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DINING DIVAS AND THE ECLECTIC BLUE DUCK:
Eclectic Blue Duck in Maplewood Makes
For Good Dining Experience for the Divas
The Dining Divas have discovered several interesting and delicious restaurants in Maplewood. We loved the chicken at Gus’, the swinging seats and Caribbean eats at Boogaloo, and the uniqueness of Reed’s American Table. And now we’ve discovered another eclectic restaurant just down the street from these. The Blue Duck.
It’s located behind the old Monarch restaurant, that used to be on the corner of Manchester and Sutton but closed a few years ago, and across the street from a now closed Shop N Save. Hopefully, these are not signs of the times for Maplewood.
The Blue Duck has plenty of parking in a lot behind the building which is very nice. Street parking can sometimes be an issue on this part of Manchester.
The first thing I noticed when going to our table was the old-fashioned stereo and record player console. If only they’d had the Beach Boys or some Elvis, I’d definitely have been reminded of my childhood days. No such luck, but I do recall the music they did have playing was different, somewhat nostalgic, and enjoyable.
Since bread baskets are no longer a staple at restaurants, we decided to try the cornbread basket with honey butter and apple butter. It was a good start to our meal. And then we went for the Bacon Fat Fries. Bacon-fat-anything is good, and these fries were delicious. We also tried the Fried Pork Belly Bites with a sweet barbecue sauce. Some of the Divas weren’t pleased with the fattiness of this appetizer.
Although I wouldn’t try it, I was happy to see someone try the duck. The D.L.T. sandwich with duck, lettuce, and tomato was a good alternative to the traditional B.L.T. A Chicken B.L.T. was also on the menu, and the Critic Diva thought it was the best chicken she’d ever had on a sandwich.
Most of the women in this group would agree that a menu item with “Sam Elliot” in its name had to be good. The Assertive Diva ordered the Sam Elliot burger with cheddar, bacon, onion rings, arugula, and barbecue sauce, and the burger definitely lived up to its name. Now if only Sam had been at the dinner with us as he could have warmed her up. Even with the summer heat, she wished she’d brought a parka!
The Picky Diva tried the Pork and Beans meal. It was made with roasted tomato, white beans, pork, shallots, and an adobo BBQ sauce. It had just enough heat and sweetness combined. The Calorie Counting Divas went for the Apple Cranberry Walnut Salad. It was huge and delicious and fairly priced.
And it didn’t matter at the end of the evening who was counting calories. We all shared three different desserts, and although they were all good, the Caramel Chocolate Trifle and its succulent layers of chocolate cake, pudding, caramel sauce, and whipped cream made this the best ending for the night.
The Blue Duck is not your average neighborhood establishment, even though it’s in the middle of a neighborhood. The atmosphere is rustic and comfortable; yet the menu is adventurous and different. And our waiter was incredibly friendly. But one of the best things about the Blue Duck…we could all hear each other and the conversations. And that seems to be a bonus with many Dining Diva restaurants. It was so nice to be able to talk with everyone.
It was good to hear about the Newly Retired Diva and her upcoming adventures this summer. And it was good to be able to hear about the knee replacement surgery the Too-Young-For-So-Many-Replacements Diva was about to have.
But it was especially nice to be able to hear the exciting conversation about the Foster Parent Diva who will hopefully be sharing her home soon with some children needing her love. We’re all praying and rooting for her and her husband as they begin this new journey in their lives. And that’s great news none of us wanted to miss.
