Tag: baby spinach

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Grilled Chicken and Ravioli

Grilled Chicken and Ravioli from Joey’s Bar and Grill on Chandler Street in Worcester, MA

Grilled Chicken and Ravioli from Joey’s Bar and Grill on Chandler Street in Worcester, MA

One of the first things I noticed about Joey’s Bar and Grill when I got there was how large it was even though it has a small store front in a strip mall on Chandler Street. The decor was modern, but homey with local art on the walls and a fairly large bar—which is good because there was a crowd of people waiting to eat.

It was restaurant week so there was a special menu, which I ordered from, as well as the standard menu featuring a nice mix of Italian and American fare.

For an appetizer I had the Chicken Chili. It was sized perfectly for an appetizer, giving me a good taste without filling me up at all and leaving me plenty of room for my entree. The chili was tomato based, with lots of chicken and lots of other filler (peppers, onions etc…) and had a very nice flavor with just a hint of spiciness. The tart of the tomato balanced the heat of the chili and the sweetness of the peppers perfectly, leaving an overall fantastic mix.

For my entree I had the Grilled Chicken and Ravioli, which was described as; Grilled chicken breast with baby spinach tossed roasted yellow pepper cream sauce over spinach an garlic ravioli. It came with 2 smallish breasts of chicken grilled perfectly, they were moist and tender with nice grill marks and garnished with sprigs of Rosemary along with 6-8 large ravioli drizzled with the sauce. The ravioli were also cooked perfectly al dente with just the right amount of texture. The sauce was excellent, though a little sparse and was just on the ravioli with none on the chicken, though the chicken really didn’t need it. The flavors of the sauce complemented the ravioli perfectly and were a great counterpoint to the grilled chicken. Overall an excellent dish.

For dessert, I had the cookie sundae. This was a very large soft, fresh white chocolate macadamia nut cookie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, whipped cream and some hot chocolate sauce. The cookie was soft, but still firm enough to balance the ice cream nicely creating a very pleasing dessert. -DL

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Shrewsbury St. Swordfish

Shrewsbury Street Swordfish from Flying Rhino on Shrewsbury Street in Worcester, Massachusetts

Shrewsbury Street Swordfish from Flying Rhino on Shrewsbury Street in Worcester, Massachusetts

The Flying Rhino is an eclectic restaurant with a nice variety of options. They offer many selections that are healthy choices to go along with a great mix of more standard fare, most prepared with a little twist.

I started with the Chicken Lettuce Wraps, which comes with a decent sized portion of skillet fried ground chicken, shredded carrots and cabbage, whole leaf lettuce and two sauces, peanut and soy. While a little messy to eat (it is finger food after all) the lettuce wraps were fantastic.  They soy based sauce quite good, but the peanut sauce was ‘out of this world’ good. There was just enough to share amongst two people and still feel like you had enough to get a good feel for the taste. Overall, one of the best appetizers around.

Next came a Caesar salad which was small, but I find that be refreshing because it wasn’t so large that it left you feeling full before your meal comes out. This salad was also very tasty and fresh.

For dinner I had the Shrewsbury St. Swordfish, which is a pesto grilled swordfish steak over black rice with roasted cherry tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, baby spinach and pine nuts topped with a slight balsamic glaze. The fish was a perfect size again, large enough to be filling but not so large you feel guilty eating the whole thing, and was cooked perfectly with a very nice flavor. I found the black rice by itself to be a little bland, but eaten with the tomato, mozzarella and baby spinach it was an excellent combination with a light, refreshing taste and great texture. The lightness of the sides played perfectly with the fish for an overall excellent dinner.

Overall, the Flying Rhino is a keeper and will be a place I revisit often! -DL