A little tart, a little bitter, a little spectacular (and I'm not talking about myself, for once)

Tonight I decided to try a new restaurant (open about 10 weeks) called Republic cafe. This cute place is right on the main drag in Manchester, NH and has the typical NYC long and narrow setup, with maybe a little more floor space than you'd expect. There are booths, tables, and a bar. At 7:30 on a Saturday night it was very very quiet, they sent staff home while I was eating. The hostess said that last night was packed with a wait. 


The menu has a Mediterranean flair, typical of Greek-influenced Manchester. I was by myself so I decided to sit at the bar. The first thing I ordered was a Smuttynose IPA. I think I usually find IPAs a little bitter so I wasn't surprised to find this one to be as well. Usually I go for a Belgian white if one is available, but it wasn't. The first thing I ate was one of the BEST things I've ever had in this town, wild mushroom bolognase. 

This was SO SO SO SO good. The tomato sauce tasted like fresh tomatoes. You could taste the flavor of 3 or 4 different mushrooms (I don't know my fungi). Basil oil, balsamic drizzle, creamy polenta, and a dollop of rich, creamy ricotta. This was an appetizer on the menu and it was very filling. One of the cooks told me that this is a recipe the owner makes at home. Lucky family!


The next thing I had was the endive salad.

As delicious as the first dish was, this salad was unimpressive. There was nothing particularly special about it. The cook asked me how I liked it (people who know me know I don't hold back, particularly when asked--I'll tell you the "Excuse me, this is gross." story another day) and i showed him the pool of dressing at the bottom of my plate; a sure sign that the wash of tangy dressing overpowered all the other flavors in this dish. The egg was just a tiny bit underpoached. The blue cheese was a nice touch, but i couldn't taste the endive from the frisee due to the overpowering zing of the dressing. My mouth felt slightly assaulted, to be honest. 


The dessert options were an olive oil cake with some glaze, an apple tartin, or greek beignets. None of them sounded good after the citrus attack I suffered from in the greens. 


Pros: DELICIOUS mushroom dish, great service, friendly people, pretty space, open kitchen, mostly reasonable prices 
Cons: salad was overdressed and a little dull compared to its description


I would definitely go again...next time for breakfast.