The Way We Cook

Food was great, service was friendly and prompt. Chef and owner came to our table of 6 and checked on us. I would recommend this restaurant to friends. Parking can be a little tough during peak times.

I read. Unilocal prior to going so theres good and bad. The menu is very limited. Prices are very high. No ambiance to the place. .my friend and I and a couple at bar were it for patrons. We both ordered the special baked haddock mashed potatoes grilled asparagus. A small basket of bread was warm bit small slices. No drinks just water.. $ 22 the haddock was over seasoned (topping) but good. Sorry but it didnt seem like I was eating «real» mashed potatoes and the grilled asparagus (again) over seasoned. The waitress was very nice but the atmosphere was awful. Tables and chairs were empty. I know this place has been here a while but I’m surprised they have stayed open. It just didnt do it for me. You really didnt get a sense of what their specialty was. I tried it but wont go back. Like I said I dont know how they stay opened

I’m giving this 2 stars because the service was good. Otherwise even 1 isn’t deserved. We should have known what we were getting into when the place was empty on a Saturday night.
Four of us went for dinner. We ordered the Greek cheese appetizer and although tasty, not worth $ 12.95. It was a ½ inch slice of cheese with a dinner roll toasted and cut in half. There were 4 of us so we had to cut up the dinner roll and share.
Dinner: We ordered 1. eggplant parm, 2 chicken parm, and shrimp scampi. When we ordered, the waitress asked if we wanted pasta with our meal. Um yes? Well it’s extra and not fresh pasta. So I didn’t order any as I don’t need to pay extra for the calories I don’t need. But wait… the shrimp scampi doesn’t come with pasta? So you just get shrimp?
Portions: I should have ordered pasta. Chicken parm came on a small plate. Something a child size dinner would come on at the 99 Restaurant. Sauce was watery. Eggplant parm was layered eggplant rounds, with a touch of sauce. This was my dish. Shrimp scampi — 5 very big shrimp and pasta in the same size bowl as my eggplant parm.
Taste: chicken parm (it wasn’t my order) — person who ordered one said they were frozen chicken tenders. He was not happy. Shrimp scampi was decent. It was ok. Needed more sauce and didn’t have much cheese. Eggplant was mushy.
Price: We frequent restaurants like Surf, Buckley’s, Copper Door, and other higher end restaurants and have no issue spending $ 100+ on a dinner if the food is good. This place is a rip off.
chicken parm: 18.95 + 4.50 for pasta
eggplant parm: 13.95 + 4.50 for pasta
shrimp scampi: 27.95 + 4.50 for pasta
I will never come back here as the food isn’t good, too expensive and who charges extra for boxed pasta??? If their food was half the price, I’d go back. But if I’m paying these prices I expect larger portions and fresh food.
Our waitress was wonderful and very attentive.
I will never go back.

If this is the way you cook, then I’d rather eat somewhere else! We’ve patronized this place in the past, and have enjoyed our meals enough to return. Admittedly the Saganaki appetizer is what draws us back. It’s good enough to make the rest of the meal seem but a blur. On our last visit, the place was strangely quiet for a weeknight evening, but we weren’t deterred. It’s nice every now and then to get out of the «noise» and feel like we have some inside scoop on on a hip place. It soon became pretty apparent that we miscalculated the reason for the emptiness. The menu has clearly shrunken quite a bit and the choices were pretty limited. Nevertheless, we had plenty of time to look over the menu as my drink order for Makers on the rocks, (seriously, open the bottle and pour on ice!), took a good 25, minutes despite the fact that there was only one patron seated at the bar, (who we would later determine was the owner and not a patron at all).
My wife ordered a Mushroom, Spinach Ravioli dish that was served with choice of a meatball or sausage. Since we’ve tried neither at this restaurant, my wife asked our waitress if she would recommend one over the other. We were a bit surprised when she crudely replied «Well, do you like Meatballs, or do you like Sausage?». At first I thought she was being funny, but quickly realized was actually apathetic and lacked any desire to apply effort in answering the question. At this point, I spoke up, to state that we liked both, and were hoping she could maybe offer some insight as to which customers tend to prefer. She then proceeded to explain that the sausages are made in house and that people enjoy them. It nearly sent the waitress over the enthusiasm plateau when we asked if the sausage was spicy or not, but my pregnant wife was relieved to get a flat «it’s not hot.» Stifled by the limited menu, I ordered Chicken Parmigiano and of course Saganaki for the appetizer. Our waitress retreated to the kitchen.
By this time the owner had risen from the bar, and on his way back to the kitchen, realized that the group of three people who occupying the only other table in the restaurant were friends of his. He crossed to join them at an empty seat while we waited for our Saganaki.
After about 10 minutes, the waitress returned empty handed to ask my wife if she had ordered the meatball or the sausage. (Really?) After answering her with a sigh, she disappeared again, returning in a few with our Saganaki. We quickly ate it up and enjoyed it as usual, however it sure would have been better with some bread which we were never offered, nor could we ask for, since our waitress stayed inside the kitchen and the owner didn’t look up from his conversation.
Eventually, the waitress returned with our dinner plates. We began to eat and both paused to confer that each of our plates were not to our liking. My chicken was incredibly soggy, and the pasta, (promised to be homemade for a $ 3.00 up-​charge), was gluey and swimming in a watery sauce which was clearly the result of undrained pasta.
My wife’s ravioli was acceptable, but the sausage was very bland and seemed to lack any spice. Curiously, she sliced it completely open and revealed a grey mush of meat without any fleck of spices. As our waitress resurfaced, the owner also rose from his visit with the nearby party. The waitress checked in to see how we were finding our meals. My wife started to explain that she didn’t care for the sausage. The waitress stopped her mid sentence and grabbed the owner in the middle of the floor to exclaim loud enough that I’m sure the other party could hear «She doesn’t like the sausage.» The owner threw up his hands and walked into the kitchen and the waitress followed. It was another 5 minutes later before she returned– not with an apology, but rather an inquiry: «What didn’t you like about it?», she asked. «…Because in 11 years, no one has ever complained.» Mortified, my wife explained that it was flavorless and unappealing. The waitress disappeared again, before I could say anything about mine.
She returned again, cleared our plates (mine clearly untouched except for the one terrible bite I had) and placed a check for the entire (undiscounted) amount on the table.
I was livid. On principal I refused to say anything further. I paid the bill, left a lackluster tip, (which is something I NEVER do), and we hightailed it out of there.
With your inflated prices, and lackluster service, I could forgive it if your food was good, but it wasn’t. Despite all that, a modicum of humility could have saved our night, but instead you cast us off as either ignorant, or worse yet liars. I will NEVER set foot in that place again. You might have great saganaki, but your staff, your attitude and your audacity to call your customers liars will not be forgotten, and I will make sure to share our experience with everyone I can. HOW DARE YOU?!

I love this restaurant! I have been here several times and always enjoyed the food and ambience. I’ve gone mainly with pasta-​based entrees, including classic dishes like lasagna, and each time the good has been well-​seasoned and filling, with extra to take home. This is a family, local restaurant where everything is made with care — not a hipster speakeasy or snooty affair. If you insist upon herbs in your olive oil or aged lavender in your artisinal cocktail, this isn’t it. If you enjoy a thoughtful meal in a warm environment and/​or a great glass of wine or classic cocktail, you’ve found the spot.

NOT impressed by this place. I mentally checked off 4 strikes before me and my boyfriend literally packed our stuff to go and walked out to order pizza at home.
First, they offer free bread but no dipping oil except a VERY cheap tasting plain olive oil. No herbs, no special oil at all and the waitress told me it was because «people didn’t want it» which is a load of BS because every other italian joint you go to has it and people love it. Number 2, the menu is SMALL. Really limited options and what they did have did not sound impressive. Number 3, the drink I had was not good at all. Drink mixing is an art, like chemistry where all the ingredients need to balance in order to make a tasty drink. This drink had 3 ingredients, limoncello, cranberry juice and vodka. You could only taste the vodka with a small hint of cranberry. VERY overpowering and not good, tasted like a shot of vodka. Number 4, the food was so bland it was inedible for me. I got lobster ravioli and while it did have a large amount of lobster meat and shrimp the meat was tough and the sauce was incredibly bland. The ravioli themselves had no flavor, not sure what cheeses they used in the ravioli (there was no lobster or shrimp in the ravioli which makes me think they were frozen plain cheese ravioli, not homemade) but you couldn’t taste them. My boyfriend had the clam linguini and his only compliment was the pasta was perfectly cooked al dente. Besides that, his clams were chewy and again the sauce was really boring.
After the fourth strike we just paid and left. Super disappointing evening. and even after expressing displeasure at our meals we didn’t get comped any of it or even offered a free dessert like I would expect at other places. I would steer clear of this place, unless you like «minimalist» food and by that I mean bland.

The ambience was nice, live music and singing. But other than that I wasn’t impressed with the food, I had some special with mussels and they were really tough. Plus, the bill was outrageously expensive, $ 12 for a Cosmo!

The food was incredible. The bartender and waitstaff were friendly and helpful. I love the idea of how this restaurant came to fruition. It is obvious that everyone who works here loves what they do. Our experience was memorable.

We give this 1 star for ambience. After that it is downhill. We went here last night because Of the 4 to 5 star Unilocal rating. Clearly, this is not the case. As a New York born Italian, I have learned
to cut a bit of slack to new england restaurants. We question what other raters could possibly have been thinking?
However, last evening left a lot to be desired.
It began with the wine service. The wine was warm and the waitress did not cork it at the table, and never let me taste it before pouring for all.
We ordered the Italian sausage as an appetizer. It was FAR from anything I have ever experienced… Soft, mushy, and More like dog food. Later we got our meAls. Veal parmigiana and egg plant parmigiana. The sauce was watery and tasteless. We had to pour off the Liquid to make it palatable. There was no crispiness to the veal or eggplant. We left with heartburn for the rest of the night. It was one of the worst meals we have ever had! Too bad for the beginning of very nice evening in Manchester.

Happened upon this great little restaurant while making our way back home from a trip to the White Mountains. Great atmosphere and even better food. I had ordered their entrée version of Spanakopita, and it was fantastic! The portion was quite large and I was more than happy to bring the leftovers home with me. My aunt had ordered their steak and it was done perfectly, tender and so full of flavor! While they run on the more expensive end, service was great and the food even better that it was worth the price. I highly recommend trying this place out — it’s perfect for a date night or if you’re just craving for some Mediterranean flavor.

A bit too expensive for what it is. The red sauce on my mushroom ravioli was awesome, but we were a bit taken aback by the texture of the mashed potatoes — they were like apple sauce! The bread was pretty good and the service here is awesome, but the price is a little more than I would hope to spend for the quality of the food.

I hate to give a restaurant such a lousy review, but for a bill close to $ 100 for two in Manchester, NH, this is not the quality of food you would expect.
My wife and I agreed that the best part of the meal was the free bread at the beginning! If I am going to spend $ 100, I’d rather go to Florence’s or Carrabba’s, or even somewhere like Georgio’s for better tasting Mediterranean inspired food at or around the same price. The server started off ok but seemed to disappear while we were deciding on dessert (which we skipped on because we didn’t care for the rest of the meal and didn’t want to spend any more money on this place). Taste was pretty marginal… tenderloin was not very tender but rather stringy. The chicken parm was decent but not nearly as good as the above mentioned restaurants. Overall, I think the final cost of things was the deciding factor. This isn’t NYC, where $ 100 would not get you much.
Final thought — if you regularly dine at places like the Hanover Street Chop House, Buckley’s, Cotton, Richard’s Bistro, etc., and expect to find something similar here, you will be disappointed. We wanted to like this place, we really did. Even after the first sip of my cappuccino, my first word (noise) was «bleh!» Again, pretty darn marginal and really not worth the cost. Oh well…

I absolutely loved this place! My friends and I actually ran into this place by chance. We were driving around on Elm, and saw this restaurant nicely place outside from the ‘city’ scene. I think we might have been a little under-​dressed for this place as we were just planning on going to some chain restaurant. However, the people who worked there were fantastic! So I didn’t feel so bad after that.
The place is nicely decored with a tuscan theme. For some reason, I felt like it was very comfortable like being in my own home. The menu was great!
I got a salmon filet with some spinach and mashed potatoes on the side. I ate everything! I could have had seconds! hehe, I had a big appetite that night!
I had a tough time picking out what to eat — there were so many items on the menu that I wanted to try. Fortunately, my friends had ordered items that I wanted to try as well: D like the grape leaves but they had a fancy name instead of grape leaves … they also got lentil soup and then also gnocchi with a meatball — let me tell you, they have some serious meatball! Notice it’s not meatballs … it’s one large meatball! it’s good: D
They have great olive bread to serve while waiting for the dishes to be prepped.
I will definately come back here to try the other menu items!
Oh, one more thing, they were not busy on a Friday night! We were hungry and we found we were lucky to run into this place with fairly quick service!

Definitely a great find! Located at the corner of Elm Street and Myrtle Street, The Way We Cook serves up great Italian/​Mediterranean/​Greek cuisine. I’ve driven by this place so many times. Why haven’t I been here yet? It’s Thursday night and my friend and I decided to give this place a try because we’ve heard good things about the food here. Between the regular menu and a full page of specials, The Way We Cook offers a very appetizing menu of Italian and Mediterranean/​Greek dishes including appetizers (spanakopeta, artichoke hearts, Italian pork sausage, caprese, & more), salads (Greek or American, iceberg wedge), plenty of pasta dishes, steak, chicken, and seafood. The prices here are moderate with dinner entrée prices ranging from $ 13.95 to $ 30.95 and appetizers ($ 5.95-$ 10.50).-(in ¹¹⁄₂₀₀₇)
We were seated at a small table near the back wall. The dining room atmosphere is cozy and intimate with the bar to the left side, exposed brick walls and the back wall painted of a Mediterranean setting. Each table has table cloth, linen napkins/​silverware, and candlelight. Light jazz background music was playing.
Our waiter came over to pour some ice water and took our drink orders. The Grey Goose Martinis ($ 10 each) were served extra dry, the olives were decent. Next we ordered some food. For starters, we split two appetizers. The Saganaki ($ 9.50): Keffaloteri cheese pan fried & deglaze with Metaxa brandy & lemons and served with 4 rosemary bruschetta wafers, was served warm and very tasty. The Dolmathes ($ 7.50): 6 stuffed grape leaves (rice & ground lamb) were served hot and had a lemony flavor, the best grape leaves we’ve had in Manchester. The bowl of Mediterranean Tomato Soup with Pasta ($ 4.50): light tomato broth with cheese tortellini & basil, was spicy and very good. We enjoyed the complementary basket of French bread which was served warm with a spicy olive oil mixture for dipping.
For dinner, I had the special Linguine with Sardines ($ 13.95), which was a good portion of al dente linguine tossed with chopped sardines, garlic, spices, wine, & lots of extra virgin olive oil, cooked to perfection Sicilian style, an excellent choice! My friend ordered the Gnocchi with Meatball ($ 19.95) served with a hearty tomato meat sauce. The meatball made of lean ground beef was HUGE like a softball and the gnocchi was soft and had good potato flavors, phenomenal! A glass of Chianti ($ 9) went well with dinner.
The dessert menu offers treats such tiramisu, chocolate lava cake, key lime pie, homemade baklava, and homemade rice pudding. I had a cup of Homemade Rice Pudding ($ 4.95) topped with cinnamon & whipped cream which was sweet and refreshing.
Overall, all of the food we had was excellent and very tasty from start to finish with great flavors and the right amount of spices. The atmosphere was a bit cozy, my friend felt a bit cramped in. The service was decent, a bit slow paced throughout the meal since all of the food was cooked to order and presented nicely, well worth it. The pasta dishes were served one at a time with an empty bowl covering the pasta bowl and lifted tableside. Grated cheese was offered on the pasta. The waiter checked up on our table, refilled the ice water glasses, and handled drink reorders from the bar. However, no extra bread was offered, but we already had plenty of carbs in our meals to deal with.
The Way We Cook is open for dinner four nights a week on Wednesdays-​Saturdays (5:00 PM to 9:30 PM).
PARKING: Free parking in back of the building or on street parking.