Matteo's Ristorante

Matteo's Ristorante ~ 299 Long Ridge Road Stamford, CT 06902 ~ (203) 964-9802

Always having eaten at the restaurants in Florida or New York, I was happy to see that Matteo's branched out to Stamford because the food is great there. They serve hearty Italian meals family style, so each member of the family is bound to fill their stomachs to the brim.

My family started with the classic Matteo's Italian Chopped Salad, which comes with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, olives, onions, salami, and mozzarella cheese all finely chopped. I could eat this salad any time of the day. Next, we moved onto a full order of 12 baked clams. Though they were not as good as the ones in NY and FL, they were still tasty. In fact, the best part of this appetizer is dipping the warm bread in the clam sauce on the bottom of the plate. Following the clams, we were served our dinner. Keep in mind that all four of us are very big eaters... Our waiter came in shifts to serve us lobster ravioli, chicken francese, spaghetti bolognese, and a half order of burnt broccoli.

The ravioli was filled with cheese, lobster, and mushroom, and topped with heavy vodka sauce. It was good, but missing something. The chicken francese was also enjoyable, but not lemony enough. In addition, the spaghetti bolognese was missing the exploding flavor I expected, and no one came around offering grated parmesan cheese. Don't get me wrong - I enjoyed the meal, but I felt like the dishes lacked some flavor. It might be because I was tasting so many different dishes, or simply because the food was blander than normal - I'm not sure. However, the burnt broccoli was very good, but was $2.00 more than steamed broccoli.

Although the food wasn't as good as it normally is, the service was great. Our waiter made the salad in front of us and even served us from the family style plates. Also, he gave my dad a free beer after serving him a warm one first.

In the end, I'd say that Matteo's is just another family Italian restaurant - nothing so special to go out of your way for.

Overall: 3.3

Taste: 3

Atmosphere: 3 (crowded and noisy, but the building is nice and new)

Experience: 3

Menu: 3.5

Service: 4

Would I return? I wouldn't decline the offer to go back, but I wouldn't choose it

Click here to check out Matteo's website

P.S. - I don't know why everything is underlined. Sorry if it's hard to read

The Lime

The Lime ~ 168 Main Ave. Norwalk, CT06851 ~ (203) 846-9240

The Lime may look like an average restaurant alongside others on Main Ave in Norwalk such as Taste of Brasil and Valencia, but the food distinguishes it from the rest. Their motto of "Naturally Delicious!" is spot on because every dish on the all-natural menu is spectacular. Voted Best Vegetarian Restaurant by Connecticut Magazine and Fairfield Weekly for the past 15 years, The Lime also pleases carnivores with the various meat dishes it offers. It has the typical meals such as steak, chicken, fish, and vegetables, but all these come with a twist. The Lime offers many unconventional dishes, so it may be tough to decide on one. For instance, the Barbecue Shrimp appetizer comes with grilled shrimp in a spicy Jicama sauce over grilled cheese toast, and is simply amazing. Also, several dishes are served with ginger wasabi sauce, mango chutney, or even honey mustard horse radish. In all honesty, there is not a weak dish on the menu, so no need to be picky.

One unique aspect of the lime is that every entree is served with a salad, vegetables, wild brown rice, and delicious soy carrot bread. This is a lot of food for a reasonable price.

Tonight, I had the usual barbecue shrimp to start and once again loved it. For my main course, I chose the Mixed Grill Sweetfire (Chicken breast, shrimp, and hot andouille sausanfe, grilled with Cajun spices and served with a honey-salsa mustard - $18.95) while fellow diners Ben and Corey respectively ordered the Cajun Sweetfire Steak ($22.95) and a special chicken dish smothered in pineapple mango chutney ($??). By the end of our meal, we had a tough time leaving because we were too full to move.

The Mixed Grill Sweetfire was excellent. Each component of the dish - chicken, shrimp, and sausage - was perfectly cooked and was full of flavor. The honey-salsa mustard added a simultaneous combination of sweetness and spiciness that was interesting yet extremely appetizing. Although I was stuffed after only eating half the plate, I had no choice but to keep on eating. Go big or go home, right? The food was truthfully too good to leave any on the plate.

Ben's said the steak was great too, and Corey could not stop raving about the chicken. He let me try some of the chutney after he ate all the chicken, and that too was top-notch.

Finally, we got a round of desserts - Mississipi Mud Pien (best of the three), some rich chocolate cake, and a dessert filled with apples, cinnamon, caramel, and graham cracker crust (all desserts are $3.95). Sweet. Filling. Rich. Amazing.

I'd have to say that The Lime is definitely the best restaurant I have reviewed thus far. The food is unbeatable, and so is its unmatched service. The Lime is full of nice friendly people, so I know every trip there will be an enjoyable experience.

**TIP: I have been to The Lime a few times and highly recommend the swordfish dishes, sea scallops, and honey maple glazed salmon as well as the Mixed Grill Sweetfire.

Overall: 5

Taste: 5

Atmosphere: 5

Experience: 5

Menu: 5

Service: 5

Would I return? I can't wait to