Once again this year we trekked out to New England for Christmas. We only ate out a few times thanks to superb cooking by Sarah’s mom (delicious beef brisket and latkes) and my sister (awesome beef tenderloin). On the way out we stopped at Blue Colony Diner in Newtown, CT. It was our first time there and we weren’t quite sure what it would be like. We had just seen a billboard on the highway and thought we’d give it a try. Turns out Blue Colony Diner is a well known landmark. It’s very large for a diner and the menu is huge. So are the portions. Sarah had some seriously meaty lasagna which became three meals. I had a really good pastrami Reuben.  A gentleman sitting near us had the baked haddock. It was the largest helping of food for one person I’ve ever seen. Great place to stop if you’re passing through the area on I-84. Three and a Half Spoons

Whenever we get out to Massachusetts we try to grab a meal at The Chatta Box in Bridgewater, MA. The Chatta Box is simply the best Asian fusion restaurant we’ve ever encountered. The food is sublime. I ordered our longtime favorite, Mango Stir Fry with Chicken. It’s the near dish in the picture below. It’s served in a mango shell (the purple you see in the picture). It’s sweet and spicy and fresh and delicious. Sarah ordered Tropical Explosion, which was tofu with pineapple and peppers and mango and onions. Similar to mine but just different enough. Both were excellent. Five Spoons

Lastly, Sarah’s parents took us out to Butterfly Restaurant in West Hartford, CT. (Thanks, Judy and Steve.) We usually make it to Butterfly on our trips. We each order a dish and then mix and match. This time we had pork fried rice (which was a welcome treat as good fried rice is hard to find out here in IL), crispy orange beef, sesame chicken, and broccoli and garlic. All were very tasty. We really miss having a good Chinese restaurant nearby. We thoroughly enjoyed the meal. Four Spoons

Today we were up in the mall area shopping, so we decided to swing down Neil St and try the newish Holy Land restaurant at 705 N. Neil St in Champaign. It’s the same place where Jack’s Grill used to be. It’s still Mediterranean food. We never got around to eating at Jack’s, but Holy Land has the kabobs and rice dishes you’d expect from such a place. The atmosphere is similar to what you’d find on Green St, with a few booths and tables and a take-out counter. They have a large LCD TV playing Arab MTV, which was interesting, to say the least.

The folks at Holy Land are quite friendly and the service is excellent. As we sat down, they brought us a small but tasty eggplant appetizer with toasted pita chips. The menu has several fruity drinks available and they have coffee or Pepsi products. We both opted to stay with the water. For entrees Sarah ordered Chicken Shish Tawook, which was a chicken kabab with semi-spicy chicken and a large helping of rice. I got the Mixed Grill, which was one each of the chicken, beef, and lamb kebabs with rice. It also came with a large plate of hummus and baba ganoush with a basket of warm pitas. I’m usually not big on hummus or baba ganoush, but this dish had both with olive oil, paprika, and a mint chutney. It was excellent. The kebabs were all perfectly prepared and a tad on the spicy side, although not mouth burning. The rice had almonds and spices and was also top notch. We brought home enough for another meal. Very generous servings.

For dessert we split a large bowl of the best rice pudding I have ever had. It was a perfect way to finish off the meal. Can’t wait to go back. I hope they stay around longer than Jack’s did. Holy Land is shaping up to be the best Mediterranean restaurant in the Champaign-Urbana area. 

Saigon to Bangkok is the former Saigon Restaurant in Savoy Plaza in Savoy, IL. Saigon Restaurant suffered from poor service and hit-or-miss quality. No surprise it didn’t last long. The new Saigon to Bangkok is unchanged in appearance, but judging from the service and food, it’s off to a much better start.

We gave it a shot for dinner tonight, lured in by their new Thai offerings. We had no problem getting a table, but it began to fill up while we were there. We were going to start with Crab Rangoon, but the hostess suggested the Vietnamese Pancake (Banh Xeo). It looked like an omelet over bean sprouts, but the taste was more doughy than egg. It also had the odd combination of shrimp and pork. It came wth a tasty dipping sauce and was quite good.

For entrees Sarah ordered Papaya with Chicken and I had the Orange Stir Fry, also with chicken. Sarah thought hers was quite good but not as spicy as she thought it would be. My orange stir fry was more like ORANGE!!! stir fry. It must have had at least a half orange worth of juice in it and there were six or eight large chunks of orange. There were not as many onions and peppers as I would have liked. It was ok, but the overriding impression was one of eating chicken in a bowl of orange juice. Maybe that was the intention, and if so, the dish succeeded. But it’s not something I’d order again.

As of now they do not have a license for beer or wine, but they have supposedly applied for one and hope to offer beer in the future. It was even on the menu.

We’ll return to Saigon to Bangkok soon to try some of their other dishes. It will be nice to have a good Thai/Vietnamese place on the south side of town.