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Thursday, July 14, 2011

Mangia - Hooksett NH's Best-Kept Secret!

My husband came home from work last night and told me that a co-worker raved about Mangia in Hooksett. In the five years this restaurant has been open, I did not know anyone who had actually eaten there.

Off we went to Mangia, but not before Google-ing (yes, <~~~ that is a word) the restaurant to make sure they were open. I went into my bedroom to get dressed and my husband jumped on the computer. He didn't manage to find the restaurant's website www.gomangia.com but he did manage to find two websites with reviews. The first one I read was a, "Don't do it" which was a little disturbing. There were ten reviews and only one was bad; the others were all good reviews. Since we now personally knew someone who had eaten there and given a good verbal review, we decided to give it a try.

OH MY GOSH; I could not believe how delicious the food was! I was trying desperately to leave some of my five-cheese tortellini for my husband to try and having a most difficult time. When I saw this on the specials menu, it said, "Five-Cheese Large Tortellini, roasted garlic, onions, sweet corn, peas, mushrooms in an Alfredo sauce." I was wondering about peas and corn in the Alfredo sauce; sounded a little odd to me, but I don't usually frequent Italian restaurants. That is now going to change. This morning I'm wishing I could go there for breakfast. It was THAT GOOD!!!

My husband had linguine and clams in a white sauce; he loved it. I thought it delicious, but a bit too hot for my sensitive tongue. He also had the Caprese salad which was fresh and delicious. Our waitress, Susan, was waiting on the entire restaurant and doing a great job. There are probably only about 10 or 12 tables and all were occupied last night. The chef cooks each meal to order; no wonder it is so good. I've never had a meal come out of the kitchen as steaming hot as this one. It came right from the kitchen to our table.

If you are looking for a quiet dinner, sorry, this is probably not the place to go. It's a cafe-style that I found to be a bit noisy. Honestly, as much as I usually hate noisy restaurants, my food was good enough that this would not have been a problem if the place was more noisy. 

If you are in a hurry, again sorry, not the place to go. There is one chef preparing meals individually to order. We were there almost two hours, but trust me, it was well worth the wait! And yes, it is true that you can bring your own wine, beer or champagne. That's a plus, too. Our bill was about $52 less a $10 restaurant.com certificate. Not too bad for two EXCELLENT meals. We cannot wait to go back!! By using a certificate from Restaruant.com, you can save not just at this restaurant, but many in your area:

About Me

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Lydia Blogg is a decorator/designer who specializes in designing and fabricating custom window treatments. When Lydia realized she loved her weekend remodeling jobs more than her office job, she made a career change. Through years of hands-on experience, she has become expert in decorating, custom window treatments, interior/exterior painting, tiling, sewing, refinishing furniture, flower arrangements, home and office efficiency solutions, home repairs. She has years of experience in accounting and the list goes on.... Lydia loves to write and is currently working on a weight-loss book. If you have a blog you think Lydia might like to follow, please email her at lydiablogg@gmail.com. Lydia's motto: "It's just as easy to be nice as it is to be mean and rotten!" PLEASE NOTE: The artist has a copyright on all art work on this blog - Thank you for not copying them.