My family enjoys taking the occasional Sunday to enjoy a brunch buffet. There are several factors involved in choosing the ideal brunch: variety, atmosphere, quality, and cost. What makes a brunch worth its cost?

In Nashua, NH, Michael Timothy’s Urban Bistro can quickly reduce the weight of your wallet at $21.00 for adults. (Luckily, if you plan to attend with a young family, kids under 12 get in for $9.00.) Also, you won’t be able to find every breakfast dish you can imagine. Nevertheless, the two others factors pull their weight. Of all of the brunches I have attended, I feel that Michael Timothy’s has the best quality food and atmosphere. Each dish is prepared well enough so that while you savor each bite, you forget about the slightly small selection. The desserts are flawless and presented in small portions so I can always taste more than one. Every Sunday, this restaurant provides live jazz, which complements the delicious meal.

Also in Nashua, you might want to try the Speaker’s Corner Restaurant at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. The vast selection of breakfast/lunch foods makes this brunch buffet worth the cost ($16.95 for adults). Even with all of the choices, the quality of the food does not suffer. Visit the chef’s signature carving station, or have an omelet made to order. Both options are excellent.

In Merrimack, your wallet will suffer a bit less at The Common Man ($13.99). Though service isn’t a huge part of a brunch with a buffet table setting, it definitely is a weakness I came across here. I found myself waiting on a glass of orange juice that I passed twice on my way to the buffet. As the hallways are a bit cramped, it becomes dangerous to pass a server or another diner with a full plate. Other than that, the quantity and quality is good enough to satisfy your stomach for a day (or even a little more than that).

Combining average dishes and helter-skelter service is usually a recipe for disaster.  Unfortunately,  The Way We Cook was just that compilation.

On a Friday night, we (my beautiful fiancee and I) visited The Way We Cook for what was to be a special evening out. The restaurant was recommended, so we had to give it a try. Unfortunately, we were left greatly disappointed.

The establishment is on the north end of Manchester in a part of town that progress has mostly forgotten. They had ample parking in the back of their restaurant so we parked the Mini there and walked around to the front. The decor was simple but pleasant. There were a lot of open tables so we were able to get a table right away. The greeter (who wound up being our waiter as well) allowed us to choose our table, which was a nice touch. We chose a table in the back that seemed to have some distance and privacy. Unfortunately, from that point on the dining experience went downhill.

The waiter (we will leave out his name to protect his incompetence) seemed to be running around like Super Mario getting chased in Donkey Kong, and his friendliness quickly was lost within his franticness. Hot bread was delivered, which was adequate but nothing special. We each ordered a special martini off the menu. Since the drinks took almost 15 minutes to deliver and one of them was wrong, I won’t bother to describe them except to say they were lackluster and average. When we ordered the drinks, we also ordered an appetizer, Saganaki. Unfortunately, our nutty waiter forgot and returned 20 minutes later to ask us again if we wanted an appetizer!! So, we ordered the Saganaki again.

This was a gooey, baked cheese Greek concoction with an olive oil basting. It was served with crunchy bruschetta slices. It was by far the best part of the meal, and that should tell you how things go downhill from there.

For the main meals, we ordered ravioli filled with spinach and portabello mushrooms, which came with a large meatball and a seafood dish made with shrimp and lobster tortellini-type pasta. I will just stop with the description at this point because both meals were below average (although the spinach ravioli were decent) and don’t deserve a description. Let us just say that I could not figure out what the stuffing was on the seafood pasta, and while the meatball was HUGE (think softball size) it was without flavor.

There are better choices for someone looking for a nice place to eat in Manchester… pass on The Way We Cook.

The story on most Chinese food is that it is quickly prepared, simply presented, and tastes about the same no matter where you have it. This sounds like a recipe for fast food, and in most cases Chinese food is just a specialized form of that. Only on rare occasions do you run into a Chinese restaurant that takes things and makes them a little more special. Luckily for residents of southern New Hampshire you, have a choice that is a cut above in Chen Yang Li in Bedford.

Last night, my darling bride-to-be and I were accompanied by our closest couple-friends for dinner at Chen Yang Li. Being a Saturday night we were hoping that there was not a long wait, and we were lucky enough to be able to be seated right away.  Joe, our server, was prompt with the water as we were seated in the simple, yet attractive, dining room. The ladies perused the drink menu and, after some debate, decided on a coconut-rum-pineapple concoction called the Love Potion, while OT (Old Tom) settled on a Mai Tai.

While the drinks were being prepared, we finalized our meal selections. The menu offerings are one of the things that instantly separates Chen Yang Li from other Chinese restaurants. Appetizers like Frog Legs and Hong Kong Mussels can be paired with Abalone with Chicken or Yang’s Four Shell Soups . The main courses are a great mix of Japanese and Chinese staples along with unique items like Strawberry Chicken or Tangerine Beef.

The dinner selections we chose were:

• Unagi Don
• Mango Chicken
• Teriyaki Stir-Fried Chicken
• Teriyaki Stir-Fried Shrimp

The drinks arrived promptly and were solidly prepared and tasty. While we were having lively conversation our main courses arrived with little delay. Using radishes and carrots, the heaping portions were expertly garnished with ornamental flowers and decorations — an excellent touch to accent the food. I ate the Unagi Don and found the smoked eel well prepared. I was also able to sample the Mango Chicken, which I thought was a flavorful offering. The fried rice that was ordered as the accompaniment had a little bit of a stale taste to it. It lacked the quality that we found with the rest of the meal. Our entire group was happy with the selections and there were a great deal of leftovers that could be savored the next day.

While the meal was not worthy of five stars, it was a well presented, plentiful, and tasty offering — an above average Chinese restaurant and well worth a visit. We will be returning to try some more of the unique menu.