O'Rourkes Diner - Middletown, CT

O'Rourkes Diner in Middletown, Connecticut might just be my new favorite Triple-D restaurant.  I don't give out many 10's but, I have no problem giving this one an honest 10.

The first thing that you notice is that it is an honest to goodness diner starting with the stainless steel exterior and interior.  It is tiny and friendly.  It is also spic and span: clean as a whistle.  That is something that probably most Triple-D restaurants are not.

I started with the "Leprechaun bites" of poppyseed bread or muffin and some kind of blueberry muffin. It was a nice morning appetizer.

They served what seemed to me to be real fresh squeezed orange juice and a fresh fruit plate.  So, they try to be a bit healthy.  I had the Eggs Brian which might not be super healthy but it was very enjoyable.  It came with multigrain toast thick-cut and really flavorful. It must definitely have been bakery bread. Their coffee to wash it all down was also equally enjoyable.

Evidently, the first O'Rourkes Diner bunt down some years ago and the town decided to rebuild it.   I'm glad that they did.

Pee before you come here. The door doesn't lock.  That doesn't seem to be a problem here for some reason.  I guess we're all friends here.

Service was excellent.  No complaints there.

It only got 3.7 spoons on Urban Spoon.  Don't listen to these people.  Definitely go out of your way to visit O'Rourkes.

O'Rourkes Diner
728 Main St
Middletown, CT 06457
(860) 346-6101
http://www.orourkesmiddletown.com/

Café Du Monde - New Orleans, LA

The Café Du Monde is going to be the first place that I go to every time that I visit New Orleans for now on.  It is an absolute "must visit" destination in my opinion.  It is not really a restaurant so much as it is a traditional cafe where coffee is primary on the menu and everything else is optional.

The coffee is smooth, flavorful, rich and has a heavy viscosity.   You feel like you are really getting your money's worth.  From their web site, I learned that the secret to their special coffee formula is that they add chicory.  They learned this trick from the Acadians from Nova Scotia around the Civil War time.  The chicory takes the bitter edge off of coffee and gives it a chocolate flavor.

In the case of Café Du Monde, the baignets are the co-stars of the show.  Baignets are little French doughnut like pastries buried beneath a blanket of powdered sugar.  It is like what you would expect from a cafe in France; you feel like the quality of the pasties is one of a kind.  In the case of France, they are all exceptionally good. 

Café Du Monde is not a triple-D restaurant.   I don't think that it would make sense for Guy to visit here anyway because the menu is very basic.  There is no cooking per se going on here.  It is coffee brewing and doughnut baking.  

The atmosphere is really something extra special.  It is an outdoor cafe right in the French Quarter of New Orleans.  So, you get to experience the beat of New Orleans while you are sipping some really good coffee and licking the powdered sugar off of your fingers. 

I'll give the Café Du Monde a 9.8 out of 10  because the experience is great, the coffee quality is great.  I really enjoyed it.

Café Du Monde
800 Decatur St
New Orleans, LA 70116
(504) 525-4544
www.cafedumonde.com