Headed up to Hartford on Friday to go to a family wedding. It was a long drive. There was no breakfast. Needless to say, by the time we got to the hotel, I was beyond starving. The Crowne Plaza Hartford has Bistro Z, a fusion spot. I could have cared less what food they served. I would have eaten cardboard at this point.
Some spicy tuna rolls. For a hotel restaurant, these were super cheap! And pretty darn tasty, considering. The hotel is apparently owned by koreans, and the executive chef of this joint also seems to be korean. It’s sort of obvious, because these spicy tuna rolls tasted korean! What do I mean by that? They had the flavor of gochujang, which is the korean red pepper paste. It has a distinct taste, and these spicy tuna rolls definitely had that flavor. And that flavor was good!
I also had a bowl of clam chowder. I know, random selections, right? This was ok. It had some decent clammage, so I can’t complain, but it was also a bit heavy on the celery side, and I can’t stand celery. But I easily avoided those and enjoyed this. For hotel food, not bad at all!

I was totally hankering for some noodle soup the other day, so I dragged T along to Sang Kee for a quick dinner. He’d never been there before. Can you believe that? And he lives down the street from me. And I’ve been to Sang Kee way too many times.
T ordered the salmon with black bean sauce. If you want to eat right away, never ever order this dish. It took FOREVER for our food to come out, because they had to cook this. I saw people get seated way after we did, and they got all of their food before we got ours. It was depressing. Especially because we were both starving. Watching everyone else eat and get their food, even though they sat and ordered way after us, was very upsetting.
When I go to Sang Kee, I’m beyond predictable. I get the noodle soup with roast pork and dumplings. But there’s no reason for me to stray. I was craving noodle soup, so that’s just what I got. And it’s good every single time. It’s a big portion with tons of delicious roasted pork and just the right amount of dumplings. And with some veg too, so it makes me feel a bit on the healthier side.

Service was ok, as usual. And also as usualy, this place was pretty darn busy. It was a weekday too. But it doesn’t really matter when you show up. It’s always busy here. But there’s good reason, because it’s always good food, big portions, at very reasonable prices. I’m so lucky I live so close to this place.

After consulting my trusty yelp recommendations, I had my one dinner in Winston-Salem at Ombu Wood Fired Grill. I had a near mishap because this place is fairly new and on a new street, and when you try to get directions here, it takes you some where else. I didn’t realize that until I followed my directions to a residential area. There was not a restaurant in sight. But one call to the restaurant and I got there fairly easily.
The place opened in October and it’s quite beautiful. I loved the decor of this place, it was incredibly warm. The open kitchen’s half wall had the most amazing tile, I was totally in love with it. And they had these beautiful wine racks. There are several dining areas as well, it’s a sizeable place.
Since I’m a total lightweight, I stuck with my pink lemonade. The bartender was amazingly sweet and was a total pro.
Some complimentary bread. They just switched breads so the bartender had never tasted it. It was warm and delicious, with just a hint of some herbs. And paired with olive oil and balsamic for dipping, it was great. I told her she had to try it. With bread this good, I knew I’d be in for a great meal.
I had to get the lobster bisque. But it wasn’t just any lobster bisque, it was velvety lobster saffron bisque garnished with blistered sweet corn, crème fraich, and bits of lobster. Whoo! This was excellent bisque. What’s not to like about this soup? Everything in it was good. And I only ordered a cup but it was a very sizeable portion, for just a cup. It was nearly a bowl.
For my entree, I had the wood oven seared grouper with sweet potato-plantain hash, haricot verts, and a sweet chili gastrique. Again, amazing. This was a huge hunk of grouper, which is a thick and meaty fish. It was seared with a nice crust and cooked to perfection. The hash was also amazing, especially with the sweet chili sauce. And you know I love green beans of all kind.

This is an excellent restaurant, and would be an excellent restaurant in any city. Even if it were in a large city, let’s say NYC or San Francisco, this would be an excellent restaurant. Winston-Salem is lucky to have a gem like this in their town. So for you locals, go and support them!