 Liz’s Bakery 915 Elm St., Manchester 232-0360 Serving: Monday-Saturday, 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Sunday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Cuisine: Spanish food, bakery Crepes Island 81 Hanover St., Manchester 232-0994 Serving: Tuesday-Friday 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Saturday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Sunday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Cuisine: Creperie Visit the Dining section of NewHampshire.com to read previous Our Gourmet reviews listed by town. |
The Dining Companion: Yes folks, this week you get a 2 for 1 of downtown sweet shops but with a different flair.
Liz’s Bakery
OG: Liz’s Bakery, owned by Liz Salinas, opened mid-summer on Elm Street right across from City Hall. Small, but comfortable, the restaurant is perfectly situated to take advantage of the daytime business crowd.
TDC: Liz’s is sandwiched between the Shaskeen and a small used book store, Lee’s Spot (great place to peruse). It’s small, as they take the room for their pastry displays, but would you want anything less in a place of sweetdom?
OG: Don’t let the name fool you: Liz’s Bakery has a lot of baked goods, but there’s much more than that. Liz’s serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, offering Spanish and Puerto Rican-inspired soups salads and sandwiches. The menu changes daily. On a recent visit, I had a medianoche ($6.50), which had ham, real turkey and mozzarella served on delicious bread made at the shop. It was filling and tasty, and not a bad deal at $6.50.
TDC: I had the tripleta sandwich ($8), which had pulled pork, thinly sliced steak and pastrami with mozzarella on their wonderful loaf bread. It reminded me of a Cubano, but not press grilled. It was a delicious and full of flavor. I would try it again, but their menu and daily specials make me think I would wander around the menu and try some of their other great bites.
OG: Of course, don’t forget the baked goods: There are two cold cases with everything from pastelillos de guayaba (guava turnovers) to huge macaroons to pumpkin pie. I especially liked the cream cheese mousse and the guava cheesecake, which isn’t a cheesecake in the traditional sense. It’s more of a cake with a guava filling, topped with a thick, rich layer similar to cheesecake.
TDC: I tried their pumpkin pie and bread pudding and both were very different from what I have had before, but were tasty.
Crepes Island
OG: Crepes Island on Hanover Street is about a month old and is nicely situated to take advantage of the pre- and post-theater crowd at the Palace.
There are a variety of sweet crepes — all variations on a handful of ingredients including fruit, sour cream, jam and Nutella. I had a banana, sour cream and brown sugar crepe ($3.75) that was fairly standard. The crepe wasn’t exactly stuffed with ingredients — there’s a lot a crepe and not a huge amount of filling — and is more in line with a snack than a meal. The Magic Pan it ain’t. If you’re not looking for a meal, however, it’s a good place to have a snack, a cup of coffee and some good conversation with a friend.
TDC: Crepes Island offers 25 different sweet crepes and six choices of savory crepes. The savory choices are very limited to four cheese, Greek, smoked turkey or tuna. Not what I usually think of for a nice savory crepe…
I had the blueberry and sour cream crepe ( $3.25), which as large, but as OG said, not exactly filled with filling. The sour cream was barely noticeable and the blueberries were not the sweetest. I agree with OG that if you are looking for a quick and inexpensive place after the show, you could do a lot worse than Crepes Island, but do not expect gourmet dining.
OG: Fortunately for local foodies, the restaurant scene in downtown Manchester really is growing, despite the economy. As evidenced by Liz’s and Crepes Island, the variety of food to choose from is growing as well. So check them out — the best way to keep the local restaurant scene vibrant is to frequent the little eateries that are popping up all over the city. They’ll thank you, and your stomach will thank you, too.
