First Impressions
How much is too much for an entree at a place that plays the kind of anonymous Muzak that Kenny G calls jazz and is decorated like Applebee’s? Trust me, I like renovated mill buildings, but why confuse it with faux grecian columns and too many pictures of dead celebrities? I mean, the interior was clean and pleasant, but lacked attention to detail. If you’re so afraid your customers are going to walk off with the poorly framed prints of old Hollywood darlings that you nail them to the wall through the frame, how much can you expect them to pay for dinner?
Drinks and Appetizers
Still, Cotton’s martinis have been voted the best in New Hampshire. I tried the sampler, a trio of fruity cocktails served in adorable 2.5 oz martini glasses. The flight included a lemon drop martini, a raspberry cosmopolitan, and an orange crush (the crush had me humming REM all evening, but I’m a dork like that). Casey ordered the Vesper (he’s a dork for Bond-themed drinks), a cocktail of gin, vodka and Lillet as they prepare it.
Whatever points the place lost in atmosphere they seemed to regain with the Martinis. The drinks were fresh and light with lovely flavors. My favorite was the lemon drop. So many restaurants serve a syrupy martini which I hate, these were clearly a step above.
To accompany the cocktails, we had the Lobster Artichoke Dip. The flavor of the dip was good, but the homemade corn chips they were paired with were far too salty and overpowered the more subtle flavors of the dip.
Entrees
On special was a pork tenderloin in a mushroom sauce with mashed potatoes and sauteed greens. It was plenty tender, but the sauce that covered everything was bland and cried out for some fresh herbs. Casey’s “Meat and Potatoes” suffered from a similar saucing issue. I am not sure why the chef felt it necessary to drown our food with blandness.
Conclusion
We should have moved on after our cocktails and appetizers. The music killed Casey, but I will happily return to Cotton for a pre-dinner martini at the bar, then I will continue my search for a Manchester restaurant I love.
Details
Cotton
75 Arms Street Manchester, NH 03101 — phone: 603 622 5488
Dinners priced $13-30
Lunch:Monday-Friday, 11:30AM-2:30PM
Dinner:Nightly at 5:00PM
Cotton, restaurant, food, dinner, review, restaurant review
Related:
Posted September 30, 2007 by Sandee
Categories: Kitchen, Style, Fashion and Food. Tags: Cotton, dinner, food, restaurant, restaurant review, review.
1 Comment(s)
Comments RSS
TrackBack Identifier URI
Leave a comment
User contributed tags for this post:
mss (14) - smashitup (12) - COTTONS RESTAURANT nh (8) - cotton mill restaurant (7) - Cottons manchester nh (6) - cotton mill restaurant reviews (4) - cottons restaurant manchester nh (3) - cache Ct9FoQ0x7HMJ maisonbisson com blog post 10139 fea (3) - Cotton's manchester, nh (3) - cottons manchester restaurant (2) - cotton restaurant new hampshire (2) - cotton nh restaurant (2) - cotton restaurant nh (2) - 72227065167937 (2) - cotton's manchester nh (2) - cotton restaurant (2) - Cotton (2) - cotton restaurant manchester nh (2) - tunews (2) - COTTON RESTERAUNT IN MANCHESTER NH (1) - cottons restaurant manchester (1) - reviews of cotton manchester nh (1) - restaurant reviews cotton nh (1) - cotton mill resturant (1) - cottons restaurant (1) - cotton nh (1) - Cottons restaurant and manchester (1) - cottons restaurant in manchester, nh (1) - Cotton restaurants (1) - Cottons Resaturant Manchester, NH (1) - cotton's restaurant new hampshire (1) - The Cotton Mill restaraunt (1) - cottons in manchester nh (1) - the cotton mill restaurabt (1) - cotton restraunt in manchester,nh (1) - cotton restaurantmanchester,nh (1) - cottons and new hampshire (1) - cottons resteraunt nh (1) - cotton martini bar manchester (1) - cotton restaurant manchester nh reviews (1) - restaurent review (1) - cotton restaurant / manchester nh / review (1) - logitech harmony hacks 520 (1) - cotton casei (1) - the cotton mill restaurant (1) - hungry man restaurant nh (1) - 72221579942535 (1) - cache 9F0EFW4Pg0cJ maisonbisson com blog post 63 hungry (1) - COTTON RESTAURANT MANCHESTER, NH (1) - cache upO99DWNtCEJ maisonbisson com blog post 10885 ema (1) - conference proposal examples (1) - ronald cotton (1) - DAT72 blocksize (1) - Cotton 25 Arms Street Manchester (1) - www pink w com (1) - nh 1 restaurant (1) - restaurant reviews blog (1) - restaurant dip comments (1) - cotton food in manchester (1) - manchester nh restaurant guide cotton (1) - cotton restaurant 75 arms street (1) - cotton restaunt nh (1) - cotton review (1) - Cotton 75 Arms St (1) - php opensource restaurent review (1) - Cotton Nh reviews (1) - hungryman restaurant (1) - pink world (1) -
Sis,
I went here a couple times when I worked at NHEye, and I hated it.
I thought it was overpriced and the music drove me nuts.
You could also write a large aside of why it is completely innappropriate
to call you bar “Cotton”. Get away from the Martinis, drink beer!