New York Times Reviews Grants Restaurant and Bar in West Hartford

Grants Restaurant and Bar, located in West Hartford Center, got some good press this weekend when it was reviewed in the New York Times on Aug. 29.

The restaurant, which is co-owned by William Grant and his two brothers, was given a “very good” review by the paper, which reviews of upscale and unique restaurants around Connecticut. Ratings include poor, fair, good, very good and excellent.   

The reviewer says that Grants is pretty much anything you want it to be, calling the restaurant “nothing if not flexible.”

“You can do the traditional appetizer-entree-dessert. Or treat the restaurant as a burger joint. Or go for Champagne and the raw bar,” the reviewer writes.

Twice the reviewer used Grants as “a tapas emporium, with mostly good results. The tuna tartare, for example, “were fabulous.”

“And all of us raved over the plump, tender Maine mussels, served in a big white bowl that highlighted their vivid yellow, saffron-infused Dijon broth,” the reviewer said.

But the reviewer lamented that the dates stuffed with goat cheese “were too chewy.”

As for entrees, the reviewer said, among other things, that the “skirt steak offers a master class in how to optimize this relatively tough cut of beef.”

On another visit, the reviewer said that he was “rewarded” with a steakhouse burger.