Double O's, Wappinger Falls, NY 01/22/11

On a recent Friday night, we found ourselves in the Wappinger Falls area shopping for some accessories for our newly painted living room - I highly recommend that Hobby Lobby store, It's great for home decor ideas for any room in your home.

We decided to stop at the Double O's restaurant & bar on Rt. 9, as we had been there before and were impressed by their menu. We arrived around 5 p.m., which is rather early for us for dinner, but we decided it would be better to eat early then have to decide on one of the "usual" restaurants we frequent in our hometown area. The hostess started walking us down the aisle at the right-hand side (as you walk in) but in that portion of the restaurant it seems more like a diner than a restaurant. I asked if we could be seated further into the restaurant near the bar. She was very nice and told us to show her where we would like to sit. We took a small booth near the bar that overlooked the lower level at the front of the restaurant. It was a perfect spot and seemed much cozier than the "diner" side.

The menu here is interesting and has so much to offer, depending on your appetite. There are regular American offerings from burgers to chicken and steaks, as well as many Asian inspired dishes such as miso salmon, etc. The menu is quite extensive and the prices quite reasonable.

I usually eat light, however, I was pretty hungry tonight and decided on the skirt steak that came with mashed potatoes and mixed vegetables. My husband ordered the miso salmon. While waiting for our meal, we were served some very good crusty bread with a bruschetta which was very tasty! We were seated in a great spot to people watch at the bar, which was constantly full, and also to see all the food as it was brought out of the kitchen. The food is artfully displayed on the dish, especially the salads. Everything looks great!

My steak was cooked exactly as requested and was a very large piece. The potatoes were creamy and very tasty -- the veggies were not your typical broccoli, carrots, zucchini blend that most restaurants are serving. They were zucchini, onions, and fennel and were quite tasty! My meal was great and I took home half for lunch for during the week.

My husband loved his salmon, which came with rice and asparagus - he loved it and finished every morsel!

Although we did not have an appetizer or desert, the entire dinner with drinks (three glasses of wine total) came to $63.00 before tip. We felt it was reasonable and the meal was well worth it!

With the extensive menu selections and the cozy dining and bar areas, we wish they would open a Double O's in Orange County so we could go there more often!

The Copper Bottom

The Copper Bottom, Florida, NY. Not a far drive for us but not a place that comes to mind when eating out. It's a Sunday - 4:00 and after dropping off the grandkids to their parents, we decide to eat dinner out. Hubby suggests we try The Copper Bottom. Been here before about a year ago. Read that they expanded their bar area. Looks like a small storefront restaurant but the dining area goes all the way to the back room, and although not big, it's a fair size. The bar is bigger, brought around to the back eating area.

The bartender/waitress was friendly and chatty. We asked to be seated at the bar to have a drink before dinner. We ordered wine.....Pinot Grigio for me and Chardonnay for hubby. Ok quality - Gallo for the Pinot Grigio and Nathanson Creed for the Chardonnay. Better than some for a restaurant of this quality.

After chatting with the bartender/waitress for awhile, and due to the fact that the dining room was empty (it was only 4:30 on a Sunday) we decided to have dinner at the bar.

I ordered the Pollo Lauren - Chicken with roasted peppers and capers over spinach/corn risotto. I requested that they leave off the capers and asked if there were any mushrooms in the risotto. Waitress indicated that she didn't think so, but would check.

Hubby ordered Sea Scallops with sundried tomatoes, portabello mushrooms, over linguini. He requested that instead of linguini, he would like the risotto that came with my dish and no mushrooms.

We were served a bread basket with freshly baked, warm rolls and flatbreads that were great.

Dinner arrived quickly (at that point, there was only one table sat in the restaurant). I started cutting through my chicken and was alarmed that it was a little tough to cut through.....however, when I tasted it, I was impressed. A nicely done wine and chicken broth sauce was very tasty with the chicken. The risotto was delicious and there was a good portion of julienne vegetables with a broccoli spear. Everything was delicious. Nicely prepared dish with good taste and aromas. Absolutely no complaints here!

Hubby's scallops were also nicely presented with same risotto and sides. He finished the entire plate - and quite a large portion it was!

I took home half my dinner and will absolutely enjoy it for lunch this week at work.

I would highly recommend this restaurant. Although it appears to be a small storefront place with no character, we found it to be a restaurant with a varied menu that would appeal to anyone and the chef is doing a superb job of preparing a great dish in every case!

We got into a conversation with the bartender and two other people who came in to the bar while we were there - everyone was friendly and you could tell that people were drawn to the place once they came to enjoy the food and friendly atmosphere.

Nina's - Middletown, NY 2/27/10

The first night to get out after the big storm....28 inches - tough digging out. Decided to make a reservation at Nina's - always a great spot. Arrived on time for reservation - Hostess (owner/chef's wife) remembered our name and had a table ready for us. Nice touch. However, in the cold months, the best table is not really the best because of the draft. Sat us by the front window but was very chilly. Remembered from our last visit but didn't comment because the restaurant was busy and didn't want to make a scene about moving. Menu was good but I am a non seafood, non mushroom eater. Hard to get thru this menu without mushrooms. A particular chicken/pasta dish caught my eye but it listed a Marsala sauce (mushrooms!). Spoke to waitress and explained that the dish sounded good but could the chef do it with a different sauce (i.e. lemon butter, wine, etc). She commented that the chef may not want to change his menu but would ask. Came back indicating that she was right .... that would not work for that dish but she asked him to cut it down some, perhaps with just pasta, chicken, spinach and a lemon, butter sauce. Sounded like a good compromise to me - told her to go ahead. I was a little disappointed since in the past I have found many things on the menu to order....butternut squash ravioli, risotto, chicken dishes, etc.

Pasta arrived, tasted great, so little chicken, I was searching for it. The sauce was great but it was just really pasta and spinach with a little chicken tossed in.

Hubby had escargot for starter. It came in a pastry crust with mushrooms and a very heavy brown sauce which over-powered the escargot - he only ate half of it because it was hard to detect the escargot from the mushrooms in the dark sauce. Hi entree was scallops with Spanish rice. The scallops were reportedly great! The Spanish rice was a weird side affect that did nothing for the great tasting scallops.

After dinner, I had a cappuccino and hubby had a double espresso. Both good with a side of white sambucca split between us.

The wine served with dinner was very good. Chardonnay for hubby and Pinot Grigio for me - the house wine was great but pricey. $9.75 for the chardonnay and a little less for the Pinot Grigio. No complaints there, though, the wine is important to the meal and was good quality.

Would hesitate to go again soon, since we have other favorite restaurants that are less pricey with chefs that will work with you on the dish you are looking for.

Would like to hear from others who dine out in the Orange County, NY area.
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Feb. 18, 2010

Friday's - Middletown

We stopped by for a drink and appetizer after work....we sat at the bar and decided to share the spinach dip and then share a steak/chicken combo fajaita.

The spinach dip was fine...the usual, good for munching, but nothing spectacular (I do like theirs better than the commercial competition - I think it's more the chips than the dip!) The fajaita was fine - chicken and steak were fine but they short changed us on the shredded cheese that comes with it. There was plenty of sour cream and guacamole but I'd rather the cheese than the rest! This dish came with rice that was awful! Their rice tasted like coconut which is not my favorite, however, even then the rice was hard and dry. We did mention to the bartender about the rice and shortly thereafter, the manager came over and apologized for the rice and offered a replacement. We were no longer hungry and declined his offer but just let him know that we thought it was important that he was aware of the problem. He made some comment about the rice being steamed so he couldn't see how it would be dry but he did take a few dollars off the bill for the rice.

All in all, it was the usual experience you would expect from Fridays. It's fine for an appetizer or a quick meal during the week. The wine was fine. Pinot Grigio was Ecco Domani, which I like, and my hubby's chardonnay was Toasted Head by request (a little better than their house brand).

The Night before Valentines Day dining

We had a gift card for Il Limencello and put it off for awhile, so decided we would go tonight.

Called for a reservation about 4:30 p.m. and were able to get an 8:00 reservation. Arrived at 7:45 .... the wait was incredible! Alot of people hanging around waiting. We were told that it would be about 1/2 hour wait and that we could go into the bar and would be called there. Wow! the bar area was very crowded. The bartender was well over her head in orders already. She seemed to be taking care of the bar area customers and the entire restaurant bar orders! It took awhile to get her attention but eventually we were able to order a couple of glasses of wine. Waited quite awhile to get a table but the manager/owner was very accommodating when we spotted a table close to the fireplace that we wanted and noticed that a couple was getting ready to leave. We got the table we wanted but unless you were sitting right on top of the fireplace, you couldn't really feel it. Oh well.....at least you can see what appeared to be heat! The wait staff and bus boys were great! They were right there with water, drinks and bread. You cannot beat the flavored oil Limencello's serves with their bread. You can have a glass of wine and the bread w/oil and be satisfied for the night.

I must be a little blurred in the head, but I read the menu and saw an entree' that said "Chicken Diane and Filet Mingnon." I though I would get a small piece of chicken and a small piece of fillet mignon. However, when the waiter kept concentrating on how I wanted the meat cooked, I thought.....maybe I misunderstood. When my meal arrived, I realized that I was right! I did mis understand....it was just filet mignon......very well presented...expertly cooked and extremely tasty. It came with some sliced zucchini - cooked just right and two pieces (just two small pieces) of potato. I didn't really eat the potato at all. Also...I didn't miss the chicken! Although, I would advise that they should clarify that you get either chicken or filet mignon.

My husband had ordered the Swordfish Diane. He said that it was fresh, tender and plentiful! He had asked the waiter to add scallops to the dish and was satisfied with the flavorful addition to his dinner and was only charged $4.00 for the special request!

The wine at Il Limencello's is tasteful and we could not complain. I am a pinot grigio lover and my husband is a chardonnay drinker.

We eat out often and would like to share our experiences with other local consumers. I will post whenever we eat out and hope to have some others relate their experiences to us. I will be back to post our favorite hang-outs and info about eating out in the hudson valley that we would like to pass out to all of you.