Nutmeg Restaurant

My husband and always go here for special occasions. The food is well presented and delicious. The service is exceptional. Maureen and recently Isabella were great.

I think this is one of the best restaurants in the area. There is a wide variety of wonderful dishes from Steak to Seafood. A chicken pie that is out of this world. There are great lunch specials and more than fair prices for great food and big portions. Service has always been wonderful. This is more than a place to go for special occasions. This is top notch casual dining. I bring many friends and family to this restaurant because of the excellent food, great service and prices that aren’t over the top. Sunday brunch has a wide variety of food. Everything is made fresh and along with the buffet there is an omelette station and a carving station. The chef, is by far, one of the best in the state. I highly recommend Nutmeg.

Not good for Easter Brunch. Overpriced and food not good. Over $ 400 for 9 people… I ate $ 5.00 worth of food. Gratuities of 18% added on plus a service charge for who knows what. The fish was fishy… Only thing I liked was the champagne and the Roast beef. They act
like ur greedy if u want more than one piece. Desserts terrible. Staff not attentive. That’s about it!

Easter Brunch at The Nutmeg — It was AWESOME!!! A huge variety of fresh foods, each one expertly prepared. Shrimp was plentiful, nice size and FRESH!!! Roast Beef — VERY good — tasty and tender! Veggies, Salads, Eggs, Potatoes, Breads, Sausage & Peppers, Chicken Breast, Lamb, Pasta Salads, Fresh Fruit, Deserts & much more!!! The ambiance is superb, the service staff was outstanding — no rushing & plenty of free Mimosa’s, Champagne & Bloody Mary’s. The owner George, a charming, gracious and highly competent ‘Host’ — always present to insure the entire operation runs like a fine tuned Bentley!!! Indeed a ‘5 Star’ event!!!
Bridget L. Generis
Generis Food Service, Inc.
East Hartford, Ct.

I have been dining here for years at least once a month. we were there last night and it was the worst experience I have ever had there, I ordered a pork chop special they had and it looked like slop on a plate. there was a pool of butter under the spinach and the sauce was just dumped on the plate. And the services was not what you expect from them told the waitress and she just shrugged it off.

Years ago this was a hopping place with a good chef, probably the same mentioned by Amy G in her previous review, and I hadn’t been to it in years. I seem to recall brunch was especially good and I had hoped it hadn’t changed over the years so I was excited to try it again.
My Fiancé and I were treated to dinner at the Nutmeg for my parents 60^th wedding anniversary, there were about 11 of us and I must say, everyone at the table was happy with their meals. The owner (or he appeared to be the owner) was out and about in the dining room making sure everyone was taken care of and things were running smoothly… usually this job best left to a hostess but it was still very nice to see an attentive owner.
The menu is definitely Continental old school, baked stuffed shrimp, baked scrod with a ritz cracker crumb topping and twin thick cut pork chops (which my Fiancé had and is still raving about). I didn’t look at the entire menu but I would imagine they might have a Captain’s wine list and serve things like I did when I worked at the Windsor House years ago… things like Chateaubriand for two, frogs legs and the old classics.
The dining room is also very old school formal complete with a Courvoisier display case which was great 20 years ago when people got dressed up to go out to dinner at a fine restaurant but unfortunately nobody does that anymore so if your looking to impress, this would be a great choice otherwise it doesn’t appear to have a shirt and tie dress code either.
Sadly, these type of restaurants are being replaced slowly by chains and should not be overlooked… I would definitely recommend dining at this restaurant.

I’m puzzled by some of the negative reviews here because negative has not been my experience at this hidden gem. Jeff E.‘s review from 6÷6÷2015 pretty much sums up the place perfectly, to the point where I considered just cribbing from his review. We first came to Nutmeg, which we had not heard of previously, because we had a coupon for twin lobster dinners for $ 22.95, which you cannot find for that price ANYWHERE in CT. Once we got to the place we were frankly surprised and very impressed by the quality of the food and the service. I mean, boiled lobster is boiled lobster, kind of hard to screw that up, but my partner has ordered dishes as varied as salmon, grilled swordfish, pasta, lobster bisque, and it’s all been pretty stellar. We shared an order of salmon cake appetizer topped with greens on our first visit which was delish. Portions are sizeable. I also don’t understand people in some of the other reviews cadging about the prices, because even without comparing the prices to West Hartford or Glastonbury, they seem eminently reasonable to me. Tonight we had dinner for two (the aforementioned twin lobsters plus lobster ravioli, the amazing crusty rolls with very generous dish of olive oil and herbs for dipping, lobster bisque plus the soup of the day (minestra soup – yum-​my!), two glasses of champagne, and a huge serving of tiramisu plus coffee for $ 87.00 pre-​tip.
The place is kind of old-​school classic restaurant which we like – linen tablecloths, décor is kind of Tuscany Italian with colors of purple, ochre, and green. It’s NOT a spendy-​trendy type of place, as one reviewer has pointed out. I suspect maybe they make most of their money from weddings and banquets based on the way the place is set up, so when we first walked in we were like «hmmm.» You kind of have to find the restaurant part down a long hall that passes by all the banquet areas and the little gazebo where they must hold the weddings. But the service is great; admittedly the place never seems super crowded but then we’ve only been there on Wednesday nights which I think is seafood night. The menu includes a daily pre-​fixe menu as well as a daily specials menu, and there is always tons to choose from. Very decent wine list. The layout of the place is a little unusual; our waitperson told us that the restaurant has been there for 60 years! beginning with a little patio outside the owners’ residence that served breakfast and dinner. Gradually over the years the place got built up around the original residence; in fact the front of the original house is the rear wall of the dining room. Local chef-​hero Billy Grant was a chef here at one time before he went on to start the spendy-​trendy Grants and Briccos in Glastonbury and West Hartford, and for many years, before there were all those options in West and Simsbury and Glastonbury, the Nutmeg was the place to go for fine dining.
To me it’s a very unique place, great food, great service and great value. I normally go for scruffier ethnic joints, but this place does what used to be called «continental cuisine» very well.

A «Hidden Gem» on every level. The food, selection, and service is excellent. The Chef will adjust to your dietary needs and requests. The ambiance is very nice, not a typical chain establishment. Linen table cloths, nice décor, but NOT a place «to be seen» if that’s what you are looking for. The daily specials list is always long and varied. VALUE is amazing… seafood dishes are crazy good. If you want West Hartford, this is not it, but once inside, it is just a great place for dining… as casual or dressy as you’d like.
It doesn’t have to be a Special Occasion destination. Cannot say enough about the many «reasons» to visit… best to plan two or three visits to explore the options.
All fish dishes are great, Jambalaya, steaks, chicken dishes, salads, crab cakes, grilled scallops, ahi tuna, pastas, veal, and MORE… and VERY reasonably priced. Did I mention the SERVICE? The BEST.

Very expensive, short poured drinks,
Bland chicken entrée for a private party, prime rib was tasteless. Very disappointed. Found mold in my red pepper for snack upon arrival, and a dead fruit fly on the celery.

Absolutely terrible we went today on mother’s day and they cut the amount of food you get in half but decided to double the price. The gratuity was $ 30 for a $ 200 bill in a buffet, who makes someone pay that much to a waitress in a buffet??? I don’t recommend this place to anyone and the food was terrible with stale pasta, bland potatoes, with over cooked prime rib and lamb. Don’t go here, you’ll absolutely regret it

I have nothing but good to say about this place. We’ve been here twice for the full dinner menu since November 2013 and both times the service and the food was top notch. I don’t know who the cook is but he’s been on target with everything he served us.
In November we went there for the Thanksgiving dinner. The restaurant was booming with staff and customers and atmosphere. We got right in and was seated in a nice roomy spot. My wife ordered the turkey dinner and I had the prime rib. The bread, wine, appetizer, entrée and dessert was like a flowing sweet symphony of excellence. It was plenty enough food with some to take home too. We left completely satisfied. I want to make a special note of the Turkey Bisque. I’ve never had a soup taste so good! If I were to suggest any improvement that day it would have been the speaker near our table was a little overwhelming. Just me maybe but I don’t like a squawk-​box in my ear while I try to enjoy a dining experience.
The second time we went was the last weekend in February. The service was nothing less then we came to expect from the first time. I actually thought the food was better then the first time. We order wine and shrimp cocktails which was on the table just in time for my appetite. I had the rack of lamb. That was one pretty tasty rack too. I don’t know how the cook does it. I’ve had great lamb over the years but this was the best one ever. I would have cleaned the plate but I wanted to save room for dessert. My wife had the Veal Oscar and she said it was a good one. I had to agree when I had it for a left over. Second time around it was a tasty treat.
They have me as a customer and a referral now.

Fantastic food and service!

Went here for Mother’s Day brunch. Food was merely decent but not even close to a good value. Service was exceptional as usual at the Nutmeg.

This review is going to be short because that is all I think that this restaurant/​event venue deserves.
I recently went to this venue for a family member’s birthday party. It had been about 10 years since the last time I was there and walking into the space it seemed like time had not passed. As Melanie H. said — there needs to be updates to the dining room. Purple walls and heavy linen tableclothes adorned the dining area and gave it a dark and heavy look and feel.
We were there on a Saturday night — they were not crowded and it did not look like anyone had to wait for a table. The menu had pretty standard fare and nothing jumped out and said «Try Me».
The temperature of the private room we were in was cold and the food was extremely bland — the type of food that you dread getting at a wedding. The meal started with small dish of undercooked pasta with marinara sauce and salad with an over sweet balsamic dressing For the main course I chose the chicken and was greated with two small bland breaded chicken breasts, soggy mixed vegetables swimming in butter that consumed the whole plate and limp flavorless «roasted» potatoes. The other options — salmon in a strange sauce and roast beef looked equally unappeting. The only good thing about the evening in the end was the bread but even those were standard dinner rolls.
When I go to a restaurant and they ask how I liked it — I don’t want to say «The Rolls Were Great». That is not what I should remember from a restaurant.
Would I go back — no. There are many better restaurants in the area serving the same dishes but at a quality far superior to the Nutmeg

Have been here four times in the last year, most recently June 2, 2012 for dinner. Four people, 7pm. We were seated right away. Staff were friendly and attentive, as always, without hanging on. There were two large groups and they had done a wedding the night before and that morning, but everything worked beautifully. The kitchen was a bit backed up, but the waiter explained that and we were fine with it because it gave us time to chat. Calamari app was very good. Perfectly cooked with a great sauce. Caesar salad was tasty, anchovies in dressing but I would have preferred real ones in salad. We had San Francisco Cioppinno with red sauce, rack of lamb and scallops. All were cooked perfectly, great tasting. Mashed potatoes and green beans nicely done, also. Skipped dessert because portions were so big. Total, with tax and tip, was under $ 120. This place has been here a long time, as has many of the staff, and it remains a great find. The décor is very dated. The crowd was a mix of 30’s — 60’s, as it has been the last three times we’ve been there.

Uninspired food, tired décor, badly in need of Robert Irvine to stop by and help. The only dish that we liked was not even on the menu — it was a special of seared ahi tuna. Most of the patrons were over a certain age — not a place I would recommend.

General buffet style brunch with all the typical shortfalls you’d expect: undercooked/​overcooked eggs benny, thin scraggly bacon, flabby french toast, crazy line ettiquette, cheap booze… if you’re craving a nice greasy buffet on Sunday for $ 20 a head, this is it!

I went for brunch this morning — called ahead yesterday to make a reservation. It was a nice place, very friendly staff. The man that I think was the manager was really nice and brought us extra mimosas (which are included with brunch, by the way with a couple of other choices). Coffee refills were frequently offered.
The selection of food was great for the price. The peel-​and-​eat shrimp were very good — perfectly cooked. A big plate of lox called me back. I was a fan of the waffles — they were crispy even though they were part of the buffet — my table-​mates and I were wondering how they did that.
There was a carving/​omelet station, breakfast foods, chicken, fish, pastas, pastries and muffins, the shrimp, bagels and lox, fresh fruit, salads and the big ol’ cake table. A selection of cereal was available too, but really who goes to brunch to eat fruit loops?
One interesting thing was at the dessert/​cake table, they had bottles of schnapps — I’m guessing you could pour it over the cake? I’m not sure — I hadn’t seen that before.
It wasn’t packed today because of the weather, but I guess it gets very busy on Sunday so I’d recommend making a reservation.

I am very biased, because we got married at the Nutmeg and had our reception there. It was easy, tasteful, and perfect for us. Rose Marie was our wedding coordinator from the Nutmeg, and she was just the kind of person I needed for the reception planning.
As a result, we go there to eat at least once per year. It is a nice place to eat. It’s a little pricey, so it’s a special occasion place for us. We purchased a
$ 25 gift card thing there, but we haven’t gone back to use it yet.
What I like is that the owner (kind of) remembers us. He’s seen our faces around a couple times, but he didn’t work the wedding. Sure, we gave them a decent chunk of change, but it’s nice to have someone remember our faces, even when we just go in once a year.