In that dreary southern stretch of the Berlin Turnpike better known for its liquor stores and no-tell motels, Sans Souci is a pleasant surprise. Just as its bright signage guarantees the use of a certain quality of beef,
its well-kept front entrance suggests that the same attention to quality extends throughout the entire enterprise.
Stationed just inside the entrance, owner Rick Tompkins welcomes guests while managing the restaurant with aplomb.
To the left of the front entrance is the busy lounge area,
where atmospheric music was being played.
To the rear is a dining room that looks out on a pretty garden.
But my companion and I were seated in the main dining room to the right.
Sans Souci tends to draw an older crowd, especially during lunch service, but young people (and a few of us who fall in the middle) are attracted to it as well.
Our waitress, Stephanie,
brought us bread,
breadsticks,
and a half carafe of wine.
Soon after, the musician
played Lara’s Theme for our table and The Godfather Theme for the next. Just don’t sleep with the fishes.
The restaurant offers good-quality food that both suits the tastes of its older clientele and is exciting enough to please its younger customers. Credit chef Mark Robinson for a delicate balancing act deftly managed.
Portions are more than generous, prices extremely reasonable. We began with a New England clam chowder with just a touch of jalapeño for accent, the soup overflowing with creamy goodness.
Also a special, rumaki featured chicken liver and water chestnuts wrapped in smoked bacon, baked on puff pastry and topped with crispy fried parsnips.
From the regular menu, we enjoyed stuffed mushroom caps filled with Boursin cheese and sausage.
Dinners come with salads so voluminous they are easily shared. You might expect that they wouldn’t be great salads, but the ingredients are fresh and crisp and we loved the house balsamic dressing with chunks of Gorgonzola.
While many items from the menu tempted, including pastas, chicken, veal, fresh seafood and good quality beef, the item we couldn’t resist was twin center-cut sixteen-ounce pork chops grilled and served with apple chutney, mashed potatoes and green beans. A single was a very reasonable $14.99, a pair an amazing $18.99. The kitchen was kind enough to divide the meal onto two plates for us. Click on photograph to enlarge.
Here are those pork chops viewed separately.
We were so full after this tremendous meal that all we could fit for dessert was a couple of “thank you” mints on the way out.
Sans Souci means without care, and these outgoing ladies didn’t seem to have a care in the world.
Sans Souci Restaurant & Lounge, 2003 North Broad Street (Berlin Turnpike), Meriden, 203-639-1777
sanssoucirestaurant.com
Thanks for your question. Since the democratization of restaurant coverage by the internet, the proper meaning of the word “review” has been hijacked. A review should be a critical evaluation of a dining experience by a knowledgeable and objective professional, not a reactive jab by a member of the public. Such entries have their place, but should not be confused with reviews. Even among professional reviews, there are genuinely critical ones and ones that merely pose as reviews, perhaps throwing in a meaningless criticism like “the bread wasn’t warm enough” to mask their advertorial nature. Such pieces are really restaurant profiles, not reviews. Our website offers both blog stories and reviews. When we go out with a camera and take lots of photographs and sometimes get to know the staff, that’s a blog story. When we visit a restaurant discreetly, take careful hidden notes, return home and evaluate the information we have gathered, and write a thorough and well-reasoned evaluation, that’s a restaurant review. Our reviews follow a discernibly different format. We have lots of blog stories, because we want to introduce our readers to as many restaurants as possible. We review less frequently, and we take it very seriously. To access our reviews, click on the CT FoodNOTES tab on our home page, and then click on any of the small photos at the top, or browse through our archives where they are mixed with our blog stories.
Frank,
I enjoy reading your reviews, but always feel that since you are walking around taking pictures of the food, retaurant AND the waitstaff, owners, etc. you are pretty much ensured of having a GREAT experience. Do you ever NOT let them know you are reviewing their restaurant?