Grill 110

Grill 110

27 Trafalgar Square

Nashua, NH

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 I had heard good things about Grill 110 in Nashua, lots of good reviews online, raves on local television shows about where to get the good foods at, all of that, so on a snowy, cold, pre-blizzard Sunday afternoon, i decided to check the place out, having recently found where it is while deciding it wanted to try a near by Five Guys. I got there when they opened at 11:30am, i figured with the weather coming in, it would be best to get there early as to not feel rushed or under pressure to eat and leave so they can turn the table quickly for more customers. If there is one thing i hate, its that. We were greeted at the door by the staff as we walked in, who happily and politely show us to a table in the far dining area, had we sat in the main area we'd have been able to see the open kitchen at work, i find the more and more I do these sort of things, I love stuff like open concept kitchens, I know that makes me sound like some uppity foodie douche canoe, but I like what I like. Our waitress' name was Janet, she was nice and friendly and seemed to comment on how some of the stuff we ordered were her favorite things. I like that in a waitress or waiter, if you know the food and are excited about it, and are willing to share your thoughts with others, that ensures a confidence in those you're waiting on, and gives them a trust in your thoughts that helps make the whole meal come together in a great way.

After a look at the menu, which, sadly I felt was rather small for the kind of image this place was trying to portray for itself, it was also abit to heavy on fish, which is fine if you're into fish, but I am not, for starters we ordered one of both kinds of chicken wings they offer, maple barbecue and buffalo, as well as a spinach and artichoke dip,  though i am sort of an authority on wings, I've never had a spinach and artichoke dip before, this looked really good and I was looking forward to trying it, as well as the wings. the food didn't take long to arrive, and i must be honest with you here, I am kind of hoping the guy who works on hot apps just had a bad start to their day, because the chicken wings, both buffalo and maple barbecue, weren't completely cooked, the smaller ones were, but the larger ones were stone cold and pink in the middle, after discovering this and bringing it to the attention of Janet our lovely waitress, she brought them back, when she returned with what we were told were fresh wings, we were both pretty sure they were the same ones, with the half eaten ones replaced, the rest simply microwaved and then doused in more sauce, this was very evident in the maple barbecue, sense they were literally drowning in a watery pool of their sauce. Now I am not saying thats how they always are, if you wanna try them you might get a different cook and a better experience, but I would be abit gunshy to try the wings at all after that. As for the Spinach and Artichoke Dip, that was a whole other story, it was possibly one of the greatest dips I have ever had, even now many hours later I am still wanting more! Its heated cheese mixture, i could taste cheddar, feta, swiss, and afew others, in a sauce with spinach and artichokes, served in a garlic buttered sourdough bowl, served with some tortila chips, honestly, this was one of the greatest things I've had in awhile, I wanna learn how to make my own, its truly amazing!

 

 For our main meals I had a Cajin Chicken Sandwich and my mother had a Roasted Apple Cider Pork Tenderloin, honestly, between the spinach dip and these two meals, I had already forgive them for the mess up with the wings, not enough to give the wings another chance, but still, enough to not toss the whole thing in the trash bin and go to McDonald's or something. My sandwich was a cajin seasoned and grilled chicken breast with a nice thick slice of applewood bacon, some pickles, melted swiss cheese and some honey mustard sauce, served on a pretzel roll, I'd never really had a proper pretzel roll before, this was delightful first for me, the sandwich as a whole was amazing, I loved every single bite, and i loved how my perfectly done fries came in a neat little frying basket, sure it wasn't one they were really fried in, that would be insanely hot and impossible to touch that soon out of the fryer, but still its an awesome touch! My mother's pork was rather amazing as well, her pork itself was so tender from being cooked in apple cider that it was almost as soft and melt in your mouth as a piece of prime rib steak, combine that with the caramelized apples and onions as well as the roasted brussel sprouts and garlic mashed potatoes, the dish was incredible, the whole time she couldn't stop talking about great the meal was, which honestly is not something she's known for doing. Seriously the main dishes were great, so happy with them, and so happy this place is more then just lazy half assed chicken wings.

Now normally neither of us are dessert at restaurant people, most of them are pretty generic and not all that great, so rather then get let down normally we don't bother, however, this time, this one time, we HAD too, both of us had this thing called The Peanut Butter Cascade, and yes, it tastes better then it sounds, which is truly something! The Peanut Butter Cascade is made of the following, peanut butter ice cream, served over a hot brownie with hot fudge sauce, peanut butter sauce, and covered in smashed up peanut butter cups, and if your blood sugar just spiked reading that, yes, it is worth the possible sugar coma you might go into for this thing. Again, I am not normally one for desserts, but my god this thing needs to be eaten, honestly if you ever go here, you must try it, you should go here just for this thing at the end, its something that 6 hours later, I am still tasting and wanting more of, honestly I can not talk this thing up enough! 

So the big question, is Grill 110 worth a visit? Well I would say over all yes, though I had afew issues, the mostly fish menu, and lack of actual items on said menu, and honestly they have a lunch and dinner menu, and you can't order everything from the lunch menu on the dinner one, which bothers me because there is a burger I would like to try called "The Cure" thats on the lunch one and not the dinner menu, those are just personal dislikes, however I would strongly advice against the chicken wings in general, sure it could have just been an off day for the hot apps guy, and I am willing to admit that could be the case, I just would honestly be gun shy to try them again given just how badly done they were, and honestly, if those sorts of things are the only serious issue I could find with a place over all, I think thats pretty good. So if you're in Nashua, and you wanna give them a try, go for it, hopefully you will enjoy it, and remember, try the spinach dip and get the peanut butter cascade at the end, you will go home happy, very very happy.

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Chris

Thanks Michele!

Stopped by one of my favorite places for snackage in the state today, Michele's Gourmet Popcorn, was out that way reviewing a place I'm gonna post about tomorrow, anyway, stopped into Michele's because we always do when out that side of the state, and wanted to pop in one last time before the new store opens, because, well, maple popcorn.

As you can see we got a ton of great stuff, popcorn cupcakes and a case of my favorite locally made soda which i can't get on this side of the state, even though I have many times posted on social media asking why not. But thats a rant for another time.

Anyway, I just wanted to drop a post thanking Michele for a lovely time and a fun talk while in her shop today, not many owners will do that sort of thing and interact with the customers on that level, truly a class act, there should be more shop owners like her.

For now though, just look at how amazingly good these cupcakes are... Sorry for the blur, was trying to adjust for lighting, failed miserably....

I truly can't wait till the new store opens in October.... Also, if you are ever up in the 603 (thats new hampshire for the unhip or those that aren't good with area codes), seriously, you need to make a trip to get their popcorn and baked goods, and other sweats, of which i restrained myself from getting all of today lol...

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Chris

Papa Joe's Humble Kitchen

Papa Joe's Humble Kitchen

237 South St

Milford, NH

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I guess this week has become a rarity for me, more then one review in the same week, and more so, two of those reviews, are of the same kind of place, a lovely little out of the way burger joint in the middle of my lovely valley that most of my state doesn't know exists, btw, my third review will be probably tomorrow and something totally different, but anyway back to this. After my review of Local Burger afew days ago, I was pointed in the direction of a place that is literally a little roadside burger spot, its called Papa Joe's Humble Kitchen, and I figured with it not being to far away, and I never being one to pass up a burger, because, you know, being american, I would give this little out of the way spot a go. And my oh my am I glad that I did. I must admit through I was expecting traditional stuff you would find at a roadside diner, burgers, hot dogs, chicken, ect, i was not expecting to find such high quality and lovely versions of it.

Literally just off the highway in Milford New Hampshire, in what looks like a small house converted into a small diner with pretty ample outdoor seating, is a little place called Papa Joe's Humble Kitchen, at first, it looks kind of like you might be in the wrong place, or maybe you're in some kind of general store converted from a home, or some other crazy thing that you would see in a small town like this, believe me, up here, I've seen homes turned into many a crazy form of store or place to eat, I think its a new england thing honestly. When you walk in the door to Papa Joe's you notice first how small the place is, and though thats not really a deal breaker, I've had some of the best food i can think of in the smallest places along the side of the highway, and honestly, I kind of was digging the whole few small tables and a makeshift lunch counter with chairs and the open kitchen right there infront of you feel, there is something authentic and truly american about such places, and i kind of worry sometimes these kind of places to eat are dying out, which honestly would be a real shame.

The menu at Papa Joe's really isn't that large, afew specialty burgers, side from your standard fair of regular burgers, double burgers and bacon cheeseburgers, they also have "the taco burger" which is a burger seasoned with taco seasoning, and served with salsa, sour cream and cheese, "the oriental cowboy", which is a burger with teriyaki, wasabi ranch dressing, chinese noodles, and coleslaw, "the cardiac burger" which is a double burger with genoa salami, pepperjack cheese, onion rings, cheddar cheese, bacon, jalapenos, lettuce and creole mayo, and "The Spartan Burger", a cheeseburger covered in barbecue sauce, a hot dog, bacon, onion rings and lettuce. The Spartan is a burger created to celebrate the local high school basketball team won the state high school basketball championship. There are also burgers named after, what i am assuming are the owners kids, "Matt's Steakhouse Burger", with cheese, bacon, onion rings, and ranch dressing, and a "Kelsey Burger" which is basically a buffalo burger, oh and they have a veggie burger incase you know some prius driving hippie who doesn't really care for any kind of meat.

Their sides, though also not a large amount, are pretty awesome, aside from five kinds of french fries; regular, bacon and cheese, chili, buffalo and ranch, and cajun, style, they also offer sweet potato fries, onion rings, and poutine, that weird crazy canadian thing with gravy and cheese curds, they also offer both a regular and chili and cheese hot dog option, you can also get fried pickles, fried chicken tenders, a bowl of chili, a BLT, a grilled cheese, they also offer salads and afew cold sandwiches as well, if you're not up for the off the griddle stuff. They also have an incredibly large take home and catering menu, which you can order or buy at the diner itself, and though I didn't try any of these, so be able to fairy assess them, I will admit, i kind of wish afew of the things on those menus were available in the diner itself, all they seemed to be missing for a perfect menu for their kind of location was some chicken wings, shepard's pie, meatloaf, this creation of theirs called "chicken cobbler", and afew other things, as well as desserts, all of which were available in their expanded take home/catering menu, but to be fair, faulting them for such choices would be kind of silly and down right bitchy, but who knows, maybe they'll change these things down the road, time will tell right?

My mother, who once again joined me on this adventure in stomach filling, ordered The Spartan and a small order of onion rings, I ordered the Bacon Cheeseburger with pickles, some chicken tenders and the bacon and cheese fries, unaware that the chicken tenders came on a bed of fries, which was ok, it allowed us to try two different kind of fries as well as the onion rings, we each got a diet coke and sat down and watched the awesome show that is cooking in a small roadside eatery like this. The cook and his two children, who i am assuming were the other workers were amazing in what they did, one kept prepping, the other worked the counter and prepped, and as is the normal main attraction at such an establishment, the cook went to work. I wasn't paying total attention to what he was doing, but i gotta tell you, this guy is amazing at what he does, he seasons the burgers with, what I am guessing, is a form of steakhouse spice rub, or maybe one of the many dry rub barbecue mixes out there, whatever it was gave the burgers the perfect mix of griddle and almost a smokey like flavoring, its like I've said before, its all about the seasoning when it comes to using fresh beef vs. prepackaged, and you can tell how much a cook cares by how well a burger is seasoned, sometimes they go overboard, and thats ok, but this time, not the case, perfect, with just the right amount of grease to give it that true "side of the highway" feel, honestly thats something you can't bottle, you have it, or you don't. the bacon was a nice middle ground, crispy and flavorful, but not to crunchy, and not all the fat cooked out, honestly thats the best way you can cook bacon. On The Spartan, the odd addition of the butterflied hot dog makes the burger a whole new thing, as it was said, its like going to a cook out and having everything all at once, so much so, i apparently need to try it myself when we go back again. The sides, honestly were perfect, the fries were light and crispy, often times in this kind of diner you find the fries are just heavy lead like balls of grease, and when you add the cheese and bacon, they just become magically good, though they use pre-melted cheese, or as a friend overseas calls it "vat cheese", thats fine, normally cheese wouldn't give you the same flavor or texture, plus its real chopped up bacon, which kind of makes up for it. The Onion Rings were pretty light and crunchy, also made on properly, i am rather picky about my onion rings, i like mine with thin slices of onion, these were alittle thick for me, but my mom liked them, infact she couldn't keep stop eating them till she forced herself too, always a good sign when that happens. The chicken was also pretty amazing, nicely cooked inside and out, crispy outside fluffy light inside, nice and tasty, I wasn't aware they came with fries, which is something they might wanna tell you on the menu, but as i said before, that was just a welcome surprise. Honestly the food was pretty damn good, specially for a place that looks like it was made out of someone's grandparents house.

So I guess the big question is, if you're driving by this little roadside, and you are feeling abit hungry, should you stop in and have a bite, or drive about 5 minutes south and into the center of Milford where there are some award winning places to eat all in one large circle, well the answer is simply, YES. See, lovely little hole in the walls like this are a dying breed here in america, oh sure there are those that are surviving and doing well, and you see them on local, regional or national television, but these small ones that don't really have big followings, or that many aren't aware of, are dying out. And honestly, the food here is far too good to let fade, sure I don't see Papa Joe's going away anytime soon, but its what it represents, the small place carving out a small niche of space in a landscape littered with fast food that barely serves meat, and doing it for the love of cooking good food for those that love to eat it. And to be honest with you, I can't wait to go back to Papa Joe's, the food, the places to eat, both indoor and out, are such a great location, and its actually a pretty good value too, honestly, if you're up for a drive into the country, where the air is fresh and clear and you can eat some lovely food in a lovely country setting, you should GPS Papa Joe's and give it a try. You will love it. I know I sure did. Oh and if you plan on coming back, get the free burger club card, for every tenth burger you order, you get one free, so if you have kids, that kind of is a great idea... 



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Chris


 

Local Burger

Local Burger

82 Main Street, Railroad Square 

Keene, NH

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I will let you all in on a secret, no matter how hard I might try and hide it by making it sound like i know my stuff about fancy foods and tons of homemade things, deep down, like every all american man, i am a burger guy. i know, shock right? Now when i go out for a burger, though I shamefully admit i have a weakness for a burger king bacon double cheeseburger, most of the time, i would rather go somewhere, abit upper scale, or that is atleast actually made of beef. And though that quest has taken me to many a local burger joint, its only recently taken me to a place, literally called, Local Burger. No, seriously thats its name, and i personally think its brilliant.

 

Located in the heart of Railroad Square in Keene, New Hampshire, is the second location for, what i am assuming is an attempt to expand into a regional chain, with their flagship location being located in downtown Northampton Mass. Local Burger is trying to be, as best i can tell, a somewhat more organic option to those that would wanna go to a higher end burger place like a Five Guys or one of those other higher end chains that are starting to spread out all over the united states. Local boasts locally raised grass fed beef as one of their choices of burger you can get, as well as one from the upper end of the Angus grading scale, though between you and me, i still kind of think the angus grading scale is nothing more then a marketing buzz term, but I digress, they also offer a turkey burger if you're not into beef, as well as a portabello mushroom made burger, and an all beef hot dog, cuz, why not? From these few choices, you can build your burger, or turkey burger or hot dog, or mushroom they're making to think for some reason is a burger even though it will always be nothing more then a horrible horrible mushroom all its life, sadly each topping you add costs a small amount to put on, which i assume is where they "get ya" as people say. but to be fair they do offer a pretty good amount of toppings for a small place, and they aren't all that badly priced per extra, but honestly, I don't like the idea of having to pay afew cents extra for barbecue sauce on my burger when Ketchup is free on the tables, that seems kind of redundant to me.

One of the saving graces of Local Burger though, is their "House Favorites" which is where i am assuming most of their orders come from, as well as their sides, I will get into the sides in alittle bit, but for now, lets have a look at the "House Favorites", again, its a small number of choices, but honestly, they're pretty damn amazing, atleast what we had on our trip in, there is "The Westhampton Burger", which is basically a bacon cheeseburger but with barbecue sauce on the bottom and ranch dressing on the top, in a surprising turn, they've brought the St. Louis staple of the "Juicy Lucy" here, for those that don't know what that is, its a double cheeseburger, fused into one, with the cheese in the middle, its tricky to make because the cheese must be perfectly melted so it oozes when you bite into it, the company's signature burger the "local burger" which is a double bacon cheeseburger with mushrooms and red peppers, both me and my mother who accompanied me on this visit are deathly allergic to mushrooms, so we kind of avoided that and the "amherst burger", which is a portabello mushroom burger, others include the "farmhouse turkey burger", which is a turkey burger with cheese, bacon, and some creation called honey dijon maple mayo, which sounds just amazingly good all things considered, a teriyaki burger which is a regular burger but with a spice of pineapple and teriyaki sauce, a southwestern burger which is just cheese and chili peppers, and because why not give us a curveball, a hot dog coated in Cap'n Crunch cereal and fried, then covered in buffalo sauce and blue cheese dressing, because, you know, when you aim at college kids in a college town, hang over food is a must.

For our burgers, I had the westhampton burger, medium rare as a burger should be, the bacon was awesomely cooked, the burger was perfectly seasoned, the roll was even nice and hearty, I like when a place puts that kind of detail into their work, a bun is important even if most don't think its just there, it shows the care they put into putting together their menu, which is always a plus with me, the burger was seasoned great, my guess is salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder on each side as it cooks, honestly it was one of the best burgers I've had in months. My mother, who joined me on this adventure into foodery had the Juicy Lucy, having seen it many times on various tv shows and feeling happy the weekly special wasn't a kangaroo burger (I'll explain later), she got hers with just pickles and a tomato, cuz well thats how she was feeling like rolling today I guess, honestly, watching the cheese ooze out of that stuffed burger and pool in the basket it came in, truly was a thing of beauty, I was actually kind of jealous, well till she broke off a bit and told me i had to try it, this was my first experience with the juicy lucy, and it surely will not be my last, something about the mixing of the burger and the cheese being cooked inside the meat that just makes it so much better, honestly if you ever get a chance to try this thing, do not pass it up, you will regret it.

To go with our burgers we figured we would try some of the sides, their sides, like the burgers aren't very large in number, but thats alright, a small menu keeps a kitchen pretty much ontrack, their sides are truly where their uniqueness shines i think, they consist of; Handcut French Fries, Handcut Sweet Potato Fries served with maple mayo, Beer Battered Onion Rings with spicy ketchup, Fried Pickles with ranch dressing, Cap'n Crunch coated chicken tenders with a choice of afew different sauces either on them or to dip in, and buffalo blu cheese fries, which as you can guess are fries, covered in buffalo and blu cheese sauces. To try and get a good feel of the menu, we tried the regular fries, because a burger joint has to have good fries, the fried pickles, because my mother had never had them before, and the cap'n crunch coated chicken tenders with some honey barbecue sauce on the side, because, seriously how can you not try something like that if its on the menu? Its like begging you to try them. The fries were excellent, they weren't to crispy, and they weren't too soggy, they were seasoned perfectly and really were addictive, but they were no where near as addictive as the chicken tenders though, honestly, us here in the New England region are aware of a certain television food show that uses the term "a dish worth driving too", honestly, i would rive the half hour to Keene just for these tenders, i had no idea grounding up Cap'n Crunch cereal and coating fresh cut chicken tenders with it, then frying them would change the texture and the flavoring so much! but it did! in a good way! I honestly would go back just for that one side alone. Sadly through, the fried pickles, I could not say the same for, they have the same problem that i find most places that make their own pickles have, they can't properly give the pickle the several months it needs to fully transform into a pickle, they always leave them for only afew days, which though it gives you a nice crunchy pickle, doesn't really give you much more flavor then one bite, and afterwards all you taste is cucumber, Local Burger's fried pickles are no different, you get enough pickle taste in your first bite to know what you're eating, then you find yourself not really excited to take the next cucumbery bite because its just to bland, added to the fact they coat them weirdly, I at first thought they used the same cereal they use for the hot dog and the chicken, but I was wrong, this stuff tasted like a mix of flour and sand, but mostly sand, it was very mealy, gritty and lacking any kind of seasoning to compliment or enhance the fried pickle within, honestly, I've never been one to take three of something out of a full order then toss it, but we had no choice, both of us agreed they weren't worth it. Lucky though for Local Burger, that the rest of what we tried of theirs was beyond stellar, it was truly a great meal, and honestly, for two specialty burgers and afew sides, and drinks, coming in at alittle under $40.oo total wasn't all that bad in the bigger picture, and more importantly, when we left, we left happy, not feeling too full or bloated or heavy like sometimes happens at places of this type, I think thats a great sign. Another thing i should mention, though we didn't try the weekly special, this week a burger called "The Twisted Sister", which is a burger with peanut butter, jelly, bacon and sriracha hot sauce on it, if you do alittle looking, you'll see that they have some amazing weekly specials, sometimes even using more exotic meats like Kangaroo and Caribou among other crazy things and crazy combinations, the idea of which really makes me wanna go back soon!

Over all, I would say we had an exceptional time, sure there were afew things that weren't all that good, the things i mentioned, and i could maybe nitpick that the drinks are no larger then a medium at best, but you do get unlimited free refills, so i guess that balances it out, and that the cook times seemed abit long, but,we also were their first customers of the day when they opened today, so maybe that needed alittle time to heat the cooking stuff? I could do that, but honestly, i'd be just looking to find things wrong with a place that is truly a hidden jem amist the rest of the food places in the Railroad Square area of Keene, which is not only the heart of downtown Keene, but where the local state college's main campus is located as well, as you can see by my outdoor shots i made sure to include, the location is killer, right on a main road, you've got a giant common area right next door that during the summer, well on days that aren't raining, are filled with anything from street performers to weird protesters, they also have outdoor seating right there along the main drag under those beautiful trees, seriously there are to many things perfect about this place, honestly if you can, you should take a drive up to Keene and have a look, though i will admit, parking is a pain, but if you don't mind a walk down an old timey main street full of shops and places to eat, there are many parking lots and parking garages along the way, so, make a day of it if you aren't from the area, honestly you wouldn't regret it one bit.

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Chris

Kimball's Farm

Kimball's Farm

158 Turnpike Road (Rt. 124)
Jaffrey, NH

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This is more of a love letter to a family favorite location, and a local tradition, then a review if I am being honest, and i feel thats ok, because sometimes it can't just be about the fancy places to go and have a sit down meal, sometimes things can be about a family that owns 4 dairy farms through out southern New Hampshire and Northern Western Massachusetts, and how once you try it, you will never want ice cream from anywhere else, ever again, because truly, you've found the best there ever has been, and you refuse to subjugate yourself to a lower form of the product. Yes, before you laugh in disbelief, Kimball's Farm ice cream is truly THAT good.

I wrote this because today, for the first time in what seems like well over a decade, my mom and I ventured out to Kimball's Ice Cream, which its attached small time grill and general store, we had gone here most of my life as a child, making the drive from Lowell MA. atleast few times a year, either to the Jaffery one, which is near where i live now, and where the pictures are of, or the location in Westford MA, which i think is the original location. For a city kid like me, it was always a treat, where we were pretty much left with the only choices of ice cream being Dairy Queen, a Frosty from Wendy's, or those trucks that drove around selling ice cream sandwiches and the like, Now thats not to say there is anything wrong with places like Dairy Queen and the like, but you can't get an oreo sundae thats just covered in home made still hot when you get it hot fudge and whipped cream freshly made that day at your local DQ, no matter how hard you wish it to be true. Believe me, I've tried.

What makes Kimball's stand out, isn't really the unique home made ice cream or any of the other things you can get there, for me, its the memories, the drive out there, the whole time wondering what flavor you were gonna get out of the many they have available, if you're gonna get a sundae with cookies and cream, or one with peanut butter chocolate chip, or are you gonna go out in left field and get a bubble gum flavor in a waffle cone, you know, to be different, so many choices, so many to even think, and it was that whole feel, that memory that always brings you back to your childhood. Very few places can do that sort of thing to me, maybe i'll do a series on them, where I go back to places I used to go all the time as a kid but not so much as an adult for one reason or another, "Childhood Favorites" or something like that? I'll think of a name, I'm a creative raggle taggle gypsy if there ever was one.

For those that are wondering what we got, my mother got a hot fudge sundae with peanut butter swirl ice cream, my mom's ice cream weakness is anything with peanut butter in it for anyone thats wondering, and I had what I referenced earlier, a hot fudge sundae with Oreo ice cream and nuts ontop, I should have asked for chocolate sprinkles, or "jimmies" as we call them regionally, but the girl waiting on us was kind of dimwitted and I really didn't wanna make her think to hard, seemed like a nice girl aside from that, and aside from a plastic napkin dispenser attacking my mom randomly, we had a pretty good time, and plan on going back soon, so until then, enjoy these two extra pictures of the scenery...

Truly is a lovely place isn't it? In the middle of those rolling fields and pastures, you'd never guess that right behind this place is the old Jaffery Airport where we used to have epic firework shows, would you? lol It just adds to the charm really. Honestly if you're near by, and want a nice out of the way place thats just so wonderful and such a part of the town its in, and surrounding areas, then come on up to the Jaffery location, or if you're near one of the family's other three locations, hit them up too, honestly you can't go wrong. 

Well thank you all for sticking with me for this little ramble down memory lane, I'll be back with real reviews really soon.

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Chris

Michelle's Gourmet Popcorn

Michelle's Gourmet Popcorn

Michele's Sweet Shoppe, Epsom, NH

Michelle's Sweet Shoppe

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As you all know by now, I, and those who guest review for me as well, have an endearing love for local products, local businesses, and ofcourse local food. As a lover of popcorn, you can imagine how excited I was to discover that there was not only a local company that made popcorn, but infact they're a very big deal when it comes to the popcorn business, winning not only best in New Hampshire several times in their few years in business, but also being a favorite of hollywood red carpets and award shows, many of which include their product in the swag bags given away at such events. I was elated to discover this, and even more excited when one day I discovered that my butcher shop, The Meat House, which I have spoken of here before, was one of the places you can buy Michelle's products, which I happily started buying and trying their many different flavors sold there.

Michelle's Popcorn comes in 25 regular flavors with anywhere between two to four seasonal flavors as well as a special limited run of a special Christmas flavor available only in December. They vary in flavors from the common flavors like Carmel, White Cheddar, Salt and Vinegar, Nacho Cheese, Chocolate, and the like, to more creative and distinctively regional flavors like New England Maple, which is a carmel and maple flavored popcorn, and the new england stand by Moose Tracks, a sort of chocolate, carmel and peanut butter combination that is found in everything from ice cream flavors to chocolate bars here, they also have some interesting flavors i've never come across anywhere else, flavors like pizza, ranch, garlic and rosemary, peanut butter, apple, cinnamon sugar, and many others that just sound like the kind of thing you have to try or you'll feel abit like there is a hole in your life. 

Though I've tried many of their flavors, I can tell you, my favorite is by far their classic carmel flavor, sure its simple, and its like getting chocolate or vanilla in an ice cream shop with dozens of flavors, but I like the classic stand bys, something comforting and homely about them. Though I do admit their dark chocolate and their peanut butter cup are amazingly good, as is their cookies and cream, though if i am to be honest, these aren't the kind of thing you can eat in one setting, the chocolate they use is so excellent but its also so rich and sweet that you really can't have it all in one setting, well atleast I can't, but that is by no means a negative thing, and i will admit their Nacho Cheese flavor really isn't all that good, personally I felt it tasted a tad stale, but I assume that might also be just the bag I got, so I can't really hold that against them, or their otherwise stellar popcorn that I tend to go abit crazy for when I can get it.

My only real complaint, if I have one at all, is that you can't get all their flavors at all of the places they sell their product outside of the home store in Epsom, and though I can order the flavors i can't normally find, I think their shipping rates, for something that will only be traveling about an hour and 20 minutes, is abit expensive, but thats a personal gripe not really anything about the company themselves. As a whole I am very impressed with their products, and really should make a trip to their home store and pick up some of their other products, after all I am a sucker for fudge covered oreos and home made peanut butter cups.

So if you happen to see some Michelle's in one of their many locations they sell at, or if you're outside of New England and wanna try this lovely local treat, and order it over the internet, pick your flavor carefully, and then try not to go crazy waiting for the package to arrive, you will not be disappointed, its truly something special. So much so, infact, when I recently shipped out some sauces i made to some friends around the world, I included a bag of Michelle's Carmel popcorn as a surprise, which I was told was a very welcome one indeed.

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Chris

Sandwich Master

Sandwich Master

Rindge New Hampshire

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As most of you can tell by now, I'm a big fan of what people in other counties would consider "Traditionally American Food", by that I mean things like barbecue, fried chicken, ribs, things like that, among those such things would be sandwich with many names, "the grinder", "the hoagie", "The Hero", "The Foot Long", "The Sub", or its proper name, The Submarine Sandwich, but whatever name you call them, they are all the same, a 5 to 8 inch average loaf of bread split open in the middle and stuffed with various meats and cheeses and other awesome things, I am seriously a big fan of these things, as is any proper male on the planet, thats why when I was recently told by a friend who lives one town over in Jaffery NH, that not far from him, in the town of Rindge, which is less then 20 minutes from me, there was a newly opened sub shop called The Sandwich Master, who was making some completely insane sandwiches, that were so good, they were infact almost an artform, naturally, i had to check it out, i mean really how could i not?

Sadly no, the minivan with the autobot symbol is not mine, but you can see my suburban's door!

I must admit, going into this one i was abit leery, i like to do my research on a place before i go, check out the menu, see what the place looks like, see what the prices are so i know how much money to bring, stuff like that, and i was rather saddened to discover that all this place has is a rather sparse Facebook page, as well as a website and twitter, both of which are not in operation, something that is rather important to have these days, I understand they're just starting out on their own instead of being stuffed inside a mini-mart, so I can give them a pass on these things, after all they're not deal-breakers, some places don't need to use Social Media, its not the end of the world, as long as the food is good the people will come from miles around, and judging by the crowd that was in there when i went in, late on a Saturday afternoon, the word of mouth seems to be getting them in the door just fine with out any online help, seriously they were packed for 4pm on a Saturday in October when both the Red Sox and the Bruins were playing less then an hour later, for those of you outside of New England thats a hugely impressive thing.

The location itself, is very small, but for a place thats just starting out on their own, you don't really expect there to be a big open location, though they could have more seating given the volume of people that come in and wait for their food, there aren't alot of chairs or tables and the place does feel slightly claustrophobic given how much stuff is crammed into the location, they also have a very odd picture menu for their "sandwiches gone MAD!!" which is their signature menu obviously, its not that the picture menu is odd, so much as if you're going to have a picture menu, you shouldn't have it basically sitting on the floor, alot of people have back issues and can't really bend all the way down to read the lower part of the menu, i know that seems like nitpicking, and i guess to some it is, but as someone with back issues, I notice stuff like that, but again, i stress, its just my personal opinion, it shouldn't effect anyone's personal ideas of the place itself.

cheese and bacon fries, fresh fries, real bacon and real shredded cheese, mmmm

As for the food, I will tell you this, if you are in a hurry then this isn't the place for you, or, if you have the ability to call in your order beforehand, then do so, the food, though excellent, does take a long time for them to get out, i think we waited something in the area of 45 minutes after we put in our order of two subs and one side dish. Now some could consider this a bad thing, but honestly, as long as the food is worth the wait, no one should really care about the wait, after all, some steakhouses and high end eateries have up to an hour or more wait for food after you place your order, and in places like that, most of the time you don't get nearly as much food as you do at Sandwich Master. And really, though I have pointed out alot of negatives about the place, i wanna stress, the food, which really is all that matters, is BEYOND amazing, all the small nitpicking things are worth ignoring just for the food, after all we only care about the food, and nothing else really.

Before I get into what we ate, I have to tell you, the menu is HUGE, I mean seriously huge for a place thats got everything made to order fresh like, and options galore. I kid you not, the take home menu is almost the size of a concert poster, and has stuff printed on both sides. The menu is divided into various groupings; "Sandwiches Gone MAD!!", "Hot And Cold Sandwiches", "Fried Foods", "Nachos", "Funnel Cakes", "Soup", "Salads", "Wraps", "Flat Breads", "Grilled Cheese", "Quesadillas", "Smashed Quesadillas", "Pizza Quesadillas", "Family Friendly" and "Appetizers", each of those headings has a TON of stuff under each thing, its seriously amazing the size of this menu, and more so, how amazingly good it all sounds. Seriously, the guy behind this place is like the Willy Wonka of sandwich makers, the place is a dream for people like me who love to chow down and really enjoy what they're eating, and again i point out thats all that matters.

the amazing savage carnivore, its truly a work of art.

We both ordered off the "sandwiches gone MAD" menu, each getting "The Savage Carnivore" which consists of a foot long sub roll full of pulled pork, Italian sausage, imported ham, shaved steak, grilled chicken and bacon, all covered in a very delicious barbecue sauce, which is one of like 10 sauces you could have on the sub, and we split a large order of cheese and bacon fries, which honestly, we should have bumped up to the larger family size. As for the subs themselves, they were AMAZING, these subs were stuffed to the hilt with meats and covered in sauce, now first off, a foot long or longer sub is hard to come by, most places a large is 10 inches at best, but to come across a foot long sub thats literally STUFFED full of food is a true rarity, and one that i happily enjoyed discovering, though I do wish i had gotten some cheese on my sub, but thats me, i'm a cheese on a sub kind of guy. The cheese and bacon fries were also a very pleasant surprise, i have to admit, i was expecting a really cheap frozen fry with some of that yellow cheese thats made for melting, and some bacon bits or those finally chopped bits of imitation bacon, thats what you get at most places like this, but oh no, you don't get that crap up in this joint, these tasted like freshly made fries seasoned before fried, then with real shredded cheese ontop of that, with REAL bacon, yes you read that right, REAL BACON ontop of, and mixed into the fries and cheese. The prices weren't that bad really, for two foot long subs, a large cheese and bacon fry and two fountain drinks with free refills came to alittle over $33.oo which honestly isn't all that bad for what we got. Infact half way through eating we were already looking over the take home menu and plotting out what we'd be getting next time we went there, its truly a great place, and somewhere that you should try atleast once, they truly are a haven for unique one of a kind sandwiches that you can can't get anywhere else, which really, is what most people want in a sub shop, i honestly can't wait to go back again.

So for the big question, is it truly worth going too? Well yes, though I pointed out alot of the small nitpicky things that personally bother me, that doesn't detract from the fact the food is so amazing it makes up for any flaw the location has, and though yes, you have to wait a while for your food, it comes down to a case of, do you want something generic and fast, or something made with time and care and quality so you know its the best it truly could be? Or if you don't wanna wait around the building, you can as i said earlier, call in your order, they welcome those. And honestly, with a place that has foot long subs that consist of things like chicken fingers and mozzarella sticks and onion rings in a bun covered in cheese and marinara sauce, or basically a thanksgiving dinner in a bun, or barbecue chicken with granny smith apples and a special sauce, or the countless other insane creations Sandwich Master has created, its seriously like a sub lovers wonderland. And as I said, I can't wait to go back again for more, and if you're up in the Rindge area, give them a look, you won't be sorry you did.

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Chris