Sweet and Sour in Boston

Found this article and was going to add it as a link, but this deserves it's own post.

What a great idea. My quick gut reaction is that Wylie or Hubert Keller will win this thing. I'll be rooting for Rick Bayless, not only because he's originally an Okie, but because his food is dead honest and good and he seems like such a nice person. I'll root for Michale Schlow too because he's a local guy and Radius is a very nice restaurant in Boston.

Oh...I also forgot to mention: NP-freaking-H! You know this show will be legend-wait for it-dary!

My Wednesday tv watching now does not end after Better Off Ted. (Assuming Better Off Ted is still on the air in June...a big assumption.)

Random and funny links I'd like to share. (Not many food related ones.)

Found this food blog on Chowhound.(MC Slim JB)

I didn't know that menupages had a blog, and somehow our review of Hamersley's was linked in it! (MenuPages Blog)

Found from the same link posting as our review, someone else isn't all about Hot Tomatoes either. I thought I was the only one who didn't think it was the greatest. Give me Dino's any day! (Dish This!)

Wrong and funny! Rock Band Nirvana. (Penny Arcade)

My favorite comedian and one of my favorite basketball players. (youtube)

Toby Jones is back! (youtube)

The Times

Friday was the first day in Boston this year to hit 70 on the thermostat. I'm not really sure if it did hit 70 or not, but I would be damned if I didn't bust out the shorts and flip-flops and try to enjoy the weather after work. So I met up with a bunch of friends at The Times bar on Broad Street to bask in the sun outside on their huge patio area. Sadly, the sun disappeared quickly behind the tall buildings in the financial district and it might have been a little too bold to be only wearing a short sleeve shirt and shorts and flip-flops, but I was able to get some rays before it went away. In any case, it was nice to hang out with friends outside and play the finger-bang game.





As a bar, The Times is pretty good. I've always have had a good time coming here, whether it's to play some darts on a Saturday early afternoon when the bar is dead quiet, or when it's packed with the after work crowd. No real beer specials, with the Times Lager being $3.50, but the location and the patio make up for it. The food is pretty good too, being slight better than average bar food. The potato skins are the best item on the menu, being really large potato skins and their burgers are nice and juicy and cooked well.

Stone Meadow Golf Course

Located in Lexington, Stone Meadow is a par-3 golf course and driving range. Abby has never played before, and I wanted to dust off the clubs since I haven't played since last summer, so coming here on a partly cloudy day with nothing else to do was the perfect idea. We started out with a small basket of balls to get our strokes down at the driving range, where I immediately shanked a ball and got mud all over myself. Fantastic!

The par 3 course itself is a nice simply course with a few sand traps and one creek running through a few holes. Nothing longer than 90 yards or so. A good course for a complete novice in Abby and someone just trying to get back into the swing of things (no pun intended) in me. I missed a few birdies but managed to save par each time, and Abby even got a birdie chance herself. Fun times.

Stone Meadows wasn't packed, but there was some slow play ahead of us. This was fine because we weren't the fastest players either and didn't feel rushed at all.

After our golfing, we punched in the GPS to find a place to eat some lunch. Nick's Place sounded like a nice bar-type joint so we headed there. When we arrived however, Nick's Place turned out to be a roast beef restaurant. While not necessarily bad, neither of us were in the mood for roast beef. Next door was Ixtapa Mexican restaurant, so we went there instead.

Ixtapa

Mexican food is so hard to come by in Boston. Correction, "Good" Mexican food is so hard to come by in Boston. There are a few nice hole in the wall joints that we have been to that met my high standards, but nothing that is convienent for us to get to. Being out in the burbs, we had a chance to try out Ixtapa.

As we walk in I started thinking that Ixtapa would probably be like Acapulcos in Sudbury, and that's not a complaint.

We were seated in a booth and brought out salsa and chips. (The waiters were very nice, constantly saying "Mi amigo" to us whenever they refilled our waters or salsa.) The chips were salted and the salsa, while a bit watery, was fresh and light.

The menu at Ixtapa has all the Tex-Mex staples one expects. Burritos, fajitas, chimichangas, etc. Abby decided for the chimichanga with pork and I went with the Ixtapa Enchiladas, which was three different enchiladas: shredded chicken, shredded beef and jack cheese. Both meals were served with refried beans and rice.

I have to say, my enchiladas were very respectable and were very above average. I've been craving some good Mexican for the last couple of weeks, and this hit the spot. The refried beans and rice were tastier than average as well. Abby had nothing bad to say about her chimichanga, so I take it that she liked it.

While we were eating, we could hear children playing in the back. This helps makes the place for me. Family run Mexican places (similar to Acapulcos in Sudbury) are usually a lot better than corporate run ones. I wish this place was closer than Lexington because I'd be back, especially for their lunch menus during the week. Deals starting at $6.50. That was probably my only knock on Ixtapa. $13 for my enchiladas seemed a bit steep. If it was $10 or so, I'd think it was a pretty good deal.

I give Ixtapa a very strong 3 1/2 out of 5.



Wine Riot

To end our big Saturday, we went to the Wine Riot festival at the Cyclorama in the South End. We met up with our friends Heidi and Sarah and proceeded to drink a lot of different wines. This turned out to be a great time. I have a few new wines that I want to purchase (perfect for steak nights) and we had a lot of fun sampling the various wines. South Afria and Columbia Valley in Washington were the big winners in my eyes.

This being a wine event, there were tons of douchebags out and about. A big group of them decided to wear blazers over turtle neck sweaters. Man, were they losers. They tried to make it their own personal party and took over the center of the wine tasting area and started their own dance party. Normally things like this would bother me, but really, they weren't bumping into anyone and were just acting like asses and having a good time. More power to them. When the d-bags go a dancing, they gotta go dancing.

And I, myself, had to have a d-bag like moment too. There was this young lady in a very tight dress doing some sort of reporting. Abby and her cousin Annie have a thing for something called the "bumpit". (You can find more about this here.) This young lady reporter had hair that looked like it was modified with a bumpit. Well I had to go find out for them. Sadly, when asked, she said it was her own natural hair and she wasn't wearing one. For some reason, me asking her this just made Heidi and Sarah laugh hysterically. I feel bad if I was bother this young lady and her friends, but seriously, it's a simple, honest question.

The Wine Riot was fantastic fun. I do wish the food inside was free though. Some pieces of cheese or bread to go along with the tastings would have helped immensely. I just didn't feel like spending more money ($45 for a ticket to go in) once we started the tasting.

A couple of pics are found here and here.

Overall, a very fun Saturday.

Sorry for the late post, but here was how we celebrated Abby's birthday.

Hamersley's Bistro

We arrived to our reservations a few minutes early and had a drink at the bar while we waited. While waiting for our table, I told the bartender that this was our first time here and if the famous roast chicken was a necessary order. He said without a doubt, get the chicken. So we already knew what one entree we were going to order.

Once we were seated, our waiter, who looked like Horned Rimmed Glasses from Heoes (Noah Bennett) gave us our menus and took our drink orders.



On the menu was this picture of a chicken, once again informing us that we should get the chicken.




We started with the "Country Pork Pâté and Chicken Liver Mousse with Mustards, Pickles and Toasts" and the "Crispy Duck Confit and an Onion Stuffed with Duck Livers,
Tomatoes and Herbs … Brandy Sauce". The duck confit was crispy and savory and perfectly cooked. The brandy sauce, though, didn't really bring much to the table and we ignored it while we devoured the duck. (This became a theme for the rest of the night.) The pate and mousse were equally as good. Spreading the mustard and pate over the toasted bread made us quickly run out of bread. No matter, we just scooped the pate and mousse directly into our mouths. If they had 3 extra pieces of bread then it probably would have been fine. I'm actually pretty sure if we asked for more toasted bread, it would have came, we just didn't care.





For our entrees, Abby did get the roasted chicken, and I went with the “Coulotte” Steak. This is one of the only times in my life I will probably say this, but dammit, I really, really wish I went with the chicken as well. Not because the steak was bad, which in fact was not the case. The chicken was just that damn good. The steak was perfectly cooked and had a great peppery seasoning on it. The blue cheese butter wasn't to my liking, so I just moved that to the side. The fries were just two pieces of steak cut potatoes, which were tasty and crispy as well, if not lacking in amount. And the sauce that everything laid in didn't add anything to the dish. I would have preferred if the sauce was left off all together, because the steak was juicy enough on it's own.

But you don't want to hear about the steak, you want to know about the famous roast chicken and if it lived up to it's billing. Well, as you can already guess, it not only lived up to our expectations, but it exceeded them. The chicken was moist and juicy with a nice crispy skin. People say chicken can be boring and, as Bourdain says, is usually ordered by people who don't know what they want. This can not be further than the truth at Hamersley's. The chicken is probably the most exciting dish on the menu and is the one dish everyone HAS to order when you come here. Again, there was way too much sauce on the plate and while not un-tasty, just wasn't necessary. I don't know if this is how the plates at Hamersley's normally are, but next time I come, I'm going to ask for very little sauce if possible.

Hamersley's Bistro is as well known and as well thought of any culinary institution can be in Boston. This man has been doing roasted chicken for years and he has it down to perfectly. The dining room was comfortable and inviting and the waitstaff was extremely professional and courteous. The prices were actually better than I thought: not cheap by any means, but $27 for that roast chicken is in my eyes a bargain. I give Hamersley's Bistro a 4 out of 5.



Beehive

We were all set to go to Masa for brunch but when we arrived we were told that there was a party of 50(!) about to come in and they would not be able to seat us. Needless to say, I was disappointed. I wanted the huevos rancheros so bad...

We walked by the Beehive and saw they had a jazz brunch and we went in to see if we could get seated. Sadly, it would be about an hour to seat our party of 5...however, the bar area was wide open, so we sat down on the stools and were greeted by 2 great bartenders who were in extremely positive good moods. This makes a big difference sometimes between a decent meal and a great meal.



We were served free beignets because the bartender could tell this was our first time at brunch at the Beehive and he wanted us to experience them. Well done bartender, well done. The beignets were light and fluffy and sweet and very good. I wanted to take a photo before they were all eaten, but as you can see everyone in our group just absolutely devoured these wonderful pastries. Definitely order them if you go.



The menu for brunch sadly did not have huevos rancheros, but did have a few items that sounded tasty. One dish was the "Eggs Shakshuka", which is an African dish that has a creamy tomato sauce over polenta with three baked eggs on top. Annie was the only one in our group to order this, but I think we all secretly wanted to. Mike and I ended up getting the Poutine and Abby and Sam got the Eggs Benedict with smoked salmon and ham respectively.





None of us were disappointed with our meal. Everything was fantastic. The prices were a bit higher than I would have like by a dollar or two, but the service from the bartenders more than made up for it. I've been to Beehive before at night and while the music is good and the atmosphere fun, the waitstaff can be quite bitchy. We've had more than our fair share of run ins with waitresses giving us false prices on our drinks and forgetting to bring out drinks and treating us like crap. I was very, very happy to see that the Sunday Brunch crew (at least the upstairs bartenders) were very nice and knew what great service was. I give Beehive a very strong 3 1/2 out of 5.

Once again, been both too lazy and too busy to update the blog. Got a review of Hamersleys Bistro coming later today though.

Some images of fast food menu items compared with their advertisements. (Thispiggy.com)

Superfoods you should be eating. (Chicago Tribune)

Ruhlman has a new book out about the ratios in the cooking world. Doesn't it seem like every two months he has a new book? (Ruhlman.com)

Filed under strange: Kobe Bryant on Sesame Street. (FirstCuts via Deadspin)

While I may not truly hate Andrew Zimmern, I do agree with a few of these comments on this list. (Village Voice)

Cool video of Bourdain going to El Bulli. (bighospitality)

An article on Padma and her burger. (Electric Show)

The above commercial. (youtube)

An article on Banh Mi sandwiches. (NYTIMES)

Lemon square recipes from Michael Ruhlman. (Ruhlman)

Filed under the "If it ain't broke, why fix it" category: New Guinness. (Boston.com)

Old blog post I found about 5 hour energy. (Basketbawful)

Ludacris opened up an Asian restaurant in Atlanta. I think the name should have been "Rudacris"...(Straits)

So this year for lent I gave up fried food, fast food, and beer. I've cheated once, and that was when we were in Chicago. I wasn't going to not eat the duck fat fries. Whatever, Jesus still loves me. This was the only time I cheated and I didn't even eat it on Sundays (even though Mom, Chris, and Joey all say Sundays are allowed). Anyway, it's been a long 40 days. I haven't really missed the fast food seeing as how we don't eat it that often, but I've really missed the beer. For the last 2 weeks all I've wanted is a Pabst. I've missed it's, albeit light, golden color. It's superb flavor. And the fact I can drink a 6 pack of man cans on my own. I've also, surprisingly, missed fried chicken. Now I'm not a fried chicken connoisseur. It's not something I normally crave. But man, these last two weeks all I've wanted is fried chicken and a PBR.
Some might ask, why give up fried food and beer for lent. Well, I have to admit, part of it is definitely diet related. I have to fit into a wedding dress in T minus 4 months and I already have enough of a beer belly left over from college and post college partying days. Part of it too is that I really enjoy beer and french fries. Together or separate. The whole idea is to give up something you love a lot. Make a sacrifice. That, and I wasn't about to give up coffee...for my sake and my coworkers' sake.
I've been pretty good. We went to Tremont 647 and I ordered mashed potatoes instead of fries. Truth be told, I'm so glad I did. They are buttery and smooth and I ate them all. Next time we go, I'll definitely be ordering my potatoes mashed and not fried, lent or no lent.
Last week we went to Five Guys...or as I've been calling Nam Meh (hahaha I'm so funny). Anyway, I called my brother to tell him I was going and he's like "the fries are awesome". But when we were there I passed. There they sat in front of me in their brown paper bag. Hand cut. Glistening. And. I. Passed. I can also say, if it wasn't lent, I wouldn't have passed on them. What diet? So instead I sat there and watched JP eat them. Not gonna lie, I was kinda happy they didn't live up to his expectations. I didn't feel like I was missing anything. Don't get me wrong, I'll still order them next time. But for now, I didn't feel so bad.

We are going tonight for my birthday and I'm super pumped. I haven't even looked at the menu because I'm almost positive I'm going to go with the roast chicken. Though I am always tempted by duck...Seriously. Hamersley's and finishing the night at Sage with JP's Rum Punch. Looking forward to a great night.

Stay tuned for review and pictures.

So I've been kicking around this idea for a while about what restaurants/bars would I love to have in my neighborhood. Now I live in the South End, so there are already great restaurants and bars, but I find myself having cravings sometimes that just can't be satisfied with what's around me.

Let's start with the lowest of low end dining to the highest of high end.

There are days when I just need to have one of the following: gyros, hot dogs, shawarma, tacos or fried chicken. While I can get some form of any of those items in my neighborhood now, they just aren't as satisfying.

So from Seattle, I would love it if an Aladdin would open up right on Albany street. Hands down the best gyros ever, and also open until 4 in the morning. So many nights during my college years ended with me passed out on a couch with an empty Aladdin wrapper on me.

For hot dogs, it's gotta be none other than Hot Dougs. Our review can be found here. Hot dogs on the very finest, and on the cheap side.

In NYC, there's some shawarma place I've been to a few times that was knock your socks off delicious. I don't know where it was, or the name of it. However, Brookline's own Shawarma King wouldn't be a bad replacement. (I know there's some pita place opening up on Union Park and Albany, so maybe that will be my local middle eastern eatery.)

And I know many people in the South End will hate me for this, but dammit, I would love it if a Taco Bell/KFC hybrid would open up within walking distance from our condo. And that Taco Bell better serve the Chili Cheese Burrito I love so much.

Now no neighborhood would be complete without the great hamburger joint that all locals know about and tourists hunt down. For me, that has to be the greatest gastropub I've ever been in, The Spotted Pig. (Review here.) Tremont 647 has a good burger already in our neighborhood, but it doesn't quite compare to The Spotted Pig. A nicer bathroom will have to be included though. If I can't have The Spotted Pig, how about a Bukowski's? Not only will that quench my thirst, so to speak, for a great beer bar, but their burgers, especially before 8pm, are cheap and delicious.

Speaking of beers, I would also need a microbrewery in my ideal neighborhood. Once again, Seattle comes through for me: Big Time Brewery can easily be transported from the U-District onto Washington Street right? Their website lists all their different beers, but the best is Old Rip. My personal favorite beer. Add in the awesome shuffleboard table, and I think I've found my McClarens. (That's a How I Met Your Mother reference. And I'm so jealous that those lucky people have such a great bar right below their building.)

When gameday rolls around and I'm too lazy to fry up my own chicken wings, I'd drive myself to Brookline to get Wings Over Brookline. Their boneless wings are the greatest. They need to either widen their delivery area or open one up on Tremont Street.

Steaks...coming from Oklahoma, I know steaks can be big, juicy, tasty, and cheap. In Boston, you are not going to find cheap steak. It's impossible. What we need in the South End is either Cimarron Steakhouse or Cattlemen's Steakhouse. You telling me the people of Boston wouldn't want to go spend $20 and get a 25 oz porterhouse steak with two full sides? On the opposite end, sometimes you do need to go to a fancy steakhouse, and Boston for sure is not missing any of those. However, if you could get a restuarant similar to Peter Lugar on a quiet street like Shawmut, well there's your hidden jewel that is worth driving to.

While I can't see Thomas Keller opening a French Laundry or Per Se up in Boston, I could see him opening a Bouchon. Gaslight is in a similar mold, the warm inviting bistro, and is definitely one of the best restaurants in my neighborhood already...but it does not have the Thomas Keller name associated with it. You talk about economic stimilus right there, what with all those foodies coming in from all over to try out one of the world's greatest chef's newest place. You thought parking was trouble before...

I'm sure I'm leaving off tons of other places, and as you can see, my dream neighborhood would be a foodie mecca. If you lived here and could not find something for dinner that suits your fancy, well you probably are a vegan or vegetarian and I wouldn't want you in my neighborhood anyways. (I kid, I kid...I'm sure you can live off of the bean burrito at Taco Bell.)

It seems like ages since either of us has written on the blog. Not that there has been much going on lately other than work, work and more work. However, we did happen to eat at a few places, and here are some short quick reviews:

PICCO

Picco stands for Pizza and Ice Cream Company. Located on Tremont St, near the Center of the Arts, Picco is exactly what it's name entails: a pizza and ice cream joint. We came here on St. Patty's day, just a couple of hours after coming home from our trip to Chicago, and we were looking for a light snack and a dessert. We came in and sat at the nice, clean, big bar. The pizza and ice cream prices weren't exactly cheap, but not too bad either. I ordered the Brown Cow (a root beer float using Virgil Root Beer) for $5.50. Abby got the Raspberry Chip Milkshake. (Ok, I know you ass-backward people here in Boston call it a Frappe, but seriously, what the hell is a FRAPPE? It's a god damn milkshake! Get with it people!!!!! I was told a story about how when people order a milkshake at places they end up getting something similar to milk in ice that was shaken up or mixed together...that's just messed up!) We also ordered the Grilled Cheese Panini to share. A little sample of their freshly made homemade pasta in pesto arrived first. The chef was trying it out before he put it out on the menu. The pasta was very good, but I didn't like the pesto very much. The Grilled Cheese Panini, however, did not disappoint at all. Perfectly cooked with cheese melting off the side and the sourdough bread grilled nice and crispy, this was a sandwich one would crave late at night after 7 or 8 drinks. Hell, make it the next morning to help you recover from your hangover. It was decadent...a great, great sandwich. My root beer float was equally impressive and tasty. Virgil's root beer is some of the best root beer I have ever had, but sadly it's usually too expensive for me to justify buying a 4 pack at the store. The vanilla ice cream was nice and smooth with just the right amount of sweetness. You know what ice cream I hate? The "ice cream" at Coldstone...yuck. Way too sweeet, way to fake in texture...it's disgusting. The ice cream at Picco? The exact opposite. Well worth the price, and seriously, it's basically the same price if not cheaper than Coldstone. (Did I mention I hate Coldstone yet?) I like that they gave me the entire bottle of Virgil too. I didn't need all of it for the root beer float, so I had some leftover to enjoy on it's own. Abby's raspberry chip milkshake was another winner. The portions of both our drinks were quite large. If you were coming here for a dessert after a meal at another restaurant in the South End, I do not think you can go wrong. I want to come back and try the pizza for sure. I give Picco a 4 out of 5.



5 Guys Burgers

Located in Robert Kraft's playground, 5 Guys Burgers is a Baltimore based burger joint. We were hungry after walking around Wrentham buying tons of new kitchen toys with gift cards we had, so we headed over to Patriot Place to give this burger place a try. I didn't know what to expect, whether it was a sit down type of place or if you just ordered food and took it to go. I did hear their burgers were cheap and supposedly very good, as were their fries. So we walk in and there are 15 or so tables scattered through out the entrance, along with a nice counter bar situated right in front of the order/pick up line. We walk to the left and get in line. The menu isn't that diverse, which is nice. You have your burger, cheeseburger, and bacon cheeseburger. Simple enough. Though a little more than $5 for a bacon cheeseburger seemed pricey, and I was thinking I might have to get two to fill me up. I did like that all condiments are free, so on my bacon cheeseburger I got mayo, ketchup, pickles, tomatoes, lettuce and grilled onions. Abby got a cheeseburger with random nearly similar condiments as well. I also ordered some of their fries. While we stood there waiting for our burgers, I noticed that the meat patties looked thin. Maybe I should have ordered two burgers. Then I noticed that that all the burgers were actually double burgers. OK! I get it know...that is a decent price for a double cheeseburger with bacon. Our order arrives and we sit at the counter bar to eat. The burgers were very, very tasty. Nicely cooked with just the right amount of grease dripping off the burger as I lifted it up to bite down. This burger could definitely fill me up. The fries on the other hand...well they were good, but nothing special. I guess when everyone tells me how good these fries are, I was expecting Bouchon or Les Halles greatness. Sadly, they were just very decent fries, nothing else. 5 Guys Burgers is what it is and nothing more or less. I actually wish they had a location in South End. I'd go there from time to time if there was. I give 5 Guys Burgers a 3 1/2 out of 5.



Myers and Chang

We've talked about Myers and Chang many times before on this blog. Not sure if we ever given a real review of it though. This will be a short one though, because we went there for a late dinner (after 9pm) and weren't really starving. Basically, you will do no wrong with any item on the menu. It's fantastic and tasty throughout. Yes it can be a bit pricey, but I find it to be some of the best Asian food in the city. As always, we sat at the bar in front of the open kitchen. I love open kitchens and I love watching chefs and cooks working. The night we went, the kitchen was trying out a new item (a Korean "taco": braised short rib meat in a fried wonton wrapper) and the chef asked us our opinion on it. We told him we loved the dish, but that the fried wonton wrapper was a bit odd to eat. It didn't fry up nicely enough in a taco shape. He mentioned how he noticed people having difficulties trying to figure out how best to eat it. Joanne Chang was present, as she always is it seems. We even got to have a brief chat with her, where I asked her what her favorite spots in the city to eat were. Abby joked that she would say Radius, which got a laugh out of the baker/chef-extraordinaire. She told us of how whenever Chris and her go out to eat (Chris being Chris Myers) they get treated very well because they either know the chefs working or the front of house. Must be a great experience to go into a place knowing you are going to be getting their best any time you go to dine. Joanne Chang told us of how she was working on the Flour Cookbook, which will be a must own for us so Abby can make her raspberry squares (which Joanne Chang said were easy to make...maybe for her). Anyways, along with the "tacos" we got the green papaya salad and also the beef chow fun. Both excellent, with the salad seeming to be a little bit spicier than normal. My only complaint, and this was very rare for Myers and Chang, was that our waiter was really, really slow and seemed to not want to be there that night. We overheard the people next to us also complaining about our waiter. This is not to put a downer on the entire waitstaff though. Everyone else seemed to be rushing plates out and refilling waters and drinks and clearing tables at a 5-star rate. It was just our waiter on the night we went that seemed to be out of place. That won't stop us from going back though. Myers and Chang gets a 4 out of 5.