Honey 3-13-10

Over All Impression: upscale casual, the staff was very friendly and accommodating, they had a high chair for turtle boy that I think was from IKEA, it was clean.

This is what we got:
– Appetizer: honey fries: Sweet, Yukon, and Idaho with chili lime honey – the momma, the dadda and the gram thought they were delicious. Some of them were crispy however others were not and while not the typical fry consistency the momma liked them. The chili lime honey sauce was wonderful, the momma would like to have that recipe and is sure she will be playing around in the kitchen to try to replicate it, it was spicy and sweet but not too overpowering. The Doodle Bug liked the fries but did not like the sauce; she called it yucky and hot.

– the dadda: braised beef short ribs served over mashed Yukon potatoes, seasonal vegetable, and Amaretti cherry fortified braising jus reduction. The dadda could taste a sweet flavor but not define it as cherry. The ribs were very good and fell off the bone; the meat was easy to cut with a fork which was good since turtle boy was sitting in his lap. The dadda does not like Swiss chard, which was the seasonal vegetable however he does not like any green that is cooked including spinach. On the other hand, the momma liked the cooked Swiss chard, it was much better than when she tried to make it for dinner last summer.

– the momma: ravioli of black truffle, wild mushroom, and Fromager D’Affinois in a pool of Lustau dry sherry laced beef broth. The food was very good slightly sweet and garlicky flavors. The Fromager D’Affinois was very creamy and soft it complimented the sherry laced beef broth. The ravioli of black truffle, wild mushroom, some were a little crispy, cooked al dente, which is hard to replicate in our kitchen when trying to get everything else done and dinner cooked quickly.

– Doodle Bug: As the waiter was telling us about the daily specials, specifically the house made pizza, the Doodle Bug started laughing and said to him, “you are silly!” He wanted to know why he was silly, she explained to him that a house can’t make a pizza and he was silly for telling us that it could. He laughed at her observation and was very attentive to her. She shared our dinners; she really enjoyed the bread and the fries with ketchup but not the sauce. She liked the hamburger, but not the cheese on it or the bacon. After the main course, our waiter came to the table and the Doodle Bug said to him, “So, what is the dessert selection?” he laughed and explained to her that he was about to tell her the dessert selection she then informed him that she liked chocolate desserts.
She said her favorite part of dinner was the dessert, what else would you expect from the momma’s daughter though? We think the next time, one of us will try the herb roasted Amish chicken breast and she will enjoy that more.

– the gram: grilled 8oz. burger with Widmer eight year cheddar, bacon, guacamole, tomato, and red onion on a toasted onion bun with honey fries she enjoyed her meal and was very impressed with her gourmet burger. We agreed it had the distinct flavor of being cooked over an open flame or charcoal grill. She thought the Widmer cheese was good but had a very different texture than what she expected from cheddar cheese.

Turtle Boy: puffs from home, although, had we ordered the crispy tofu, we think he would have enjoyed the root vegetable purée.

Dessert: Triple Chocolate Brownie with Berries, Caramel, whipped cream, and ice cream it was very chocolaty and not too dense. The caramel was very buttery and smooth. The chocolate ice cream was creamy and thick. The whipped cream is sweet, dense and so pretty.

Atmosphere: Upscale but casual – you can wear jeans here! The dining room echoes a bit and Doodle Bug thought that was cool. In any case if you are eating there and it is empty even a very quite voice can seem very loud in this restaurant. The Doodle Bug does not have a quiet voice.

Bathrooms: there is one bathroom on the 1st floor and then there are bathrooms downstairs. There was no place to change Turtle Boy however did not get the feeling they had lots of families with small children coming in to eat. While we were there, we were the only family with small children.

Menu: Upscale, with some local ingredients, most notably Rouster’s Apples in Milford. There is not a specific children’s menu however we think there are a lot of choices that are child friendly. The entrees are large enough they could be shared between a child and adult especially if you get an appetizer, salad, or dessert to round out your meal.

Service: Our waiter was fantastic and even “enhanced” our dessert with chocolate ice cream.