Tuesday, September 9, 2008

West Hartford Restaurant Round-up: Butterfly

I knew that I had forgotten a restaurant when I was writing my post a few days ago. And here it is:

Butterfly 831 Farmington Ave, West Hartford, CT - This place is probably a staple for many residents looking for Chinese-American cuisine locally, as there aren't many sit-down restaurants like this around (as far as I can tell). We've been here twice, once right after we moved for a quick lunch and once for dinner. Both times, we were warmly greeted at the door and escorted to our table. The service was quite good at each visit and the food wasn't bad, either. The live piano music that was played during dinner hours was a bit unusual, but we came to enjoy it in a kitschy kind of way (oh, to eat a chicken finger while hearing the music from Cats). The hot and sour soup was very tasty, and none of the dishes ordered were met with disappointment, from the teriyaki chicken, which wasn't too overpowering with salty soy sauce, to the steamed dumplings and vegetable fried rice. Butterfly isn't necessarily doing anything new or exciting, but what they do offer seems pretty consistent.

My goal is to visit Butterfly's lounge, Koy, during a karaoke night. Nothing beats watching someone slaughter a Fleetwood Mac song while cradling a giant blue drink, each sip bringing your confidence one step closer to taking the stage yourself. I still feel the need to apologize to the folks at the resort my wife and I stayed at during our honeymoon two years ago for torturing them with a never-ending rendition of Blur's "Girls & Boys." You don't realize how long a song is until you're forced to sing it in front of 300 people.

So, keeping with my crude grading table from before, I say that Butterfly qualifies as a GOOD choice for Chinese-American fare.  

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