu has only a single seafood choice, the falafel crusted fish, which I had before and enjoyed.  I love seafood though, so I was thrilled when the server told us that there was not one, but two seafood specials.

And the first ... skate wing.  OMG.  Now, let me rewind a bit.  On the west coast, I never see skate wing on a menu.  So this was a special treat for me.  The first time I had skate was at the 3 Michelin starred Le Bernadin in New York.  The last time I had it was at Home Hill Inn, when I declared it the best seafood dish I had in 2012.  So, my bar for skate may be a bit high, given that whenever I've had it, it has been insanely good.

The skate wing was pan roasted.  The bottom was nicely seared, and overall it was moist and well seasoned.  I really love the mild, sweet flavor of skate, and the almost stringy texture to it.  It somewhat reminds of scallops, if that makes any sense.  The skate wing was well prepared, but not at the calibre of the aforementioned skate dishes.  I still really liked it, and will certainly continue to order skate wing whenever I see it on a menu.  The portion was generous.

I was already pretty much sold when the server said the special was skate wing, but, I perked up even more when she described the rest of the dish.  Roasted brussels sprouts.  Sunchokes.  Sage brown butter.  Serious OMG.

Brussels sprouts and sunchokes went out of season a few months earlier in SF, so it was a treat to see them again.  The brussels were fine, roasted, but unremarkable.  I really love it when brussels get all crispy.  My sister gladly stole all of my brussels and devoured them.

Now, for the best part: sunchokes!  You can't see them in this photo, but they were sliced, served under the fish.  I absolutely adore sunchokes, but the most common preparation, at least on menus around SF, is always as a puree.  I get to enjoy the flavor of sunchokes that way obviously, but it is never quite as satisfying as biting into a slice of sunchoke.  I was delighted to get to really enjoy the sunchokes.  They had great flavor, and were prepared with a bit of onion and pepper too.

So, the fish was well prepared, although not the best skate I've ever had.  The veggies, good enough.  Where the dish fell down however was the brown butter.  Now, I like brown butter.  But this was just way, way too much.  It felt like the dish was just swimming in oil.  I wanted to squeeze and drain everything.  It didn't ruin the dish, but, it really wasn't successful.  The crispy bits of sage on top however were a delight.  

Overall, a decent dish, and I was glad I selected it, and that I got to enjoy skate wing.  And I applaud them for serving skate and sunchokes, both not common ingredients.  $24 price seemed a bit high for a casual place, but, for fresh seafood, well prepared, with quality vegetables on the side, it wasn't unreasonable at all.

Dinner Special: Dayboat Hake.  $25.

My mother ordered the second seafood special, dayboat hake.  I would have gladly ordered this, but the skate did call out to me more strongly.  I of course offered to exchange several bites with her.

The hake was well cooked, clearly fresh fish, mild flavor, moist, and flaked nicely.  It was crusted with herbed focaccia breadcrumbs, which gave a slice crunch, almost like a baked fish and chips, but much lighter.  Much better preparation than the hake I had a few weeks earlier at Restaurant Alcanada de Golf in Mallorca.

I liked the fish, but I really would have wanted a tartar sauce or something with it.  Instead, it was topped with a spring pea mash.  I absolutely loved the mash, it was just absolutely loaded with pea flavor.  Best bite of the night.  But, as a "sauce" for the fish?  Not really.  It was thick and not really what I was looking for with the fish.  But oh so good.

It was served atop a mushroom risotto cake.  The cake was moist and creamy, not seared and pancake-like as I expected.  Almost more like a risotto mound rather than cake.  It was slightly cheesy, and had great mushroom flavor.  A nice component, although a bit odd with the fish.

The rest of the plate consisted of rainbow carrots, beautiful assorted colors, but a bit overcooked.  Not horribly, but more mushy than I'd prefer, and they were cooked so much that the awesomeness of the fresh carrots was masked.

Overall, there were many good aspects to this dish, but they didn't come together all that well.  Republic changes out their specials daily, so it makes sense that every specially wouldn't be tightly conceived.  The risotto was good, the fish was well prepared, and the pea mash was stunning, I just didn't necessarily want them all on the same plate.  I'd still continue to try any other seafood specials they come up with though.

$25 is a little high for standard prices in the area, but for fresh fish and quality produce, it is entirely warranted.

[ Not Pictured ]

Chicken Panini: Chicken from P. Allen Farm, Heart Song Goat Cheese, Roasted Reds, Pesto. $8.50.

My sister ordered a chicken panini.  Now, I don't really care for sandwiches in general.  And I really dislike chicken.  And I hate goat cheese.  I had no intention of interacting with her panini, so I didn't bother take a photo.

But ... I asked her how it was, and her response was to hand me a big chunk.  The bread was really nicely toasted, good crust on it.  And like everything else, the pesto was really flavorful, well spiced.  The chicken and goat cheese were, well, chicken and goat cheese.  I didn't like them.

It was served with a small side salad that I also did not try.

I appreciated how well prepared the panini was, but, it was just a panini.  My sister didn't love it either, and commented that the chicken was dry.  $8.50 seemed like a fine price.

Original Review, Summer 2013

I grew up in a small town in New Hampshire, where my family still lives.  When I go visit these days, it  is quite a change, as I'm used to living right in the middle of San Francisco.  It isn't the hustle and bustle, and certainly isn't the weather, that I miss when I'm away however.  It is the good food.  San Francisco is very much a foodie city, and I have embraced that lifestyle wholeheartedly.

On my recent trip to the east coast, I flew in and out of the Boston airport, where my parents picked me up and dropped me off, before driving the 2.5 hours to their home in New Hampshire.  I used the flights as an excuse to check out some new restaurants, dragging my parents along with me.  Well, dragging my dad along with me.  My mom is a fairly adventurous eater, although she hasn't been exposed to all that varied of cuisine. But my father ... has a very limited set of things he eats.  I'd describe him as mostly eating only American-Italian food, and as a mostly vegetarian, who doesn't really like vegetables.  Which means, he eats pizza, spaghetti, and some simple sandwiches, and if given no other options, will eat a hamburger.  He will never, ever eat any seafood, chicken, etc.  I'm pretty sure the only animal proteins I have seen him eat are beef and bacon.  So, finding restaurants to satisfy us both is always a challenge.

I picked a charming place right in Boston for my arrival meal.  I was certain the menu would appeal to us all, no easy feat (and, it did for the most part!).  But I neglected to consider an important point: my father is not at all comfortable driving, much less parking, in a city.  So when it was time for me to fly out, I was a bit stumped.  Everywhere I wanted to go was in Boston.  When I looked in the suburbs around Boston, I could find plenty of Panera, Applebees, and other chains, or local places with bad reviews, but none of those are what I wanted.

So I looked closer to home, and discovered that Manchester, NH actually has a bit of a culinary scene.  Manchester, while not the capital of NH, is the largest city.  When I started reading reviews of restaurants there, one place was mentioned again and again on Chowhound: Republic Cafe.  I was delighted when I pulled up their website to see what they were about.  They focus on sourcing all ingredients locally when possible.  The animal proteins are all vegetarian fed.  Each dish on the menu has the producer's name listed before the ingredient.  It really could be like a menu from any of my favorite places in San Francisco.

Excited, I read on.  The restaurant is Mediterranean influenced, but not really Mediterranean.  Sure, they have hummus and falafel on the menu, but they also have a slew of interesting flatbreads, salads, and paninis.  The menu has a lot of variety in the type of food you can order.  There are cold antipasti or warm mezze to get started.  Entree salads, paninis, and flatbreads for lighter main dish options.  Main entrees feature a little bit of everything: pasta, seafood, chicken, steak.  In the morning, they serve breakfast (eggs, omelets, yogurts, granola), and have a full espresso bar.  They turn more wine bar-eque at night.  At lunch and dinner, the full menu is offered, and you can choose to just have a light cafe style meal, some small bites over wine, or a full entree and dessert.

I liked everything I was reading.  Great reviews, local sourcing, and the menu was really appealing, not just to me, but I hoped to my family as well.  I looked it up on Google Street View to get a sense of how "city" it was going to be, to make sure my dad would feel comfortable driving there.  While more urban than he is used to, it didn't look too bad.  Done!

I was even happier when we arrived and I saw the space.  Inside the restaurant was a narrow space, but it had an incredibly comfortable vibe to it.  Casual, but chic.  However, it was a beautiful sunny day, and they had tables available outside.  Since I was about to head back to the horrible cold San Francisco "summer", I eagerly took the opportunity to sit outside.

The overwhelming feeling I had while dining at Republic Cafe was that it was just so comfortable.  Everyone, diners and staff alike, seemed happy.  Almost everyone around us ordered classic lunch fare, paninis and salads, and they all looked fresh and light.  We of course somehow managed to order the least healthy dishes on the menu, which is impressive, since almost everything else was really really healthy!  Even the desserts use greek yogurt instead of ice cream.

Anyway, I was very impressed by the creativity and composition of the dishes, the execution of the cooking, the plating and presentation, and in particular, the very well thought out flavors.  Every dish was very refined.  Very unexpected for the region.  I'd certainly return.

So if you ever find yourself in Manchester, NH, and need a place to eat, you should try out Republic Cafe.

NH Maple Cream Soda.  $5.

Republic Cafe has a strong beverage program.  In the morning, they have a full espresso bar, and later in the day, they offer wine by the taste, glass, 1/2 carafe, or bottle.  But they are  known for their non-alcoholic drinks as well, including all sorts of house-made spritzers and sodas.  My mom and I were both drawn to the cream soda, a custom blend of cream and seltzer, but then, even more drawn by the next option: maple cream soda.  The maple syrup was from a NH producer (Just Maple's amber-grade maple syrup), the cream from a local dairy (Barlett's farm).

It was good, clearly a freshly made, with real cream in it, but neither of us tasted as much maple as we expected, or would have liked.  Fun to try, but not all that special.

Not pictured is my dad's lemonade, fresh squeezed with simple syrup, also $5.  I didn't try it, and asked him for a review, and his response was: "it is lemonade".

We were also provided with a jug on water on the table, which was most welcomed, as it was hot out, and we quickly depleted our water glasses several times.

North African Spiced Pickled Vegetables. $4.

The cold antipasti section contained a slew of interesting sounding dishes, but most were far too exotic in their spicing for my family, and as it was lunchtime, we weren't wanting a large number of starters anyway.  We settled on a single selection: the pickles.

The pickles came with cute little skewers for ease of stabbing and eating, a nice touch.  The mix of veggies was pretty interesting: standard cucumbers, but also carrots, onions, green peppers, red bell peppers, and very spicy red peppers.  They were all fresh and crisp, the carrots particularly enjoyable with a serious crunch.  The spicy red peppers were too much, even for my father, who can take some serious heat.  They made me really appreciate that water jug!

I'm not sure exactly what the "North African" spices were, but they were nicely spiced.  They seemed like a quick pickle, not much vinegar flavor.  Overall fine, and it was nice to have something to nibble on early in the meal, but I probably wouldn't order them again.

Cold antipasti are all $4 each, or you can get a trio for $10.  A fine price for our little bowl of pickles.

Field Mushroom Bolognese with grilled polenta and whipped ricotta. $9.50.

Next my mother and I moved on to a hot mezze.  So many of these choices sounded great to me, but the bolognese was the only one my mom was interested in, and my father didn't want to try any of them.   It was my first choice anyway, as I do love mushrooms, polenta, and whipped cheese.

The presentation was beautiful, far more sophisticated than I was expecting at a little cafe in New Hampshire!  And food mirrored the plating, surprisingly complex.

The bolognese was composed of mushrooms, carrots, tomatoes, and onions.  All were chopped to a fine dice.  The knife skills were particularly impressive, everything really was exactly the same size.  The veggies were all well cooked, but they weren't really popping with flavor themselves.

The flavor came from a few different components drizzled on the plate, including an herb based oil and a balsamic reduction.  Such a highly refined dish!

The polenta was very nicely grilled, with great grill marks, crispy exterior.  Definitely good, but it was just grilled polenta.

My favorite component was the herb whipped ricotta.  It had great seasoning, was super fluffy.

I really appreciated the combination of textures from the chunky bolognese to the crispy polenta to the creamy ricotta.  I also liked the contrast in temperature from the warm bolognese and polenta to the cool ricotta on top.  This was such a well thought out dish.

Overall, this dish wowed me in its plating, and in the clear skill of the chef in the level of cooking execution of each component, and in the level of sophistication in the dish as a whole, but somehow, I didn't love it.  I'm honestly not sure why.  I can't pinpoint anything at all to fault it.  I think perhaps I'd just had too much polenta lately, and I've been preferring it more creamy and cheesy style.

My mother really enjoyed the dish, and $9.50 seemed like an amazing price for such a polished dish.

Daily Special: Cheeseburger with hand-cut frites.

I selected Republic Cafe for several reasons, one was that it had amazing reviews, another is that it had dishes I was interested in, but the final reason is that I thought my dad would actually be happy eating there too.  While he isn't familiar with Mediterranean food exactly, and I knew the terms would be unfamiliar, I thought the flavors and ingredients were ones he would be comfortable with.  I also felt bad because I spent the week dragging him to places I wanted to eat, where the only things he'd consider eating were the burgers and flatbreads.  I wanted him to have a chance to actually get something different.

So while Republic Cafe did have flatbreads and salads that were Dad-friendly, I had my eye on a couple of the entrees I thought he'd really like, particularly the veggie tagine.  Sure, he didn't know what a tagine was, and didn't know cous cous, but he does like veggies over rice, and I tried to explain that he'd like it.  But, he wasn't willing to try something new, and went for a special of the day ... the cheeseburger.  Sigh.  I tried!

The beef was of course local New Hampshire beef, grass fed.  Served with fresh looking baby greens, tomato, onion, on a toasted thin bread.  I think the bread was the same as they use for their paninis, it certainly wasn't a standard hamburger bun, as it was square, and not fluffy.  The cheese was perfectly melted.

My dad ordered it medium-well.  When my mom asked him how his grass fed beef tasted, he said he couldn't tell, because it was "so raw" and "dripping blood".  What?  I took one look and almost laughed.  It was not raw.  It was not rare.  It was totally medium-well.  Perhaps slightly on the medium side of medium-well, but I'd certainly call it medium-well.  If I'd ordered medium and received it, I'd be slightly grumpy that it was overdone.  I'd also order it medium-rare anyway.

Anyway, I know my dad is used to well done burgers.  In fact, that is the only way I'd ever had them until I left home, so I can see how this was less cooked than he is used to, but he ordered medium-well, not well done, and I honestly think he got what he ordered. He managed to eat most of it, but clearly did not enjoy it at all.  I felt pretty bad, because I really had been trying to please him with this restaurant choice.  Sigh.

Falafel Fried Fish with hand cut frites & two sauces. $19.

But the number one reason we were at Republic Cafe was for this dish: falafel fried fish!  I've had a serious, serious craving for fish and chips since my previous visit to the east coast.  (Side note: if you know of anywhere at all in the San Francisco Bay Area that has good fish and chips, please let me know!  The problem is that they all seem to use Rock Cod, which I just can't stand.  I wish we had haddock!)  Anyway, I was determined to get fish & chips on this trip, yet I struck out every time I tried.  It was my absolute last chance to get fish & chips, and Republic Cafe had a version that sounded fascinating. I knew it wasn't going to be traditional fish & chips, but I was hoping it would satisfy my craving.

It mostly did.  Two large pieces of fish, I think haddock, served atop a serious mountain of frites.  My dad commented a couple times on the fact that his burger came with far, far fewer fries.  I'd say his came with a reasonable portion, whereas this was just insanity.  I don't think anyone could ever possibly finish all the fries.

Anyway, back to the fish.  It was tender, flaky, moist.  Not at all fishy.  Exactly what I was looking for.  The falafel coating was obviously different from the normal beer battering, but was very successful.  I'm not certain I would have identified it as falafel exactly, but it was seriously crispy.  I absolutely loved how crunchy it was, far more crisp than any other coating I've ever had on fried fish.  Everything should be done this way!

One of the best parts about fish & chips for me is always the tartar sauce.  I'm such a sauce girl in general, and mayo based dips have a special place in my heart.  While I obviously wanted the fish, I think there was a part of me that was in it for the dipping sauces :)  I'm notorious for always using far more tartar sauce than anyone else, and for using it in all sorts of creative ways ... I'll dip anything in it!

So, I was curious what we'd have instead of standard tartar sauce, as the menu just said it was served with "two sauces".  It actually came with three sauces!  Two were dipping sauces in little containers, one was a lemon aioli, the other a lemon caper remoulade.  The aioli did indeed have a strong lemon flavor, but was a bit thin for my liking, and somehow just wasn't that great.  I dipped fish in it, I dipped fries in it, I kept going back for it, but it was just missing some tang or something to it.  The remoulade was better.  It had chunks of caper in it, and I wanted to love it since I do love remoulade, but again, it was just missing a little something.  The three sauce was a red pepper romesco, actually spread on the fish.  Now this was a serious surprise!  The romesco paired absolutely perfectly with the crispy falafel crust.  Such a great idea.  My favorite bites were the fish, coated in romesco, then dunked in the remoulade.  Together the remoulade and romesco worked together quite well.

The frites were thin, served piping hot, visibly seasoned.  They also had fried capers mixed in.  I don't tend to care for thin style fries, and these were fairly oily, but I did end up consuming far more of the mound than I ever expected to, so they must have not actually been too bad :)

We also asked for some ketchup, which I'm guessing was house-made, or at least a local product.  It was unlike any ketchup I've had before, such intense tomato flavor, not loaded up with sugar.  Ketchup that actually tastes like tomato?  Who knew?  I commented on the ketchup to my dad, who had the same ketchup for his fries, and he said he couldn't taste any difference from standard Heinz.  Sigh.

Anyway, this was a really unique version of fish and chips, as I expected.  Well prepared, and like the mezze, clearly well thought out.  I was impressed, although the sauces did leave me a bit disappointed.  I'd certainly consider getting it again.

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Base Camp Cafe, Hanover, NH

On my recent visit to New Hampshire to visit my family, my mom really wanted to go out to dinner. "This kitchen is closed", she said, indicating that she didn't want to cook anymore.
I honestly wasn't excited about the prospects.  I haven't found anywhere nearby that had been worth a return trip.  I had a few places on my list to check out eventually, but they were either fairly fancy or pub food, neither of which I was in the mood for.  We settled on Base Camp Cafe, in nearby Hanover, NH.  Yelp reviews were strong (although I worried this was a novelty thing), and my mother's co-workers had also recommended it to her.

Base Camp Cafe is ... not a cafe.  It is a Nepalese restaurant.  They serve fairly healthy food, with no fried items, and plentiful vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free options.

Nepalese cuisine was actually new to all of us.  My parents don't have much exposure to cuisine besides "American" and "Italian", so this isn't surprising (during this trip I taught them what samosas were, what empanadas were, what wontons are ...), but, it is a bit amazing that I haven't managed to have Nepalese cuisine yet.  I've had my eye on a place in San Francisco, but, just haven't made it yet.

Anyway, overall, it was a very lackluster meal.  Even if Nepalese food isn't inherently something I like (which, I really have no idea if it is or isn't), this food didn't seem very well prepared.

The Space

Downstairs Entrance.

The restaurant is located down in the basement level of a small mall, next to an oriental restaurant.

Interior.

The decor gave us something to talk about, as it was fairly unique.  Tile floors, brightly painted walls, colorful curtains.  Hanging on the wall were paintings, face masks, drums, and statues of buddha.

All tables were square tables set for 4, with fold down leaves to turn them into slightly bigger round tables.  The tables were shiny laminated wood, a bit tacky.  A single paper napkin and basic silverware was provided on the table.

A full far occupied a fairly large portion of the room.

The place certainly had atmosphere, but, it felt a bit tacky.

Drinks

The alcoholic drink selection included basic wine by the glass or bottle, beer (including non-alcoholic and gluten-free options), plus whiskey, liqueurs, and a couple special cocktails (mostly sake based).  Non-alcoholic choices were lassis, soda, lemonade, limeade, fresh crushed ginger soda, coffee, tea, chai, cucumber coolers, and virgin mojitos.

Base Camp Ginger Vodka. $9.

"Fresh ginger muddled with vodka lime, simple syrup, and soda."

For a drink, I selected the ginger vodka, thinking it would be light and refreshing.  Fresh ginger!  Lime and soda!  Plus, with so many custom cocktails (alcoholic and not), it seemed to be a focus of the restaurant.

But ... what I got was a glass of simple syrup.  I just can't describe how sweet this was.  I tried mixing it up.  I tried diluting it with water.  No matter what I did, it was just way, way, way too sweet.

It did have some bits of ginger floating in it, but I didn't taste any ginger.  I also didn't taste the lime.  I did sorta taste some vodka, but it was really harsh.

So, harsh and way too sweet.  I gave up after forcing down about half of it, as it was just really not enjoyable in any way.

My mom went for a mojito, available with rum or sake, plus the expected lime juice, simple syrup, and fresh mint.  She opted for rum, as she hasn't ever had sake.  She took one sip, and made a comment about how she'd never be able to finish it.  She took another, and made another comment about how she was going to be drunk with one more sip.  I assumed she was just being silly, and tried a sip.  Wow.  It was ... basically rum with some mint in it.  I guess it was sweet too, so, there was simple syrup in it, but, wow it was strong.  I thought perhaps it wasn't mixed up, and tried to mix it, or take a sip from a different level in the glass.  It didn't matter.  It was just crazy strong throughout.  I actually kinda liked it, but, wow, booze.  She didn't even come close to finishing, and tried watering it down with tap water.

Appetizers

The appetizer menu consists of momos and chhoila.  Since people rave about the momos, I was certainly planning to order them, and had 8 choices.  Base Camp Cafe allows you to mix and match, so, you can try more than one kind without needing to order a full order of 8.  I appreciated this, since we wanted just one order and I was hard pressed to pick just one.

Flat Herbed Bread. $3.

The bread is listed on the menu as a side dish, alongside steamed rice, pickles, and yogurt, so, I expected it to come alongside our meal.  Instead, it arrived first, before our appetizer even.

I ordered it thinking it might be a bit like naan, and, knowing I don't really like rice, I wanted it to dip into my curry.  Alas, it was served long before our entrees.

Anyway, the bread was fairly unremarkable.  It was topped with some herbs, served lukewarm.  The herb spread on the side was fine, cold, herby, but not particularly interesting.

Overall, just, uninteresting.

Vegetable Mo Mo (Left). Paneer & Spinach Mo Mo (Right). $9.

"Momos are popular anytime food in Nepal. These little delicately seasoned steamed dumplings  can be served in miss and match different varieties. Let’s start the Journey."

Since I knew my dad wouldn't eat buffalo, boar, or seafood, and neither of us wanted lamb, goat, or chicken, we had only two choices: paneer & spinach (vegetarian) or vegetable (vegan).  We got them both, since we could.

Momo are basically the Nepalize version of a dumpling, like steamed gyoza.  They were a bit slimy, and very doughy, lots of dough on top at the folds.  I don't think these were particularly well made.  I've never had momo before, but, assuming they are judged similar to Chinese dumplings or Italian pastas, these just weren't well done.

The paneer and spinach version was my favorite, it was filled with a decent amount of chopped spinach and some crumbled paneer.  They were ... fine.  My mother also preferred this one.

The vegetable ones just had a ball of rather dry mush inside.  I think it involved chickpea.  Sorta like the inside of a falafel.  I didn't like this one at all, but, my dad liked it more than the spinach and paneer.

The momo were served with a dipping sauce that I couldn't quite identify.  I sorta wanted it to be many things, like a peanut sauce (thinking more thai style), or a soy/vinegar base (Chinese), or coconut based ... just, anything other than it was.  It was really kinda boring, although it had a slight kick to it.

So, overall, fairly lackluster.  I don't think the momo were made very well, and, there just wasn't much flavor or interest here.

Entrees

Entrees came in 4 categories: stir fry noodles (tofu, veggie, mushroom, chicken, or shrimp), grilled meats and seafoods (wild boar ribs, lack of lamb, cashew coated haddock, salmon on asparagus, mustard coated tilapia), tarkari curries (15 varieties, half of them vegetarian, including things like jack fruit), and chilies (13 varieties, even more exciting protein options like duck and buffalo).

Since the tarkari and chilies seemed clearly the focus of the menu, we opted for one of each.  I found it interesting that some items, like buffalo, were only available in a chili.  Similarly, some items, like jackfruit or plaintains, only as tarkari.  I don't claim to know these dishes, but, it seemed a bit strange.

There is actually one more category of entree, where you can pick any of the mo mos, and turn it into an entree by adding tarkari ($9 more) or chili ($10 more).

Plantain Tarkari. Level 6. $15.

"All tarkari meals are cooked on our delicious tomato base curry sauce with different fresh vegetables, which is light and healthy with Basmati rice."

My mom and I had our eyes on several of the grill items, but decided on a tarkari instead, as it seemed more traditional, and is what I had read many reviews about.  Many of the 15 choices sounded good to me, but in the end, I narrowed it down to the Eggplant Basil Paneer, Jackfruit, or Plantain.  Since I had eggplant the night before, and had just purchased paneer at the grocery store to cook up the next day, I had to rule that out.  Jackfruit sounded too odd for my mom.  So, plantain it was.

Along with the plantain, our dish had chunks of onion, red and green peppers, zucchini, small pieces of eggplant, a couple carrot batons, and a single snap pea.  I found the ingredient distribution quite curious.  A single snap pea?  Only a few chunks of eggplant?  And more onion and peppers than the signature plantain?  The veggies were all cut to inconstant sizes and were cooked to varying levels of success.

Most of our onion was a bit raw still, quite harsh.  It kinda ruined your palette when you got a taste.  I didn't care for the way too plentiful bell peppers, since I don't really like bell peppers.  The squash was unremarkable, fairly large chunks.

The carrot batons were my second favorite item, they were undercooked and a bit crunchy, which I liked.  I did really like the soft eggplant bits, and wished there was more of it.

The plantain was soft and mushy, a bit sweet.  It was really, really strange with the tomato base.  Plantains and tomato just didn't quite work for me.  Think ... spaghetti sauce with mushy bananas in it.

Speaking of the tomato base, it really reminded me of spaghetti sauce, spicy spaghetti sauce.  Ojan makes a spaghetti sauce that is honestly near identical to this, even down to the veggies.  He puts carrots, onions, bell peppers, squash, and sometimes eggplant in his too.

And that is where I had my problem with the dish.  I didn't want spaghetti sauce with a side of rice.  I think I would have enjoyed it far more over pasta.  But, with rice as a side?  It just didn't work for me.

Speaking of the rice.   It was horrible!  And I'm really not a rice snob.  But it was just a ball of mush.  On top was a little of the green sauce like we had with the bread.  At first I thought there wasn't going to be nearly enough rice, as the ratio of veggies to rice looked totally off, but, since the rice was so bad, neither my mom nor I wanted it.

I'm sorry to all the Nepalese I have offended here, but, this wasn't a dish for me.  I love plantains, but, cooked down like this as just soft mushy banana, and mixed with spicy spaghetti sauce, is not how I want plantains.  And I don't want spaghetti sauce with rice.  That all said, the execution was also fairly poor in this case.  I imagine that good versions of this dish have more consistently cooked veggies and not mushy rice?  But I still wouldn't have liked it.

The portion was quite large, my mother and I split the entree (along with the apps and stealing a bit of my dad's) and didn't finish it.  It was also too spicy for her, but, I thought the level 6 spice was perfect, spicy enough to be a bit interesting, but not a problem in any way.

The website states that "on the every plate we serve sixty percent of fresh seasonal crunchy vegetables, thirty percent of freshly cooked protein and ten percent of carbohydrates."

That explains the small pile of rice compared to the veggies, but, I'm not sure how the 30% protein applies to our choice, or, really, to most of the vegetarian options, as potatoes, eggplant, and jackfruit have nearly as little protein as plantains, right?

Potato Chili.  Level 6. $14.

"Our chilies are not like typical chilies but the sautéed blend of different fresh chilies in sesame seed oil, olive oil, vinegar, red wine and varieties of spices. Very Traditional! Served with steamed basmati rice."

My dad opted to try a chili instead.  Since he doesn't like literally any of the 13 choices besides potatoes, well, potato it was.  For reference, his other choices were lamb, chicken, chicken mushroom, buffalo, wild boar, calamari, goat, duck, shrimp, mushroom, tofu, and sweet potato.

At first glance, the takari and chili dishes looked quite similar, but, on closer inspection, they were quite different.

Both were served with a little mound of the awful rice.  The portion of rice to chili also seemed off in this dish.  I think the rice portion was actually fine, as much as someone should eat in a sitting anyway, but everything else was a bit super-sized for an entree for one.

Along with the expected cubes of potato, his dish also had mushrooms (which he pushed aside), onions, bell peppers, and one single chunk of green onion.  It had no tomato based sauce like ours, but instead had lots of visible chili flakes.

We both opted for Level 6 spice, but, his was much spicier.  The spicing was fine, spicy, yes, but not too much at all.  It also wasn't the most interesting spice.

His veggies were all cooked fine.

Really, a quite unremarkable dish.  I have nothing more to say about it.  It was fine, but, totally boring.  My dad deemed it "eatable".

Dessert

As always, the dessert lineup called out to me, and, I was glad to see it on the main menu when we ordered our meal.  This allowed me to plan to not stuff myself full of food, so I could save room for dessert (although, ok, I always plan on getting dessert, don't I?).  There were several items I was interested in, all mostly unfamiliar.

The chia seed pudding was the only one I really didn't want, since I dislike chia.  I thought I probably didn't want the "Sikarani Dessert", described as homemade yogurt and spices, "Everbody's favorite".  It sounded potentially too savory, although, creamy and pudding-like, which I do like.  If others wanted it, I certainly would have tried the "Dudh Kurauni", homemade cottage cheese in a saffron spiced milk.  I probably wouldn't love it, but, it sounded different.  But, the one I really wanted to try was a seasonal special, "Blueberry Haluwa", described as a combination of semolina, blueberry, and coconut.  Served warm.  Normally for special occasions.  It sounded like warm semolina pudding.  Yum.  I love puddings.

Alas, my poor mother said her mouth was on fire and she needed ice cream to make up for it.  She didn't want to stay for dessert there.

So, what is a girl to do?  Well, obviously go get ice cream, but, first, order the rice pudding to go.  Regular rice pudding isn't as exciting as the other options, but, I knew it would keep fine until the next day.

Kheer. $5. [ Takeout ]

"A Simple pleasure. Uncomparable."

The rice pudding was delivered to our table within moments of my ordering it.  They clearly must have some already packaged for takeout orders.

And of course, I tried a bite right away.  Sure, we were going to go get ice cream, so I'd mostly keep it for the next day, but, I couldn't resist trying it.

It ... wasn't good.  The rice was short grain (and possibly cut?), really mushy.  There were sliced almonds and bits of perhaps pistachios (or maybe it was all almond?) throughout.  A little saffron on top.  It wasn't particularly creamy, but at least it wasn't watery.  The flavor wasn't remarkable in any way.  But the mushy texture was just horrible.

I tried it again the next morning for breakfast.  I felt the same way.  Too mushy, not creamy.

I tried it the next night for dessert, thinking perhaps I just wasn't in the mood before.  Still, no.  I tried warming it up.  If anything, it was worse.

My mom tried a bite and didn't like the spicing.  The spicing didn't bother me, but, wow, that texture sure did.  I tried to serve it to my sister the next day, thinking that maybe she'd like it (hey, we all have our different preferences!), but, my mom wouldn't let me.  She threw it out, saying I was mean to try to feed something gross to my sister.

The serving was rather small, a small size deli container, not even full.  For the same cost as dine-in, $5, which at least at the restaurant is a parfait glass full of pudding.  It seemed a bit cheap.

I obviously wouldn't get this again, and I guess I'm glad we didn't get it at the restaurant, as I would have felt compelled to finish it.

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Snacks from Wai Lana

Wai Lana makes an assortment of healthy, gluten-free, non-GMO, etc snacks, including chips, granola, and bars.  They were featured in the product fair we had at work, so I got to try several of their items, although none are things I'd normally seek out.  And ... for good reason.  None of these were very good.

Chips

"Made from nutrient-rich cassava, these gluten-free chips contain 30% less fat than regular potato chips. With an unforgettable crunch and an abundance of tempting flavors, Wai Lana Chips are a uniquely delicious, all-natural snack."

The chips are all made from cassava, rather than potato.  They are gluten-free.  This didn't turn me off at first, since I do like the flavor of cassava.  But ... there was just something really strange about these.  The mouthfeel was all wrong in the flavors I tried.

The chips are available in 6 flavors, ranging from natural to lime chili and thai curry.

Barbeque Cassava Chips.

• Herb & Garlic.  Decent herb and garlic flavor, but not good. [ Strange consistency but good flavor. ]
• Barbecue: Again, strange mouthfeel.  Not much BBQ flavor.  Meh. [ Not very BBQ flavored.  Do not like. ]

Cassava Pops

"Satisfy your snack cravings with these delicious, gluten-free cassava chips. They are popped with a little heat and pressure, not baked or fried—so you can enjoy all the flavor without the extra calories. "

Cassava Pops are ... sorta like the chips.  They are also gluten-free and made from cassava.  I honestly have no idea what the distinction between these product lines is.  The Pops are available in only three varieties: sea salt, luau BBQ, and Volcano.

Volcano Cassava Pops.

I love yucca, so, I was excited by the thought of these.  Yuca chips!  "Lava hot & spicy".  Healthy too?

But, they were just air popped chips that tasted a bit too much like chickpeas or beans for my taste, not like yucca.  The "volcano" flavor was indistinguishable from bbq.

Little Yogis Bars

The bars are from their product line for children (hence the "little yogis" name), and have very appealing names, but not so appealing taste.  They were discontinued at some point.

Banana Split Little Yogis Bar.

• Banana Split: Strange bitter taste (from carob?), banana flavor comes through, kinda mushy and strange texture.  Do not like.
• Oatmeal Raisin: Again, very bitter taste, very crumbly strange texture.  Do not like.

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Sabo's Subs, Hampton, NH

When I was younger, my family visited Hampton Beach every year for our annual vacation.  The boardwalk is loaded with options for food, ranging from pizza to fried seafood to McDonald's.  Of course, we usually packed a picnic cooler with the makings for sandwiches, so we didn't often get to explore the food options (well, besides the ice cream, slushies, and fried dough!)  But when we did, it was to go to Sabo's Subs.

Sabo's is located fairly far away from our family's specific spot on the beachfront, but it was never a question of if it was worth walking all the way to Sabo's.  Once we were old enough to be able to walk there alone, we were often sent to pick up the food for the adults who didn't want to go all the way there.  Such an important mission, to go get Sabo's!

Sabo's sells exactly one thing: subs.  Well, actually, not subs, they are Syrian wraps, but 40 years ago, when Sabo's opened, wraps were not a thing, and thus, they had to call them subs so that customers would still come to get sandwiches.  The choices are basic: ham, turkey, salami, tuna, italian combo, vegetarian.  They come standard with cheese (only American is available), iceberg lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, mayo, and their special secret seasoning.  Hots and mustard can be added.  Besides bags of chips and cans of soda, that is it, and that is all Sabo's has ever sold, in my years of frequenting the place.  No frills, and certainly nothing like gluten-free options.

You order outside at a window, are given a number, and then can go wait in the shade inside for your sub.  There are tables inside, all self seating, or most people get the subs to go, since they are easily portable.  The entire place has a serious beach vibe.

Over the years, my love of Sabo's has remained largely unchanged, even when they went through some turmoil.  The shop has changed hands several times, I believe they are on the third owners at this point.  There were times where even in the height of summer, we'd venture there to find them closed, at 12:30pm, randomly.  There were times where the subs would come so lazily wrapped that they'd fall apart immediately.  Or that they would have so much mayo that they'd be soggy instantly.  But it didn't matter.  We loved our Sabo's.

And then ... I moved away.  First to college, then to graduate school, eventually to San Francisco.  I didn't visit Hampton Beach for years.  I turned into a foodie.  I completely stopped eating sandwiches.  Iceberg lettuce has not even been on a menu I've encountered in years.  I stopped considering American cheese "cheese" years ago.  Tomatoes are eaten only in-season, and only when they are heirlooms.  And what is mayo?  Don't you mean housemade aioli?

Um yeah.  I've changed.  I thought that there was absolutely no way that Sabo's could actually appeal to me at this point, let alone live up to my expectations.  I knew that I probably should leave it in my memories as that wonderful place, and not spoil it.

But I went to Hampton Beach for the day with my mom and sister, for old time's sake, and there was only one choice when it came to lunch.  We were going to Sabo's, for better or worse.

To say I approached the ordering window with apprehension is an understatement.  First, there was no line.  Back in the glory days, the line was always visible the moment you'd turn the corner onto 'C' street.  The wait always added to the anticipation.  But where were the crowds now?

Undeterred, my sister and I stepped up to place our orders.  She went for her standard choice of the Italian combo.  I hesitated and surveyed the options.  When is the last time I had deli meat?  Nothing sounded appealing.  Ham? Salami?  Ahh.  I almost just went for vegetarian, but it is just the standard lettuce/tomato/onion/pickles that come on every sub, with nothing additional besides an extra slice of American cheese.  So, I picked turkey, the one I always used to get.  It had been years since I'd had a turkey sandwich.

Spoiler: I loved it.  I even wanted to return to get a second one for dinner, rather than going to a nice restaurant as planned.  I can't wait to return, and you shouldn't either.

Turkey with Everything (half).  $7.

The subs come wrapped up in paper, very portable, perfect for walking along the beach with.  Normally one long sub, but I asked to have mine cut in half, so pictured here is just a half.  I always find it easier to eat this way.

The bread is Syrian bread, similar to a white pita, but thinner.  It wasn't stale, tasted fresh, and I liked how the exterior was a bit crispy.

Inside was a few slices of turkey and sliced white American cheese.  Tons of shredded iceberg lettuce, and little cubes of tomato, onions, and pickles rounded out the fillings.  I don't really have anything to stay about  these components, they were as generic and basic as could be.  Not offensive, but the tomato was totally flavorless, and iceberg really offers nothing to this world in general.  Except, on a hot summer day, the water content of the iceberg is perfect, refreshing, crispy, cooling.

The magic here is in the mayo and the special house seasoning.  I have no idea what is in it.  But it is delicious.  And the mayo isn't thick, it is runny.  As in, it seems like it is intentionally thinned out, or perhaps it is always just so hot that it is melting.  Or maybe it is moisture from all the iceberge?  Regardless, the mayo is very generously applied, and starts dripping out as you eat it.  And this is a good thing.  It keeps everything moist and creamy.

Sabo's was precisely what I remembered.  And, I realize that given my description, it sounds no different than something you could make with ingredients from just about any grocery store in 2 minutes.  And it sounds like something I'd loathe.  Yet ... I loved it.  The bread and the seasoning are really the special parts for me, but there is also something about the way all the different components really do combine together to create a perfect sub.

I'll be back.  And I'll get this again.  And maybe, just maybe, I'd even get a second one for dinner.

Price for a full sub is only $7, which is crazy for a beach boardwalk where prices of even order of fries is $5.50.

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Millstone at 74 Main, New Hampshire

On my recent trip to rural New Hampshire, I did something I have previously sworn off.  I attempted higher end dining.

I know better.

My time in New Hampshire did have some culinary highlights, including some of the best muffins I've ever had, and lots of amazing soft serve ice cream, but the other food I ate during my trip just really wasn't ever good.  Long ago, I gave up on eating at nicer places (although I did have a couple fabulous meals at Home Hill Inn a few years ago, before they closed), but on my last night in town last year, I wanted to have some nice time with my family, my little sister included.  She lives 45 minutes away from my parent's house, on a farm with horses, and a house full of cats that I'm horribly allergic to.  She can't came elsewhere for dinner due to her evening farm chores, and I can't have dinner at her house due to the cats.  If I wanted to spend any time with her, we had to go out, and it had to be near her house.

Last time I was there, we went to her favorite place, Flying Goose.  I hated it.  There was nothing on the menu I wanted, and the food wasn't good.  This time, I did some research, and picked a place myself: Millstone at 74 Main.  There aren't tons of options in the area, but they had good reviews, and the menu actually appealed to me.

Of course, given the limited options in the area, my entire family had been there several times before.  My sister said I wouldn't like it, and that she had never been impressed.  My mom said it was "nice".  Given lack of other options, I still voted for it.

The short version?  Poor service.  Overpriced.  Some dishes highly mediocre and others quite bad.  They tried with the presentation, but are living in a past decade.  I won't be returning.  My family was right.

The Setting

Dining Room.

I never quite figured the place out.  It seemed like they were trying to be higher end dining, except there were way too many rough edges.

The decor certainly wasn't fine dining, no tablecloths, but they did have cloth napkins.  Lots of wood elements and a slightly rustic setting, except with ugly table tops.  The space was light filled with skylights up above, and plants hung about to bring some nature in.  The restaurant filled several distinct rooms, and there was also a bar area.

Service was really poor.  I spent much of the night with an empty water glass.  I couldn't get my server's attention to fill it.  Even once I asked for more water, it took forever to come.  When my mom ordered a second glass of wine, I think it took 20 minutes to arrive?  We all assumed it had been forgotten, and so much time had elapsed that my mom said she wished it had been.  My sister was delivered fries with no offer of ketchup, and it took two tries, and probably 10 minutes, before we were ever able to get some.  Some dishes were cleared when we were done, others weren't.  The table piled up with a random assortment of dishes and cutlery from previous courses.  They did make sure everyone was served at once, often using several waitstaff to serve a single table.

The average customer age was shockingly high.  I honestly thought I was dining in a retirement home.  I have no idea if this is normal?

The menu, although fairly classic, did peak my interest, due to some good sounding seafood options.  I was really missing seafood.  And the kitchen was trying, you could see it in the plating and excessive garnishing.  Not successful, but, they tried.

The wine list was large, with a rather insane number of wine available by the glass.  I don't really understand why, as it is clear they don't do that high volume, and clearly don't have argon tanks around.  Not realizing quite the level of restaurant I was at, I did ask for advice on selecting my wine, outlining a few parameters, until it became obvious that my server had no idea, and probably didn't even know the difference between a dry or sweet white wine.  I thought that given the way the rest of the menu read, the price point, and the extensive list that they'd have a decent wine program.  Um, no.  The wine I wound up with was awful, horribly acidic, and even my mom, who would readily tell you that she has no real opinions on wine, didn't want anything to do with it.

Appetizers

The menu starts with a selection of appetizers, soups, and salads.  Appetizers were a mix of seafood classics like crab cakes, oysters, and shrimp cocktail and crowd pleasers like meatballs, bruschetta, and chicken wings.  The daily specials menu included a soup of the day (tomato), a flatbread (buffalo chicken), and four small plates, including a rather out-of-place ramen.  The soups and salads were pretty standard.

Rolls and butter.

Once we ordered, bread and butter was brought out.

The rolls were served warm, each split in half into triangles.  They were soft and doughy, and reminded me a bit of the pizza dough rolls at my favorite Italian place in my hometown.  Not amazing, but not bad, and I of course appreciated them being served warm.

The butter that came alongside was in foil wrapped packets, fairly tacky.  I guess this eliminates waste, but I haven't really ever seen foil wrapped butter at a restaurant that is trying to be fairly fancy.

Pickle fries with horseradish mayo. $8.

Even though we were all ordering individual appetizers, my sister insisted we order the pickle fries for the table as well.

When the fries arrived, I actually thought there was a mistake, that these were regular fries.  I expected pickle chips I guess, not thin spears?

My mom took the first one.  "Interesting", she said.

My sister eagerly dove in, as she was the one who really wanted them.  "They taste better than the Hooter's ones!" she proclaimed.  I had all sorts of questions at this point, but, I didn't press.

I tried one myself.  They were piping hot and fresh.  The coating was really crispy.  Nice execution here, but ... a thin pickle strip, battered and fried, just didn't do it for me.  I like fried stuff, I like pickles, but, this wasn't my thing.  The horseradish mayo was super flavorful, and I love having a creamy dipping sauce, although I think something more like a McDonald's style "special sauce" would go better with the pickles.

My dad however was the surprise.  Not a man to try new things, and not one to comment on his food, he tried one.  And then another.  And another.  He went back for more and more.  "I quite like these!" he declared.  Woah.

So, overall, not my thing, but definitely an interesting dish to try, and I can't fault the fry job.  Probably my third favorite bite of the night.  $8 price seemed fine.

 Tomato and mozzarella Salad. $10.

"Crispy basil, balsamic reduction, olive oil."

My father opted for the tomato and mozzarella salad, with slices of two colors of tomatoes and mozzarella, interleaved.  It also had ... lettuce?  A large slice on one end of the plate, and torn bits on top.  Interesting.  My mom really liked the tomato she snagged from him.

I didn't attempt to steal bites of this, since I know my dad doesn't really like sharing and I wasn't that excited by it, except there was one component I was puzzled by: the little pearls on top.  Yes, at a first glance perhaps some kind of roe, but, obviously not.  Now, a more culinarily advanced restaurant would love to play with spherification, and the idea of balsamic pearls sounded awesome to me, but, I doubted that this little restaurant in middle-of-nowhere, NH was experimenting with molecular gastronomy.  My dad didn't want to go near them, fearing some kind of roe.  My sister tried them, I tried them, and we couldn't figure out what they were.  No, not balsamic sphere, they were actually solid and hard, some kind of vegetable or fruit?  They had no flavor we could distinguish.  Really strange.

The plating was a good indicator of what was to come.  They tried to make things look nice, but everything was a bit dated, and the extraneous garnishes (lettuce here, herbs later) got old fast.

$10 seemed a bit high for a salad in New Hampshire.

Red and Yellow Beets. $10. (half)

"Young arugula, goat cheese, pumpkin seeds, quail egg, and a buttermilk dressing."

My mother and sister opted for a beet salad from the specials menu, as they had both previously tried the beet salad on the regular menu (still there, with blue cheese), and really enjoyed it.

Since it had goat cheese, and I really dislike goat cheese, I didn't try it, but they both raved about it, commenting on how fresh it was and had a good tang.  They thought the hard boiled quail egg on top was very cute, "a nice touch".  My mom said the beets were "yummy and crispy".

So, successful starter for both of them.  The kitchen split it for them, so the picture above is just one portion.  A full portion must have been really quite sizable, else they did a generous split, so the $10 price isn't too crazy, although I'm not sure what premium ingredient went into it.

 Lobster Bisque $10.

For my appetizer, I broke the mold of ordering salads, and went for a soup.

Yes, I ordered soup.  When do I ever, ever order soup?  I don't.

The thing is, I menu stalked Millstone before our arrival.  The online menu said they had a "daily chowder".  I was seriously, seriously craving a good chowder.  I never made it to any seafood restaurants during my visit to the east coast, and missed out on getting clam or fish chowder.  While I don't really like soups, a good chowder I can get behind.  Rich, creamy, usually loaded with goodies like bacon ... hard to resist, particularly on a rainy night, right?

Sadly, the online menu was outdated, and the chowder was replaced by bisque.  Meh.  Even if it is lobster bisque, I'm actually not nearly as crazy about lobster as the rest of the world.  It never seems worth the premium, and generally, I actually just prefer crab.  I'm spoiled living in California with fresh, local, deliciously sweet Dungeness!

But anyway.  The menu had a number of lobster dishes, including a lobster ravioli special, and a lobster roll that the entire table next to us ordered, so I thought perhaps the lobster would be something special, we were only an hour or so drive from Maine after all.

But really what sold me was the menu description.  It didn't say anything about the bisque itself.  It said one and only one thing: "biscuit".

I love biscuits!  I figured I could order this, just to quasi-satisfy my chowder desires, get some local lobster, and, most importantly, have my biscuit.

My soup arrived as you see above.  I saw no biscuit.  I grew concerned.  Uh-oh, it didn't actually say it came WITH a biscuit.  It just said simple, "biscuit", I'm the one who assumed that meant on the side, perhaps it was incorporated into the bisque itself?

I lifted the lid.  Hmm, no chunks of biscuit visible.  I stirred it.  Nothing.  Was it ... blended biscuit?  No way, this restaurant wasn't edgy enough for that.

So I asked, "um, it said the bisque comes with a biscuit?"  My server nodded, and said yes, it should have.  Doh.

Anyway, the presentation was ... trying.  Arriving under a dome I guess is cute, although the server didn't remove it tableside, that was left for me to do.  And, it had spilled out under the dome while being carried to the table, so it really just looked like a mess.  At least it stayed warm?

Bisque ... and a biscuit.

A few minutes later, my server returned with my biscuit on a little plate.  Unlike the soup, it was not warm.  Uh-oh.  Who serves a cold biscuit?!  Maybe it was warm when my dish was plated, but so much time had elapsed that it cooled?  I don't think so though, as it was really stone cold.

The biscuit was good though.  No, not an amazing biscuit, not very flaky, but it had a nice tang to it.  There was cracked pepper on top, a bit too strong and overwhelming, but that pepper did compliment the soup.

The soup ... was not.  It was thin, watery, and I really didn't care for the flavor.  Far too salty as well, although that wasn't the dominant problem.  There were a few bites of stringy lobster throughout, unremarkable.

While not amazing, the little biscuit turned out to be the best thing I ate all night, and it wasn't even warm ...

$10 price for a soup with only a couple spoonfuls of lobster and a mini biscuit seemed a bit high.

 Small Caesar Salad $7 + Crab Cake $12.

"Egg, crouton, white anchovy."

A few days prior, we had a caesar salad elsewhere that was supposed to be amazing, and, I really didn't like it (wilted brown lettuce, no anchovy flavor, meh, meh, meh).  I was craving a good caesar salad ever since.

The salad section of the menu had the tomato and mozzarella salad my dad ordered, a simple house salad, a blue cheese and beet salad, the goat cheese and beet salad special my sister and mom opted for, and ... yes, a caesar salad!  I'm still not really one to ever order a salad in a restaurant given other options, but, my eyes were drawn to the small line under the salad section, listing out additions including grilled chicken, shrimp, steak tips, or ... crab cake!  I love crab, and really wanted the crab cake appetizer, but no one else in my family eats crab (my dad and sister don't eat seafood, my mom reacts to crab), so I had to pass it by.

I decided to go for the caesar and top it with a crab cake, making it into an entree.  The waitress didn't seem to have a problem with this.  I'm including it here in the "Appetizer" section of my review since it was technically an appetizer, but, it was delivered with the other mains as my main.

The salad was available in two sizes, one for $7 and one for $9.  I opted for the small one, knowing I'd be sharing things with the others too.  It still seemed like a very large salad, so I'm curious how much bigger the $9 version was.  Or, perhaps they made me a large one anyway, since I had it as a main dish?

Anyway, the salad was better than my previous caesar, but not remarkable.  Fresh enough romaine formed the base.  It had large shreds of parmesan.  Lots of croutons, made of assorted breads, really crispy and very generic, like any croutons from a bag.  There was randomly some bits of hard boiled egg.  The dressing was good enough, but it was really inconsistently mixed.  Some bits were way overdressed, others had no dressing.

When I ordered, I was asked if I wanted real anchovy, and of course I said yes.  Under my crab cake I found my anchovy, a single white anchovy, split in half.  It was the best part of the salad, just an anchovy, but I do love the flavor of them!

As for the crab cake.  It was awful.  Truly awful.  Not crispy on the outside at all, even though it was browned.  Just a big pile of mush.  Fishy tasting mush.  No lump crap meat, lots of filler.  The texture was awful.  I tried a few bites, really trying to reset my expectations and not waste crab, but, wow, this was definitely the worst crab cake I've ever had.  My mom took a bite, I think assuming I was just being a snob, and immediately agreed that it was just mush.  Horrible.

I did make one other modification to my salad.  The aforementioned crab cake appetizer that I had wanted to order came with a "popcorn sauce".  I really wanted to try that, so I asked for it to come with the crab cake on my salad too, which they accommodated.

The popcorn sauce was as fascinating as I thought it would be, creamy, and flavorful, although, I'm not really sure it went with crab.  I appreciated trying it though.

So, overall, a highly mediocre caesar salad and the worst crab cake of my life.  $12 for just that single pile of fishy mush is way too high, but $7 for a salad was ok.

Mains

The main dish section is broken up into entrees and casual sandwiches.

The entree selection included a bit of everything: baby back ribs, steak tips, filet mignon, lamb chops, and meatloaf for the meat eaters, salmon and red snapper for the seafood lovers, and a chicken dish for the poultry fans.  A token vegetarian pasta rounded out the entree list.  An additional 5 entree specials were lobster ravioli, veal cutlet, halibut, pork tenderloin, and a NY strip.  Clearly, this is not the place to come if you are vegetarian.

Almost all the entrees came with mashed potatoes.  Additional sides were available including frites, "vegetable", and "mushrooms".

The sandwich lineup included a reuben, chicken, and lamb option, plus a token burger and lobster roll.

 Lamb Gyro. $12.

"Tzatziki sauce, house made pickles, lettuce, roasted tomato, naan bread."

My sister picked the lamb gyro from the sandwich menu.  When the server came to take our drink order, my sister asked the server what cut of lamb it was.  The server didn't know, and said she'd come back to let her know.  When she returned to take our dinner order, she hadn't found out.  She didn't offer to check then either, and when my sister pressed, she said she'd return with the information ... after she ordered.  She was trying to find out so she could order!

Anyway, it was ground lamb.  My sister liked this more than anything else she'd had previously at Millstone, and in particular, said the tzatziki was good.  Since I really don't like lamb, I didn't even try a bite.

She had her choice of pomme frites, napa cabbage slaw, or fresh fruit as an included side, but choose to upgrade to the sweet pomme frites for $2, pretty much at my insistence.  I had been eying them on the sides menu the moment we sat down, and wanted someone to order them, or to get an order for the table as an appetizer perhaps.

She hated them.  I thought they were ok, but I understand the disappointment.  First, they were mixed with regular frites.  Only about half sweet potato.  This isn't mentioned on the menu, or in person when you order the sweet ones, kinda lame.  Second, well, they were frites, so they were super thin and crispy, and she wanted thick wedges.  That said, they were nicely salted and decent for a thin, crispy style fry.

No offer of ketchup was made to go along.  I flagged the waitress down to ask for it on my sister's behalf.  Many minutes went by.  She keep waiting, the fries getting cold.  More time went by.  The waitress returned with my mom's wine (ordered long before, my mom had already decided she didn't even want it at this point), and I questioned about the ketchup.  She didn't even seem to remember that she'd promised it earlier.  Sigh, the service.

$12 price was fine for fancy sandwich.

Meatloaf. $16.

"Bacon, ketchup onions, mashed potato, bordaliase."

My father doesn't eat many things, so the fact that he found an entree that he was willing to order that wasn't just a pizza, a burger, or simple pasta dish was pretty shocking.  Because ... they had meatloaf!

It also turned out, he picked the best dish, no question.  He isn't really one to share, but, it was my last night there, and how could he deny me?

The meatloaf was moist and flavorful, infused with plenty of bacon flavor.  On top was tons of caramelized onions that added additional flavor.  Really quite good, but, why, oh why did they garnish it with dill?  Random.

It was served over a couple asparagus spears, which seemed to be the side of the day, as his plate came with two, and my mom's had three.  He doesn't eat asparagus, so he offloaded it to my mother, who proclaimed that it was "perfect, not overcooked, not too crispy".

There was also some piped mashed potatoes, again, trying so hard with the presentation!  They were creamy and good enough I guess.

$16 for a large portion seemed fine, and, as I said, best dish of the night, and my second favorite bite of the night was a chunk of his meatloaf with plentiful onions.

Salmon. $24. 

"Miso glaze with sesame and ginger, jasmine rice, butter sauce."

My mom opted for the salmon from the regular menu as her main.  I secretly hoped she'd go for the halibut special, since I intended to snag a few bites, and I like halibut more than (cooked) salmon, but, she loves her salmon, and rarely gets to eat seafood since no one else in my family does, so her mind was made up immediately.

I of course still took some, as even though I don't love cooked salmon, who can resist miso glaze?  I love miso!

The salmon was decently prepared, a nice sear on top, served skin on.  Cooked fully through though, and the only way I really like my cooked salmon is mid-rare.  That said, it was fairly moist.  The miso flavor wasn't that strong, but it was well seasoned.  It was a bit fishy.

It was served over a few spears of the same asparagus that came with my father's dish, and rice that I didn't try.  And garnished with the same parsley and dill.  The plating looked nice I guess, albeit dated.

Overall, a decent enough dish, and if I liked fully cooked salmon, I likely would have been satisfied.  My mom did really like it.

$24 is a high price for a restaurant in that area though.

Dessert 

After a disappointing meal, I still had a glimmer of hope when I saw the dessert menu.  Lots of tasty sounding choices, plus, you know me and desserts.  And my family is full of sweets lovers, so I figured that the four of us would at least 3 to try.

And then, my mom declared that she was full and wanted nothing.  As did my dad.  Hmmph.  And my sister wanted one and only one thing, and she seemed to want her own.  Ooph.

The dessert special of the day was an unceremonious lemon pound cake with berries and whipped cream.  Other options included chocolate mousse pie, chocolate lava cake, and tiramisu, all of which sounded great, but I had to avoid due to caffeine.  There was also a daily sorbet, and assorted ice cream from Walpole Creamery.  I obviously love ice cream, don't get me wrong, but this is never what I order in a restaurant.  Maybe I should have.

We settled on the other two selections, with the thought that I could take some home if everyone else was really unwilling to help out.  We did have plenty left, but, I didn't want to take any home, as they desserts matched the rest of the meal: overpriced, and not very good.

Decaf Coffee.

I started with a decaf coffee, as I always like a bitter pairing with my sweets.  It was served with a little pitcher of creamer.  Sugars were already on the table.

It was fine.  Not remarkable, served in a slightly small cup, but, fine.

Creme Brûlée. $6.

As I mentioned, my sister wanted one and only one thing: the creme brûlée.  Now, you know how much I love puddings, and creme brûlée specifically, so I wanted it too.  She said she'd share a few bites, and even stepped back to let me perform my standard creme brûlée eating procedure.

I started with the "tap test".  The caramelized layer on top was thin, but it did have a good flavor, slightly burnt in a good way, and seemed to have been freshly torched to order, as the custard was cold, and top a bit warm.  So not as thick as I wanted, but decent enough.

The custard itself had a nice creamy consistency, but tasted like ... nothing.  It just had no flavor whatsoever.  Sadness.  After a few more bites, I gladly let my sister have it, even though it ended up being the better of the desserts.

The garnishes on the side included a "vanilla bean shortbread cookie", that somehow wound up in my dad's hand within moments of it arriving on our table.  I don't like cookies really, so it isn't like I wanted it, but I did want a taste!  Oh, an a totally unripe sliced strawberry.  Meh.

The $6 price tag however was quite reasonable for a dessert at a restaurant with this pricing.

 Peanut Butter Banana Cheesecake. $8.

The other option I went for was the cheesecake.  Now, I'm not necessarily a huge cheesecake lover, but, I do like cheesecake from time to time, and it tends to be something that most restaurants can do well (or, they purchase it from somewhere frozen, and that works too).  Plus, peanut butter?  Yes!

Sadly, it was just as lackluster as everything else.  The cheesecake wasn't creamy.  It didn't have any cream cheese flavor to it.  I did like the peanut butter, but it was overwhelmed by banana.  The top was burnt.

The crust was a "chocolate cookie crust" and was actually tasty, but it was very thick, and it was hard to cut a chunk of cheesecake off that would have both the filling and the crust.  After a few bites of the cheesecake, trying so hard to like it, I gave up, and ended up just eating cookie crust, chocolate and all, because I wanted something to satisfy.  Sigh.

It was garnished with another unripe strawberry, and a pudding of some tasteless sauce.

This was worse than the creme brûlée, and the $8 price was high compared to other desserts on their menu.

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