The Glass Onion
909 East Main Road
Middletown
by Bob Mariani
There’s a reason The Glass Onion attracts so many local regulars even on an early spring evening before the summer season begins: their menu offers all "the classics", nicely prepared and served by a brisk, friendly wait staff. The atmosphere has that convivial kind of fifties "let’s-go-have-a-Manhattan-and-a-bite-to-eat" feeling. Easy and unpretentious.
For starters, in addition to the New England Clam Chowder and the Glass Onion Soup, the soup of the evening was a hearty, straightforward beef barley. For my appetizer I chose one of the specials: mussels and littlenecks steamed in a light, creamy garlic broth with baby shrimp and bits of Portuguese sausage tossed in. As always, this is a combination that just plain works.
Other starters included Baked Nachos ($6.95); Clams Casino ($6.95); a Smoked Seafood Plate ($8.95); Coconut Fried Shrimp ($8.95) Lobster Ravioli ($9.95) and the House Special—The Onion Blossom ($5.95), described as a large yellow onion battered and deep-fried and served with a special sauce.
For her entrée, Jan had the Lobster and Scallop Pie ($23.95) cooked in a shallow pie dish with a crust fresh from the oven that was just the right combination of chewy and soft. The pie contained medium size morsels of sweet lobster meat and scallops baked in a delicious cream sauce seasoned with leeks, mushrooms and spinach.
I opted for another of the evening’s specials—a Combination Platter of grilled sword fish steak and grilled salmon steak topped with a Jamaican jerk sauce of sweetly pickled fruits finely chopped. It was served on a bed of white rice. Although the fruity sauce was a great addition to the fish, the fish steaks themselves had perhaps been left a bit too long on the grill and were seared beyond my preference.
Some of the Glass Onion’s other Chef Specialties were Baked Stuffed Sole ($17.95); Scrod Portuguese ($13.95) with mushrooms, tomatoes, and yellow and red peppers; Baked Scrod ($13.50) seasoned with bread crumbs; and Veal Madeira ($18.95).
The main reason a lot of the diners seemed to be here are the special steak offerings. I watched in amazement as the waitress delivered a 14-ounce hunk of New York Sirloin ($20.95) the size of a small car battery to a slim, gray-haired lady at a nearby table. (She left with the major part of her steak in a take-home carton.) There’s also grilled Pork Loin with a bistro sauce and deep-fried onions ($15.95); and a "queen- or king-size" Prime Rib au Jus available on Saturday and Sunday evenings only.
For pasta fans, the Glass Onion’s got "Ma’s Angel Hair" ($14.95) with grilled chicken, eggplant, zucchini, sun-dried tomatoes and onion in a light tomato sauce; Seafood Fra Diavlo ($20.95) with scallops, shrimp, littlenecks and mussels in a spicy marinara sauce; and Linguini Napolean ($21.95) with sweet lobster meat and veal sautéed in a brandy cream sauce over linguini.
For dessert, my wife had the house-made carrot cake—another classic that they do quite well here, moist with lots of chewy texture. I had their blueberry cream tart, a very thin pastry shell with a light dollop of pureed blueberries and a modest helping of whipped cream.
The Glass Onion is open every day for lunch and dinner. For more information call 848-5153.
Bob Mariani is a Southeastern New England freelance author. Besides his "Your Table is Ready" restaurant reviews found here, he also writes jazz articles on allaboutjazz.com.
