by Eric H.

A hidden gem restaurant might have few patrons on a Saturday night, be located between East Washbucket and West Podunk, or have no advertising budget, but don't let that keep you from dining on some of the region's best food. Generally best known and enjoyed by locals, these hidden gems are sure to please during your central and southern New England travels:

Stoggy Hollow General Store and Restaurant, Woodstock Valley, Conn. (Northeast Connecticut) --What makes the Stoggy Hollow General Store and Restaurant a true hidden New England restaurant is that it's located in a equally hidden New England community. Tiny Woodstock Valley may be the epicenter of northeast Connecticut's "Quiet Corner," a place that makes "Green Acres" look like Times Square. Pies, cakes and other delicious baked goods occupy the charming country store side of this ancient 1836 wooden building while hearty breakfast, lunch and dinner selections fulfill the biggest appetites on the restaurant side. The pulled pork is particularly good, but you can't go wrong with the fresh oversized sandwiches and great pancakes. What puts Stoggy Hollow over the edge on the quality restaurant meter is the life that it brings to the community in the most traditional sense -- a place where people congregate to converse, buy the Sunday paper, and enjoy the homemade foods. Stoggy Hollow may be hard to find, but ultimately hard to beat when it comes down to good old country cooking, located in the proverbial "middle of nowhere."

Stoggy Hollow 492 Eastford Rd.(Rt.198), Woodstock Valley, Ct. 06282. Tel. 860-974-2889

Main Street Cafe, North Easton Village, Mass. (South Boston suburb) -- In appearance, the Main Street Cafe comes across as plain as its name with worn wooden floors and bargain bought table and chairs only slightly enhanced at night by the decorative white lights creating the somewhat inviting outside. What's not plain about the Main Street Cafe is the chef's ambition to take conventional breakfast and lunch menu items to the next level by using high quality raw materials and adding a flourish here and there while keeping the prices down. Standouts include the tender baked lamb dinner that has a sauce that tastes different and better than what most restaurants turn out, pizza with chourico (a spicier version of linguica), and a blueberry saturated muffin that seems almost bigger than tiny North Easton Village. The Main Street Cafe also serves a great hot fudge sundae, has an inviting counter section, and accommodates rather interesting poetry group readings on Wednesday nights.

Main Street Cafe 122 Main Street, North Easton Village, Mass. Tel. (508) 238-6788

Reed's Country Store, New Braintree, Mass. (Central Massachusetts) -- If you're expecting a classic New England country store with quilts, penny candy, home furnishings, the overwhelming smell of candles, and an owner with an unintelligible local accent, then Reed's Country Store isn't for you. While the country store section is pretty much convenience and package store merchandise, the restaurant is what really shines with its family-style breakfast and lunches, and Friday night dinners. Our party of four had omelettes, a fresh salad and chocolate chip pancakes as good as any we've experienced in our extensive New England travels. With stone walls, a pleasant, cozy dining room, an open kitchen and friendly, attentive service, Reed's Country Store represents the best of "local dining," a place that locals depend on, as validated by the crowds.

Reed's Country Store. New Braintree Rd, New Braintree, Mass., Tel.: (508) 867-9512

Colonial House Cafe, Norwood, Mass. (Southwest Boston suburb) -- Set in a residential neighborhood and looking like an auto body shop from some angles, the Colonial House Cafe seems like an unlikely place to have a restaurant. Once inside however, the colonial look with nice wooden floors, post and beam ceilings, a fireplace and comfortable booths has the look of a true New England traditional restaurant. The menu is huge, specializing in very fresh seafood -- including lobster specials and excellent New England clam chowder -- Italian dishes almost as good as the North End of Boston, and some very solid steak and chicken dishes. Particularly good are the calamari, steak tips and eggplant parmagiana. Locals who tend to wear baseball caps 24/7 love the bar and dining room sections, but outside Norwood and perhaps neighboring Walpole, Westwood and Dedham, very few people know about this place that looks like just another neighborhood house -- or auto body shop depending on the angle.

Colonial House Restaurant, 33 Savin Ave, Norwood, Mass., Tel. (781) 762-3000