O’Rourke’s Diner

O’Rourke’s Diner

728 Main Street

Middletown CT.

860-346-6101

www.orourkesmiddletown.com

This weekend we set out to see a play in Purchase NY at Manhattanville College.

So we thought it would be a nice change to look up a new place to stop for a bite to eat on the way. I went on line and typed in (The best diners in New England) and New England Today Travel comes up with a list of the top 15 Diners.

https://newengland.com/today/travel/new-england/best-diners-new-england/

 

The first one on the list was right on our way, O’Rourke’s Diner in Middletown, Connecticut. So we plug the address into the GPS, and off we go. We arrive around 1 or 2 in the afternoon and find out that they only serve breakfast on Saturday. No big deal, we like breakfast at almost any time.

The place is not that big and it is pretty busy; I take this as a good sign. So we sit and order.  I ordered an omelet called the Dubliner. Corned beef hash with Irish Cheddar Cheese with Irish bacon and potatoes topped with Irish soda bread and jam.

I love Corned beef hash. I almost always order it when we are eating breakfast out. To my disappointment, it was not very good hash. The overall breakfast was ok, but for some reason with a place called O’Rourke’s, I was excepting great hash. I’m not even sure if they made it there, or got it out of a can.  The best part on the meal was the soda bread and jam.

Now, the wife had her go to meal, which is Eggs Benedict.  This was Standard Eggs Benedict with Irish Ham and poached eggs, topped with Hollandaise sauce and a side of home fries. This was an average attempt, I can say the eggs where poached perfectly but they went skimpy on the sauce, which was bland, and the home fries where old.

O’Rourke’s Diner is an ok diner, but not worth driving out of your way for. There are lot better diners out there that are worth the drive.

So, I will have to think twice about believing the New England Today Travel web site. I believe they got this one all wrong.

O’Neills : Salem's Irish Pub & Restaurant

O’Neills

Salem's Irish Pub & Restaurant

120 Washington St,

Salem, MA 01970

978-740-8811

http://oneillsofsalem.com

Another Friday that we just had to go out someplace that was fun, casual, and someplace we can get some good food with our drinks.

I sat down and did a little research to try and find a place that we have not been to before that could fit this requirement. I was in luck: I ran across this Irish pub is Salem, Mass, so we called our friends and made it a date.

The pub itself had live music that night and was very welcoming with a relaxed atmosphere. You should go to their web site and research other activities. They seem to have a lot of other events going on here.

So to start off, we all had some appetizers.

Shepherd’s Pie Rangoon’s. I thought these were very good and inventive. They were filled with the standard mashed potatoes, meat and veggies and served with a side of spicy aioli. These I could eat as a dinner with a nice glass of Smithwick's Irish Ale (That they just so happen to have). Just in case you don't know about Smithwick's: "Smithwick’s is an Irish red ale-style beer from Kilkenny, Ireland. It is a clear beer with a red color. The Smithwick’s brewery was purchased by Guinness in 1965, and is now part of Diageo." I have had this beer before, but I had forgotten how easy this goes down.

Next, I had a good, old-fashioned, chargrilled, handmade Angus burger served with a nice amount of steak fries. Now, this was not the best burger I have ever had but, it was a good burger. The wife had a Classic Reuben: house-cured corned beef topped with sauerkraut, Swiss cheese, and thousand-island dressing on grilled marble rye.

Now, the wife is a bit of a Ruben snob, so I can say without question that if she likes your Ruben, then you are doing something right. But what really made her happy was the fact that they did not have a problem of serving us some brown gravy on the side for her steak fries. You may think to yourself, How can this be a problem, serving brown gravy at a restaurant? But trust me, some places have trouble with this.

So overall, we had a good time at O’Neills, and we look forward to going back sometime soon.

 

En Fuego

Today we felt like some Mexican food. We had seen a place up in Ipswich a few times and decided to give it a try. Ok maybe not just the food. One of us (Angela) wanted some tequila. Luck was on our side they had a large selection so we went with Corzo Silver Tequila.

First, our waitress was very nice and friendly. She gave us plenty of time and never made us feel like we were being rushed. (I assume I am not the only one to say that being rushed during dinner is one of my biggest pet peeves).

Okay, we start off with the appetizers.

Beef Empanadas stuffed with ground beef and capers served with avocado, sour cream, and chili infused ranch. This was pretty good. I am not a big fan of Empanadas, but these had plenty of stuffing and the crust was nice and flakey.

Next we had the guacamole prepared tableside in a molcajete.  A molcajete is a mortar and pestle carved from volcanic rock. One of the world's oldest kitchen tools, it was used by the Aztecs in Mexico for grinding corn into flour.

This was just okay. But, I think we are to blame on this because when the waitress asked us how we wanted it, we really did not know what to say. Next time, we will tell them to go easy on the salt. Since our homemade chips had plenty of salt on them, we did not need any in the dip.

Now for dinner.

Because I love to eat and always order more than enough food, I ordered the Chicken Chimichanga: a flour tortilla stuffed with slow-roasted chicken, bell peppers, onions, and Monterey Jack cheese. It was lightly fried and topped with Salsa Blanca. (Salsa Blanca is a white creamy type of salsa like a béchamel).

I have had this dish before and always enjoy it. This one was just a little different (in a good way); it was the fact that they just lightly fried it that made this feel like it was not as heavy as others that I have had. I enjoyed this one then and the next day when I had the leftovers.

Now, the wife had Tacos de Pescado (fish). These were very good and they did not fry the fish, so they were light but satisfying. The sauces on the side were a good addition and were not overwhelming.

To sum up, this was a basic Mexican restaurant, nothing too upscale. The prices were right in line, and the food was good. I would go back, and next time, no tequila - well, none for one of us.

En Fuego

141 High Street

Ipswich MA 01938

Phone: (978)312-1088

http://www.eatenfuego.com/