Please help me get my woo on.

February 5, 2007 11:41 AM

Please recommend romantic, New England-y restaurants and activities for an early Valentines getaway to Mystic, Connecticut.

I’m surprising my girlfriend with a stay at a bed & breakfast in North Stonington, Connecticut this Saturday. We’ll be visiting the Willimantic Chocolate Festival and a couple of wineries, but I'd like to find a few other things to fill our weekend. I'm concerned that the typical tourist things like Mystic Seaport won't be a good idea, since it's supposed to be very cold this weekend.

I'd particularly appreciate restaurant recommendations, as my googling hasn't turned up much. I'd like to find a few places with a bit of romantic ambiance, but since we're both graduate students, our restaurant choices need to be on the economical side.

Thanks in advance, all!

posted by chickletworks to Travel & Transportation (9 answers total)

My favorite romantic restaurant in Mystic is a Japanese restaurant (Zhang's) on Water St. It is next to a Mexican restaurant called Margaritas (do NOT go there for romance).

My other favorite is Bangkok City Thai on State Street in New London.

Neither of these are very New England-y, but there are a lot of little inns with restaurants that are New England-y and shouldn't be hard to find. There's a place called the Flood Tide that I have never been to but might be good.

Also, I always found the aquarium romantic, but I'm a marine biologist.
posted by nekton at 12:08 PM on February 5, 2007

I highly recommend the Daniel Packer Inne (and just recommended it in another thread), right in downtown Mystic at the end of a picturesque street in the wharf area. It has the atmosphere you're looking for- - it's a Colonial tavern with wood paneling and fireplaces and oil lamps. It's pricey, but very good food - mostly seasonally inspired, with local seafoods. If they have the Stonington red shrimp, do try those. They are sweet, meaty, delicious, and utterly fresh. Scallops from that area are also very good. If the prices in the upstairs restuarant are a bit out of range, then I can't recommend the downstairs tavern enough. When I lived in Mystic, I had many an excellent weeknight dinner there, and the atmosphere's wonderful -- cozy, warm, with friendly people all around and a big warm fireplace. (My standby was the lemon chicken -- awesome).

Another restuarant I can heartily recommend (because I worked there!) is Noah's in Stonington Borough. This is probably the best food value in the entire region -- quality for the money spent is unsurpassed. Again, they pride themselves on fresh local seafood, but everything is wonderful. Everything there is prepared from scratch, home-cooking style, and it's all just incredibly wonderful. If you have the scallops with orange ginger soy sauce, you will remember them always; flounder is another specialty. They've also got meat dishes. Definitely leave room for dessert - all housemade by an excellent pastry chef and baker. The creme brulee is outstanding, and he'll surely have something special and Valentine-y. If you can't make it to Noah's for dinner, then try to get there for breakfast or Sunday brunch, also terrrific.

Stonington Borough itself is a charming place to walk up and down the street - it's a really nicely preserved old fishing village. The main street (Water Street) ends at a small beach that pokes its nose into Long Island Sound. It's a gorgeous view, and you can sit in your warm car and admire it if it's too cold.

Mystic Seaport does have some good indoor elements, if it's really cold. There are two large indoor galleries. But you could also consider going 20 minutes down the highway to the Florence Griswold, a gorgeous art museum. Check out what's going on in New London, CT, a sort-of-starting-to-be-arty town, and at Connecticut College. Westerly, RI, in the other direction, also offers a nice small pedestrian downtown. A great destination there is the Revival House, a bar/cafe/cinema that plays great old films in a film series. Another great restaurant in Westerly is the Up River Cafe. Nearby is an excellent beach walk area, Napatree point, but again - it might be too cold for that. If not, go for it - one of the few places to see the sunset over the ocean on the east coast!
posted by Miko at 12:33 PM on February 5, 2007

The last time we went to Mystic for a romantic weekend, it rained the whole time. We went bowling - there's an old-style alley near the submarine museum - and had a fantastic time.
posted by aberrant at 1:03 PM on February 5, 2007

I second Daniel Packer Inne (even though that extra "e" really bothers me).
posted by suasponte at 1:04 PM on February 5, 2007

I second the Aquarium. (But I just love fish.) If the weather's nasty outside, the mood lighting by the shark tank might do the trick.

Having been born and raised in the area (but now living far, far away) the idea of anything remotely romantic happening in Willimantic is foreign to me. You've been there already, yes? Because I remember nothing as crushingly depressing as a dead mill town in the middle of slush season, chocolate fest or no. (As for the wineries, I have no idea -- though worth noting that this is an area where the locals pronounce the town of Versailles as "Verr-sales," and boats ply the Thames -- "Th-" as in "them," "-ames" as in "James" -- River.)

Since it's winter, any beach walk should be romantic, if cold (and you'll be blissfully alone). Suggestions above are perfect. Also, Westerly = awesome. But Block Island = awesomer. But the boat ride out from Pt. Judith may be a tad rough this time of year...
posted by turducken at 1:08 PM on February 5, 2007

I enjoyed a lunch at the S&P Oyster Co. in downtown Mystic. The view won't be so great this time of year, but it was a nice place, very new England-y, and the (lunch/burger) prices were reasonable.

Between a chocolate festival and two wineries, that's a pretty full schedule if you take a relaxed approach to the weekend. Remember that driving/travel-time will cut into your day quite a bit. Try asking at the wineries if they have any suggestions for local restaurants, especially places where you can byob; that can cut down on the dinner bill, and you can try your new wine.

Considering your plans and budget, one fun way to economize would be for you to take her out for a big romantic lunch, then stay in for an evening of wine and chocolate. You can make this into a meal by getting an electric fondue pot and packing along some cubed fruit (strawberries and bananas are my favorites) and pound cake. This could be fun and very romantic as a picnic on the floor of your room at the B&B.
posted by Sprout the Vulgarian at 1:54 PM on February 5, 2007

I am not sure about romantic, but it sure is fun to watch the cheeseball movie Mystic Pizza and then visiting the ACTUAL Mystic Pizza.

You can do the other suggestions above to get your "woo" on and then try this for somthing lighter, cute, and fun.

enjoy your weekend!
posted by irisell at 2:19 PM on February 5, 2007

Thank you so much, everybody! I really appreciate your help in making the weekend a special one.

How I ever got any before AskMe is a mystery.
posted by chickletworks at 6:05 PM on February 5, 2007

I know a bunch of people may turn their noses up at "casino food", but my husband and I have enjoyed the restaurants at Mohegan Sun. The cheaper side of Michael Jordan's steakhouse was yummy - I had lobster mashed potatoes! Not romantic, but good for a non-romantic dinner. Also, if you're bookworms at all, drive about a half-hour west to visit the Book Barn in Niantic. It's a big huge rambling used bookstore that takes up a 3 story main building, 2 other buildings called The Last Page and The Haunted, a large open structure called Hades ("where the paperbacks are not in alphabetical order") and Ellis Island (where newly received books go). DO NOT GO IF EITHER OF YOU HAS A CAT ALLERGY. There's usually a dozen or so cats roaming the grounds and the buildings. We make special weekend trips to the area just to go to Book Barn and Mohegan Sun.

You sound like a good guy; I hope the weekend goes well.
posted by booksherpa at 7:38 PM on February 5, 2007