2012 (&2010) NH Spring RW - Dinner at Ibiza－Nicolicious Life

Address: 39 High Street New Haven CT::
Website: http://www.ibizarestaurantnewhaven.com

This is my second stop for this year's spring restaurant week.

RESTAURANT WEEK
DINNER MENU

Aperitivos (Choice of:)

Piquillos de arroz Valenciano
Wood roasted piquillo peppers stuffed with
saffron rice, shrimp, squid, chicken,
almonds, saffron oli-oli

Esparragos blancos
Grilled white asparagus, shaved chistorra
sausage, parmesan cheese cream

Charcuteria
Serrano ham, chorizo de cantimpalo, buttifarra,
salchichon sausage

Platos (Choice of:)

Trucha
Grilled Idaho trout, sauteed celery,
carrots, grape tomatoes, red pepper coulis,
aged sherry vinaigrette

Cordero
Boneless braised lamb shank, sauteed
judiones de la Granja beans, snow peas,
tomatoes, natural jus, cumin white
wine-red wine sauce

Fideua
Catalan noodles, mussels, bay scallops, branzino, carmellized onion puree, red peppers, ali-oli

Desserts (Choice of:)

Helados
Rosemary infused honey, lemon peel ice cream,
mango sorbet

Tarta de Santiago
Traditional almond tart, rice pudding ice cream

Natillas con fresas
Custard cream, strawberries, cinnamon

* I highlighted the ones I ordered in pink!

Once you put in your order, the waiter will give you a piece of bread. They don't serve it as bread basket but a giant basket that's carried by a staff and he will be walking around the restaurant and put just ONE piece of bread on your plate. Just one at a time!!! This is not cool for a hungry monster like me! Because if you want another piece you have to flag him down or try to get your waiter's attention (which can be hard during a busy night like RW).

The bread wasn't anything too exciting, but the EVOO made it yummy. We also asked the waiter to bring us some balsamic vinegar. He brought us some balsamic vinaigrette and that also went well with the bread. We asked for it two more times. (we were hungry!!!)

1st Course: Piquillos de arroz Valenciano -- Wood roasted piquillo peppers stuffed with saffron rice, shrimp, squid, chicken, almonds, saffron oli-oli

Didn't know what happened but 5 out of 6 in our group end up ordering the same first course. When the waiter brought this to the side of our table, we all thought it's some strawberry appetizer that none of us ordered. Well...not until it was right in front of us that we knew it's ours.

Let's look at the inside! It's really cute! The flavor was delicious! It was a cold dish and was very refreshing! However, I did not taste seafood or chicken that's suppose to be in the rice. Perhaps they minced them all really small... But no matter what, I liked it a lot!

One of us ordered : Esparragos blancos -- Grilled white asparagus, shaved chistorra sausage, parmesan cheese cream. I didn't get to try that since she was sitting too far away. But it looked like she liked it. (She finished it!)

2 Course: (Now we can see some varieties here)

Fideua -- Catalan noodles, mussels, bay scallops, branzino, carmellized onion puree, red peppers, ali-oli. It was ordered by Julia & Jessie. We all tasted and it was DELICIOUS!!! (oh...the gress is so green on the other side.) Although the fish was huge with the skin on. (I absolutely am scared of any type of skin except port feet! haha!)I was going to order this, but changed my mind at the last second. I didn't know what's wrong with me. (tears)

Trucha -- Grilled Idaho trout, sauteed celery, carrots, grape tomatoes, red pepper coulis, aged sherry vinaigrette. The fish was also very tasty and its flesh was slightly softer, yum! But still got the same problem with the skin...I like the red pepper coulis, but we were all making fun of the cubed vegetables...they just look like those frozen vegetabled that you can get from locol grocery stores...sorry, but it's true...It was ordered by Yun and Chaiying. Both of them finished the fish, but not the frozen vegetables.

Cordero -- Boneless braised lamb shank, sauteed judiones de la Granja beans, snow peas, tomatoes, natural jus, cumin white wine-red wine sauce. It was ordered by Fuming & me. Well...I have to say that I didn't like it very much when I had my first bite of a cherry tomato (what?). It was sour and strange, perhaps I'm not used to the red-wine & white-wine sauce. But after having couple bites of the lamb, I started to like it more. The lamb meat was soft and tender with just a little bit of fat. It was pretty delicious. I enjoy the vegetables and the bean (it did look much better than the frozen vegetables) and my favorite was the snow pea. So, I finished it and so did Fuming. BUT I think I still like the fish more (the one that's NOT with frozen vegetables.)

3rd Course: DESSERT!!!

We ordered all of them that was offered for RW dinner menu!

Natillas con fresas -- Custard cream, strawberries, cinnamon; ordered by Fuming. (bottom left corner)

Helados -- Rosemary infused honey, lemon peel ice cream, mango sorbet; ordered by Jessie & Yun. (bottom right corner)

Tarta de Santiago -- Traditional almond tart, rice pudding ice cream; ordered by Julia, Chaiying and me. (the top one, or see picture below)

I think I was pretty happy with my choice this time. (unlike the second course that I kept thinking to myself...I should have order the fish....) The almond tart was harder (tougher) than I was expecting, but it was still pretty good. And I think it'll go really well with coffee. The rice pudding ice cream was yummy but very think! (Perhaps you can say rich, but I was thinking about...oh no, so fatty!!!) Well...even with that thought in mind, I still finished the whole thing.
I think the Natillas con fresas was too liguidy for me (well, it does just say custard cream), but I feel like a texture like creme brulee would be better.As for the Helados, I like the mango sorbet the least and the rosemary honey one the most. The mango sorbet has some weird aftertaste that's almost similar to diet coke. And the rosemary honey was again, rich but fatty (and that's why yummy!)

Perhaps I was too picky, but I think the food (flavor wise) can be better for the price we paid. The whole restaurant was VERY loud and with very dimmed light. It makes it a bit difficult to hear each other and taking picture. I had a great time with the girls but I don't think I'll be back for their regular menu (maybe another RW?).

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Here's what I ordered at 2010, my first RW at New Haven and my first visit here.