Clover Eats!
Sharing restaurant experiences through photography!
Zoi’s on Orange | New Haven
We were looking for a good breakfast place and saw the great Yelp reviews for Zoi’s. We’ve run by this place a few times and decided to finally go in and check it out. There was a line but it moved quickly and the space, while small, was not uncomfortably so. Our sandwiches came out pretty quickly, the Mean Dean and the Big Kahuna, and while flavorful and hot, were a little too greasy for my taste. Definitely a higher quality version than say your McDonald’s or Panera breakfast sandwich, but just not my kind of thing. Maybe I should try their salads instead.
Zafra Cuban Restaurant & Rum Bar | New Haven
We’ve run by this restaurant several times on our usual running loop but had never tried it. We finally decided to check it out and started off with the Papa Hemingway. We got the chicken cubano and the plantain picadillo, both of which were quite tasty but nothing amazing. I liked the dramatic decorations and would be interested in maybe checking out their giant (200+!) rum list sometime.
New Haven Food Truck Festival
We stopped by the New Haven Food Truck Festival on Long Wharf. I drove by this almost every day and have always been tempted to stop by and check out some of the food trucks that are always here. Finally got to visit during this festival, which was swarming with people. Here are a few snapshots of the trucks that were there. I was surprised that there were many food trucks that weren’t here – Sugar, Caseus, etc. We ended up getting mini doughnuts and a Yardbird burger/buns with sriracha pickles.
Duc’s Place | New Haven
We walked by this new place a few times and there was always a long line, with people beckoning us, telling us it’s delicious and we have to try it. Once we stopped to look at the menu and the couple sitting in the window gave us big smiles and a thumbs-up. So of course we had to try it, not to mention it’s so conveniently close to our apartment. My first observation was that they have avocado smoothies! Yum! Unfortunately there has been some inconsistency in my smoothie experience depending on who is running the blender, so some days it’s better than others. Their mango smoothie is also interesting, with a slightly different mango flavor than most mango smoothies have. I’m not sure what their secret ingredient is. We’ve also tried their pho which comes conveniently deconstructed when taken to-go. There have been days when we’ve purchased three banh mi sandwiches at a time, my favorite is the pork but the tofu and fish are also quite good. I think the banh mi is better than the pho which is then better than the bun, the vermicelli noodles, but hey, to each their own. Apparently the owner used to be a post-doc at one of the Yale Medicine labs, but gave it up to start a restaurant. They’re still ironing out some kinks: the Perka rewards program isn’t quite up and running, and some of the newer employees are still pretty unseasoned, leading to incomplete orders for instance, but I expect all this should improve over time. Overall a delightfully fresh addition to Orange street, I just wish they were also open on Sundays so I could eat there every day!
Andina | Portland
We finished off our Portland trip at Andina, a fantastic Peruvian restaurant. It was happy hour so we were able to try some very interesting drinks including the Sacsayhuaman, which was habanero pepper vodka with passionfruit and cane sugar, what a kick! The ron-yki-on was ginger rum with grapefruit, lime, and a cardamom-sugar rim, also fantastic. The Pisco sour was lime, egg whites, bitters, and sugar, really fantastic. The empanadas were also on the happy hour menu and were some of the best empanadas I have ever had! The entrees and dessert were great as well. We were worried about not having reservations but were able to get our party of seven seated with just a couple minutes’ wait. Highly recommend!
Pho & Spice | New Haven
We tried out Pho & Spice right when it opened and at first I was really looking forward to having a pho restaurant I could go to during the cold winter nights. I really loved pho, as evidenced by my Ann Arbor posts at Tomukun, and I loved the space when this restaurant was Bentara. The space is still nice, and while the restaurant seems to have sorted out some of the slow service issues mentioned in early Yelp reviews, I just wasn’t that impressed by the pho here. The broth wasn’t particularly rich or flavorful. We also got the pad see ewe, which was also pretty mediocre. It’ll suffice in a dearth of pho options, but that’s all.
Lady M | Upper East Side, New York
Rock candy sugar
We first tried Lady M’s mille crepes cakes when we had the green tea version in Ippudo for dessert. It was so fluffy and delicate, with just the right hint of sweetness that we had to go to the store and try more. Surprisingly, the teas we tried were delightful as well – Indian Chai Spice (Assam black tea with cinnamon, cardamom, and clove) and Royal Wedding (white tea with almond, coconut, vanilla, and pink rosebuds) were the ones we tried, and the pot of sugar came with rock candy stirrers! I think of the flavors I tried, the signature, strawberry, and green tea, the green tea was my favorite. Highly recommend! Check them out on Yelp or at their website.
Signature Cake
Strawberry Cake
Chocolate raspberry cake
New! Vivi Bubble Tea | New Haven
I’m sure I’m not the only one who has been waiting months for this bubble tea joint to pop. Well, it’s finally open! It’s surprisingly authentic, with Chinese on the menu and the milk used is lactaid milk. We got the Red Moo (red bean + milk) and a Passionfruit Yogurt drink with bubbles. Neither was that great. We probably should have gotten plain old milk tea to judge the restaurant on but instead we wanted to try these more unusual drinks. The macaroons were fun because there are a ton of flavors, but they weren’t that good either. I’m interested in how their ramen or popcorn chicken tastes, maybe will get it another time.
The Rambler | Portland
The Abigail – Tequila, mezcal, prickly pear, grilled pear syrup, lime; Gold Brazilian –
Famosinha de Minas cachaca, muddled lemon, cinnamon, with Guayaki Lemon Elation Yerba Mate
Mac ‘n’ Cheese –
Penne pasta, cheddar cream sauce, caramelized onion, green chilies, pulled pork
We stopped by The Rambler late in the evening after we landed and were starving. I was surprised to see so much southern, soulful food up in the Pacific Northwest. It was unfortunately raining that night, otherwise I would have loved to sit by the outdoor firepit or patio. It was happy hour, so we got great taco deals and strong, tasty cocktails as well. The bartender was super nice, and even offered to briefly turn on the lights so I could take better photos. We ordered at the bar and then got a table in the center of the restaurant. The mac and cheese was seriously amazing; there are often unusual flavors in fancier versions of mac and cheese that I find offputting, but none of those were here – this was a sophisticated version of my favorite, dear mac and cheese, with pulled pork that was so tender and succulent, all falling together in one deliciously complex late night snack. Check them out on Yelp or at their website!
Pok Pok Noi | Portland
Durian essence coconut sticky rice
Ike’s Vietnamese Fish Sauce Wings – Half dozen fresh whole natural chicken wings marinated in fish sauce and sugar, deep fried, tossed in caramelized Phu Quoc fish sauce and garlic and served with Vietnamese table salad. The signature dish. Based on the daytime cook Ike’s recipe from his home in Vietnam.
Khao Soi – Northern Thai mild curry noodle soup made with our secret curry paste recipe and house-pressed fresh coconut milk. Served with house pickled mustard greens, shallots, crispy yellow noodles and roasted chili paste.
Orange drinking vinegar and Mango Alexander – mango, vodka, coconut cream and lime, shaken and served up.
We heard great things about Pok Pok and thus had to try it when we stopped in Portland. We were lucky we went late at night because it’s a really tiny location and gets packed very easily. The water is flavored with pandan, very interesting, tastes a bit like rice or cold buckwheat tea. I loved the wide assortment of drinking vinegars and went with a Sumatran Orange one; Fred got the Mango Alexander which tasted like an alcoholic mango lassi and was delicious. It feels like everywhere in Portland offers alcohol, even small restaurants like this, which is awesome. We got the wings that were much raved about on Yelp and they were amazing – salty and flavorful and sweet all at once. The noodles were good as well. Overall, a great meal! Check them out on Yelp or at their website!
Pandan flavored water
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