5 PLACES FOR...
Savory Soup!
February 26, 2007
ctnow.com
A handlful of places to get liquid meals that will warm you up this winter.
Sage American Grill & Riverside Bar
129 West Main Street, Chester
860-526-9898; www.sageamerican.com
Lobster bisque, $7.95
Our search for soup on a cold Monday afternoon led us to the Sage American Grill in the bucolic town of Chester. The Sage, a rustic-looking restaurant complete with waterfall, offers several soups but we were only interested in the lobster bisque.
The bisque is thick and creamy, filled with picked lobster, fennel and brandy. Each spoonful brings such satisfaction we don't even want to see what else is on the menu. The restaurant offers a large portion of their bisque for a great price, served in an old-fashioned looking silver metal pot with a lid.
We ate our bisque in the Sage's dimly-lit lounge, sitting by the fire. A relaxing, informal place to eat and chat with friends. The Sage also offers more formal dining areas with views of the Pattaconk Brook.
The Sage American Grill's lobster bisque is quite possibly the best bisque we've ever had: sweet, with the right amount of salt to put the flavor in focus. Pair it with some of Sage's warm bread and butter and you have very filling and satisfying meal.
-- AMY ELLIS
Lena's First & Last Pizzeria
1053 Park St., Hartford
860-232-4481
Chicken and Orzo Soup, $4.75
I love soup. I eat it almost every day. But the soup I eat most often is from the cafeteria at work, which means it's usually too salty and contains mystery meat that I have to avoid during consumption.
So I jumped at the chance to get out of the office for lunch and eat some good soup. I chose Lena's on Park Street based on the suggestions from other ctnow.com users on the Best Soup board. It is close to work and has a variety of soups that change daily.
Chicken Noodle is probably one of my favorite soups (next to Panera's Broccoli Cheddar and a traditional Tuscan bread and bean soup called Ribollita). So I was psyched when I saw the Chicken and Orzo soup on Lena's blackboard menu (note: the daily soups are listed on a blackboard behind the counter not on the long menu board above).
A great twist on your average chicken broth, veggie and pasta soup, Lena's uses orzo -- a rice-shaped pasta. It gives the soup a different look and texture. Speaking of texture, the carrots and celery were cooked perfectly. Not too crunchy, not too mushy. And the generous amount of veggies, pasta and chicken meant there was never a spoonful of just broth.
The best part -- Lena's uses real chicken. No picking around mystery meat here.
-- CHRISTINE W. TAYLOR
John Harvard's Brew House
1487 Pleasant Valley Road, Manchester
860-644-2739, www.johnharvards.com
New England Clam Chowder, $4.49 bowl, $3.49 cup
It figures. Less than 24 hours after returning from a long weekend in southern California, I was welcomed back to Connecticut by a winter nor'easter.
Five inches of snow mixed with freezing rain, followed by a nasty jolt of bitter cold temps.
I'm not a winter hater, mind you. I like sledding and ice skating and big wool sweaters and cozy fireplaces. And there really is something lovely about the New England landscape when everything is stark white. But the bitter cold... that's what I hate.
Soup helps. Luckily, living in Connecticut gives us access to some of the tastiest New England Clam Chowder around. So bundle up and head out after work some night for a bowl. My destination of choice was nearby John Harvard's Brew House in Manchester. The pub/restaurant is a friendly, laid-back place, decorated in warm tones accented by dark wood and dim lighting.
I settled into a comfy booth in the dining area, peeled off my many layers of outerwear and eagerly dug into a mini-crock of John Harvard's hearty chowder. The soup, a staple on the restaurant's menu, is a straightforward combination of potato cubes and shards of chewy clam with hints of garlic, onion, pepper and a pinch of parsley on top.
Yes, clam chowder is white - the color of snow. But no matter. John Harvard's super-creamy version tastes good, filled my belly and warmed me up.
-- MARIE SHANAHAN
La Luna Ristorante
168 N. Main Street, Branford
(203) 483-9995, www.lalunact.com
Pasta Fagiole $4.95
La Luna Ristorante in Branford has a variety of tasty Italian dishes on their menu, but on a bitterly cold winter's day, the restaurant's hidden gem is a bowl of pasta fagiole soup.
I eagerly ordered some since I was freezing from the Connecticut's recent sub-zero temperatures. I could smell the soup's rich flavors even before the waiter delivered it to my table. Pasta Fagiole is made from a combination of beans, pasta, tomato and a little bit of shredded parmesan cheese.
Green specks of parsley garnished the top of the rich, reddish, orange soup. The soup was creamy but looked thick because of the chunks of pasta and beans. The warm soup went down smooth. The flavor was a nice blend of tomato and a burst of cheese from the parmesean. The pasta was firm and not mushy at all - it looked like decent-sized pieces of ziti.
La Luna's pasta fagiole was filling enough to serve as an entrée, but it could also be as a great starter to an evening meal. So grab a spoon and warm up.
I sat in La Luna's elegant dining area, but the restaurant also includes a lounge if you want to get your drink on.
-- ERICA DASILVA
Vernon Pizza
1199 Hartford Turnpike, Vernon
860-872-4259
Chicken Noodle Soup, $2.50
Vernon Pizza is a quaint eatery that is home to colossal calzones and other oversized Italian eats. But not listed on the regular menu is something perfect for these blisteringly cold days – chicken noodle soup.
Served in a plain white bowl brimming with a thin, yet pungent broth is a soup that will warmed me to the core. Heaps of shredded chicken sat atop soft round noodles, giving the soup a hearty feel. While the peeled carrots mixed with soggy celery and onions, all slightly diluted in taste, the veggies still added a smidge of zest to this homemade winter-ready meal.
Vernon Pizza is a family restaurant with bare walls, bright lighting, and plenty of green. The open square windows accented with oak trim and the frosted glass dividers add a dash of modernity. And with a "seat yourself policy", patrons can choose from cushioned booths padded with green fabric and matching marble tabletops or wooden oak tables.
-- MELISSA LAFLAMME
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BRRRR! It's cold out there. Where in CT can we find warm, delicious soup?
My favorite soup is cajun scallop stew at Bill's seafood Westbrook, CT. It is a special so isn't available every day but their chowder, bisque and other gumbo special are also good.
Submitted by: Johnna
4:31 PM EST, Feb 7, 2008
Boston Pho in West Hartford....no comparison to any other soup restaurant.
Submitted by: Jeff
4:28 PM EST, Jan 19, 2008
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