El Pueblito - @@@

Food coma city! I went to this Columbian restaurant tonight for dinner and got the traditional Bandeja meal. Per the server, the Bandeja is the typical Columbian meal. I got the Bandeja Montanera which includes fried pork, steak, sausage, beans, rice, eggs, and plantains. Wow. An amazing amount of food for $13. Love the local spots that full you up like this place.

As far as the taste goes, it was pretty good overall. The steak was a thinly sliced rib-eye, but since it was so thin it can't be cooked medium rare. Juicy and flavorful still though. Sausage was tasty and compared favorably to other chorizo's I have had. The new one for me was the fried pork. Talk about unhealthy...this was some pork cut that was fried up crispy. I would guess country-style boneless ribs and then fried. I actually ate the whole chunk of a few pieces while most traditionally eat up to the skin. Even then, there is a good amount of fat. The pork again I feel suffered from being overly dry. The other sides of plantains, rice, beans, fried egg, arepa, an avocado were all decent although I felt the arepa was again dry.

Oh I forgot about the empanadas that I had to start out with. Those were really good. They were constructed differently than I have normally had them. Instead of a separate shell, the corn/potato mixture was formed as a ball and fried, leaving the outside the same flavor as the filling. Interesting and good.

Overall going 3 of 5 tonight. Wanted to go higher because of all the meats, but the flavor just wasn't all the way there. Still would recommend this place to someone checking out food in Bridgeport as it is different than typical corporate restaurants. The service was also great as he explained to me quite a bit about the dishes available. Go there and just be ready for a nap after!

121 Wall St
Bridgeport, CT

Anthem Kitchen and Bar - @@@

Got a cup of chowder while I was walking around Boston on Saturday. This place won Boston Chowderfest 2010. Was not blown away and felt that it didn't top my current favorite of Legal. It was not overly thick and creamy, which I personally like. Decent amount of potatoes and clams, but I would've never guessed it won the best in Boston. Good to try though if you are around Faneuil Hall sometime, and most likely better than the stalls inside.

101 S Market St
Boston, MA

J Porters - @@

Guinness braised beef brisket last night from the hotel restaurant. Decent that is all. Not overly tender or flavorful, with a high price to boot. The spots at the hotel get you with the prices just cause there is no where else to go...especially in Trumbull, CT. Also had a decent side of steamed broccoli, though not as good as the broccoli at William Penn Omni in Pittsburgh. Sides in picture below include not really garlic mashed potatoes and roasted root vegetables (carrots, squash, zucchini perhaps??)

Andreas - @@@

Went to this Mediterranean/Greek themed restaurant in College Hill in Providence Friday night. It was good overall but they were behind the 8 ball due to the vast amount of Mediterranean places around Detroit. Would tell people to check it out to try some of the specialties if they were interested and in the area.
Had the lamb chops med rare served with green beans (haricot vert) and rice spiced with a tomato based sauce. Again they were quite good, tender and flavorful but just didn't compare to places in Dearborn or Greektown. They didn't even light the saganoki, rather serving it already on fire. Where is the Opa!!??

268 Thayer St
Providence, RI 02906 

The Friendly Toast - @@@

Went to this funky diner-ish place last Saturday for lunch. It was the place where the dishes were all plastic and didnt match, had true old pieces of Americana around it, and a mah jong tile framed counter. Cool surroundings in Cambridge.
I ordered the omelette that was stuffed with bacon, ham, sausage, and candied walnuts. What a weird bonus but the walnuts added an interesting texture compared to the sink-your-teeth in rest of the ingredients. It was topped with a slightly sweet sauce which I thought would balance the salt more than it really did. It was really huge and also served with a side of home fries and toast (of course). I also had a side sauce of their sirracha sour cream that was unique and good, though not overly spicy as the dairy tamed the hot sauce.
Cool overall place that I feel a lot of people would like. For some reason I ordered breakfast which I rarely do, so I probably didn't enjoy it as much as true breakfast lovers would. I would recommend it to all those that like quirky local places with great portions.

1 Kendall Sq
Cambridge, MA 02139 

Corporate Deli - @@@@

This is the standard lunch in Bridgeport, a trip to Corporate Deli for any number of their good sandwiches. This is the Italian, filled with all types of meats and cheeses. Sandwich integrity on this one is good as well, it doesn't fall apart even though it is super stuffed.
I have also tried the pastrami Reuben (good, not great) and the Lisaria (chicken cutlet topped with broccoli rabe, fresh mozzarella, and roasted peppers which was good but chicken dry).
Though it's good, I still wouldn't mind going back to the salads at the Medford cafeteria just because this much lunch makes you tired throughout the afternoon. A good diversion for the time being though!

130 John St
Bridgeport, CT 06604 

Miss Thelma's - @@@@

Not sure if it was the lack of Italian or the assortment of soul food, but when I went to Miss Thelma's for dinner last night I was quite happy. I had checked out the menu online before so going in I knew what I was going to get. The smothered pork chops and fried chicken. To be honest I did not really look at the sides much.
When I go in, they were sadly sold out of the smothered pork chops. That's ok as I checked out the beef rib to switch it up. Uh oh, they were out of the too. So I eventually ordered the BBQ ribs and fried chicken. I did get 2 sides so asked their recommendation. They said the collards and Spanish rice so that is what I got.
The first stuff to come out were 2 cornbread muffins topped with butter. They were ok, it tasted a little too mealy for me and I only had one as I knew I would not be short food later. One interesting note was that these muffins were extremely hot which I found strange as they were getting close to closing. I would find out this is a common theme with their food. Then came the main event. The chicken was simply fried with not much seasoning in the batter. I like more seasoning, but it was fried perfectly and juicy. A little hot sauce on top and it was really good. The ribs as you can tell we're smothered in BBQ sauce. The sauce was a sweetish concoction that definitely stuck to your fingers. At the few soul food restaurants I have been too, they seem to have the sauce sweeter and absolutely cover the ribs. Not sure if that's a common thing or not. The ribs itself were good, not overly tender but had a good bite to them. And they were spareribs so they had plentiful meat to them. Spanish rice was ok, nothing overly special but again super temperature hot. Collard greens I liked as they were really wilted down. I do not cook them so appreciated the fact that they take so long to get that way with flavor.
Overall really good meal that I was happy to get to. Not sure how many soul food places Bridgeport has, but I know why this one won the best of award they have posted up. Check it out!

140 Fairfield Ave
Bridgeport, CT 06612