Cafe Mayo, Wappingers Falls, NY

Here's a place we've been driving past for a few years now and always say, "Hey we should stop there sometime." Well, we finally did today and I have to say it is good Mexican food. Now to start off, I'm not a huge Mexican food fan, which is surprising because I love cilantro, lemon juice and pico de gallo. Maybe its the meat I don't like because when we have Mexican lately I've been ordering seafood and I'm fast becoming a fan.

Tonight I had the Tacos de Camaron, shrimp tacos. Three tacos filled with grilled shrimp, black beans, lettuce and tomato covered in a nice sauce with fresh avocado slices. A couple pieces of grilled plantain, and some refried beans and rice on the side completed the meal. All for $16.95. Teresa had chicken enchilada for $13.95. My dinner was delicious and fresh tasting. There were many flavor notes that combined perfectly.

For desert I tried the fried ice cream. They take vanilla ice cream, coat it in frosted flakes and coconut, and fry it. Then they pour on caramel and chocolate, and add whipped cream. At $4.95, I had to try. It was okay, but not as fantastic as I thought it would be.

Give them a try sometime and you'll not be disappointed. They have another location in Fishkill and you can get more info from their website.

Red Lobster, Middletown

My Mother-in-law was over and we, my wife and I that is, decided we should go out to eat. Mom loves shrimp, and Red Lobster has that never-ending-shrimp special going on so . . . well there we were.

First I have to tell you that the staff was great. We were seated right away and our waitress took good care of us. We decided on the never-ending shrimp (I was actually considering getting a lobster tail and a steak, but changed my mind). Well our waitress kept coming back to refill our water, and our shrimp.

The shrimp comes several ways, and you start with two, and refill with any choice. I tried them all. In order of favorite:

1. Cajun on rice pilaf

2. Scampi swimming in butter

3. Fried

4. Teriyaki

5. Coconut

None of them are truly stellar, the food is good, hot and prepared right, but Red Lobster isn't a great seafood place. It's a good seafood place. We did eat our fill however and left quite a few spent shrimp tails on the bread plates. Maybe next time I will get the tail, or try the new grilled menu.

Crescent City Brew House

After a very filling lunch we walked around town for a few hours hoping to make room for dinner. The problem of course is too many choices to eat, and not enough time to try them all. One place that looked interesting was the Crescent City Brew House on Decatur. After we found a ‘buy one entrée, get one free’ coupon at the hotel, the decision was made. This turned out to be another great decision.

The restaurant reminded Teresa of the Blue Bayou in Chicago, maybe because that bar was patterned after a New Orleans restaurant, lots of wood, and open.

The menu was extensive and we decided to have the seafood. I ordered the shrimp Pappardelle, which is jumbo shrimp over noodles with bacon, peas and mushrooms in a creamy sauce of fresh basil and Parmesan cheese. Teresa had the crabmeat stuffed shrimp. Both were delicious, but mine was probably the best seafood dish I’ve ever had. There was so much on the plate I couldn’t finish it all so I took a doggy bag and gave it to a homeless guy we saw later.

I had two beers. The first was a Red Stallion, a Vienna style copper beer that was pretty good. The second was one of the specialty beers, a dark Weise beer that had a nice flavor. The beers are a bit pricey at $6.50 each, but worth a try.

For more info check out their website.