Sweet and Sour in Boston

Quick! What are your two favorite things? If you’re anything like me, those two things are BEER and BACON. So you can imagine my delight when I discovered eatBoston’s Beer and Bacon Festival! It started at 2 so at around 1:45 we walked over to the Trolley Barn and got into line. The line, btw, was ridic. Can’t say I’m surprised, who doesn’t love beer and bacon? We ended up getting into the barn around 2:30ish and by 3:45 the line had all but disappeared. So what to do first? Eat? Drink? We ended up drinking first because that was closest. We tried a tasty organic beer by Peak Organic and then made our way to Gaslight’s table for beignets dipped in mustard. SO tasty. Since we were in early enough, every table still had food. We tried pork belly BLTs, bacon with potato chips, and then my second favorite, chocolate covered bacon. Heaven. We made our way around and tried Fisherman’s beer from Gloucester, pork belly Viet syle from 51 Lincoln, beer from Moby D (“it’s just beer”), and then wandered around some more. We tried Myers and Chang’s “Banh Mi”.I wouldn’t consider it a banh mi, per se, but it was still very tasty and very spicy and the bread was right. This is where things begin to get fuzzy. I blame the Narragansett…We tasted these awesome steamed buns stuffed with egg, cheese, and bacon and topped with candied bacon. If I could eat these every day for breakfast I’d be a happy girl. I’d also, however, be the size of a house and probably die from cardiac arrest.
Next up, a giant line. What is this line? We have no idea, but since it’s long it has to be something good, right? We waited for an eternity…or at least after all the beers I’d had it felt that way. Seriously though, what are we going to eat? No one knows. And those walking by just keep saying, it’s totally worth it. We get to the line and it’s…RIBS! Scrumptious. I ate them in about 30 seconds all the while wishing I had more, but not wanting to wait in the line again.
We noticed Tiffani, the newest chef at Rocco, and Top Chef Season 1 finalist. I had heard she was the new chef and, to be honest, upon hearing it, I wasn’t that impressed. She was mean on that show and I wasn’t sure if her food could trump her attitude. Amazing what Bravo’s editing can make you believe. Anyway, so we see her table and try her bacon. It’s DELICIOUS and by far my favorite bacon of the night. It was perfectly cooked bacon, crispy with a bacon ranch horseradish (I think) aioli on top. We chatted with her for a bit and she was very pleasant. Now that niceness could be an act, but it was enough to make me want to at least try her cooking at Rocco.
We hung around a little bit more and ate and drank what was left. While standing there, we people watched and I found some of my favorite T-Shirts. The winners are:
3. A slab of bacon with a “Hello my name is Kevin” tag.
2. A hamburger with a voice bubble that says “I want to be inside you”
And then my favorite of the day:
1. Reelect Clay Davis – Maryland State Senate

While people watching, our attractive and hilarious friend Sarah laid eyes on a handsome chap. He was wearing a gray cardigan with a green and yellow design piping the button area. By the time she got up the courage to speak to him, he was gone! He was with a taller gentleman in, I believe, a blue shirt. If you are him, or know him, get in touch! You should meet my friend!

I definitely had a BLAST at BEER AND BACON Fest. I hope they have another one next year because I would definitely attend again! Thank you eatBoston for a great event!
I give it a 4.5 out of 5!

Photos:

Rewind a few weeks ago to San Francisco. Since I'm lazy and I don't update as much as JP, or ever really, I didn't write about my love for The Alembic. I found it on Yelp and Suzy and Co both said it was a great bar. Suzy's friend dropped us off so JP and I could put in our name. Now here's the best part...the hostess said "What's your phone number? We'll text you when your table is ready". What? Seriously? We don't have to wait around and try to stay out of the way? This bar is too cool for the buzzers, and plus you can't go very far. So, to me, this is the greatest idea ever. I can wander around Haight as far as I want because you'll text me when you're ready. Awesome. We ended up going back and finding 5 seats at the bar, but the texting is still a great idea. I highly recommend this bar. I had two of the best drinks I've ever consumed. See JP's review for pictures and descriptions.

OK back to the present. Yesterday was the first nice day of the year. JP and I were trying to figure out where to go to enjoy the weather so we settled on Freeport, Maine. They have outlets, it would be a nice drive, and JP had never been. Before we went we did what we always do, we looked up the area restaurants. One, Buck's Naked BBQ, came highly rated; it received 4 stars on Yelp. Never one to turn down barbecue, we decided this would be our lunch destination. 2 hours later we arrive at Buck's. I'm excited. I love pulled pork. JP tells me it's naked because it comes out bare, no sauce whatsoever. We walk in and they ask us if we want to sit at the table right by the door. We pass and decide we'd like to sit in the bar area. We're seated and I order a diet Coke. They only have Pepsi. Strike one.
We look over our menu and I decide on the pulled pork. I then get to choose two sides. Since I've given up fried food for Lent, I decided on the potato salad. I couldn't decide if I wanted the coleslaw or the corn bread. BTW, what BBQ place doesn't automatically provide corn bread? I thought it normally came with every order. It came with JP's meal, but I thought most joints will serve it with every order. I also decide to order a cup of the gumbo. It has pulled chicken, sausage, & crayfish. The waiter comes back and I order, but ask him what's better, the coleslaw or the cornbread. He looks at me like I have two heads and then makes a motion like flipping a coin and shrugs his shoulders. OK? So you, who works here, and, presumably, eats the food, can't tell me what is better? Maybe I was wrong to assume he eats the food. I can't say I would eat it if I worked there.
Gumbo comes. I remove the crayfish and give it to JP. He's been craving it for a while so I figured I'd share. My first bite is good. I tell JP if this is any indication we're in for some good food. Then I continue to eat. The pulled chicken is very tasty, but that's it. I keep eating and it's actually becoming more bland. How is that even possible?? I actually have to add salt and pepper, which is very rare for me.
Ding! Food is done. I can see them put up two dishes. And I can see them sit there. And sit there. Oh and sit there some more. The dishes were up there for about 3-4 minutes while numerous employees walked past. Strike two.
Food is eventually brought over. We test out the different sauces. JP likes the skinny sauce and I like mustard/vinegar based sauce.
So here's the thing, their whole restaurant is based off of being naked. So when your BBQ is naked, the bare meat should speak for itself. Buck's doesn't. Some bites of the pork were dry, others were juicy, but there was no flavor. It was bland. I found myself looking for flavor and having to add copious amounts of the provided sauce. I tried the potato salad. It too was bland, yet covered in mayonnaise. So I guess even the mayo was bland. OK so what's left? The corn bread. More like corn dead? Seriously. It wasn't good. It was dry. Again, I found myself wanting to add something. Everything they served made me want to add something. Their naked just wasn't good enough.
Eventually we paid and left. On our way out, the hostess didn't thank us for coming. Strike three.

The one plus was they give you huge portions at a good price. But do you really want a huge portion of not really great food? Yeah that's what I thought.

I give Buck's Naked BBQ, 1 out of 5.

Dude, do a guest post already. We're obv too lazy to update.

P.S. You smell :)

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 a few weeks ago we were watching Rocco's new show on A&E called Rocco Gets Real. I guess he has a new cookbook by the same name. One of the episodes was about a girl who wanted to make a birthday dinner for her Irish boyfriend. They start with a little background about the couple. Let's see. They've been together 9 months. And they've been living together for 3. Wait, what? Oh yeah...in Queens. This broad gave up her MANHATTAN APARTMENT to go live with her boyfriend of less than a year...in Queens. Yikes. So it's her boyfriend's birthday and she wants to learn how to make him Coddle which is also known as Irish Stew. Her reason is that he was talking about how only his dad will make it and that he misses his dad. She then states how she's surprising her man and flying his dad in for his birthday. Wow. Okay. Is it me or is this relationship super-intense? Since they haven't been together for even a year, this is the first time they're celebrating his birthday. More than likely it's not a big one (ie 30, 40, etc) because that would have been mentioned. Way to go all out for the first birthday together. How are you going to top this one genius? That's right. You're not. But for now you get to be on TV. And I get to watch Rocco cook. By the way, I think Rocco has TOTALLY redeemed himself from his younger days on "The Restaurant". He's charming, and yes he's still arrogant, but he knows what he's talking about.
So Rocco shows up and teaches her how to make coddle. Honestly, I really don't think she needs the help. She's not totally inept, but whatever. If she wasn't on TV I wouldn't have learned this recipe and I like it sooo...
Here's the recipe:
http://www.aetv.com/rocco-gets-real/video/index.jsp
You have to watch the full episode, but pick the second clip because that has everything you need. The printed recipe isn't online yet. After writing down the recipe, I had to make some adjustments. First I halved the recipe. There's only 2 of us, no need to make enough for 6. Next, I couldn't find Irish sausage (bangers). This might have to do with the fact I read an article about Irish sausage being recalled. I don't know about you, but every time I hear the word "bangers" I totally think of Mrs. Featherbottom...Since I couldn't find Irish sausage, I went with Italian mild sausage.
Also, I couldn't find Irish bacon. I read that it's similar to Canadian bacon, but I couldn't find that either. So I just bought pancetta. So in reality, I made an Italian-Irish stew. Whatever. It was still scrumptious.
The final thing I changed was instead of using hard cider (a 6 pack was $12 and I wasn't going to drink the remaining 5) I used regular cider. Quite tasty.
Overall it was a very easy dish to make. I think it took 45 minutes to prep and get everything cooking and I let it simmer for 3 hours.


Oh and if you want to cry like I did, watch the third clip when the boyfriend's dad shows up.


(Scroll down a few posts for pictures from this dinner! I'm too lazy to repost them in this entry)

So I know I'm getting to be an old lady when Top Chef is 15 minutes longer and I can hardly stay awake. Stupid Bravo. They totally didn't need to add those 15 minutes, they could have cut out those weird snippets they keep doing (mostly about Hosea the Hussy and Leah the Leper...as in, she's all over Hosea...). Anyway. They start off with their quickfire challenge and as Padma is standing there, Bravo conveniently edits Fabio giving her the once over :) I wish he'd give ME the once over...but only if his name was John Paul. So they do this tasting and it ends up being Stefan who loses to Hosea. Great. Hosea is around for another week. Ugh. Then they find out they're going to be catering Gail's bridal shower. They get into teams of "Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue". According to Yahoo the phrase has this origin: http://ask.yahoo.com/20031027.html
JP previously wondered if I'd use the phrase at our wedding. More than likely. Oh, and the something blue can be anything (flowers, handkerchief, dundies). Anyway, they break up into teams and try to figure out what to cook. Something New and Something Blue definitely have the hardest task at hand. Something blue kept talking about the ocean and blue and I kept yelling at my TV..."USE BLUE FISH!!" but did they listen? No. Idiots. I blame Leah. Everyone goes to the kitchen to prep and we find out exactly what everyone is going to make. Honestly, this elimination challenge isn't that exciting. Booooring. The next day they head to Manhattan to Gail's "bridal shower". Seriously? Where are the presents??? Where are all the ribbons on the presents?? How will she know how many children she's going to have if she doesn't have any ribbons to break??? And if there aren't any ribbons, how will she make her fake bouquet for her rehearsal? And really ladies (read: PADMA), where is the cake?? This bridal shower SUCKS.
Everyone presents their food. Jeff's sorbet is loved. In yo face Stefan. Jamie's carrot mixture thingy is a hit, but stupid Ariane's lamb is an even bigger hit. WTF. Seriously. She hasn't proved she can cook anything. John Paul makes a fabulous turkey. I'm sure I could make a tomato salad with my eyes closed. And Joey makes fantastic lamb (or so I'm told because I hate the stuff). All of us aren't chefs. And we don't belong on Top Chef. Neither does Ariane. She really hasn't proved herself at all. Making the basics isn't going to win the competition. Kick her off already.
Team New fails miserably and for a little bit I'm scared my beloved Carla and Eugene are going to be sent home...
Team blue presents their lackluster fish (which totally would have been better if they did a BLUE FISH). Too bad Fabio's charming personality couldn't save their team from the bottom 2.
At judges table Carla doesn't throw Danny under the bus. I believe she is the ONLY person in TC history to keep her mouth shut even though she's not the one who messed up the dish. Kudos Carla. Kudos.
The judges discuss and the Blue team is safe. Bummer. I was hoping Leah would get sent home. Or that other girl with the bangs. Who is she again??
In the end Danny is sent home. He likens his being sent home to a ref making a bad call in a football game. Sadly, he is wrong; the fans will not be booing because you are gone Danny.

This is my very very brief recap of Top Chef from last week. Leah sucks. Seriously. She's just getting on my nerves. I think she talks too much and she acts like a know it all. I don't care that you know what everything is, keep it to yourself. Stop acting like a not so amuse(ing) douche. I'm still in love with Fabio. He's my number one. I'd like to see it come down between him, Crazy Carla, and possibly Jamie...although Danny is starting to grow on me. Did anyone else immediately think of Fozzie Bear when Danny yelled WOCKA after he finished his segment? I dig it. Ooh David Dust can refer to him as Straight Fozzie Bear instead of Straight Danny Bear! He's still a bear!! Anyway...stupid Arianne made a stupid salad and stupidly beat everyone else. WTF people! You're going to let Arianne beat you on TWO challenges? STEP IT UP PEOPLE! Rewind just a min, it comes down to the top 3 being Jeff, F<3bio, and Arianne. The bottom 3 are Jamie, Melissa, and Alex. So the top 3 are woken up at 2am and then brought to the Today Show. They prep their food and then their food is given to the ladies of the show. I only recognize the lady from the View and then Kathy Lee Gifford. The Cheftestants aren't allowed to actually give their presentations. I believe in my heart that if they were actually allowed to give their 2 minute shtick Fabio totally would have won. How would they not vote for him? SO dreamy. Even Jeff would have done better than Arianne. No way would they have voted for Jersey. The ladies try each piece and Kathy Lee the annoying drama queen must have felt that she wasn't garnering enough attention and totally spit Jeff's out. I'm guessing if she had met Jeff, there's no way she'd ever spit anything of his out...
Onto the bottom three...the night before they have j-table Melissa is outside with Hoseya, Leah, and I'm not sure who else. Anyway, Leah keeps telling Melissa to make sure she stands up for herself and let the judges know she wants to be there. Melissa agrees and totally says she's going to do just that. HELLOOOOO have you NOT watched the last 4 seasons??? NEVER listen to anyone who has immunity. Dumbass. Guess it works out in her favor though because she gets to stay another week and Alex is sent home to his (almost) bride. Best wishes man.

Next week...Padma is conveniently throwing a bridal shower for Gail and letting the Cheftestants cook...whatup free food?

What does a girl do on a free day off? She puts her pjs back on, plops down on the couch, and begins an entire day of trashy tv watching. I've been semi productive today, applied for a credit card (yay for wedding debt!), got the heat fixed, and did some laundry. Now I'm attempting to be witty and informative in a stellar new blog post.

First things first...
David Dust commented on JP's Top Chef recap. I, in turn, read his. He's HILARIOUS. I suggest reading his blog for all things Top Chef...after you read ours of course. He and I might have to battle it out for Fabio's undying love. I have a feeling he'd win...

This week on TC, Padma wore a heinous denim skirt. Fabio has completely gone from secret crush to full on crush. (I think JP likes Steffan better) I don't care if people think Carla is crazy, I still like her. And Jersey needs to pack her knives and (as I quote HIMYM) "crawl into the open sewer pipe you call the Holland Tunnel and flush [yourself] back to "'pretty much New York'"
I loved that they were allowed to cook at Craft. CraftBar was amazing when we went there so I can imagine the kitchen in his main restaurant is fantastic. Lucky bastards. I also LOVE that they have to cook for bitter TC losers from NYC. I knew from the moment they aired the losers, we'd hear how each of them could have done better, blah blah blah...but you didn't so shut yo face losers. Making statements how you're better isn't going to get you on the show in place of the current cheftestants. Get.Over.It.

Onto this weekend's festivities. We headed to Michael and Samantha's to eat some yummy Thanksgiving food. The turkey was fab...as well as the "outside the bird" stuffing. I can't attest to the inside the bird stuffing because I didn't eat it. Hey, AB said it can contain salmonella, and while I could stand to lose another 10 lbs, I don't want to have food poisoning for Turkey Day. I made them an apple pie, which everyone said was tasty, but it wasn't as good as the previous two I made. I couldn't get the crust to work with me. So hopefully the one I make for Thursday will taste better. It may have been because I ran out of shortening...hmmm.

For John Paul's birthday I bought him the Thanksgiving issue of Gourmet Magazine. After going through it he picked out an ad for McCormick Saigon Cinnamon. They had a recipe for "Molten Spiced Chocolate Cabernet Cakes". I didn't have any souffle dishes so we went to Bed Bath and Beyond and with my 20% coupon, I bought a 4 pack for less than $7 (score!)
The recipe is as follows (SO easy to make) and makes 4 servings:
4 oz semi-sweet baking chocolate (I used nestle semi-sweet chocolate chips) Also, 4oz is equal to 2/3 of a cup.
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 tbsp Cabernet Sauvignon or other wine (I used whatever red wine I had already had open)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup confectioners' sugar
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
6 tbsp flour
1/4 tsp Saigon Cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger

Butter 4 (6-oz) custard cups or souffle dishes. Place on baking sheet.

MICROWAVE chocolate and butter in large microwavable bowl on HIGH 1 minute or until butter is melted. Whisk until chocolate is completely melted. Stir in wine, vanilla, and sugar until blended. Whisk in eggs and yolk. Stir in remaining ingredients. Spoon evenly into prepared dishes.

BAKE in preheated over at 425 degrees F oven 15 minutes or until sides are firm but centers are soft. Let stand 1 minute. Loosen edges with knife. Invert onto serving plates. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar, if desired!

They're yummy and tasty and I'll upload pictures later :)









Next post will be after Thanksgiving :) Hope you all have a happy one!

So we're pretty much old people right now. Although I'm not sure if that's even true because my grandparents are in their 80's and they stay up until at least 11pm every night. Anyway, we had every intention of staying awake for the Top Chef premiere. But around 9:45 we gave in. So very lame. But we will be watching tonight! (I love tivo!) and will post with our updates tomorrow or over the weekend!

I too read/am reading the bios for the new chef-testants of Top Chef. I'm a huge fan of this show and I really hope this season is similar to Hung's season (Hung = <3). Last season was very disappointing and I hope Bravo redeems themselves (itself?) with a better season. Now I'm not a chef, but I am snarky and judgmental so I'm the perfect viewer. I'm the person that will quickly point out who sucked, even though if I were in that same situation I would suck/panic. Then again, I wouldn't actually put myself in this situation sooo...
Back to the judging.
I'm reading each person's bio as we speak. Or, really, as I write. I've just read Alex's. His stance makes him seem kind of d-baggish, but I'm excited that he loves to cook all things duck. Plus he was born in Madrid and all Spaniards are cool in my book, so now he gets to stay for another week.
Onto Ariane. I'm not sure if it's the lavender pants or the fact that she has a "4 star" restaurant...in, uh, Jersey... but I'm not a fan. We'll see if she makes it another week. Next!
Carla loves to cook with bacon and also loves to bake pies. We could pretty much be the same person. I like her already.
Danny is 26 but looks like he's 46...his motto is kind of lame. He's from Long Island and could possibly be the next "Joey from New York". We'll have to stay tuned to see if they're actually alike.
Fabio is from Italy, is opening a place to help kids, and is William Shatner's personal chef. 3 reasons to hate him, but I kind of like him. He might be my secret crush. We'll see.
Gene might be my favorite. He's self taught and worked his way up. His chain is ugly, but that can always be removed.
Jeff worked under Norman Van Aken. His restaurant is name DiLido. John Paul says he will forever be known as "dildo". I hope he stays around so we can keep referring to him as "dildo"
Lauren seems lame. And the fact that she works at the most "luxurious steakhouse in Cincinnati" is almost laughable. Maybe she'll prove me wrong, but I'm guessing she'll be one of the first to go.
Leah loves pork. I love pork. I hope she's not boring because I like her!
Patrick is from Quincy so I'll automatically cheer on another Masshole. I hope he doesn't, like all other Mass people on TV, make us look like jerks!
Radhika seems eclectic and likeable. I like how she describes her style of cooking as "globally eclectic with a huge spoonful of love." A huge spoonful of love!! How could you not cheer for her?
Stefan frightens me. Yikes! He looks scary. I would not want to cross him! It might be my fear, but I kind of like him. I hope he kicks some ass!
Hosea, Jamie, Jill, Melissa and Richard aren't exciting enough. They all seem easily forgettable.

So that's my breakdown. I'll update later this week to see if I was correct with any of my predictions.

I’ve been slacking for a while now so I figured it’s time to update. My last blog post was about our trip to LA for Suzy and Co’s wedding. The weekend after was the bye week for Oklahoma football. The Sooners got a break, so John Paul let me pick what we wanted to do for the day. I thought about it for a little while and decide to be nostalgic and head to the Cape Ann area which my family visited a few times when I was a kid. Once JP said it was cool with him (rising gas costs and all), I thought of different places we could go. Immediately I wanted to go to Hammond Castle and Woodman’s of Essex. Hammond Castle is this awesome castle John Hammond built. It’s $10 per person to get in and has a lot of cool artifacts to look at. Not to mention JH was a crazy bastard and had a few tricks up his sleeve when designing this cool place. I won’t give anything away though; you have to go see it for yourself. Before we left in the morning we made a game plan. We decided to hit Woodman’s first. The last time I went here I was 11 and didn’t eat seafood. I remembered the onion rings were yummy…and boy where they! We decided to split a shrimp plate so we would have more room for yummy seafood later on in the day. The plate came with a side of fries and onion rings (!). We order, grab some h2o, and find some seats. After a little bit our food comes and it’s just as glorious as I could have hoped. The onion rings were very tasty and the shrimp was delectable. Deep fried and scrumptious. The tartar sauce was fantastic. Normally the tartar sauce I have is made with sweet relish, but this was with made with dill. Again, so good!! After eating we head over to Hammond Castle. After we walked around there for a few hours, we decided to head to downtown Rockport. We walked around for some time and decided to get lobster. I’m not a huge fan, but John Paul really wanted it, so we decided to split one. Holy f*ck! Seriously. The only way I can explain it. It was one of the best things I’ve ever eaten. (Roy Moore's...go eat there!) I swear tears were brought to my eyes. After that we walked around some more. John Paul proposed and we went home and celebrated!
***
I recently found a recipe from the nutritionist at my gym. It was for a maple glazed salmon. I love salmon and I love maple so I figured the combo would be tasty. Went to Foodies and bought salmon and the maple. Note: if you decide to make this, hit the local Stop and Shop or Shaws. I love Foodies, but their maple syrup will run you at least $10; it’s very tasty, but not entirely budget friendly. Here is the recipe:

Serves 4 People … Prep time: 5 mins...Cooking time: 20 mins
Ingredients:
Maple Glaze:
2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar or balsamic
2 T. organic sugar (I used regular sugar)
1/2 cup maple syrup (I ended up using more because it didn’t taste mapley enough)
1 T. hot sauce
1 T. finely diced onion
1 tsp sea salt
White pepper to taste

Grilled Salmon:
4 salmon fillets
1 t. olive oil
Salt & pepper

Cooking Instructions:
**Glaze: Heat vinegar and sugar over medium heat until mixture boils. Add maple syrup, hot sauce, and onion and bring to boil. Lower heat, simmer one minute and remove from heat. Add salt and pepper to taste.
***Salmon: Preheat grill. Sprinkle salmon with oil, salt, & pepper. Grill salmon for 5 minutes preside (don’t char). Place salmon on platter. Brush with maple glaze.
Calories: 326
Fat: 8 grams total
Salt: Optional
These numbers might change since I added more maple syrup…

***
Wedding #5 this year…Oklahoma City! Jason + Sigy = TL4E! (true love 4 ever!)

Not many people I know (save for those from OKC) can say they’ve ever been to Oklahoma once, let alone 3 times. While it might not be a likely tourist destination, it is definitely starting to grow on me (but not so much that I’d move there…ever). Things I love about Oklahoma…the people are very nice. It’s strange to go into a place of business and have the staff actually be genuine and friendly. It’s a nice change from being here. Last year John Paul showed me an article from the New York Times about Oklahoma having the best Viet food in the USA. JP took me took me to Pho Hoa. It was great! We were seated immediately. Our pho came out fast and our café sua dat was very tasty. In all reality (save for JP’s mom and di loan’s) this was the best pho I’ve ever had. I swear they put nutmeg in there. There was that something extra that made me go hmmm … In a good way. Amazing. I wanted to go back before we left but there wasn’t any time. Maybe next year.
Another amazing aspect of OK is the fast food. Braum’s and Sonic are two places I wish were up north…especially Braum’s. They serve amazing chocolate shakes, yummy burgers, and DIET DR PEPPER on draft!
To finish my mini ode to OKC, I will also give two other reasons I love it there…1 you can shoot people who are on your property! No joke. And when they try to sue you, the judge laughs at them and throws their claim out of court! And 2.Oklahomans hate Texass. I thoroughly enjoy when people are passionate about their favorite team. After 3 years of dating, I’ve learned to hate burnt orange and longhorns.

***
Not like I post as often as JP, but I’ll probably be posting less since we’re in the beginning stages of wedding planning. I will, however, try to update whenever we have a menu tasting. Wedding food is notoriously bad and I’d love to let you know how truly bad it really is.

I’m about due to post a blog / review. Since we’ve been traveling and have been super busy I’ve been leaving it up to JP (read: I’m lazy) to post since we basically felt the same way about the places and food we were eating.
The other day as I was walking to work, I noticed the amount of leaves on the sidewalk. How did that happen? How are the leaves already falling? Isn’t it still the end of June? It feels as though we just moved into our new home; how is it back to school and Halloween? How is it already football season? Didn’t we just win the NBA Championship a few weeks ago? Where has the time gone? Don’t get me wrong, I love fall. I love pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin beer, pumpkin risotto, apple pie, and football. Now that I’ve remembered how easy it is to bake an apple pie from scratch (http://www.myhomecooking.net/apple-pie/), I’ll hopefully have time to bake some more. So over all I’m happy it’s fall, but I’m still wondering how it showed up without even a warning. It could be due to the fact we had 6 weddings to attend this year (one in South Carolina, one in the Berks, one in Newport, one in Santa Monica, one in Oklahoma City, and the last one is in the Berks). These weddings have been gauging where we are in the year, as most of them have fallen on major holidays (Memorial Day, Fourth of July, etc). The latest ones are during college football season, the worst kind of sin in John Paul’s eyes. Keeping with the “where the hell has the time gone” idea, I can’t believe we’re in the “home stretch”. The last one we went to and the next one were/are the two I looked forward to the most; not because I liked the people any better, but because the areas we were going are known for food. One might be surprised that I’m saying Oklahoma is known for food, but if you’ve read JP’s earlier blog, you’ll know there’s a huge Vietnamese section, but even if we can’t make it there, we can (hopefully) go to Di Loan’s and have some of her pho. Yum!
While in Santa Monica & (BEAT) L.A. for Suzy and Co’s wedding, I was able to try various foods I had never had before, mainly, Pink’s, L.A. style tacos, and Bo 7 Mon. Everything was amazing. Who knew that sour cream on a hotdog would be so tasty? I might actually start doing that at home. The tacos were heaven. I’m glad they were authentic. They were also made with corn tortillas (my favorite!). It all tasted so fresh. I’m still trying to convince John Paul we need our own taco man…who lives with us. Bo 7 Mon was something I’ve never had before. It’s similar to hot pot where you are brought raw food and you’re allowed to cook it yourself. I enjoyed it more than hot pot. The beef was tasty as was the shrimp and other fish (they say it was catfish but I don’t believe it). After the meat or fish is cooked on the sizzling dome shaped cook thing, you assemble it into a rice paper wrapper with pickled veggies, bean sprouts, and various sauces. It’s very tasty and quite fun.
To rewind by a few days, back to Friday to be exact, John Paul had to run to Cau Tuan’s house in L.A. to help out his mom with some last minute wedding errands. All the kiddies went to the beach and I opted to help Suzy and Tina also pick up some last minute items. After finishing our errands we decided to eat lunch. Since we were in Culver City, Suzy suggested Father’s Office (http://www.fathersoffice.com). We find parking and head on in. Immediately we’re carded (BONUS!); the bouncer explains since they’re a bar at all times, they card everyone. Oh, so it’s not because you think I look younger than 21? Dang…
We sit down outside and after a few minutes realize we’re supposed to order up front. We head up front and order. Suzy explains they give you a lot of food so we settle on 2 cheeseburgers and a basket of sweet potato fries. I’m not normally a fan of sweet potato fries, but when the other two women you’re with are a bride the day before her wedding and a pregnant woman, you’re basically doing anything to keep them as stress-free as possible. Not that me wanting regular fries is the end of the world, but it’s little things people. Tina ordered a non alcoholic drink (root beer I believe) and Suzy and I ordered a local Hef.
We decide to sit inside and find a seat in a side area. We chat, watch some ESPN, and wait for our food. It takes a while for our food to come out, but that’s okay since we munched on some Chex Mix and pretzels while running errands at the Target down the street. Once our food comes out I notice the burgers aren’t huge per se, but they sure do look pretty. Our fries are there too. They show up in an adorable mini deep fry basket. Super cute! Suzy said they sometimes come out in little shopping carts too. Again, super cute! We dig in. Heaven. The burger is perfectly cooked, the gruyere is melted and super tasty, and the brioche bread is a lovely touch. I try a sweet potato fry. Oh wow. Seriously. Are they always this good? If so, I’ve been missing out for years. They’re accompanied by a dip, it’s some sort of aioli. Shoot. I’m so kicking myself for not eating these before.


We finish our food and there is one half of a cheeseburger remaining, along with a handful of fries. Better not waste the food so we get it to go. They give us a Chinese food takeout box for our leftovers. It barely fits the food, but we manage. Sadly, there’s no room for the deep fry basket. Stealing one of those will have to wait until next time.

I give Father’s Office 4 out of 5 stars.

Thanks to Abby and JP for letting me guest blog. Also, many thanks to Abby for an amazing birthday dinner!

We started off the evening at a free concert at Government Center. It was the English Beats, a very fun band that my boss likes. There was so much awesome old white people dancing, I mean, they were just letting lose, shakin' it with abandon. However, they didn't start until pretty late, so 3 or 4 songs in, Abby and I were STARVING so we had to say goodbye to my boss and leave. We headed to the North End.

Now, I have a very big problem with making decisions, so Abby and I strolled the North End for awhile checking out menus. I knew I wanted seafood/Italian. I had in my head a dish called cioppino. It's like a stew of seafood in a tomato broth, so I kept my eyes open for that, but didn't see it on the first 4 or 5 restaurants we checked.

Then we happened upon 5 North Square and the creepy old man/maitre'd standing outside told us to check out the menu. They had cioppino on the menu, and it said it was their specialty, so I was sold. We went in and were shown to a cute table for two. The service overall was very friendly and relatively attentive. It was strange, because they were absolutely not rushing us. We weren't exactly sure what we wanted at first, so we ordered an app, and then it wasn't until after we got our app and ordered wine that they even took our entrée order.

For the appetizer, we got the pomodoro. Thick slices of tomato topped with prosciutto, fresh mozzarella, and basil, on a plate of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, with roasted red peppers on the side. Just…wow. Everything was very fresh and very tasty.

We ordered a bottle of Chianti, which was very good. I don't remember what it was called, but we enjoyed it. We had to wait awhile for our entrees, but luckily I had good wine and good company, so it wasn't that big of a deal. The restaurant is small and quiet, and very conducive to conversation. A little too quiet almost, since sometimes our conversation can border on the inappropriate!

Finally our dishes arrived. Now, before when I've gotten cioppino, it's been a bowl of seafood and broth, with maybe some rice on the side, or a piece of bread. Now, this time, they set a bowl of heaping seafood in front of me. On the menu, it said that it came with a side of linguine. I imagined a small bowl of pasta on the side that I would ignore. I didn't expect a whole other platge of pasta also topped with seafood. It was like two meals in one! A veritable bounty of seafood: mussels, clams, scallops, shrimp, calamari, and a crab leg. The seafood was AMAZING. Everything was perfectly cooked and tender (especially the calamari--just spot on texture-wise). The broth was just extremely flavorful, slightly spicy, and amazing. I have to admit, I ate almost the whole thing! There was some pasta and maybe a few mussels left. I felt kind of bad since Abby probably has 2 days of leftovers from her puttanesca! But not that bad. It was amazing.

After our plates were cleared, and we sat finishing our wine, we were brought a complimentary tiramisu since it was my bday. This too was very good. Moist and tasty, and either semisweet or bittersweet cocoa powder sprinkled on the plate kept it from being too sweet. All in all, I couldn't have been happier. Granted, we were a little taken aback by the pace of the meal, but I think this was just a matter of NOT being rushed as opposed to poor service. I would definitely come here again—I left completely satisfied. Good portions, nice staff, nice atmosphere. Thanks again, Abby!



I'm at work right now, but when I get a chance this weekend I'll upload our pictures! ~Abby

Sorry this has been delayed, but I really just didn’t want to remember my meal at Sel De La Terrible. To be fair, it definitely wasn’t worse than the British Beer Company. Also, I wrongfully assumed it was a seafood restaurant. So sue me, it’s right by the aquarium and there are fishies on the building.
Since it’s been a few days you’ve all probably read JP’s posting. We walked in and were greeted by no less than 6 people. I was actually overwhelmed. And stated so. They laughed. I’m not sure why. Seriously. When I was a server we were never allowed to stand around together looking not busy. Cardinal sin. We walk away and are seated. Immediately our waiter comes over asking us if we’re ready to order. Now this isn’t cool for a few reasons. One, he was one of the 35 people standing at the front door so he knows we’ve just been seated. And (B), he followed us over and I actually watched him watch us sit down. He clearly knows we didn’t even have time to open a menu. Dude. Relax. I know you guys want to turnaround a huge crowd tonight, but let me at least take off my coat.
We order drinks and food. I get the tomato soup with grilled cheese, the blue fish, and the puff pastry with caramel ice cream. John Paul ordered the oysters, steak, and some chocolaty dessert.
Loud dude has since left and now JP and I can talk about him. Dude, what was with him? Was he wasted or just that loud of a person? I feel bad for his date. Yikes. A little bit further into our conversation I notice something funny…our waiter is counting money on a table near ours…like actually ON the table. Eww. Dirty money does not belong touching a table! Also, why are you counting it in front of patrons? Take it in the back. This is supposed to be a nice restaurant!
Food comes. Tomato soup is delish. Finished it and craved more. Was very creamy and I was able to taste basil. There were also scallions cut up and sprinkled on top for garnish. They added a nice bite. Hopes are now high. If the rest of my dinner is as fantastic as the soup, I’ll be the happiest girl.
Sadly, the fantastic meal ended with the appetizer. My blue fish came out. The fish had at least 3 bones in it. Eww. Yes that happens every now and then, but three? Ick. Also it was in this nasty broth. The broth actually made me feel ill. Yuck. There were two positives about the dish, the portion of fish (HUGE!) and the corn. The corn was amazing. I tried JP’s steak and wish I had ordered the same. It was perfectly cooked and melted in my mouth. Damn I hate ordering wrong.
Dessert arrives and I notice our ice cream is melted. John Paul thinks it’s because the pastries we have it with are so warm it’s melting the ice cream. Unfortunately his assumption is incorrect. Our pastries are cold so that means our food has been sitting out for quite some time. Man that always makes me sad. I like when my food is served at the correct temperature. Points off again…or shall I say dollars off our waiters tip…that’d be a more appropriate statement.
Finally it’s time to pay. Now if only we could find our waiter…don’t you love it when your waiter is up your arse the entire night, until it comes time to pay the bill. Yeah I love that too.

Since we tried Sel De La Terre during restaurant week I admit I have some concerns. I wonder if it would have been better if we had tried it when it wasn’t restaurant week. Yet, I also wonder if it would have been just as crappy and now we’ve saved ourselves some money by getting it at a restaurant week price. The world may never know, or at least I won’t because I don’t plan on returning any time soon.

I give Sel De La Terre 2 out of 5.

I can’t remember the last time I actually had to wait to be seated at a restaurant. Nowadays JP and I are so open-table savvy we just make reservations and then head out at our designated time. Also, we rarely eat at chain restaurants, or chain-like restaurant in this case. I’m suddenly remembering why this is such a rare occasion. I think JP mentioned this in an earlier blog, but when we first started dating I used to LOVE Olive Garden. My friends and I would travel far and wide for their amazing, never-ending breadsticks and the reasonably priced “authentic Italian food” (they learned from real chefs in Italy!!). I’d never had Italian food so yummy. I, of course, was wrong. Very, very wrong. I’ve since changed my opinion about my formerly beloved O.G., along with all the other chain restaurants. Now British Beer Company, or BBC as I’ll call it from now on because I’m too lazy to type out the entire name, is not a chain restaurant. At least I don’t think it is. Which is good. Because if there is more than one of these around, I’d be worried. This is not a restaurant one wants duplicated in various areas. To put it plainly, it sucks. It’s not a good restaurant. It could be because they’re new and not used to crowds and how to properly turn over a restaurant, I’m not sure. All I know is, I would never eat here again.
We walk in and we’re told the wait is 45 minutes. Fine. I can see that there are 40 + people waiting, so 45 minutes seems reasonable. However, about 15 minutes in (and half a beer later) I notice 2 tables open in the bar area. Wtf? Why aren’t people being seated there? JP and I converse a little longer and still, no one is sitting there. Again, wtf? I’m impatient, this I can admit. So after 15 mins of the tables being left open, I go to the hostess stand in the other room and ask if I see open tables in the bar area, if we’re allowed to sit there. She says no, but they’re working on filling them. Working how? By leaving them open for 20 minutes? You have how many people waiting you should know exactly when tables are free so you can seat people quickly. Duh. I, head back to where JP is standing, sad that the two tables remain open…for ANOTHER 5 or 10 minutes.
Right around the time when we’re trying to figure out if we should get another beer, a beer drops, I scream, JP yells, white people laugh at the funny Asian man. Maybe he’s right, maybe he should do stand-up. He’s definitely funnier than Dat Phan.
Heading over to the bar we meet random men from, what I assume, is North Carolina. They have funny accents. They actually use their “r” too. Huh. Strange. Anyway, we chat with them for a while. Trying to figure out how long they’ve been here waiting. Their answer: 3 beers. Crap! We’re only starting on beer number 2; it’s going to be a long night in the ‘burbs. Taking a look at the beer menu, JP notices they do have Boddingtons (why was that bartender such a liar?). He decides on that. I decide on the Fullers Golden Pride. Now we wait. Why, because now no bartender will take our order. Again, wtf? Finally our NC friends flag down a bartender. We order. The guy gets the Boddy for JP. I, on the other hand, have to repeat my order…2 more times. Wft? No wonder you’re a bartender at restaurant in Framingham. Nice try buddy, but maybe you should start off with something easier, perhaps “would you like fries with that?”.
We go back to our waiting area and notice that the table on the stage has been open as long as those other two tables, so going on 25 mins now. The table is clean, set up, and waiting. After a few sips of our new beers, our pager goes off. Guess where we’re sitting? Oh yes, the table that’s been open for 25 mins. This is frustrating. Why have we been waiting for 45 minutes to sit at a table that’s been open for over half the time we had to wait?
Menus are presented. Goi cuon is on the menu. $8.99. WTF? I can go to Dorchester and get 3 for $3 and they probably taste better. Other than that, everything else is quite reasonably priced. JP gets the fish and chips and I order the shredded pork “poggwhich”. It’s called a “poggwhich” because “pogg” means HUGE in British slang. Our food comes. “Pogg” does not mean huge, it means average. My fries are cold. JP’s “panko-crusted” green beans are cold too. And kind of nasty. My sandwich is okay. The pork isn’t really shredded and I can hardly taste the gouda. I wonder if it’s my fault. Did I order wrong? I ordered American BBQ not something British. Would I have been better off with bangers and mash? Wait. This isn’t my fault. It’s their fault. Why should I place blame on myself? They put it on the menu, they should be able to cook it well. If you suck at making it, take it off the menu. Oh and the claim that your pickles are "the best on this side of the pond" is a complete lie. They're gross.








I think I’ve figured out why the wait is so long. They make sure you’ve had a couple beers so the buzz you have makes the food taste better. Guess what, it doesn’t.

I give BBC 2 out of 5, and that’s only because when the old people tried to take open seats, the staff made them wait like everyone else. And the crowd. The suburbs people were pretty funny.

Side note: that girl’s dress was WAY too short. I should never have to know that you prefer to have a lightening bolt. Gross.

I walk by Metropolis Café every night on my way home from work. More often than not, I see this adorable old man sitting in a seat in the corner with an M on his hat (for Metropolis, duh), watching people pass by and waiting for the dinner service to begin. I’ve wanted to try this place for a while now; assuming it was a café filled with yummy Greek and Mediterranean food (surprisingly, there’s more of an American influence). Last night when we were trying to figure out where to eat, I brought it up. JP seemed interested so we did what we always do: we “yelped” the restaurant. I’m always curious about what others think of restaurants; trying to make sure I’m not eating at the latest health code violation (cough, Yum Mee …which is not, in fact, yummy, at all). Anyway, the reviews were all very positive (I didn’t read them, I just looked at the star ratings) and we decided to check it out.
We leave the house early for a few reasons, we’re starving already, I have cute shoes on so it will take me a little longer to walk, and it’s pouring out. Note to self, buy a second umbrella-ella-ella-eh-eh when we’re at the mall today-ay-ay.
We arrive and get to our table quickly. I had already looked at the menu so I knew immediately I wanted the “Horseradish Crusted Salmon with warm cucumber crème fraiche and salmon roe”. We decide on the app (“Gnocchi with duck confit, Vermont brussels sprouts, rosemary jus and parmigiano reggiano”) and it comes out almost immediately (but not so fast that you’re wondering if it’s been sitting in the kitchen for a while). It’s heaven. Amazing. Warm. It’s how I wish chicken noodle soup always tasted. The brussel sprouts weren’t very flavorful (thank god), but they provided great texture. The duck was very tasty; I just wish (like I always do with duck) that there was more…like an entire duck more. Good God I love duck. I’m not a huge fan of rosemary, but it wasn’t too bad in the dish.
Now it’s time for dinner. Oh.my.God. I ordered the most amazing dish. My salmon came out and, I’m not gonna lie, it was probably the best salmon dish I’ve ever had. The salmon was perfectly cooked, and the skin was crispy (which is just the way I like it). The “horseradish crust” was something I’ve never seen before. It was a horseradish cake. Picture a crab cake. It’s seared on both sides, with the consistency of a crab cake. It wasn’t overpowering at all, and tasted amazing with the salmon, salmon roe, cucumber and the crème fraiche. I never would have thought crème fraiche and cucumbers go with salmon, but man, now I can’t imagine them not being there. I now consider it one of the great pairings in the food world, peanut butter and jelly, lamb and tuna fish, and now, salmon with crème fraiche and cucumber. I gave JP a bite and he loved it too. I tried his hangar steak and it was okay, the mashed potatoes were awesome, but I was definitely glad I ordered the salmon. I have a feeling every time we return to Metropolis Café I will be ordering the salmon.


At the end of the night we received one of those “how did we do” cards. I filled it out and told them, feel free to send me to send me the recipe for the duck gnocchi. I doubt they will, but a girl can dream.

I give Metropolis Café 4.5 out of 5 (which will be bumped to 4.75 out of 5 if they send me that recipe!).

My top ten bars and restaurants to cavort in around Boston (and the surrounding area)

This isn’t in any particular order solely because my tastes change and sometimes certain bars are more appealing than others.

Bonfire. Park Plaza Hotel. Bonfire is fantastic because they have the best gourmet ($12) tacos around. If you want cheap tacos that are the closest to L.A. tacos (or so I’m told as I’ve never had L.A. tacos…soon though, soon.) head to Taco Loco on Broadway in Somerville. But I digress…Bonfire also has a great menu with items you won’t find in most places, like bone marrow. Yes, they serve bone marrow. It’s buttery and unlike anything else I’ve ever tried. So yummy. They have a great bar area with friendly bartenders and $2 beers throughout Red Sox season. You won’t find beers cheaper than that unless you go to Fanny…at least at Bonfire the average person wasn’t born after 1986…

Masa. South End. Masa is my favorite restaurant in Boston. Hands down. They have great food and the bar area is chill. They offer salsa nights and during happy hour they have a deal on the tapas menu (10 items for $5). As for drinks, my favorite is the Banderitas shot. It’s a three shots shot. The first is lime juice. Take it, but don’t swallow. Now it’s time for shot number two, tequila. Take the shot and mix it with the lime juice you are already holding in your mouth. Swallow. The third shot is a chaser of their spicy bloody mary mix. Perfection. And sometimes they run specials where the shot is only $5. Can’t beat that.

Blue Ginger. Wellesley. It’s in the suburbs, and a bit of a hike, but the drive is worth it. Ming Tsai’s Blue Ginger is easily in my top five favorite restaurants. The food is always cooked to perfection. The first time we went, John Paul ordered duck, which I had never had before. I keep thinking I never should have had it there first because every time we eat it now it’s never as good as Blue Ginger. We only usually go for our February anniversary, so each year around November I start getting excited for February. I also love that Blue Ginger’s anniversary is the same day as ours. When the staff overheard us talking and found out it was our anniversary, at the end of the night, they had “Happy Anniversary” cookies delivered to our table! Last year when they celebrated their 10th anniversary, Ming was actually there! We asked if we could meet him and take a picture and he kindly obliged. The restaurant gets very busy on the weekend and I would definitely recommend having reservations.

Bukowski’s. Cambridge, not Back Bay. I prefer the Cambridge location because it’s larger and you always get a seat. Plus it’s a different crowd. There’s less business peeps and more locals, which I like better. They run a special every weekday. Before 8pm hamburgers are $2 and French fries are a buck. They have an incredible assortment of beers (read: PBR) and I love how they tell you the alcohol content. Why order a 3% when you can get a beer that’s 9%? They only take cash, but they have a generic ATM if you don’t bring enough.

On The Hill Tavern. Somerville. It’s down the street from my old place so it was a place we frequented due to its close proximity…and cheap beer. When we first started going there, they had $5 pitchers of Bud, Bud Lite, and Amber Boch. They’ve raised their prices slightly. I think pitchers are $6.50, but the draft beers are only $1.50 or $2.00. The food is pretty good too. They have yummy steak tips and I love their hamburgers. Most items on the menu are under $10 so it usually makes for a pretty cheap night. They have free darts (bring your own) and they have pool tables. There are karaoke nights, which we (thankfully) never made it to. They also have a lot of TVs and will always have a game on. Tuesday night is stump trivia. It’s a pretty big crowd, so the competition is pretty fierce.

New Saigon Sandwich. Chinatown. 696 Washington St. Warm French bread. Pickled carrots. Tofu. All this can be yours for a mere $3 at New Saigon Sandwich. These giant sandwiches are filling and cheap. You can also get them with Vietnamese spam and other meats, but I prefer the tofu. They can make a mean ca phe sua da. The people who work there are Chinese though, so you have to order in English because if you say it in Vietnamese they look at you funny. That could also be because I don’t speak Vietnamese very well, or at all…

Pho Pasteur. Chinatown. Washington St. Best Pho in town. Pho Vietnam used to be the best until they suddenly closed. Anyway, Pho Pasteur has great pho tai. The meat comes out rare so you cook it until you like it. Their broth is yummy. Flavorful. Not too salty. And they always give us extra limes when we ask. This place is so good that, I try to go 4-5 times a month. Actually, maybe we’ll go tonight. It’s been too long.

Neptune Oysters. North End. Fresh seafood. Amazing blue cheese mussels (when they are actually on the menu) and the best oysters around. It’s a very small restaurant so if you go when it’s crowded you’ll have to wait. I prefer the bar because you get one on one attention from the great bar staff. The last time we were there, we were told about Mercy. Basically, you show up at 5pm when the kitchen opens and you eat until you have to beg for mercy. You don’t get to choose what you eat; the chef makes you whatever he feels like feeding you. It’s about $75 and it sounds AMAZING. You need 6 people to do it and need to make reservations ahead of time. Anyone reading this that lives in the area that would want to join John Paul and myself, let us know! We’d definitely be down for doing this!

Steak Night. South End. Back Bay. And coming soon, Brookline. A night of steaks, Flour, and lots and lots of red wine. Sometimes steak night has veggies (super-spicy asparagus or yummy green beans), but more often than not, it’s just meat, sweets, and alcohol. They learned from AB how to make the perfect steak. And perfect it is (at least 9 times out of 10). It’s one of my favorite nights of the month and I’m super happy when it happens more than once a month. Good friends, good wine (note to self: do not buy Writers Block again), and it’s always a plus when the next day your home and clothes still smell like steak.

Intermission Tavern. Theatre District. Yummy food, great bartenders, and awesome infused vodka. It’s usually low-key unless it’s before a show. My favorite is the Texas burger with the homemade potato chips. The burger is always perfectly cooked (medium for me) and the bbq sauce tastes great. I love the potato chips because they’re always super crispy and sometimes even come with ranch powder. However, the infused vodka is what gets me to keep coming back. I love the mango, but the pineapple and strawberry/kiwi taste terrific too. They all taste great on the rocks, with a splash of tonic, or with a cranberry & orange juice combo. Also, most drinks are under $10 so it’s a pretty good deal if you’re going to be drinking a lot, which has been known to happen on occasion.

Dino’s. North End. Best. Subs. Ever. Anyone who has ever eaten at Dino’s can attest their greatness. Their steak and cheese is by far the best steak and cheese I’ve ever eaten. I love their chicken parm and The Dino’s Special. The subs are so big, you can eat half before going out and then have the second half when you’re at home, craving food, after a long night of drinking. Their salads are also pretty scrumptious. They’re big enough to share between two people with some leftover. Subs aren’t more than $8 and salads are around the same. Dino’s used to be cash only, but within the last month or so, they’ve started taking cards.

Myers and Chang. South End. Asian tapas. Sounds strange, but it’s a great way to try food without being afraid of wasting it; if you hate it, just order something else. Most dishes are around $10 and they’re small, but big enough for two people to try. I like the green papaya slaw. It’s spicy but cool. I suggest sitting at the bar. You can watch as each chef creates your dish or dishes. Sometimes, if you’re lucky, Ms. Chang is there herself. And she’ll even talk to you (!!), which was obviously the highlight of my night.


Okay so I lied and it’s not my top ten, but I was on a roll and couldn’t stop.