Food and Drink: MEDITERRA

MEDITERRA RESTAURANT
29 HULFISH STREET, PRINCETON, NJ 08542
609-252-9680
Lunch Mon-Sat 11:30am-4pm Sun noon-4pm
Dinner Mon-Thu 5pm-10pm Fri-Sat 5pm-11pm Sun 4pm-9pm

Per their website: "Tap into the extraordinary cuisine of the nearly 2 dozen cultures surrounding the Mediterranean… add extra emphasis to Italian and Spanish… pair our largely locally sourced ingredients with an ever-changing but always superb collection of fine and affordable wine.." I was in town for the day due to a ballroom competition and decided to give this place a try. It is situated on Hulfish St about 15 minutes from the actual university. Not walk-able from campus, but a short drive away.
The entrance immediately sets the place off as a place of pretentiousness and fru fru, but inside people were dressed casually and it did not have the feel of a white table cloth, white glove affair. I would put it at the mid-range on the "fanciness" scale.

My dance partner started with the Falafel: chick pea fritter & tzatziki sauce. I tried a small piece and am happy to report the tzatziki sauce was superb. Tzatziki is a Greek sauce served with grilled meats or as a dip. Tzatziki is made of strained yogurt mixed with cucumbers, garlic, salt, olive oil, lemon juice or red wine vinegar, and sometimes dill, mint, or parsley.

This was the soup of the day which was quite good. Had a slight bacon aftertaste. Roasted Brussels sprout and bacon soup.

For my starter, I had the Butternut Squash Soup which was very good. It was not particularly spectacular but perfectly palatable and certainly a good start to the meal. In comparison to other restaurants however, it was not a stand-out feature.

We also indulged in a cheese board. Artisanal Cheese Plate: hand-crafted local & imported cheese. The waiter did not describe the cheeses so our best guess was some cranberry raisin bread with gout, cheddar and blue cheese. It was served with grapes and an accompanying strawberry jelly.

Griggstown Farm Za ‘atar Spiced Chicken: organic red quinoa, roasted fennel & plums. Chicken was tender and cooked well. It was served with plums which was a nice contrast to the chicken. Quinoa was nice as well. Excellent dish.

Garganelli: spicy sausage, broccoli rabe, roasted tomatoes & Parmigiano Reggiano. Not a bad choice. My dance partner said it was not too spicy and overall was a nice dish.