This blog is focused on food friends and fun, and on a Boston day usually centralized around those things, I pause to acknowledge this truly tragic day.
It was so beautiful today. There was positive energy everywhere you turned. A friend of mine equated it to Christmas, running a Marathon with all of his loved ones waiting to cheer for him. The day was beautiful and then took a tragic turn for the surreal.
I hope that all are safe and that Boston and the world eventually find peace.
Monday, April 15, 2013
Friday, March 8, 2013
A Mid-afternoon Dream at Strip T's
It was a cold and snowy Thursday after a successful trip to Target, and I stopped in at Strip T's for an indulgent tasty treat. This place is worth all of the hype it gets. The food is great and unique and service is quick and reliable. When I worked in Watertown a while back, I had to keep from eating at Strip T's every day for lunch. This was before the Tim Maslow era, back when it was just a neighborhood shop to get a soup, salad or sandwich. Since the reign of Maslow, I've driven to Watertown a handful of times with the intention of having a fantastic and creative meal and am consistently satisfied with the result.
Luckily, I arrived at 3:53 pm, just in time for the last plate of food to be served before the hour break before dinner. All I knew was that I could not stop thinking about their Caesar salad, and that I wanted to try something new as well. Shawn, one of the front guys who worked at Craigie on Main previously, advised that between the Moxie Wings and Fried Chicken that the fried chicken would go better with the Caesar salad. Each entree comes with a side, so I was pumped that I could have two mini-meals in one! He and I chatted about how the comfort food matched both of our moods with the dreary, wintry mix. I chose to sit at the bar because I was at Strip T's with the purpose to eat the best Caesar salad ever and some protein.
The restaurant is quaint. When I walked through the curtained front door, I saw a bar with a half open kitchen and people preparing for the dinner shift. To the left was the main dining room where some of the best food around is served.
At about 4:03, my half of a chicken fried arrived with my baby Caesar salad. The crust of the fried chicken was perfectly crisp and the chicken inside was moist and juicy. I was really excited that they brought a full, three joint wing, thigh and breast because I get a real kick out of eating and taking apart wings, but the other cuts of chicken are a little bit more hearty. To go on the chicken, Shawn brought over some pepper syrup. Essentially this syrup tasted like honey with a tiny almost unnoticeable kick to it. The sauce was perfection as the sweetness of it brought out the saltiness of the chicken.
I interspersed bites of fried chicken with the Caesar salad. The salad was dressed perfectly. Their Caesar dressing is extremely flavorful and light. I rarely would describe a Caesar salad dressing as light, but the only way to get the lack of cream in the dressing across is to describe it that way. The dressing is more about garlic and cheese than it is about cream. They may even put in a smidge of mustard. The bottom line is the dressing sticks perfectly to the crisp lettuce and homemade croutons without being overwhelming or too creamy.
My only wish for this experience was that I had a fellow diner with me to kvell over the food with! Instead, I have not stopped talking about my decadent mid-afternoon dream at Strip T's. I do not use the term dream loosely as I have been known to dream about their Caesar salad and so this meal literally fulfilled my dreams. I can't wait for Tim Maslow and team to open a more T accessible restaurant later this year in Brookline. In the meantime, I will continue to make excuses to visit Watertown for the awesome food and laid back ambiance and I recommend that you do the same.
Photo from past Strip T's experience.
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Digesting Technology
As an MBA student at a Boston based school of management, I was lucky enough to take a class with a field study component out to the West Coast. Prior to heading out of town, I'd read about how great the food is at Apple, Google and Microsoft. I visited these companies with high expectations for the food and the management and expectations were exceeded on every count. Given the top secret nature of most of the places we visited, I had to keep my camera in my bag, so we will both have to live through the written memories of the tasty meals in Seattle and Silicon Valley instead of photographed ones.
The first corporate cafeteria we went to was at Microsoft/XBox and it was fun and delicious. Turns out Monday is free cookie day. The headquarters was a very modern, airy campus in Seattle. There were so many food options to choose from including some of Seattle's finest from Pike's Place market. Yes, those homemade donuts made it to Microsoft's campus, but I resisted. Given the time constraints, I chose to make a salad. The salad bar was better than the Whole Foods salad bar, which I hold in the highest regard. While the food was about the same price as any other cafeteria, I appreciated that drinks and Monday cookies were free. I chose an oatmeal raisin cookie and saved it for later. It was outstanding. It tasted homemade and was perfectly crisp and gooey. One of my dining buddies had a chocolate chip cookie and claimed it was the best he'd ever tasted, high praise if I've ever heard it.
The next day we journeyed to Silicon Valley to spend time at Google. The headquarters is worth the hype. Between the large meeting bike to the kitchens every 150 feet, I was impressed. People work amazingly hard and it's great that they receive perks while doing it. The Google food was amazing. We went to Charlie's Cafe, a cafeteria inspired by the original Google chef for lunch. The food was free, thus disproving the theory that there's no such thing as a free lunch! I had some neat rice balls, seaweed salad, sweet potato soup, whole chicken pieces, the salad of the day and dessert. Let's just say that if I worked at Google, I'd have to rein it in as to keep my girlish figure. The dessert was spectacular, and I indulged. There was chocolate banana bread pudding, banana cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and cookies. The cookies were creative and exciting like Google. I had a cappuccino chocolate chip cookie and it was buttery and chewy and crunchy. I also indulged in a chocolate chip one. Banana is my favorite element of dessert, so it was a treat to have bread pudding and cupcakes, both banana themed. I loved that the sweet potato soup did not have cream or milk in it. The consistency was smooth and it just tasted like fall. Overall Google had the best cookies from any company on the trip.
A few days later, we went to One Infinite Loop to meet with Phil Schiller. Of course that meeting was the highlight of the visit to Apple, but the food was great too. We got to Apple really early, so they brought us to the cafeteria to get coffee and breakfast. I got an almond butter and avocado open faced sandwich. It sounded too unique not to get, so I got it and they held the pepper and just sprinkled some salt. It was the most filling sandwich I'd had in a while and I can't wait to reproduce it at home. Anything with avocado has my vote. After my sandwich we had a great discussion with some executives and then went on to lunch. I wish I could tell you what I learned, but we had to keep things confidential, so instead I will focus on the food!
Lunch at Apple was innovative. All of the produce was was fresh and delicious and the dishes seemed deliberately prepared. The cafeteria was subsidized so the prices were fair and far less than they would be for the high quality food elsewhere. I had a chopped salad with beets and avocado and artichokes and then I had spaghetti squash with turkey bolognese sauce. I loved that everything was so healthy. So I could make an apple to apple comparison (pun intended), I got a chocolate chip cookie to compare with Google and Microsoft. While the cookie was good, it was not great. I felt like I was eating food that a really great mom or grandma was making. I am going to make a variation of the spaghetti squash for dinner this weekend!
Overall, the field study could not be beat. My brain and body were both well nourished and we were shown such hospitality. After a trip out west, I will never look at the corporate cafeteria the same way
The first corporate cafeteria we went to was at Microsoft/XBox and it was fun and delicious. Turns out Monday is free cookie day. The headquarters was a very modern, airy campus in Seattle. There were so many food options to choose from including some of Seattle's finest from Pike's Place market. Yes, those homemade donuts made it to Microsoft's campus, but I resisted. Given the time constraints, I chose to make a salad. The salad bar was better than the Whole Foods salad bar, which I hold in the highest regard. While the food was about the same price as any other cafeteria, I appreciated that drinks and Monday cookies were free. I chose an oatmeal raisin cookie and saved it for later. It was outstanding. It tasted homemade and was perfectly crisp and gooey. One of my dining buddies had a chocolate chip cookie and claimed it was the best he'd ever tasted, high praise if I've ever heard it.
The next day we journeyed to Silicon Valley to spend time at Google. The headquarters is worth the hype. Between the large meeting bike to the kitchens every 150 feet, I was impressed. People work amazingly hard and it's great that they receive perks while doing it. The Google food was amazing. We went to Charlie's Cafe, a cafeteria inspired by the original Google chef for lunch. The food was free, thus disproving the theory that there's no such thing as a free lunch! I had some neat rice balls, seaweed salad, sweet potato soup, whole chicken pieces, the salad of the day and dessert. Let's just say that if I worked at Google, I'd have to rein it in as to keep my girlish figure. The dessert was spectacular, and I indulged. There was chocolate banana bread pudding, banana cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and cookies. The cookies were creative and exciting like Google. I had a cappuccino chocolate chip cookie and it was buttery and chewy and crunchy. I also indulged in a chocolate chip one. Banana is my favorite element of dessert, so it was a treat to have bread pudding and cupcakes, both banana themed. I loved that the sweet potato soup did not have cream or milk in it. The consistency was smooth and it just tasted like fall. Overall Google had the best cookies from any company on the trip.
A few days later, we went to One Infinite Loop to meet with Phil Schiller. Of course that meeting was the highlight of the visit to Apple, but the food was great too. We got to Apple really early, so they brought us to the cafeteria to get coffee and breakfast. I got an almond butter and avocado open faced sandwich. It sounded too unique not to get, so I got it and they held the pepper and just sprinkled some salt. It was the most filling sandwich I'd had in a while and I can't wait to reproduce it at home. Anything with avocado has my vote. After my sandwich we had a great discussion with some executives and then went on to lunch. I wish I could tell you what I learned, but we had to keep things confidential, so instead I will focus on the food!
Lunch at Apple was innovative. All of the produce was was fresh and delicious and the dishes seemed deliberately prepared. The cafeteria was subsidized so the prices were fair and far less than they would be for the high quality food elsewhere. I had a chopped salad with beets and avocado and artichokes and then I had spaghetti squash with turkey bolognese sauce. I loved that everything was so healthy. So I could make an apple to apple comparison (pun intended), I got a chocolate chip cookie to compare with Google and Microsoft. While the cookie was good, it was not great. I felt like I was eating food that a really great mom or grandma was making. I am going to make a variation of the spaghetti squash for dinner this weekend!
Overall, the field study could not be beat. My brain and body were both well nourished and we were shown such hospitality. After a trip out west, I will never look at the corporate cafeteria the same way
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Drink, Sportello and Girls Night Out
Ever have those nights were money and calories don't count? You just want to eat really well, drink great drinks and have fun with your friends. Saturday night was one of those nights that will go down in history as one of my best nights in Boston from a food, friends, fun and drink perspective. We decided to start the evening at Drink and then work our way upstairs to Sportello. I found out after the fact that if you do the reverse, they can sometimes help you skip the line at Drink, but this is water under the bridge. This post is a bit longer than usual, so I will start with some advice in case you're in a hurry. Run as fast as you can to Drink and Sportello. The food, service and drinks are outstanding. Please share a part of your soul with the mixologist/waiter at drink and then when you are done or on another occasion go upstairs and order the tagliatelle bolognese. I am not innately a pasta person, but I will now dream of Sportello's pasta dishes.
We arrived at 7:30 to get five of us in at Drink. To add some context, Sportello and Drink are both part of the Barbara Lynch restaurant empire and happen to be housed in the same building in the Fort Point area. Drink is on the bottom and Sportello on top. Lucky for us, we only had to wait in the hallway for about 25 minutes before being served at Drink. We had a 9pm reservation at Sportello and they came down to retrieve us when the table was ready (super convenient). Drink is dimly lit with exposed brick and beautiful wooden bars all around. If you are lucky, you get to stand and if you're luckier you get to sit. I will tell you, I don't like standing at a bar for extended periods of time, but for Drink, I feel lucky to be in the room. It has such a positive happy fun vibe. The waitperson comes over to your party and gives you a food menu and then asks what you want to drink. To this you can say something like "I like sweet things" (me) or "I like cucumber" (a friend) or "I feel like something holiday" (my other friend) and they bring out a beautifully constructed tasty cocktail for you. Mine was a champagne with citrus, my friend had some sort of fresh cucumber drink presented in an old school champagne glass and my other friend had a brandy Alexander like drink with frothy foam on top. My first drink was like happiness in a glass. I love champagne and it was a pretty color. The second drink I ordered was perfect given the descriptor I gave, but I forgot to mention that Tequila and I are not friends. The waiter could not have been nicer and took it right out of my hand and off of the bill. Drink has some of the best service I've experienced. The waiter was subtle and kind about exchanging my drink, which I imagine happens so infrequently given how tasty and well constructed the cocktails are there.
It wasn't just drinks at Drink. They have great food, but given that Sportello was in our midst, it was bar cheese and toast for five of us. The toast had a little bit of oil on it and the bar cheese was like chive cream cheese-- the good stuff that you get in New York.
At approximately 9:10, the host from Sportello came down to get us. This was perfect because there was no lingering and waiting upstairs, instead it was a fluid transition from one establishment to the other. Had any glasses still been full they were welcome upstairs! Sportello is the perfect balance with Drink. It is bright and white and relaxed. When you walk in, it looks like a very clean diner. The kitchen area is open and there is a bakery counter lining one wall. We were seated on two sides of a table/bench between the "kitchen" and the bakery counter. Our waitress was awesome! She came over and gave us a heads up that the beef carpaccio and fish special were about to see out, so two of my dining buddies secured their dishes on the spot. Also, she offered a great perspective on the wine. We ordered a bottle of Pino Nior but it was white instead of red. The flavor was smooth and cool.
I shared a squash salad with one of my friends to start. While it was delicious and creative, I wished there was more on the plate. Others at the table ordered the spicy tomato soup and the last beef carpaccio in the kitchen (yum).
For dinner I had pasta bolognese. To say this was delicious was an understatement. I would have been happy if someone dumped me in a vat of pasta, bolognese and asked me to eat my way out. It was homemade pasta, which meant the pasta was a perfect smooth consistency. The sauce was full of different kinds of meat. I think there may have been hints of lamb in the sauce that had the perfect balance of tomato, herbs, meat and spices.
Dessert was a combination of cookies, cupcakes and a whoopie pie both to stay and to go. I can't get enough pumpkin especially in cookie form so I was excited about the pumpkin whoopie pie and a bacon cupcake seemed too good to be true, so I got one to go. The chocolate cookie was creatively sweet and salty. The bacon cupcake was really vanilla cake and maple butter cream with bacon on top.
Moral of the story is go to Sportello and Drink. You will not be disappointed. If you're on a budget, go to Sportello for a price fixed lunch.
We arrived at 7:30 to get five of us in at Drink. To add some context, Sportello and Drink are both part of the Barbara Lynch restaurant empire and happen to be housed in the same building in the Fort Point area. Drink is on the bottom and Sportello on top. Lucky for us, we only had to wait in the hallway for about 25 minutes before being served at Drink. We had a 9pm reservation at Sportello and they came down to retrieve us when the table was ready (super convenient). Drink is dimly lit with exposed brick and beautiful wooden bars all around. If you are lucky, you get to stand and if you're luckier you get to sit. I will tell you, I don't like standing at a bar for extended periods of time, but for Drink, I feel lucky to be in the room. It has such a positive happy fun vibe. The waitperson comes over to your party and gives you a food menu and then asks what you want to drink. To this you can say something like "I like sweet things" (me) or "I like cucumber" (a friend) or "I feel like something holiday" (my other friend) and they bring out a beautifully constructed tasty cocktail for you. Mine was a champagne with citrus, my friend had some sort of fresh cucumber drink presented in an old school champagne glass and my other friend had a brandy Alexander like drink with frothy foam on top. My first drink was like happiness in a glass. I love champagne and it was a pretty color. The second drink I ordered was perfect given the descriptor I gave, but I forgot to mention that Tequila and I are not friends. The waiter could not have been nicer and took it right out of my hand and off of the bill. Drink has some of the best service I've experienced. The waiter was subtle and kind about exchanging my drink, which I imagine happens so infrequently given how tasty and well constructed the cocktails are there.
It wasn't just drinks at Drink. They have great food, but given that Sportello was in our midst, it was bar cheese and toast for five of us. The toast had a little bit of oil on it and the bar cheese was like chive cream cheese-- the good stuff that you get in New York.
At approximately 9:10, the host from Sportello came down to get us. This was perfect because there was no lingering and waiting upstairs, instead it was a fluid transition from one establishment to the other. Had any glasses still been full they were welcome upstairs! Sportello is the perfect balance with Drink. It is bright and white and relaxed. When you walk in, it looks like a very clean diner. The kitchen area is open and there is a bakery counter lining one wall. We were seated on two sides of a table/bench between the "kitchen" and the bakery counter. Our waitress was awesome! She came over and gave us a heads up that the beef carpaccio and fish special were about to see out, so two of my dining buddies secured their dishes on the spot. Also, she offered a great perspective on the wine. We ordered a bottle of Pino Nior but it was white instead of red. The flavor was smooth and cool.
I shared a squash salad with one of my friends to start. While it was delicious and creative, I wished there was more on the plate. Others at the table ordered the spicy tomato soup and the last beef carpaccio in the kitchen (yum).
For dinner I had pasta bolognese. To say this was delicious was an understatement. I would have been happy if someone dumped me in a vat of pasta, bolognese and asked me to eat my way out. It was homemade pasta, which meant the pasta was a perfect smooth consistency. The sauce was full of different kinds of meat. I think there may have been hints of lamb in the sauce that had the perfect balance of tomato, herbs, meat and spices.
Dessert was a combination of cookies, cupcakes and a whoopie pie both to stay and to go. I can't get enough pumpkin especially in cookie form so I was excited about the pumpkin whoopie pie and a bacon cupcake seemed too good to be true, so I got one to go. The chocolate cookie was creatively sweet and salty. The bacon cupcake was really vanilla cake and maple butter cream with bacon on top.
Moral of the story is go to Sportello and Drink. You will not be disappointed. If you're on a budget, go to Sportello for a price fixed lunch.
Monday, October 29, 2012
Eastern Standard Brunchielunch
Eastern Standard is worth all of the hype it gets. I've only had consistently great meals and service there. No matter what I eat, it's satisfying and creative. Since it was a weekend between 10 and 2, I was geared up for some brunch. I define brunch as breakfast, but bigger. Eastern Standard had a part brunch, part lunch menu because it was Saturday and they only serve full brunch on Sunday. The food was awesome, but sitting outside comfortably in late October was the best part.
After pondering the menu for a while, I was set to order eggs. The past few times I dined at ES, I had a pastrami sandwich and since it was missing from the menu, I branched out. My dining partner had settled on the Croque-Madame. When the waiter told us the addition to the menu, I made a quick change and went for the homemade ricotta gnocchi with veggies and lamb sausage. I am a sucker for homemade pasta, and I figured the gnocchi would be the perfect substitute for all the bread I'd eat if I chose a breakfast option. We decided to balance the extreme carbs with a side salad.
After enjoying the fresh bread, butter and good conversation, the meals arrived. I started eating the perfectly cooked gnocchi with fresh almost crisp cauliflower, pea pods and tomatoes The gnocchi was seared on the outside and right amount of chewiness. I could not find the lamb in my dish. Not to worry though, because the waiter could not have been nicer when adding it. They re-plated my dish with the lamb sausage, so it went from being a gnocchi primavera to a unique combination of gnocchi, lamb and veggies. I hope that in the future they make both the pasta dishes available. While the lamb sausage added a lot of flavor and smokiness to the dish, it was just as good and even a little bit lighter without it.
The side salad was tasty. It was mesclun greens with a garlicky mustard vinaigrette Given the size of our entrees it was the perfect size to share. Sometimes at Eastern Standard, I find myself having the great salad versus french fry debate. The fries at ES are thin and perfectly crisp with some fresh herbs and the salad has those qualities with the added health benefits. At lunch we had our salad and fries too, because my dining buddy's dish came with fries.
The Croque Madam was beautiful. It was a layer of french toast topped with ham, cheese and a sunny side up egg and french fries. The dish looked to pretty to eat, and it tasted as good as it looked. The combination of sweet and savory was great. If I had to categorize it, I'd pair it with eggs Benedict because it had most of the same components. We joked about how big the dish was, yet it was devoured. I'm glad I got to try it because, had I ordered it, I probably would have been full for 24-hours and I never like skipping meals!
I appreciated that even after I had the waiter put my leftover two bites of pasta in a doggy bag that they still offered us dessert menus. The desserts sounded delicious, and I was tempted, but we opted to get the check for fear that we would be unable to stand if we ate anymore.
Eastern Standard is one of my favorite restaurants in Boston. Jeremy Sewall is an artist! Their menu has a large variety of dishes with an array of ingredients and prices. While I have yet to go for dinner, I can vouch for the outstanding breakfasts, lunches and brunchielunches. Maybe next time I go, I'll steal less fries and have room for dessert!
After pondering the menu for a while, I was set to order eggs. The past few times I dined at ES, I had a pastrami sandwich and since it was missing from the menu, I branched out. My dining partner had settled on the Croque-Madame. When the waiter told us the addition to the menu, I made a quick change and went for the homemade ricotta gnocchi with veggies and lamb sausage. I am a sucker for homemade pasta, and I figured the gnocchi would be the perfect substitute for all the bread I'd eat if I chose a breakfast option. We decided to balance the extreme carbs with a side salad.
After enjoying the fresh bread, butter and good conversation, the meals arrived. I started eating the perfectly cooked gnocchi with fresh almost crisp cauliflower, pea pods and tomatoes The gnocchi was seared on the outside and right amount of chewiness. I could not find the lamb in my dish. Not to worry though, because the waiter could not have been nicer when adding it. They re-plated my dish with the lamb sausage, so it went from being a gnocchi primavera to a unique combination of gnocchi, lamb and veggies. I hope that in the future they make both the pasta dishes available. While the lamb sausage added a lot of flavor and smokiness to the dish, it was just as good and even a little bit lighter without it.
The side salad was tasty. It was mesclun greens with a garlicky mustard vinaigrette Given the size of our entrees it was the perfect size to share. Sometimes at Eastern Standard, I find myself having the great salad versus french fry debate. The fries at ES are thin and perfectly crisp with some fresh herbs and the salad has those qualities with the added health benefits. At lunch we had our salad and fries too, because my dining buddy's dish came with fries.
The Croque Madam was beautiful. It was a layer of french toast topped with ham, cheese and a sunny side up egg and french fries. The dish looked to pretty to eat, and it tasted as good as it looked. The combination of sweet and savory was great. If I had to categorize it, I'd pair it with eggs Benedict because it had most of the same components. We joked about how big the dish was, yet it was devoured. I'm glad I got to try it because, had I ordered it, I probably would have been full for 24-hours and I never like skipping meals!
I appreciated that even after I had the waiter put my leftover two bites of pasta in a doggy bag that they still offered us dessert menus. The desserts sounded delicious, and I was tempted, but we opted to get the check for fear that we would be unable to stand if we ate anymore.
Eastern Standard is one of my favorite restaurants in Boston. Jeremy Sewall is an artist! Their menu has a large variety of dishes with an array of ingredients and prices. While I have yet to go for dinner, I can vouch for the outstanding breakfasts, lunches and brunchielunches. Maybe next time I go, I'll steal less fries and have room for dessert!
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Hawthorne Pot de Awesome
This is a somewhat impromptu post as I expected to just get a few apps when out for my friend's birthday last night at the Hawthorne, but wow, I got so much more. By so much more, I got a very tasty Caesar salad and the chocolate pot de creme for dessert.
The ladies around me had amazing looking drinks and got a few other apps. I decided given my low tolerance and the fact that it was a Monday night, I'd stick to apps and dessert. I tasted the potato skins which were really stuffed full fingerling potatoes. They were perfect and delish with bacon and a hint of mustard and cheese. I also tried the olives. The portion was large and the olives warm. My salad was perfectly chopped and dressed. I even forced myself to eat the anchovies. I think anchovies get a bad rep and are actually quite tasty.
I waited for a while for my dessert. I am notorious for going out and getting just dessert, but I figured I should fill up on something else first. The pot de creme was perfect and fulfilled my chocolate craving. My only wish is that I'd taken a picture. It was like rich chocolate pudding with salt and orange on top and really think rich whipped cream. The consistency was thick and creamy and the salt enhanced the chocolate. I don't usually eat orange rinds, but this dessert had some and they were shaved so finely, that I just ate them with the rest. For the prices I paid, I felt like the dessert was the most reasonable $9. While the salad could have been bigger for the $11. I will think about this dessert often and probably find myself at the Hawthorne bar often in search of it. I hope for the willpower to not visit more than once a week. Looking forward to next time I stop by where I'll pair it with a fancy drink or one of their large glasses of wine.
Next time you go to the Hawthorne for their signature drinks, check out one of the best desserts in Boston too. And if you feel like being nice, get a spoon or two to share it.
The ladies around me had amazing looking drinks and got a few other apps. I decided given my low tolerance and the fact that it was a Monday night, I'd stick to apps and dessert. I tasted the potato skins which were really stuffed full fingerling potatoes. They were perfect and delish with bacon and a hint of mustard and cheese. I also tried the olives. The portion was large and the olives warm. My salad was perfectly chopped and dressed. I even forced myself to eat the anchovies. I think anchovies get a bad rep and are actually quite tasty.
I waited for a while for my dessert. I am notorious for going out and getting just dessert, but I figured I should fill up on something else first. The pot de creme was perfect and fulfilled my chocolate craving. My only wish is that I'd taken a picture. It was like rich chocolate pudding with salt and orange on top and really think rich whipped cream. The consistency was thick and creamy and the salt enhanced the chocolate. I don't usually eat orange rinds, but this dessert had some and they were shaved so finely, that I just ate them with the rest. For the prices I paid, I felt like the dessert was the most reasonable $9. While the salad could have been bigger for the $11. I will think about this dessert often and probably find myself at the Hawthorne bar often in search of it. I hope for the willpower to not visit more than once a week. Looking forward to next time I stop by where I'll pair it with a fancy drink or one of their large glasses of wine.
Next time you go to the Hawthorne for their signature drinks, check out one of the best desserts in Boston too. And if you feel like being nice, get a spoon or two to share it.
Monday, September 24, 2012
Tasty Burger for delicious prices
After my positive experiences at some of the other restaurants in Franklin's restaurant group, I was dying to try Tasty Burger. There is something really fun about a walk to the Fenway area on a Sunday night to go get burgers and fries.
I had initially shied away from Tasty Burger because it looked like a fast food joint and while I'm budget conscious, I try hard to avoid chains when I can eat at more unique concepts. My take on Tasty Burger was that it was a great spot with fast service and super inexpensive prices. Most of there burgers were between 5 and 8 dollars. We chose to sit inside becasue we wanted table service and we found a table near the pool table and bar. It was funny to find myself at a burger place when I didn't actually want burgers. Not to worry, the menu was extensive with hot dog, vegetarian and turkey alternatives to red meat.
Between me and my dining buddy, we ordered a turkey burger-- lettuce tomato and guac and a blue cheese burger with jalopenos. The turkey burger was my favorite turkey burger that I've eaten out. There were pieces of onion and spices in the turkey burger. The bun was light and flluffy and the guacamole was chunky and fresh. I was told that the blue cheese jalopeno burger was great for those who like some heat and blue cheese.
We also ordered a half and half to share. It was fries and onion rings. The fries were good. The onion rings were great. They were the thin stringy kind with perfect amount of breading and crispy! I took the first handful of each before my dining buddy added malt vineager. I loved the fried indulgence with and without the malt.
One of the most exciting parts of the dining experience was the huge amount of condiments. They were all out on the table and offered a ton of free ways to sass up your dish. Next time I go here, I will save room for a coffee milk shake.
Overall, I was impressed by the tasty burgers that Tasty Burger provided and can't wait to go back and add a coffee milk shake to my order! The prices were cheap and I bet the restaurant draws a huge late night crowd. I thought the turkey burger was comparable to any that I've had before and better! My dining buddy enjoyed the burger and put it in a cateogry with In and Out. I think part of the schtick is to serve the food in baskets while wrapped in paper and I appreciate it. However, if they want to differentiate themselves in look from fast food joints they could serve the food in a more formal way if one chooses to sit inside. I would not do this, though at the expense of raising the prices of the burger.
I had initially shied away from Tasty Burger because it looked like a fast food joint and while I'm budget conscious, I try hard to avoid chains when I can eat at more unique concepts. My take on Tasty Burger was that it was a great spot with fast service and super inexpensive prices. Most of there burgers were between 5 and 8 dollars. We chose to sit inside becasue we wanted table service and we found a table near the pool table and bar. It was funny to find myself at a burger place when I didn't actually want burgers. Not to worry, the menu was extensive with hot dog, vegetarian and turkey alternatives to red meat.
Between me and my dining buddy, we ordered a turkey burger-- lettuce tomato and guac and a blue cheese burger with jalopenos. The turkey burger was my favorite turkey burger that I've eaten out. There were pieces of onion and spices in the turkey burger. The bun was light and flluffy and the guacamole was chunky and fresh. I was told that the blue cheese jalopeno burger was great for those who like some heat and blue cheese.
We also ordered a half and half to share. It was fries and onion rings. The fries were good. The onion rings were great. They were the thin stringy kind with perfect amount of breading and crispy! I took the first handful of each before my dining buddy added malt vineager. I loved the fried indulgence with and without the malt.
One of the most exciting parts of the dining experience was the huge amount of condiments. They were all out on the table and offered a ton of free ways to sass up your dish. Next time I go here, I will save room for a coffee milk shake.
Overall, I was impressed by the tasty burgers that Tasty Burger provided and can't wait to go back and add a coffee milk shake to my order! The prices were cheap and I bet the restaurant draws a huge late night crowd. I thought the turkey burger was comparable to any that I've had before and better! My dining buddy enjoyed the burger and put it in a cateogry with In and Out. I think part of the schtick is to serve the food in baskets while wrapped in paper and I appreciate it. However, if they want to differentiate themselves in look from fast food joints they could serve the food in a more formal way if one chooses to sit inside. I would not do this, though at the expense of raising the prices of the burger.
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