circa chow

This may be my all time favorite restaurant.

Circa is located in the quaint town of High Bridge just outside of Clinton. It is small but nicely decorated with white lights and small candles on the tables. The staff is extremely friendly and it is very obvious that they really don’t mind being there on a Saturday night. The atmosphere is overall very welcoming and comforting. It’s the exact place I wanted to be (and still want to be quite frankly).

Then there’s the menu…

There are many traditional dishes with a slight flair to choose from. I honestly wanted to try everything. While debating what to actually order, fresh french bread and hummus was placed on the table. HUMMUS! No, not bread and butter. No, not bread and olive olive. Delicious, grainy, garlicy, hummus.

After going back and forth with deciding what to eat and devouring the bread and hummus on the table, I finally placed an order for the sweet and sour cauliflower, goat cheese tart, and a small plate of salmon with green bean tempura.

The sweet and sour cauliflower was just that- sweet and sour. (Little bit spicy too). The cauliflower was crunchy and filled with delicious sauce in all its crevices. It tasted like sweet and sour chicken without the fried chicken and replaced with a vegetable that leaves you full but not feeling heavy. I’ve never had anything like it and I don’t think I will have anything like it any place else. It may have been my favorite part of the meal. At least, so far.

Look how pretty this plate is. There’s nothing I didn’t love about this crispy, pastry tart filled with goat cheese topped with mixed greens and honey. The smooth, creaminess of the goat cheese was a great complement to the crunchy, buttery crust. The mixed greens and honey brought the dish to the next level of flavor-with freshness and sweetness. It all mixed together to be heaven in your mouth.

My main dish was pan roasted salmon with green bean tempura and spicy aioli. Do you see that picture? The salmon was crunchy and perfectly seasoned about a quarter inch deep into the salmon. I’ve never had salmon cooked so perfectly. The green beans were fresh and bright green on the inside. They were evenly coated in panko breadcrumbs and fried. The outside was very crunchy and slightly salty. One bite of salmon, green bean tempura, dipped in the spicy aioli sauce is all anyone can really ask for in life. It’s amazing.

How could I forget? (I really didn’t forget). Mac and cheese was ordered.

And boy did I enjoy it. Cheese delicately enveloped each of the chewy, but soft elbow noodles as if it was giving it a generous hug. A hug that I would have loved to be a part of. Bread crumbs were not only on the top of the mac and cheese but all throughout the cheesy noodles so it wasn’t just that top layer baked to perfection but the entire dish.

Moment of silence for how good this meal was.

I honestly cannot think of the perfect words to describe how much I loved this food and atmosphere. I tried my best but I know it does not suffice. I cannot wait to go back and try something else! My mouth is watering right now. Is yours? Now is the time to try something new! Circa is definitely the place to chow down.

For more information visit: Circa Restaurant