Mickey’s Restaurant and Bar is housed in a building that has seen a procession of eateries before owner Mickey Joseph took over. Located at 2323 Whitney Ave. in Hamden it still looks the same outside but inside is a different story.{{more}}
The floor plan features comfortable booths which are arranged in a half circle around the very impressive bar with a background of color and exotic accents along with lots of light from their wall of windows which made the afternoon luncheon very pleasant. Mickey’s has been in operation for the past 6 ½ years.
This afternoon, Jackie our waitress, explained the luncheon menu and read to us the daily specials. We were very impressed with the selection, which included a BBQ short rib sandwich, Cajun steak sandwich, crab cakes, which are made with Jumbo lump crab meat, multi-colored peppers and zesty black bean cilantro sauce. In addition there was also spinach soup with a pouched egg, and their signature clam chowder.
We ordered two ice teas mixed with ginger ale, Robert’s favorite. We then started our lunch with an appetizer, P.E.I. Mussels, 20 large mussels floating in a rich wine sauce with the addition of chorizo, black beans, cilantro, tomatoes and garlic, served with a grilled ciabata bread. We both agreed that this was absolutely remarkable in taste. Also a basket of thick crusted warm bread was brought to our table with an olive oil decanter, hot pepper flakes, and grated parmesan cheese, and butter slabs.
However the most popular appetizer on the menu was their Firecracker Point Judith Calamari, which is flash fried Calamari, tossed with Roma tomatoes, Kalamata olives, capers, onions and hot cherry peppers. It also could be made mild if you asked. We will be sure to order this next time.
Because of Mickeys Israeli background and his years working as a chef in Italian restaurants, we can enjoy his Mediterranean mixture and the incredible range of cultural food that are served.
Robert’s lunch was meatbacis & marinara, melted mozzarella on ciabatta bread served with a side order of fries. It certainly was large enough for two to enjoy. This was a luscious combination of fork tender beef balls with delicious Italian sauce, served hot with the delectable flavor of melted mozzarella cheese.
My order was the BBQ pulled pork sandwich which was slowly cooked shredded pork plied high on a hard roll with cheddar cheese, onion frizzle and coleslaw. It was a picture to behold; very imaginative in color and extremely good in taste served with a side order salad of greens in a very light tasty dressing. The pork was shredded very thin and the onion frizzle gave it some crunch, with a lot of flavor from the coleslaw making the hard roll very moist without a trace of sogginess. This sandwich had incredible flavor.
We ended our meal with decaffinated coffee and shared an apple tart, which is a baked upside pastry puff, served with vanilla gelato.
We certainly had a great taste experience and are looking forward to our next visit
We found Mickey’s to be a very passionate restaurant with great culinary imagination and outstanding customer service.
Two Guy’s are Vincent Farricelli and Robert Modena. Both reside in Orange and have agreed to share their restaurant adventures.