|
Hours: Sun.-Wed. 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Thur.-Sat. 11 a.m-10 p.m.
Good choices: Beer and ales; ribs, wings, and rings appetizer; chicken quesadilla appetizer; Buffalo tenders; shrimp cocktail; hot pepper poppers; baked scallops; chimichanga; chicken penne Provencal; lemon pepper chicken; shrimp fra diavolo; and chocolate raspberry bash.
Credit cards: American Express, MasterCard, Visa.
Access: Ground floor entrance; all facilities on one floor.
|
MARTHA'S EXCHANGE
RESTAURANT & BREWING COMPANY
185 Main St.,
Nashua, NH
(603) 883-8781
Restaurant reviewed 03/18/99 by Bob McDonald
The only problem with going to Nashua is I can never remember whether it's left on Spit Brook and right on Daniel Webster or the other way around. Fortunately you don't face this problem when visiting Martha's Exchange because you get off at the exit with the sign for the FAA.
Martha's is a restaurant with a wide variety of foods and a brewery with a wide variety of beers. The big, airy room is more than a brewpub, with food that doesn't seem to be an afterthought.
Beers range from a light lager to a Scotch ale, and include a curiously named Al Capone IPA. From our experience they run true to form. Volstead 33 Golden, a lager, had some of that musty aftertaste that distinguishes Munich beers, the best lager we've found in a microbrewery. Angry Baboon Bitter, while not cask conditioned (Martha's doesn't have any), could pass in a London pub. Double Trouble Belgian Ale had a toffee-like richness and fruity esters. The Belgian, the Scotch ale, and the porter are best left for dessert.
While many Cheap Eats are not places a cardiologist would recommend for everyday dining, Martha's menu has a low-fat spa section, and designates other dishes with a heart symbol, such as cocktail shrimp ($1.29 each), which were fresh, firm, and perfectly chilled.
On the other extreme, an appetizer combo of ribs, wings, and rings ($8.49) contained meaty, almost chop-sized, pork ribs with a sweet, slightly smoky coating; mildly spicy Buffalo wings with the traditional celery sticks and a wimpy blue cheese dressing; and big puffy onion rings with lots of batter. Such rings usually are disappointing because they fall apart, but these at Martha's held together.
Hot pepper poppers ($4.99) were a perfect combination of crispy batter over jalepeno peppers filled with cheddar cheese that was still molten from the heat of deep frying. A mayonnaise-based dressing added little.
A quesadilla appetizer ($5.49) was well stuffed with chicken, onion, and large chunks of green peppers. The vegetables were al dente, and the tortilla was toasted and managed to avoid sogginess. A small serving of salsa with jalepeno slices was heated, a nice touch.
Clam chowder ($1.99 for a cup) was unpleasantly thick and lacking in clams.
Martha's crisp garden salads are highlighted by airy homemade croutons, and on one visit we were served a small loaf of bread that should already have gone the crouton route. When we asked for a new loaf we were rewarded with one fresh from the oven, typifying the good service here. The spa section's shrimp fra diavolo ($10.99) featured an appropriately peppery sauce with chunks of fresh tomatoes on a bed of plain and spinach fettucini. The shrimp were moist, sweet, and tender, not overcooked.
Chicken penne Provencal ($7.49), also from the spa section, consisted of tender nuggets of chicken sauteed with summer squash and green peppers, onions, and carrots in a light tomato sauce atop an enormous bed of pasta. The peppers, onions, and carrots had a satisfying crunch.
Another spa entree, lemon pepper chicken ($7.99), was a tender breast with enough lemon to satisfy our lemon-craving taster while maintaining a balance with the pepper.
A chicken chimichanga supremo ($6.99) lived up to its name with moist, plump chicken that contrasted nicely with the lightly fried wrapping. An optional spinacacq sauce for $1.25 was mildly cheesy but too bland to add anything and detracted from the tortilla's texture.
Baked sea scallops ($11.99) were topped with crumbs and cooked just enough to remain moist and sweet, with a light seasoning that didn't hide their natural flavor.
Fried ice cream ($3.50) was OK, but the coating seemed more rolled on than fried. Much better was a chocolate raspberry bash ($3.25), which one taster proclaimed was among the best desserts she ever had: white and dark chocolate on a crusty brownie topped with raspberries and whipped cream.
Another dessert option was to choose from an extensive candy counter, a remnant from the days when this site housed Martha Washington Candies. That name plus the name of the building, the Merchants Exchange, were combined for this restaurant's moniker.
Tips & hits
