TimeOut

We've had some great meals at the restaurant Providence on Melrose.  We even did a PuristS multi-course tasting menu there a few years ago.  The chef, Michael Cimarusti opened up a place in West Hollywood about a year ago and it's been a hit.  I've driven by it many times but for some strange reason never tried it.  So when a fellow PuristS was in the area, we got reservations and headed over to the restuarant, Connie and Ted's:

The menu:  

On the side walls they list a bunch of different raw oysters.  Or you can get them Rockefellar, Deviled, or deep fried in a sandwich.  Although this is a New England style theme, you can still order a bone in ribeye or a filet mignon.  

Having been to some great places on the East Coast, we ordered a Lobster Roll to start:

You have a choice of Hot or Cold, we ordered the Hot.  I have to say this was delicious!  The lobster was tender and perfectly cooked poached in butter.  The bread they chose to accompany the lobster was toasted crisp and light and really completed the dish.  We had a choice of 10 different sides and the coleslaw we picked was very good.  A lot of places use knuckle meat but the ones at Connie and Ted's had chunks from the tail.  Normally I'm more of a crab fan but I have to say the lobster was excellent!

On the Chilled Seafood selection, we went with the Wild White Mexican Shrimp:

The prawns were huge!  They cooked these perfectly too.  You can tell by the shell coming off easily when peeling them.  The cocktail sauce was not too spicy but had a good hit of horseradish.

Instead of going for the raw oysters, we did a half dozen of the Rockefellar.  The spinach was good and the oysters itself was really fresh.  I'm definitely going to order raw one next time we visit.

A lot of people rave about the chowder and Connie and Ted's offer 3 types of Jo's Wicked Good Chowda : Rhode Island, Boston, and Manhattan:

You can get it in a cup, bowl, or in our case the trio.  This allowed us to sample each one and see which one (or all) tasted the best.  The Rhode Island is a clear broth, the Boston was a bit on the broth-like side as they used less cream than a traditional Boston soup.  Usually I prefer Boston style chowder but here the tomato based Manhattan was the winner.  The interesting thing was the tiny crackers served with the soup...tiny cubes of saltines that were really good mixed into the soups.

On the Fresh fish of the day selection the server informed us that they just got in the Stripped Bass so we had it grilled with herb oil and lemon with a side of mac n' cheese:

Fish was perfectly cooked with the right amount of seasoning.  At this point we were getting full and tried one more dish, Joanne's Fish and Chips:

Since we had a double order of the lobster roll, we already had their fries.  We changed the chips to onion rings to see if it was any good.  I have to say, they have their deep fryer techniques down, it came out piping hot without being greasy.  The batter dipped cod fish went well with the homemade tarter sauce that had a lemony-tangy taste to it.

The dessert menu offered up a peach pie, brownies, ice creams, and sorbets but we were too full to try any.  Guess we'll be back again to attack that part of the menu.  Specials included live Santa Barbara uni aka sea urchin and live scallops.

Overall the service was really good, the food was great.  We did notice the food came out quickly but fortunately everything was prepared right.  We had a positive experience here and recommend  Connie and Ted's for your seafood cravings.

-MW

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