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.