Parkville, a neighborhood of Hartford, CT, is a remarkable place, and a beautiful representation of some of the changes Hartford as a whole has experienced through history.  As late as the 1880’s, Parkville was still farm land located at the junction of the North and South branches of the Park River.  The Park River still flows today, but was buried underneath the city in the 1940s because of health and flooding concerns.  Today as you travel east on I-84 into downtown Hartford, you can catch a glimpse of where the river goes underground into a concrete tunnel to the right.  To the left are the remaining factory buildings of industrial Parkville, remnants of a time when Parkville was the manufacturing heart of Central Connecticut.  Some of those remaining industrial buildings have been converted into lofts, offices, and eateries.  Perhaps the most well-known is Real Art Ways, at 56 Arbor Street in what used to be a typewriter factory.

Park Street is the heart of Parkville.  The businesses and residencies on and around Parkville initially served the workers of the nearby factories.  Since the loss of manufacturing work in Hartford, the neighborhood has become home to thiving ethnic communities, most notably made up of people from Portugal, Brazil, and Asia.

I say “Asia” because there is remarkable blending of Asian cultures in some of the stores lining Park Street.

Kien Oriental Market is small, tightly packed, and truly “Oriental” in the sense that I found most of the stock to be very much not specifically Thai, or Chinese, or Vietnamese, for example.

Inside just one freezer case, Indian Paratha sat next to Spring Rolls, with packages of tropical fruit purees underneath.

Also, in stark contrast with the massive A Dong Grocery, the aisles were just barely wide enough for one person to walk through.  A counter up front had sandwiches (Banh Mi, perhaps?  Could’ve been) but there was so much to discover I moved on up the street.

Brazil Grill seems to be a very popular place, and their website lists their menu for the day I was passing by as “Oxtail stew, Fried yuca w/ Pork skin, Baked chicken, Chili w/ red beans, Salmon in oven.”  Ok, maybe I should have stopped!  Expect a review eventually, pork skin is something I take seriously.

Closer to Prospect Avenue, and the West Hartford town line is Leena’s First and Last Pizzeria and Sully’s Pub.  The place is known for live music and spotting local big-wigs and politicians.  I didn’t notice any local notables when I visited a few years ago but I also didn’t notice much in the way of tasty food, either.

This is the dining patio at Oporto, an upscale Portugese place, and another which I haven’t visited.  It looks fine if not a bit pricey based on their website, but I mostly just thought it was too bad they had outdoor, kinda-sidewalk dining, but not without a large fence with spikes and shrubs between pedestrians and eaters.

Bairrada Bakery & Pastry Shop is one of several Portugese bakeries in Parkville.  I entered and asked for something especially authentic and Portugese-y in nature, and from behind the counter I was given four small baked egg custards in pastry cups.  The custard was thick, almost like pastry cream and dark brown on top.  The pastry itself could have been a bit fresher.  By the time I ate one the puff pastry was a bit dry and stale but I am not the biggest fan of puff pastry-type deserts to begin with.

My last stop in Parkville for today was probably my most fruitful.

Street food!  In Hartford!  Yay!  I didn’t now exactly what “Pincho” is but Wikipedia does:

In Puerto Rico, a different type of pincho is served by street vendors with barbecues. Unlike the Basque pincho, usually only one or two slices of bread are in the pincho, while the rest is barbecued chicken, pork, shark, or other meat. The meats and the bread are skewered on a wooden stick, rather than served on a plate; the stick is grabbed from the bottom and the contents are eaten.

I got a pincho and soda for $2.50.  The vendor asked if I wanted mine spicy and I enthusiastically said “Yes!  Yes!”  The results:

The pork was tender, spicy, tangy, with just the right amount of fat and porky flavor.  Hartford could use a stand like this on every corner.

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