Hartford Courant from Hartford, Connecticut • 167

8 8 DINING OUT RESTAURANT REVIEW Los Dorados 3047 Main St. (Putnam Bridge Center) Glastonbury 659-8456 Hours: Sun-Thurs, Fri, Sat, 11-10 Price range: One menu at all times. Appetizers, entrees: desserts: Credit cards: MC, Visa, CB, DC Reservations: Recommended Children's fare: Yes No-smoking seating: Yes Handicapped access: Good Liquor license: Yes Directions: Right off Exit 5C of Route 2 onto Maple Street and left onto Main Street; proceed a few blocks. Key FOOD VALUE EXCELLENT OVERPRICED VERY GOOD ON THE MONEY GOOD A BARGAIN FAIR POOR John Montre Special to The Courant In the restaurant's defense, the food is no worse than most food served in Connecticut Mexican restaurants. Beef Chimichangas had exactly the same filling, but at least they looked a little different.

Three of these deep-fried flour tortilla rolls had been cut in half and arranged petallike, radiating out from a central mound of sour cream. For a modicum of variety, there was the filling in Chicken Enchiladas. These simple chicken chunks proved good, and preferable to the melted cheese filling in Cheese Enchiladas, indistinguishable from the bland cheddar melted on top of the baked, rolled tortillas. Most of the dinners come with Chili Con Queso, a little fried tortilla shell containing white, green chili-flavored cheese sauce, which tasted quite similar to melted Velveeta. For dessert, there are Sopapillas, deepfried little dough pieces which were, in this case, simply wedges of flour tortillas.

A squeeze from a plastic bottle of honey provided sweetness. There was also the strangest interpretation of Fried Ice Cream we've ever come across. Usually, the idea is to quickly deep-fry a rockhard scoop of ice cream before it can melt. The Los Dorados version was a dish of vanilla soft-serve covered with honey and some bits of crunchy things, perhaps the detritus of a deep-fried coating gone awry. It was topped with whipped cream and a cherry, and if you thought of it as some kind of sundae, it wasn't half bad.

Mix of Mexican, Indian cuisines is humdrum By TERRY MONTLICK stuffed, flour tortillas served with miwere and CHARLOTTE LIBOV nuscule portions of standard rice and beans. an a restaurant owned by Indians Shah, serve insisted, an good in owner print, Mexican of that Los food? Indians Dorados, Suman know has more about spicy food than Mexicans do. This stretches our credulity a bit. India got the chili pepper secondhand, for it originated in Mexico. Nonetheless, when cultures mix, some very interesting things can happen in the kitchen.

Shah lived for several years in Texas, eating Tex-Mex food. What would be the result when two great spicy cuisines meet? Tamales Vindaloo? Or maybe Tandoori Nachos? Actually, this wasn't far from the truth. But instead of enhancing Mexican dishes with a novel preparation, Los Dorados only succeeds in serving humdrum Tex-Mex fare with an idiosyncratic Indian accent. Take the humble taco, for example. The filling for Los Dorados' beef tacos had a typical Indian food characteristic: lots of salt.

This is fine for an Indian entree, which is meant to be eaten with plenty of bread or rice to temper the intense seasoning. But it doesn't work with tacos, especially when they're served with scant portions of rice and beans. And we couldn't help but notice the resemblance of this ground beef mixture to the Indian seasoned ground meat dish known as Kheema. But the ultimate Hindu-Mex interpretation was found in something called Spicy Chicken. This was billed as "Mildly spiced charbroiled filet of chicken breast." Hmmmm, we wondered.

This sounded a lot like Nah, it couldn't be! But when the dish arrived, there it was, in all its red-dyed glory. Boneless, flanked by Mexican rice and refried beans, but still recognizable: it was the Indian classic, Tandoori Chicken! If it had been particularly good Tandoori Chicken, we would have been pleased, even eating it to the accompaniment of prerecord- 7 THE HARTFORD COURANT THURSDAY APRIL 7, 1988 GOOD FOOD Newington 666-2202 Reviewed March 10 At Ruth's Chris, you can have both the steak and the sizzle; hefty, -of-the-line steaks and chops, grilled and served piping hot in butter, along with Paul Bunyanesque baked potatoes, saucer-sized onion rings and enough garden salad to fill Madison Square. For non-meat lovers, there's hearty grilled salmon, and lobsters biding their time in a tank. But Ruth's Chris bills herself as a restaurant for serious steak lovers and they've been stampeding here since opening day. I These capsule reviews are based on reviews of restaurants that received at least two stars from Calendar critics Terry Montlick and Charlotte Libov.

The list will change as new restaurants are reviewed. For an explanation of the stars and dollar signs, consult the key on this page. Ruth's Chris Steak House 2513 Berlin Turnpike DiFiore's Restaurant ed Spanish guitars. But this stuff was dry and paucity of distinctive flavors, despite the wide variety of entrees. Now this went a little beyond the usual Mexican restaurant practice of offering every combination of tacos, enchiladas and burritos.

If you order Carne Asada, you get some grilled fajita beef slices minus the onions and tortillas (and a skimpy portion of beef, at that). An "Alamabre" is just the same seasoned beef slices grilled shish-kebob fashion with onions and tomatoes. Tacos al Carbon was simply a pre-rolled fajita. We've heard of being efficient in the kitchen, but this was ridiculous! Good Mexican food should not all taste the same! In the restaurant's defense, the food is no worse than most food served in Connecticut Mexican restaurants. The prices are low, children are welcome, and the booth-bordered dining room is clean and spacious, gleaming with brass light fixtures.

And given the limitations of the menu and the kitchen, it's certainly possible to get a decent meal. We liked the Nachos Supreme, a pretty circle of tortilla chips individually garnished with seasoned ground beef, beans, melted cheese, guacamole and sour cream. Some deadly hot, fresh, raw slices stood in the center of the platter, for anyone who dared. On its own, the guacamole didn't fare as well. One evening's guacamole did possess a fresh flavor.

On another day, though, the guacamole was unappetizingly old, tasting of brown, oxidized avocados. Burritos were filled with the aforementioned taco filling. The large pair of beef- dully seasoned. Another problem with Los Dorados is the 395 Franklin Ave. Hartford 522-2123 Reviewed March 17 Three cheese (and three stars!) for DiFiore's Restaurant, the splendid newcomer in this quintessential Italian neighborhood.

No matter which Italian specialty you order, owner-chef Don DiFiore does it right, from tortellini en brodo to ricotta pie. It was nice to find such favorites as Veal Milanese and Gnocchi with Bolognese sauce prepared properly. That seldom happens, even on Franklin Avenue. Maison LeBlanc Route 7 New Milford 354-9931 I Charming Maison LeBlanc serves French food with flair. There's a striking shrimp and avocado appetizer, fine baked oysters with mushrooms, and delicious saffron and mussel soup.

Some entrees were not without flaws, but the poached lobster was spectacular, and Muscovy duck and filet mignon did not disappoint. Desserts are elaborate and satisfyingly sinful. Scoozzi Trattoria and Wine Bar 1104 Chapel St. New Haven 776-8268 One of the liveliest places around staid old Yale is Scoozi, an underground oasis with stark white-on-white decor, nostalgic '30's music and a peppy serving staff. The fare is trendy Nuovo Italiano, which means little California-style pizzas, lots of fresh pasta, goat cheese, radicchio and the like, and a gelato assortment for dessert.

If you have news of restaurant openings or closings, menu or staff changes, special events or other items of interest, call 241-6452 and leave a message or write to: A la carte, Food Section, The Hartford Courant, 285 Broad Hartford, Conn. 06115. You also may write to Terry Montlick and Charlotte Libov, care of the Features Department, at the same address. In addition to reviewing restaurants for The Courant, Charlotte Libov and Terry Montlick have written about food for other publications..