Princeton

The Carousel is our favorite spot for breakfast in Princeton. We are particularly fond of their omelettes. Their western omelette is made with fresh peppers, onions, ham, mushrooms, and cheese. These ingredients are not in the egg mixture. The omelette is simply a plain egg omelette, with the sauteed fillings in the fold. Their homefries are french fried chunks of potato. Typically we like other forms of homefries better, but these are very good. The coffees, whether american style or espresso, based are not especially good. We like the friendly staff and enjoy the food. For a couple of months our home kitchen was inoperable and we really enjoyed breaksfast at the Carousel. We still go there a couple of Saturdays a month.

Main Street at the Princeton Shopping Center is a pleasant cafe whose menu changes monthly. New items often feature seasonal foods. The fish items on any month's menu are usually very good. The presentation of dishes is attractive. Service seems highly variable. Many of the wait staff don't seem to know much about the food or be especially service oriented. There appears to be a high turnover among them.

We recently had dinner at Le Plumet Royale for the first time. The menu seemed to have international influences, but the food was prepared in the french style. It was very good, but very rich and expensive. The waiter was attentive, answered questions cheerfully, arrange ingredient substitutions when allergies and other food sensitivities were a problem. It is at the Peacock Inn and there is valet parking.

We love the Taste of Mexico at the Princeton Shopping Center. It seems to offer food in the Oaxacan style, but never having visited that Mexican city, I can't be sure. The salad on the plates features cabbage. The beans and rice don't seem all that different from tex-mex, but the food is tasty, the guacomole is fantastic, and the mole sauce dark, faintly bittersweet, and rich. The tamales are wonderful. I see why they are known as a food for celebrations. There are a fair number of specialities that you won't find at the run of the mill mexican restaurant. Shrimp in garlic and pozole are just examples.

We also like Tortuga's Village much better than Chevvy's or On the Border, both out on US 1. Tortuga's has specialties that transcend what I find at tex mex chains. I particularly like their chipotle flavored dishes, chicken and shrimp. In catering to US tastes, they over-do the cheese like many Mexican restaurants here, but the flavors are more complex than at many places. The beans and rice are typical.

The look of Karen's Chinese Restaurant is a little dingy, but we love two of their vegetarian dishes, green beans and eggplant with garlic sauce. It's a friendly place in the heart of Princeton and their food seems reliable and tasty, but we haven't tried a large range of menu items.

Teresa's offers very good fish, chicken, pasta, and pizza. It is often difficult to get a table without a long wait. We tend to go when the University is not in session. We like both lunch and dinner specials. Their bread is from the Witherspoon Bread Company. The pizza is thin and crispy. One makes a satisfactory appetizer for two or three people. A single pizza will also work as an entree, but you are missing some really good pasta that way.

We enjoy the food at Ferry House. The staff is bit stuffy. They do know the menu and the food and are helpful, answering questions knowledgeably. The emphasis on presentation on the plate is overblown. Sometimes it seems like everything is a tower of stacked food. This effect can be visually interesting, but it can make eating the food less enjoyable. The Ferry House does fish very well. the vegetables are never over-done and are always tasty. Their desserts taste wonderful.

Masala Grill and Kalluri Corner are two other Princeton restaurants worth a visit. They both prepare food characteristic of the Indian Sub Continent, but I believe that Kalluri is actually Pakistani.

We tried Masala before we became regular customers at Palace of Asia in Lawrence. We had liked it in it's more eclectic former persona, Twist Rojo. When they became Masala we were unfamiliar with a lot of Indian food. We knew we liked Naan, but were novices. Somehow we made our way to Palace and became very fond of the cuisine. Since then, when we return to Masala, we like the food, but not as much as at Palace or Vasanta Bhavan. Their Naan we still find excellent. The food is always well spiced and tasty, but I think we miss Twist Rojo. The service is often not the best. The occupants at some tables are ignored. The wait staff can be erratic at refilling water glasses. Some of the staff seem to dislike college-age customers, especially when the group is all female and not Asian. A recent visit in June 2006 found me more satisfied with the food. The sauces and spicing is more richly complex than at many Indian restaurants. It may be that as our palates gain experience with Indian food, we have become more discerning.

Kalluri offers a buffet on Sunday and Tuesday evenings. But, there are just some Sunday evenings when that buffet seems the right choice. In good weather, you can eat outside the upstair dining room. We like the spicy character of the food. Tandoori Chicken and their tomato soup are both stand outs. Their carrot pudding is one of the best desserts at any similar restaurant. We will revisit and describe more completely.