Marisa's Trumbull, CT
Wife and I ate at Marisa's in Trumbull last night foir the first time in three years...........
We had stayed away since it had become a major watering hole and the dining experience had suffered. Now that a new sports bar oipened about a 5 minute drive away, they are not as jammed and we decided to give it a try.
We arrived at 7:30 on Saturday night and the parking lot was 80% full. We entered the dining room side and were seated immediately without reservations. Abou 60% of the tables were in use during our 3 hour stay. The bar side was hopping.
We started with a glass of the house Shiraz and were pleasantly surprised at the fine quality. Not sweet, and not bitter, the tannic acid level seemed low and it was fairly priced at $7 per glass on the menu, and $6.60 on the bill.
I ordered a side caesaer salad (a bargain at $3.00) and my wife ordered the homemade potato chips with gorgonzola cheese and bacon. The salad was very large buit overly chilled. I had to let it come to room temperature to eat. It had a nice house made dressing and non-greasy croutons.
The housemade potato chips were delicious. There was an ample amount of crumbled gorgonzola and loths of well done bacon pieces. It easillly could have been an appetizer for three ($10).
We did not feel like traditional Red sauce Itralain, nor any of their oversized meat portions.
There was a 'new' dinner special on the menu, the waitress said it only appeared 3 days ago, Paella for 2 for only $40.
It arrived in a cast iron Skillet. There was a bed of rice and peas topped with langostino, two lobeter claws, a plit tail, 3 jumbo shrimp, 4 large sea scallops, and 10 littleneck clams. The spicing was deliciopus. The lobster appeared to be a 1 lb size and it waqs cooked just right. The shell had been cracked in several places for easy eating. The clams were succulent as were the scallops. The langostinos really made the rice and peas stand out. The only disappointment was the shripm. They were jumbo and cooked perfectly with just the right texture. BUT, they had no flavor. They must have been farm raised, frozen and tasteless.
I would order this again, and hope Marisa's changes their sources of shrimp.
Service was excellent, the waitress and busboys were attentive, and what used to be an overly crowned and overpriced restaurant is not accessible and reasonable,
