The Wine ‘N Diner Experience

So, I have to write about my experience at the Wine N Diner last friday night.

Be prepared…I made some bad food choices, but I feel they were well deserved as I was “carbo loading” two nights before my half marathon.

Chris and I went out to dinner here with my sister and her new boyfriend. We ended up sitting at the bar when we got there because it was so crowded!

I started with a Smutty Nose Pumpkin Ale, from Utica, New York.

They actually had a decent selection of New York beers.

After about 10 minutes we got a table!

While we looked over the menu, we admired the interesting artwork on the walls. They have a lot of weird psychedelic paintings. Very pop-artish. Not that I know anything about art…

To start the four of us split the fried brie.

I don’t know if I cared for it too much–it was just goopy brie cheese fried. I prefer the mozzarella stick, myself.

For my main course I ordered the Portabella Neapolitan. I had gotten this once before when I came here for the first time back in April when the Wine N Diner first opened, and I really enjoyed it so I tried it again. They had a pretty decent vegetarian and seafood selection though. I just wanted to eat a lighter entree, since I wanted mac and cheese as a side. Gotta fit in those carbs somehow!

The Neapolitan came with a side of rice, which was bland as anything. The Neapolitan consisted of slices of zucchini, yellow squash, and portabella mushroom, topped with cheese and maranara sauce. I noticed the zucchini wasn’t really cooked all the way through, as it was still crunchy, which was a tad disappointing. It was better the first time around, I think.

The star of the show was the side of mac and cheese I ordered.

It was creamy, cheesy, and crispy on top, just how I like it! I didn’t feel too guilty for eating it, because I knew I would be burning it off within the next couple of days!! Mac and cheese just might be my favorite form of carbs.

Chris got the Turkducken Trifecta. Interesting name huh? Most of the menu items had really creative names!!

I can’t really describe this thing, but Chris said it was good–except he wished the stuffing was more like real stuffing instead of being in the form of a patty on the bun, which was how it was served. It was a mixture of chicken, turkey, and duck. It looked like a pinwheel of poultry.

My sister ordered waffles and fried chicken–interesting combo! She loved it.

The lighting was pretty horrid in this place, so that’s the best I could do! It was covered in maple gravy. I would never have the guts to order that!

Time for the guilt to set in, because I ordered dessert. The Toll House Pie! Toll House. Pie. Chocolate chip cookie pie! Oh my, it was good. And it tasted exactly like that. A cookie pie with a gooey chocolate caramel center. And don’t forget the side of vanilla ice cream to make it even better.

I shared some of it with my sister. Painfully….

So, that was my indulgence for the century. Clearly, since half marathon training is over, I will NOT be eating out like this any time soon! My running has been scaled WAY back, so therefore I cannot justify eating this many calories in one sitting anymore…until I start training for my next one! 😉