Mickey’s Restaurant & Bar isn’t just one of my favorite Hamden restaurants but one of my favorite restaurants period.
I’m known to stop there for everything from a good burger and fries to a taste of the Middle East to great pastas to contemporary American favorites like a crabmeat and mango salad, herb-rubbed hanger steak or duck done two ways.
Mickey’s is located kitty corner from the old Hamden Town Hall at the intersection of the two main thoroughfares—Whitney and Dixwell Avenues.
Until Mickey’s came along, the restaurants that occupied the prominent location were not especially distinguished. I credit Mickey’s with helping elevate the Hamden dining scene to the point where holding a Restaurant Week was worth undertaking.
I met old friend and fellow food writer Lee White
at Mickey’s for lunch, and we talked shop for a couple of hours while we ate. I figured Lee would know owner Mickey Josephs personally.
Lee lives in a shoreline town and currently writes for the Shoreline Newspapers, while Mickey used to own Rosemary & Sage in Old Saybrook until a lady drove through one side of the restaurant and out the other late one night.
I know most of the Mickey’s crew quite well, starting with its kind-hearted and hard-working manager, Erin Archer.
Except for the private function room,
I have dined in every part of the restaurant. I have taken meals in the bar area,
at practically every table in the dining room,
and even on the patio, where these youngsters were enjoying the fresh air.
Warm bread and butter held our appetites in check while we studied Mickey’s Restaurant Week lunch menu. It wasn’t easy to narrow down the starter selection. We didn’t wind up ordering the tri-color salad, the Caesar salad, the New England clam chowder or the four-cheese eggplant rollatini.
Lee opted for the goat cheese, caramelized onion and bacon tart, which may not have been the most photogenic dish but which was absolutely delicious.
I had the lively mussels fra diavolo, which were served with pieces of grilled bread.
We also got to try the black bean soup, which was beautifully flavored with roasted pork, cilantro and chipotle.
Listing all nine lunch entrées could take up a little space, but hey, this is the internet—I can drone on forever and you can skip ahead to the next photograph if you’re not interested. The entrée selection included tortellini Bolognese (peas, carrots and a touch of cream), orecchiette alla barese (hot sausage, broccoli rabe and sun-dried tomato), linguini vongole (New Zealand cockles in choice of white or red sauce), veal parmigiana over linguine, a falafel wrap (hummus, tahini and Israeli chopped salad), chicken saltimbocca (chicken medallions, prosciutto, and Fontina cheese finished with white wine and sage) and pork forestiere (pork medallions, wild mushroom and applewood smoked bacon finished with sherry and sage). There were also two specials available for a $2 supplement: soft-shell crab and sea scallops.
Lee was drawn by the incredibly flavorful lamb burger, grilled seasoned ground lamb served over a good bun with tzatziki sauce, Feta cheese, roasted peppers and baby arugula, which was accompanied by the first-rate house fries.
I chose Mickey’s take on fish and chips—panko-encrusted cod fish sticks served with chimichurri sauce, an arugula and cherry tomato salad, and lemon-oregano fries. The beautifully battered fish fairly melted in one’s mouth.
We also got to try the sea scallops ($2 supplement), which were cooked with cannellini beans, pancetta, radicchio, cherry tomatoes, white wine and garlic and plated with asparagus, broccoli and grilled bread.
And this was lunch—can you imagine dinner?
Desserts weren’t listed on the menu, but included chocolate and vanilla gelato, tiramisù and carrot cake. Lee relished her tiramisù,
while I greatly enjoyed my attractively plated individual carrot cake.
I can’t say I learned much from my visit, because I already knew full well how good Mickey’s is. But hey, I’ll take any excuse for a return visit.
Mickey’s Restaurant & Bar, 2323 Whitney Avenue, Hamden, 203-288-4700
www.mickeysgroup.com