Desserts at Noah’s include Pavlova, a meringue shell filled with ice cream, garnished with fresh fruit and drizzled with raspberry sauce.

The Providence Journal / Sandor Bodo

Doesn’t everybody wish for a perfectly cozy and not-too-expensive restaurant right in their own neighborhood? A place to go when you don’t want to be fancy, but just want something tasty, fresh and interesting for dinner?

Such a place is Noah’s — which unfortunately (for me, at least) is nowhere near my own neighborhood. It’s in Stonington, Conn., about an hour’s drive by Route 95 south of Providence. Any time I’m anywhere in that neighborhood at anywhere close to a mealtime, I make a detour down Route 234 to the seaside village of Stonington, just to go to Noah’s. And I always wish that it were closer to home.

What makes Noah’s just right is its combination of comfortably unpretentious ambiance and a casually sophisticated menu that has a French accent but also shows other European influences, such as Portuguese and German.

Owned for more than a quarter-century by the cooking duo of John Papp and Stanley Schwartz, Noah’s has worked its way over that time into the fabric of Stonington. Officially “the Borough of Stonington” and situated on a point of land reaching into Long Island Sound, the village is a compact few blocks of beautifully restored Federal-era houses and small shops selling high-quality antiques, artworks and jewelry — the kinds of things that the New Yorkers who call this coastal area their second home might like to buy.

At Noah’s, locals and visitors mingle and talk around the polished wood horseshoe-shaped bar on one side of the restaurant, while on the other, the small dining room is lined with booths along one wall and windows facing Water Street on another. The place brings to mind an English pub for its easy conviviality, or a European bistro for its always changing menu of homey, satisfying food, prepared with the skill of owner-chefs who create daily specials based upon what they find in the market. Schwartz is the baker, and Papp did most of the cooking before hiring Jamie Fowler to assist him about three years ago. All three collaborate on coming up with menu specials from a core list of favorites.

Perfect sautÉed cod

Many of their entrees highlight seafood, such as swordfish in season, or Maine steamers. But there are always meat items, too, such as a filet mignon ($26.95) and a grilled all-natural pork porterhouse ($16.95).

Overused as the phrase “comfort food” is, it describes an entrÉe I enjoyed the other night of a cod fillet prepared “Grand-mère” (grandmother’s) style ($20.95). A thick piece of boneless cod was sautÉed to a perfect brownness with bits of bacon, pearl onions and button mushrooms in a simple butter sauce. The fish was served atop a mound of creamy mashed potatoes and garnished with a handful of fresh watercress. My companion’s sautÉed sea scallops were simple, fresh and delicious — about eight large scallops broiled with a light coating of crumbs in lemon butter and served with mashed potatoes ($21.95).

Both entrees came with a salad — his a mix of field greens in a homemade Russian dressing, mine upgraded (for an additional $4.95) to the “Beggar’s Purse” — greens with the addition of a phyllo-pastry-wrapped “purse” containing creamy melted Saga blue cheese along with sliced fresh pears and toasted walnuts.

A hearty chef’s special

The chefs’ repertoire of specials is deep, so you can only be sure of what’s actually on the menu by calling ahead. On an earlier visit I’d loved the Dayboat Pan Chowder ($23.95), a hearty, stew-like combination of littlenecks, scallops, and cod in a buttery broth, and another treatment of scallops, this one atop a homemade “hash” of golden beets and arugula in a balsamic syrup ($21.95).

Always a favorite among the appetizers is Chicken Liver PâtÉ with sherry and pistachios ($5.25), served with traditional capers, toast points and mustard.

Noah’s bar menu includes an excellent hamburger, a classic Reuben, and a variety of specials, mostly priced under $10. Mixed drinks such as a tart Cosmopolitan (made with fresh-squeezed lime juice; $8.75) or an espresso martini taste especially good when sipped around the friendly bar while waiting for the hostess to call you in to dinner.

House-made desserts

Desserts (all made in-house, most by Schwartz) are a different selection each night. The delicious Pavlova is a meringue shell filled with vanilla ice cream and drizzled with raspberry sauce ($6.65). Other choices might be an apricot dacquoise, apple crisp, crème brûlÉe, or Viennese sacher torte.

Noah’s wine list suits its casually sophisticated style, featuring a well-chosen selection of about two dozen mostly French, West Coast and Argentinean bottles priced from $22 to $45, or $6.50 to $10 by the glass. On our most recent visit, we enjoyed a New Zealand Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc ($7 by the glass).

On that visit also, we found a reason to return to Stonington sooner rather than later: Tomorrow evening, the village shops will be open 5:30 to 8 p.m. for a Shopping Stroll sponsored by the Village Improvement Society. Carol singing, tree-lightings in the squares at each end of Water Street, and an appearance by Santa in a horse-drawn wagon are part of the festivities.

kimbrie@projo.com