Perfect Double Date at Myers + Chang

On Tuesday night, B and I headed to Myers + Chang to meet up with my law school buddy A and his lovely girlfriend S.  Awhile back, the four of us had talked about our mutual love for this restaurant.  Each couple raved about our previous dining experience and we said that this would be a great place for the four of us to grab dinner one night.  Of course both A and I are guilty of making loose and vague plans that we never follow through on so it took a few months for us to finally get our act together to set a date and time for our adventure to Myers + Chang.

Normally I will do my research and look at a restaurant's menu or Twitter page during the day before I head there at night.  Unfortunately, I was super swamped at work and didn't get a chance to really look at the menu.  But since I had visited Myers + Chang previously and had a great experience, I wasn't too worried.  Plus, if there is any restaurant to go to without doing any research, this is the place because there is such a huge variety of tasty small plates that you really can't go wrong.

Located at 1145 Washington Street in the South End, Myers + Chang is just a short cab ride from Beacon Hill.  I left work later than I anticipated so B and I arrived a few minutes late but I was worried because we had a reservation.  Myers + Chang recently joined Open Table so I made a quick reservation earlier that week.  When we arrived, A and S were already seated at a table.  The restaurant had a nice crowd, especially for a weeknight but it was by no means packed like it is on the weekend.  Regardless, I was glad we had made the reservation just in case.

We looked over the menu and I saw that there was a reasonably priced pre-fixe "date night" couple's menu.  But there were too many things we wanted to try and we didn' t want to be limited to just the choices on the pre-fixe menu, although there was a decent variety.  A and S ordered several things: a side of brown rice, Chinese scallion pancakes, Mama Chang's pork and chive dumplings, Dan Dan noodles, and chicken and waffles.  B and I ordered the Asian pickles, crispy Artic Char roll, braised pork belly buns, braised short rib tacos and also the chicken and waffles.

Okay, so if you just read all of the above you probably think it is a massive amount of food but most of the plates are truly small plates and easy to split.  Since they are small plates and meant for sharing, the plates come as they are ready at different times.  This is great because you can try different foods without feeling overwhelmed with too many plates on the table and nothing gets cold.  And finally, don't judge - I dare you to not go crazy ordering food when everything sounds so tasty!

Before our food arrived, I started out with a Kirin Light and the four of us chatted for awhile as we caught up with each other.  Even though we intended to share, each couple really stuck to what we ordered.  First up for B and I were the Asian pickles.  This is a must-order for us because B loves anything pickled and as a good Korean, I can't pass up kimchi.  Besides kimchi, this dish included pickled carrots, daikon, watermelon radish and chili pepper slices.  The Asian pickles always reminds me of Korean ban-chan (side dishes) that you eat along with your other dishes, which is exactly how we ate it. 

Our second dish was the crispy Artic Char roll.  This was definitely one of the more interesting dishes.  Slices of Artic Char were rolled in nori and a wonton wrapper and then fried.  Each of the two rolls was sliced in half, which gave B and I two generous portions.  It was served alongside the most addictive spicy hot mustard dipping sauce.  I was a little bit turned off by the overwhelming fishy smell to the dish but one bite changed my mind.  The flavor combination of the fish, nori and the fried wonton was layer upon layer of flavor.  The entire roll was lightly fried so it wasn't greasy at all.

Our third dish was the braised pork belly buns and by far my favorite.  I don't even know where to begin to sing this dish's praises.  This dish was definitely remniscient of Asian street food.  The steamed bao bun was so light and airy and was filled with the most delicious flavors - moist pieces of braised pork, delicious brandy hoisin sauce, and I think pickled watermelon radish.  I honestly could have ordered two or three plates of this alone and called it a night.  If there is anything you should order on your first visit there, it would have to be this dish.  Or, as I tweeted with the restaurant later that night, I vowed I "will be dreaming of braised pork belly buns tonight."

The fourth dish was the Asian braised short rib soft tacos and the plate had three generous soft tacos.  If the braised pork belly buns reminded me of street food, this transported me back to a Korean street food vendor for sure.  By this time, I found myself starting to feel a little full and I only ate half of a taco but each bite was so tasty.  The soft tacos were double layered in soft corn tortillas.  The double layer of tortillas was definitely necessary because the filling was so moist and would have soaked a single layer for sure.  The beef short ribs were shredded and were so tender.  There were lots of other flavors in the salsa-like consistency included julienned Asian pears (which are a huge favorite with Koreans), shredded cabbage, cilantro, shredded kimchi, ginger and I think some sesame seed oil.  This was definitely a messy plate but I was a happy camper because it had a lot of Korean flavors mixed with the Mexican tortillas and cilantro.  It was a great flavor combination and comes a close second to the pork belly buns as my favorite dish of the evening.

For both couples, our final dish was the fried chicken and waffle.  I personally am a huge fan of fried chicken and waffle but my aversion to eating meat on bones prevents me from ever eating this dish.  Thankfully B helped me out by cutting pieces of chicken and fried skin for me.  The chicken was very well cooked because it contained moist meat covered by a crispy skin.  The waffle was described as ginger sesame but the ginger flavor didn't really come through for me.  While I enjoyed how well made the chicken and the waffle were, the dipping sauce just didn't do it for me.  The hot and sweet sauce lacked the punch that I was hoping for and I wished I had either had a traditional maple syrup or more of the hot mustard sauce that accompanied the Artic Char.

After our huge meals, we had to decline even thinking about dessert.  We finished our beverages as we talked some more.  It was really such a great double date and Myers + Chang provided the perfect environment for us to laugh, taste food, talk and laugh some more.  It is so laid-back and I'm reminded of how this is such a great place for a group dining experience or even for a date because you can share lots of different plates in such a relaxed atmosphere.

I can't forget to mention how wonderful our servers were throughout the evening.  Each one was friendly with personal anecdotes each time they brought or cleared a plate.  For instance, one server stated that Mama Chang's dumplings (which A and S ordered) were the "best dumplings in the world, in my humble opinion".  She definitely made me want to order it next time!  It was all very personable, which is hard to find at many restaurants these days.  And we were also excited to spot Joanne Chang in the kitchen although B remarked that he doesn't know how she does it all since he sees her at Flour at Fort Point Channel almost every day.

The four of us drove back to Beacon Hill with promises to not only get together again (and more frequently) but to also come back to Myers + Chang, next time for their dim sum.  Tuesday night resulted in another wonderful night at Myers + Chang and I'm still dreaming about those braised pork belly buns!

Open-Faced Chicken Florentine Sandwich

On Monday, I found myself running errands after work in the Back Bay and I knew that I wouldn't get home until after 8 PM to get started on dinner.  Since B was sick all weekend and sick at home from work that day, I had made lots of different types of soups for him over the weekend for him to re-heat whenever he was hungry.  Since I didn't have to cook for him, I only had to worry about feeding myself.  And to be honest, I was a little pooped from the kitchen from the weekend and really didn't want to make anything too complicated that night.  I had taken a boneless chicken breast out of the freezer in the morning to thaw during the day and hoped that inspiration would find me during the day.  But during the hectic work day, I forgot all about dinner and found myself thinking about it as I ran from stores and appointments in the rain in the Back Bay.

I passed by Au Bon Pain on Boylston Street and saw a gentleman eating a sandwich inside.  Instantly, I knew that I wanted to make a sandwich for dinner.  I wasn't sure if I'd make it back to my neighborhood to pick up some bread at Savenor's before it closed so I ducked inside of Au Bon Pain to see what kind of bread they had to offer.  There wasn't much for me to work with - some bread sticks, not-fresh looking halves of multi-grain baguettes and bagels.  I decided to go for one of their unhealthy but oh-so delicious Asiago cheese bagels.

When I got home, I immediately got to work on my chicken breast.  Since the chicken was thick, I butterflied the chicken and then cut it into strips.  I seasoned it with fresh cracked black pepper, salt and herbs de Provence and put it into a hot skillet with extra virgin olive oil.  Since the chicken was thin and in small pieces, this cut down a lot on the cooking time.

While the chicken was cooking, I chopped up some onion and threw that in a small skillet with some olive oil. I added frozen spinach that had been thawed and drained to the pan and sauteed both together with salt and fresh cracked black pepper.  While I love spinach, B is kind of so-so about it.  Thus, I took advantage of this solo meal and used a healthy amount of the sauteed spinach.

When the chicken was done, I put my sandwich together.  I sliced the Asiago cheese bagel in half and topped each half with the spinach and onion mixture and then the slices of cooked chicken.

I topped each half with some shredded mozzarella cheese and crushed red pepper flakes.  Again, B is not a big fan of cheese on sandwiches, especially melted cheese.  For me, the more melted cheese the better so I was very generous in my use of the shredded cheese!

I threw both halves, open faced into the toaster oven at 325 degrees for about eight minutes to melt.

This dinner was superb and minus the Asiago cheese bagel, my open-faced chicken Florentine sandwich was not just delicious but also healthy.  The chicken was moist and full of herb flavor and the melted cheese was ofcourse gooey (in the good way).

My apologies on the dark photography.  Since B was sick, I was on my own with my Canon one-shot, which definitely does not do this sandwich justice.  This was a tasty and quick sandwich using mostly ingredients that I already had on hand.  I'll have to keep this open-faced chicken Florentine sandwich as a stand-by the next time I'm looking for an easy-to-make but satisfying dinner.

Sriracha Chicken Nuggets

One of my favorite food blogs is Life's Ambrosia.  The reason I love this blog so much is because the author, Deseree, chooses simple recipes that result in really flavorful dishes.  I've tried out several her recipes and she is always receptive to feedback and comments about your experience.

When I saw her recipe a few weeks ago for Sriracha Chicken Nuggets, I knew this was a recipe that B and I would definitely try.  B loves the chicken nuggets because of the crispy texture and the dipping sauces, which I find adorable.  We usually make a quick panko-crusted nugget, which is so easy and relatively healthy to make by just popping it in the oven.  We like to make different dipping sauces when we make the nuggets to add some variety but we rarely alter the nugget recipe itself.  But Deseree's recipe for Sriracha chicken nuggets was too good to pass up so we decided to give it a try last week.

I ended up working way later than I anticipated and by the time I got home from the gym, B had already started most of the cooking.  But since he knows that I would want to blog about the experience, he took photos along the way.  Honestly, how lucky am I to have such a thoughtful boyfriend who supports my blogging?

First, B got the ingredients together.  This was simple with Sriracha hot sauce, extra virgin olive oil, white rice vinegar, panko bread crumbs, garlic powder, ginger and chicken breasts.  These were all things that we had on hand in our pantry, fridge and freezer.

In preparation, the previous night, we took three boneless chicken breasts out of the freezer and into the fridge to thaw.  We always have lots of easy proteins like boneless chicken breasts, pork chops, ground beef and ground turkey in the freezer.  We buy a lot of these in family-size portions because they are cheaper and always good to have on hand for most of our simple recipes. 

By the time B got home the next day, the chicken breast was ready to be chopped into large nugget-size pieces.  He marinated the chicken in a marinade made of the Sriracha hot sauce, ginger and rice vinegar.  We have been experimenting with different types of Sriracha hot sauces and this was our first time to try a this type of Sriracha hot sauce from Whole Foods.  It was a bit thicker in consistency than the green cap Rooster bottle.

Also, I should note that I purchased the ginger root at H-Mart a few months ago and keep it frozen in the freezer.  Whenever I need to use some fresh-grated ginger, we take it from the freezer and grate it into whatever we are cooking.  The small amount of liquid in the frozen ginger is usually so minimal that it doesn't affect the recipe and I use the frozen grated ginger in anything - from stir-fry to pumpkin bread.

While B was waiting for me to come home, he marinated the chicken for about an hour.  He then got the rest of the ingredients together - a beaten egg in one bowl, the dry ingredients (panko, salt, and garlic powder) in a shallow pan, and a tin-foiled baking sheet with cooking spray on it.

When I came home from the gym, I got my hands dirty and helped coat the marinated chicken in egg, dredged in the dry crumb mixture and then on the baking sheet.  

After the chicken had all been placed on the cooking tray, we drizzled some extra virgin olive oil on the nuggets before putting it in the oven.

The chicken nuggets baked for twenty minutes at 400 degrees and then broiled for another three minutes to crisp the nuggets up.  The end result was a deliciously spicy nugget. 

While we usually make a spicy dipping sauce for our nuggets, we opted for honey to add sweetness to our spicy chicken.  Since the chicken had so much flavor, we decided to have a simple side of green beans and sauteed with sliced almonds.  The baked chicken nuggets were addictive and made for a tasty leftover lunch at work.

Thanks again Deseree for sharing this great recipe!

Hits and Misses at Sweet Cupcakes in Harvard Square

During warmer months, my friend E and I go for long walks along the Charles River and through BU, Kenmore Square and Back Bay.  Our route would change often but towards the end of our walk, we'd find ourselves passing an adorable cupcake shop called Sweet on Mass Ave.  Our stomachs would grumble but we'd keep going and avoid the temptation.  After all, we were trying to do something healthy.  I never knew that Sweet had any other locations.  So when I found myself in front of their Harvard Square location last week, I was thrilled at the discovery and dragged B in.

I know that cupcakes are a food trend that a lot of people are way over but I'll never jump off the cupcake bandwagon.  To be honest, I'm not a huge cake person.  The only cakes I truly enjoy are apple cakes or strawberry shortcakes.  I very rarely will eat a traditional piece of cake because I don't want to eat that much cake and I'm not a big fan of frosting.  My only exception to this rule is Funfetti cake from the box.  Don't judge; it's a guilty pleasure.  So cupcakes are perfect for me because it give me just the right small amount of cake and frosting without having to commit to making a whole cake or ordering a whole slice of cake. 

But back to Sweet in Harvard Square...

Sweet's aethstetic is a little girl's design heaven.  I walked up the stairs and saw bright white counters and walls with a white, pink, and black design.  The entire shop is brightly-lit and beautifully feminine.  The cupcake case was filled with a lot of different choices and the employee behind the counter was very helpful.  She explained that all of the cupcakes are made fresh that morning and their frosting is hand-made as well.

B and I decided to order a couple of cupcakes.  There are only a few tables at Sweet and they were all full so we took our cupcakes to go.  We ordered two regular-sized cupcakes and split both of them.  The first was B's choice - the Macaroon, which consisted of Sweet's traditional vanilla bean cake with coconut baked in and dipped in a chocolate ganache.  The concept of this cupcake was great but the execution was a failure.  The cake itself was just so overly dry and the promised macaroon-like top was lacking in the light airy crispness.  The only thing this cupcake could boast was a delicious coconut-flavor and a beautiful chocolate ganache but it was hard to appreciate with the dry cake.

My choice was the simple Coconut cupcake.  Again, like the Macaroon cupcake, the base was the vanilla bean Sweet cake.  But this cupcake had a buttercream frosting and coconut shavings.  The cake was a little better than the Macaroon but still a little on the dry side.  Again, I was surprised how much I loved the buttercream frosting.  I don't think I've ever said this about a frosting, so much as a buttercream frosting, but I could eat it by the spoonful. 

Since there were more flavors we wanted to try, we got two mini cupcakes.  Since I'm not a huge fan of chocolate cake, we again got the traditional vanilla bean Sweet cake with the chocolate buttercream frosting.  I don't know if it was a different batter but this cupcake was so moist.  I regretted that our larger cupcakes didn't have the same consistency because it would have made all the difference.  The chocolate buttercream frosting was good but unremarkable. 

Our final mini cupcake was Cappuccino.  Since B doesn't like anything coffee-flavored, the mini cupcake was perfect for us to split.  The cake was espresso flavored with Callebaut chocolate.  While I detest chocolate cake, the combination of the espresso and chocolate was heavenly.  This cake was done right as there was a light espresso and chocolate flavor without the cake being dense or heavy.  The cupcake was topped with the delicious Sweet vanilla buttercream frosting with the perfect dusting of cinammon.  The flavors all went so well together and the frosting added the perfect amount of sweetness to the cupcake.  This cupcake is definitely worth a repeat trip.

Sweet Cupcakes had a lot of hits and misses.  The buttercream frosting was definitely something that I surprisingly enjoyed but the cake itself was often dry, which was disappointing.  This would be a great place to stop by for a day with the girls for a quick sweet bite.  I'd recommend sticking with the mini cupcakes to get a small sweet fix without committing to a whole cupcake that has the potential of being dry. 

Sweet Cupcakes is located at Zero Brattle Street in Havard Square with a second location at 49 Mass Ave in the Back Bay.

Finally a Visit to Charlie's Kitchen

After a lovely wine tasting at Rialto on Wednesday night, B and I found ourselves absolutely starving.  We love Harvard Square yet strangely don't find ourselves there as much as we'd like. We were both exhausted and wanted to go somewhere close by that served good food with no fuss.  B suggested that we head to Charlie's Kitchen and I embarassingly admitted that I haven't actually gone to Charlie's before.  B's jaw dropped and he relived his memories of frequenting Charlie's often often when his friends lived in Harvard Square during their law school days at Harvard Law.  He promised me that the food would be good, the prices are cheap and it would be the perfect place for dinner.

We walked in and the place was pretty quiet.  A few of the booths and high top tables were taken but it was by no means busy.  B indicated that this was someplace where we can seat ourselves so we plopped ourselves down at a booth downstairs.  I took a look around and to be honest, there wasn't much to the decor - rippe vinyl seats, neon signs and dim lighting.  But I never judge a book by its cover, especially since my favorite burrito place comes out of a gas station. 

Our friendly server, Jacqueline, greeted us and handed us some menus.  We started out with some Diet Cokes while we perused the menu.  B warned me that Charlie's Kitchen is known for its delicious burgers.  While I absolutely love burgers, I had just eaten one for dinner on Monday night at Boston Beer Garden.  The menu was definitely tempting with its burger variations but I had pretty much made up my mind that I was going to get a veggie wrap.  But then I flipped the menu to see a list of their newer menu items and I totally changed my mind when I saw two of my favorite words - butternut squash.  I ordered a single cheeseburger topped with a butternut squash patty and served with a side of waffle fries.  The burger typically comes on a bulkie roll but I asked our server if I could switch to a burger bun.  B ordered a double bacon burger with beer battered fries.

We sipped our sodas and listened to the Johnny Cash record that played on the juke box.  I couldn't have chosen a better soundtrack to this restaurant.  As B and I chatted, our burgers soon arrived.  I didn't notice the yellow mustard packets in a cup on the table so I asked our server if I could have some mustard.  She directed me to the packets, which would have sufficed.  But then she very thoughtfully asked if I wanted a brown mustard, which I did, and I was pleased with her willingness to help me out.  I can't explain it but small details impress me.

The burger came open faced and I first tasted a bit of the butternut squash patty.  It was soft and didn't have the patty firmness that I was anticipating.  Although lacking a firm texture, the butternut squash made up for it with flavor.  The pureed squash was mixed with sauteed onions and a bit of sage.  I tasted the burger meat on its own and although cooked a perfect medium, it wasn't really all that spectacular of a burger.  I put the burger together and opted to put nothing on the burger - no condiments, tomato, lettuce or pickle.  The combination of the squash with the thin beef patty was really out of this world.  The burger was so simple in ingredients yet not anything I've thought of combining together.  I was definitely impressed.

When our server came by to check on us, she brought over two refills of sodas without asking.  Again, its a little detail like that which impresses me a lot.  While she was at our table, I decided to order another beverage.  The butternut squash burger had me craving something sweet so I ordered a Magners.  While I was deciding what to order, I looked over at the bar and noticed that they had a decent selection of bottled beers.  I made a mental note to take a closer look at their beer selection in the future.

The waffle fries were well seasoned and well cooked.  I think I enjoyed my waffle fries more than B enjoyed his beer battered fries, which were a bit mushy and greasy.  My only complaint for the entire meal is that I was served a teeny pickle chip with my burger.  Really?  It is a pet peeve I don't like it when a burger or sandwich joint skimps on the pickle. 

I really enjoyed my first visit to Charlie's Kitchen, even if it meant eating burgers twice in one week.  The butternut squash patty really made the difference and I'm not sure if I would have enjoyed myself as much if I had just eaten one of their all-beef burgers.  Our server was really laid-back but friendly and very attentive without being overbearing.  The prices were great, the food was solid, and the service was thoughtful.  If these reasons weren't enough for a return visit, I know I'll definitely be back to try out their beer garden in warmer months. 

Charlie's Kitchen is located at 10 Eliot Street in Harvard Square.

Wine Wednesday at Rialto

I'm not a wine snob.  I won't even pretend to be.  But I do like drinking lots of it and I love free wine! So I was thrilled when the lovely Christine Liu, Editor of CitySearch - Boston invited her "Dictators" to Rialto for a complimentary wine tasting last night. 

We were greeted at the door and led to one of the bar's lounge areas where the CitySearch gang congregated.  The lounge area was dim and had a nice vibe with soft cream and beige walls, furniture, and sheer curtains. 

It was a mixed group of writers, bloggers, and tweeters.  I met a lot of people that I recognized from emails and tweets but hadn't actually met.  Our conversations ranged from restaurant trends that just won't die (hello comfort food and tapas), local pseudo celebrities, and our love of H-Mart.  It was a friendly group and it was fun to meet all of these lovely people.

We tasted some wonderful wine at the direction of Brad Nugent, the Wine Director at Rialto.  Brad was wonderful at describing the wines, their history and what it is best served with.  I meant to grab the name of a deliciously sweet white wine from a local Rhode Island vineyard from Brad but of course forgot amidst the conversation, so if you see this Brad - please email it to me!
[Update: Christine Liu forwarded the names of the wines from last night - Sakonnet Vidal Blanc and Pascal Granger Earl, Julienas, Beaujolais]

Chef Jody Adams provided some complimentary appetizers to pair with our wine.  While others ordered some complimentary small plates, I only tasted the delicious seafood bruschetta loaded with a whole mussel, shrimp, tomatoes, and parsley drizzled with olive oil.  It was difficult to manuever as finger food but so refreshing and perfect with the white wine.

Rialto is located in the Charles Hotel in Harvard Square.  They offer complimentary wine tastings every week on their Wine Wednesday and I highly encourage you to give it a try.

I had a wonderful evening at Rialto.  Thanks to Rebecca Fetner (Rialto) and Christine Liu (City Search) for a fantastic time.  I'm looking forward to visiting Rialto again.

Psychic Readings and Burgers at Boston Beer Garden

Last night, I had the most strangely fun evening with a few of my girlfriends.  My friend, T, was brought to a psychic on her 30th birthday by a mutual friend.  Apparently, this place does free readings for you on your actual birthday.  Since then, T has brought a few of her grad school friends for their birthday readings and they've really enjoyed it.  As a birthday gift, she offered to take me in for a psychic reading and I just couldn't pass up the offer even though I'm a bit of a skeptic.

While I do believe that some people can be more perceptive and intuitive than others, I'm not quite sure how much I believe in actual psychic abilities.  I will admit that I've had my palm read as touristy thing to do in Salem, MA and my aura read at a New Age shop in Beacon Hill, but these things were done more as a source of entertainment with out-of-town guests.  But I thought that it would be an interesting experience and at the very least, a lot of laughs.

T picked me up from work last night along with our friends K and M.  K's birthday is coming up next week and T had offered to also to buy a reading for her as well.  We headed to Regina Russell's Tea Room in Quincy.  The Tea Room was a very strange experience because it looked like the visiting area of a retirement home with floral wallpaper and lots of pastel colors.  Like a restaurant, we were seated at one of the several different circular tables spread throughout the room and given menus of the different types and costs of readings.  A "waitress" if I may call her that came over and took our complimentary drink orders.  Yes, they serve free beverages of water, coffee, hot chocolate and, you guessed it - tea.

As we gave our "orders" of what type of reading we wanted, our "waitress" accidentally knocked M's glass of water over and the contents of that glass landed mostly in my open purse on the floor.  Luckily, my hat, scarf and gloves were sitting in my purse and soaked up most of the water.  Our waitress was very apologetic as she helped me dry things off and said that my reader would give me a few extra minutes for the accident.  In other words, I was getting comped some extra reading time.  One by one, each of us was brought to a different table with a different reader for our personal reading.

My reader was a very lovely lady who did a combo of a tarot card and palm reading for me.  Without getting into specifics, it was very eerie what her readings were for me.  For instance, I shuffled and picked the cards but they were very spot-on about things in my career and romantic life.  There were a few things she said that didn't really make sense to and about me.  I'm not sure if I'm any less of a skeptic than I was before, but I will say that it was a really interesting experience and ranks up there as one of the best birthday gifts I've had for its creativity.

Afterwards, the four of us chatted about our different readings and laughed at some of the forecasts (especially the predicted future in community theater for one of us!).  We found ourselves hungry for dinner so T chose to head to Southie to grab some dinner at Boston Beer Garden.  While the four of us used to hang out in Southie and at this bar a lot a few years ago, none of us had returned to Boston Beer Garden in quite some time.

Boston Beer Garden had a decent after-work crowd but it certainly wasn't packed.  We grabbed a table in the back where our hostess told us it would be warmer and dived into the menus after we ordered our requisite Diet Cokes.  To start, we decided to split their white truffle tater tots as an appetizer.  A generous portion of crispy tater tots was served in a cast iron skillet with white truffle oil and Parmesan cheese.  The white truffle oil was lost in the crispy fried and cheesy goodness, but it was okay because this was a delicious appetizer nonetheless.

For my entree, I decided to go with their not so healthy but oh so delicious stuffed and bacon and blue cheese burger.  I have always wanted to try a stuffed burger and feeling ravenous, I decided to give it a try last night. The burger was cooked  a perfect medium to order and stuffed with a combination of chopped bacon and blue cheese.  The burger was topped with more blue cheese and served with lettuce, tomato and red onion.  The burger was incredibly massive and absolutely delicious although the blue cheese that topped the burger probably over powered the flavor of the burger.  I ordered a side of delicious thick cut sweet potato fries with my burger but I sadly only made a small dent in them because of the size of my burger.  I was disappointed to find that my plate was missing its pickle, which is my favorite part of the burger but it was okay because I was absolutely stuffed.

My friends seemed equally enthralled with their respective entrees, which included the stuffed smoke house burger, Cowboy burger with jalapeños and the Cobb salad without black olives or blue cheese.  The service was really outstanding and our waitress was very attentive with drink refills and checking on our meals, even though it appeared that she was the only server really on the floor.  With a soda, split appetizer, and an entree, our meal plus a generous tip (for the great service) came out to about $20 a person, which I thought was a great deal.

All in all, it was a great night and I can't think of a better way to spend a Monday night than with a psychic reading and burgers with your friends!

My Favorite Chinese Restaurant - Lin Garden

On Sunday, I went home to celebrate my birthday with a family dinner.  In my family, the tradition has always been that you can either choose your restaurant of choice or a menu that my mom will prepare for your birthday.  Although I tend to lean towards my mom's cooking, I decided on my favorite Chinese restaurant - Lin Garden.

Lin Garden is located in Dracut on the Merrimack River and it is only a fifteen minute ride from my parent's house.  I'm not quite sure how my parents first discovered this place, but we've been going to Lin Garden as long as I can remember.  The owners are a lovely couple named Lin and Andy who have put their heart and soul to this restaurant.  This was the first restaurant that I experience Chinese food and it is always what I compare any Chinese restaurant experience with.

Lin Garden focuses on Szechuan and Chinese foods.  They focus on fresh ingredients and prepare it in a traditional manner.  While they do offer the typical Americanized version of Chinese food - crab ragoons, chicken fingers, fries - Lin Garden also offers really delicious and authentic Szechuan and Chinese meals if you know what to order.

B and I arrived with my parents for an early 4 PM dinner.  My sister is still out of the country on business so it was just the four of us.  The bar and lounge area was full and loud due to the football game, but the restaurant was completely empty.  We sipped on delicious hot tea while we perused the menu.  We settled on a few dishes to share family style along with a large bowl of white rice to share.

The first dish was family style bean curd.  The tofu was fried golden brown and very firm.  The bean curd was served in a spicy bean paste sauce and served with sauteed garlic, chopped red and green bell peppers, and cabbage. Our second dish was the Kung Pao pork.  The dish contained large pieces of pork in the Chef's spicy brown sauce with peanuts, water chestnuts, celery and green onion.  The dish was delicious because the pork was so soft and tender but still had a lot of texture with the crunchy peanuts, water chestnuts and celery.

While both these dishes are noted as being spicy in the menu, my dad specifically requested from our waiter that the dishes be served extra spicy because we have a higher tolerance for spicy foods.  Whenever Lin, Andy or any of the regular staff members are there, they take our request seriously because they know us.  Unfortunately, our server was someone that we were unfamiliar with and our first two dishes were just a mediocre level of spiciness.  While everything was well-prepared, we were all disappointed about the lack of heat in the dish.

We had ordered one final dish - the Hunan crispy whole cod fish.  When we ordered it, we were told by our server that this dish would come out a bit later than the other two dishes because it takes longer to cook.  I wish I had taken a photo of the fish because it was so beautiful.  The whole fish took up almost the entire length of our square table.  It was coated with egg, dredged with a combination of white and corn flour, and perfectly golden fried.  The fish was topped with a salsa of spicy chili sauce and tons of chopped jalapenos and red chili peppers.  My dad tried a bit of the pepper salsa but found it wasn't hot enough.  Since the first two dishes weren't spicy enough, he spoke up and asked our server if the chef could spice it up.  We later discovered that they restrained on the heat when they saw B at our table because they assumed "too hot for non-Asian".  My family and I definitely teased B about this.

When the fish returned, it was definitely spicier with more chili oil and peppers.  The fried batter around the fish was light and crispy.  The fish was so moist and tender that the meat slid off the bones with no problem.  You could tell from the flavor that the fish was definitely fresh from the market.  The pepper salsa was delicious with the plain white rice and I thoroughly enjoyed this meal.

We ended the dinner sipping tea and reading our fortunes.  The restaurant had really started to fill up because of their popular dinner buffet.  While I abhor Chinese buffets, I will say that Lin Garden has a really phenomenal buffet offering.  Sure, there are the usual boneless spare ribs, fried rice and lo mein but there are also some tasty beef and vegetable dishes that are more traditional.  Plus, they offer the most ridiculous amount of dumplings.  My parents rave about their dim sum and I'm mentally reminding myself to get up to Dracut one weekend for it.

Lin Garden is located at 511 Merrimack Avenue in Dracut, MA.  From the outside, it doesn't look like too much but the inside holds a lot of authentic Chinese and Szechuan flavors.  While I was a little disappointed in their restraint with the spicy heat at this recent visit, Lin Garden still remains my favorite Chinese restaurant and I had a wonderful birthday dinner with my family there.

Birthday Party Recap

Even though my birthday was on Thursday, the real celebration was on Saturday.  After staying late at work on Friday night, I vowed that I would sleep in on Saturday to wake up relaxed for the day's activities.  B made me delicious breakfast of fried eggs, bacon and kiwi slices.  It was the perfect start to the morning.

In addition to dinner at the Oak Room and the gorgeous Toywatch, B sent flowers to my work on birthday, which I brought home so that I could enjoy them throughout the weekend.  Besides, I'm fairly certain that my building shuts off the heat on the weekends and my flowers would not have survived the cold.  I was happy to find that they were happily opening up in the sunny dining room.

After a relaxing day of napping, blogging and a manicure, I started getting ready for the evening.  Although my birthday party started at 8:30 PM, my lovely friend E had organized a small pre-party for me and a few of my friends.  My birthday outfit consisted of liquid leggings, MM Couture top, and a BCBG boyfriend blazer.  I accessorized this outfit with simple diamond studs, House of Harlow ring, Michael Kors tortoise-shell plastic watch, Ellen Tracy suede heels and my classic Chanel flap bag.

 

 

E lives in the South End and she put out a full bar for the party.  All of my friends brought over different appetizers, which included KK's famous pigs in a blanket and baked brie, M's jalapeno popper dip, A's guacamole and E's adorable Funfetti cupcakes.  I am a lucky girl to have such caring friends.

We then headed over to the actual birthday party at the Lansdowne Pub.  B had been working with their event manager for a few months to plan my birthday extravaganza.  We reserved the back room where B had ordered several different types of appetizers - cheese fries, chicken bites and potato chips - for our guests.  Our waitress and private bartender were both incredibly wonderful and kept the entire room happy.  Thank you, thank you, thank you to the wonderful staff at Lansdowne Pub for treating all of my guests on the guest list so wonderfully by waiving both the line and the cover for them.  It was very much appreciated.  I strongly recommend looking into Landsdowne Pub for your next venue because they are really incredible.   

There was a live cover band and we danced, we laughed and I was truly blessed to have my fifty nearest and dearest there to help me celebrate another year.

Here are photos from the night:  

And ofcourse, thanks to my wonderful boyfriend B for planning the whole thing. 

The Oak Room Sets the Standard High

Last week, B took me out to the Oak Room to celebrate my birthday.  Boston has quite a few steakhouses and we have an unspoken rule to try a new one out for either of our birthdays.  I was excited to try out the Oak Room because I had heard so many wonderful things about this dining institution.  Located at the beautiful Fairmont Copley in the Back Bay, the Oak Room is a quintisential representative of a New England steakhouse.

B made 7:30 PM reservations.  We arrived at the Fairmont Copley and promptly checked our coats at the entrance.  We entered the Oak Bar and were greeted by our friendly hostess who led us to the dining room.  While I have been to the Oak Bar before for their delicious dirty Ketel martinis and live piano music, I actually was unaware as to where the dining room was located and was surprised to find that the entrance in the rear of the bar.

The Oak Room can be described in one word - grand.  The room is filled with banquette seating along with traditional tables.  The ceilings are high and beautifully accent the dark wood paneling and mirrors along the walls.  Elegant and tall arrangements of orchids are found throughout the room.  Although I do love the contemporary and modern decor of many of Boston's restaurants, the Oak Room reminds me of what dining out is truly supposed to be like.

Our hostess originally wanted to seat us at a large table where we would be facing each other but the table was so large that we felt miles apart and asked for more intimate seating.  Without hesitaiton, she sought to accomodate us and we were brought to a banquette table where we sat next to each other. 

We were greeted by our ever so distinguished server of the evening - Javier.  As we learned throughout the course of the evening, Javier contained the knowledge and experience to give the most polished service.  Another server filled our two water glasses, while Javier brought us over a beautiful narrow plate filled with marinated olives.  He warned us that they were spicy, which only made me more excited to taste them.  The olives were marinated with oil and chile peppers and there was a wonderful heat that complimented the briny salty olives.

Because B and I had indulged in some champagne before dinner, we chose to order our wines for the evening by the glass.  I was in the mood for Malbec and settled for the only Malbec offered by the glass on their wine menu, while B chose the Billi Billi Shiraz.  Javier brought over a full basket of mixed bread - white, whole grain and raisin.  The bread was accompanied by a traditional butter, along with the most delicious spicy hummus made of chickpeas, garlic, roasted yellow tomatoes, olive oil and cilantro.  I was pleasantly surprised by the spiciness in both the hummus and the olive dish and thought it was great that a classic steakhouse like the Oak Room would put a unique twist on the traditional offerings of olives and hummus.

To start, B and I shared the duck confit foie gras.  This was served simply atop a small salad of greens tossed in lemon juice.  The plate was served with house-made crispy potato chips and a cranberry sauce.  The cranberry sauce was incredibly flavorful with hints of cinammon, citrus and cranberries.  The duck confit foie gras was delicious because it was heavier with lots of texture from the duck confit.  Even though we had only had a slice of bread each from our almost full bread basket, Javier quickly and quietly replaced it with a full basket to slather the delicious foie gras on. 

For our entree, we went with the tableside service of chateaubriand.  I have never eaten a chateaubriand cut of steak and Javier knowledgably explained that it is a thick cut of tenderloin that is customarilly served for two people.  Since it was my birthday, B graciously asked for the meat to be cooked medium despite his penchant for steaks medium rare.  At the Oak Room, the chateaubriand is served with a side of steamed asparagus and a choice of potato.  Although I love asparagus, B and I always order sauteed mushrooms at every steakhouse we visit.  Since three sides would have been way too much for the two of us, Javier graciously offered to substitute the asparagus with the sauteed mushrooms.  For our potato we ordered the smashed Yukon gold potatoes.

The steak was sliced and served to us tableside.  Javier first asked if we liked garlic and he was amused by my wholehearted declaration of love for garlic.  Two whole bunches of garlic were roasted with the tops sliced off and onne bunch was plated for each of our plates.  Javier expertly sliced three generous slices of chateaubriand for each plate along with a small serving of greens.

The chateaubriand was cooked a delicious medium yet still noticeably pink middle.  I have eaten many different cuts and preparations of steak but I have never tasted something as perfectly cooked as this.  Each bite was so soft, tender and almost melted like butter in my mouth.  The chateaubriand was served with two sauces - a Merlot demi glace and a bernaise.  Although I tried a bit of the bernaise sauce for taste, I opted for the Merlot demi glace simply because I am not a huge fan of bernaise sauce.  I ate small bites of the velvety steak, dipped in buttery smashed potatoes and the demi glace.  The sauteed shiitake mushrooms were a bit salty, but the salt was a welcome contrast to these delicious steak bites.

I ate delicious bite after bite of steak until I could sadly eat no more.  As our plates were cleared, Javier brought over the dessert menu and we both groaned aloud.  But despite our full stomachs, we couldn't resist ordering one dessert to share.  After all, it was a celebration.  We were torn because we wanted to order the Oak Room's well reknowned Boston cream pie, but we were severely tempted by a bread pudding dessert.  We again turned to our trusty companion on our dining journey that evening and asked Javier his opinion.  He told us that since we were locals, we could come here anytime to order the Boston creme pie, which will always be on their menu but the bread pudding was something more special.  With Javier's logic, we chose the white chocolate and cranberry bread pudding.  The bread pudding itself was dense without being heavy - the true mark of a well made bread pudding.  It was served atop a delicate butternut squash and white chocolate sauce and topped with a pumpkin gelato.  This dessert was not overly sweet and the combination of pumpkin and bread pudding was perfect for a pumpkin-lover like myself.   

The Oak Room was the perfect way to celebrate my birthday with the one I love and I can easily see why it is a top choice for that special celebration.  It is a flawless combination of elegant surroundings, impeccable service and most importantly, memorable food.  This is the dining experience of past that we seemed to have lost in so many restaurants today.  We've all been to places where the food is outstanding but the ambience and service is lacking.  Or what about the restaurants that  have the most lovely staff but the food is in dire need of improvement.  But the Oak Room sets the standard high to demonstrate what dining out should be like and this dining experience will rank up there as one of the most memorable in my lifetime.

Kennedy's Midtown - An Underrated Lunch Scene

Yesterday, my best guy friend took me out for a birthday lunch. Since he had a meeting close to our law school after lunch, we decided to head to Kennedy's Midtown on Province Street. Kennedy's was a place that both of us frequented during law school and it had been several years since I had gone back to this place.

Kennedy's is known as an Irish pub and a steakhouse, which is an interesting combination. The two dining rooms are filled with plush leather seats and booths, dark paneling, and crisp white linens that are reminiscent of a traditional steakhouses. But the dining areas are separated by a dark pub-style bar area that you walk into almost immediately as you walk up the stairs.

I was the first to arrive and although I had a choice between either of the dining areas, I chose to sit at one of the high bar tables. I was greeted by the most lovely server and as expected in an Irish pub, she was indeed Irish.

D soon arrived and we perused their lunch menu. There were many options with appetizers, salads, soups, sandwiches, wraps, pastas and entrees. Since it had been a few years since I'd been there, I forgot how many options they provided. I decided on their Cobb salad with a side of light honey mustard dressing.

The salad was absolutely huge. There were generous strips of grilled chicken breast, two halved boiled eggs, large pieces of chopped bacon, chopped red onion and feta cheese served atop a large bed of spinach salad. Oddly, this giant salad was served in a crisp tortilla bowl and served with a piece of garlic bread. It seemed to be a strange combination to me. The salad was incredibly delicious. The grilled chicken breast had a delicious rub of rosemary, thyme and cracked black pepper and had beautiful grill marks. Each strip was well seasoned, moist and flavorful.

I did have two complaints on this dish. The first is that there was way too much red onion and it was hard to escape. After lunch, I still felt like I had the taste of red onions lingering in my mouth, which is a little unpleasant. My second criticism is the tortilla bowl. Although it is nicely fried and not overly greasy, it is really a useless component to the dish. The tortilla does not add flavor to the salad and only make the salad difficult to maneuver. D also had the Cobb salad at lunch and ordered his without a bowl. He told me that he had ordered this dish previously but he joked that I was an amateur and didn't know better! I definitely won't make the same mistake twice. The delicious garlic bread is enough bread for the Cobb salad and if you order this, order it without the bowl!

All that being said, I still thoroughly enjoyed their Cobb salad.

Kennedy's was busy at lunch with business lunches, tourists and what appeared to be a regular bar crowd. The servers are kind and attentive but leave you a lot of time to linger. I think Kennedy's is often overlooked as a lunch spot in this area but with an extensive lunch menu and reasonable prices, I'd highly recommend that you give it a try. For me, it was a perfect spot to celebrate my birthday with one of my best friends.

A Different Take on Rice and Beans

Last night, I was absolutely ravenous. To put it politely, my stomach was upset most of the day from the previous night's adventures at East Coast Grill. With an empty stomach, I headed to the gym for a grueling but rewarding workout. When you have a serious love of food, exercise is definitely important to find a healthy balance.

I wanted to cook something simple but relatively healthy for dinner. Last year, I had fallen in love with Rachael Ray's "Stretch Your Buck Turkey and Bean Burrito Burger" because the recipe is so healthy yet really filling. I decided to make this again last night since I had all of the ingredients on hand.

The recipe is very simple. I defrosted a package (about a pound and a quarter) of lean ground turkey. Ground turkey is one of the meats I almost always buy when it is on sale because it is so versatile. I used about a cup and a half of leftover white rice. I had made rice and Korean dukboki on Monday night and had a few cups of cooked rice leftover. I drained and rinsed a can of pinto beans, and added this to the mixing bowl. I added a teaspoon and a half of cumin and coriander, three teaspoons of chili powder, and a tablespoon of McCormick's roasted garlic and herb grill seasoning. B volunteered to do the dirty work and mixed the ingredients together. He mixed the ingredients enough to distribute everything throughout without overworking the meat. Since there was quite a bit of meat, we had about five patties.

I got to work on the stove and heated up a shallow saucepan with some vegetable oil for the burgers. B cooked the burgers on medium heat for about seven minutes on each side.

In the meantime, I got a frying pan and heated up some extra virgin olive oil on low heat. We still had some cold extra rice leftover so I added the rice to the pan to heat it up with some pepper and salt. While the rice was warming up, I halved some leftover cherry tomatoes and added it to the pan. I threw generous pinches of garlic powder, onion powder and fresh grated Parmesan cheese.

Our dinner was simple - bunless turkey and bean burrito burger with a side of rice and tomatoes. The burgers are so cheap to make and really filling. This would definitely be something good for a family on a budget to make. The combination of the spices, beans and ground turkey really tasted like the filling of a burrito. We opted out of adding guacamole and I instead topped my burger with shredded cheese and a little Siracha.

The rice and tomatoes were simple but tasty. I didn't cook the tomatoes too long because I wanted the tomatoes to be warm but firm. The tomatoes added a nice burst of flavor and acidity, which was a pleasant contrast to the dense burger. Most importantly, I was happy to use the rest of the leftover rice because I hate to waste food.

The meal was simple but delicious - perfect for a hungry girl after both work and the gym. I'm looking forward to cooking more easy and tasty meals in 2010.

Lessons Learned at East Coast Grill's Hell Week

Last night, I went for the third time to East Coast Grill's Hell Night. Each time I participate in the restaurant's Hell Week, I learn a better approach for the next time. For instance, my first visit was a few years ago with my sister and we bravely tried the Hell Pasta. We boasted that our Korean taste buds and our love of insanely spicy food could withstand anything. The pasta made me sweat and cry, which was to be expected. But the downside was that it singed my taste buds and everything tasted insanely spicy. I couldn't fully appreciate my entree, which was a shame. Luckily, I discovered the antidote for this can be found next door at Christina's Ice Cream, which is always packed during Hell Week.

Lessons learned - 1. Never again order the Hell Pasta. 2. Do not go overboard right away; save the spiciest for last. 3. Always go to Christina's Ice Cream afterwards to cool down your mouths without having to ask for the "antidote" to avoid public embarrassment.

My second adventure was this past fall with B. On that visit, we wanted to try so many different things that we ordered an appetizer and a side, along with our entrees. While everything was really delicious, your stomach can only take so much food intake, especially when it was spicy. Although we enjoyed our entrees, we were intrigued by many of the appetizers and sides that we didn't get to order.

Lessons learned - 4. Order on the small side. Your stomach will be happier for it. 5. Try the appetizers. They are always raved about with reason.

Last night, B and I went with two of our favorite friends - KK and A. Both of them are Hell Week newbies and were both a little nervous. We had a 7:30 PM reservation and the place was jam-packed with a line out the door for parties with reservations. We patiently made our way into the restaurant from the cold and were met immediately with the spicy aromas of the ghost chile peppers that tingled our senses. After a few minutes wait, we were seated in the dining area right in front of the kitchen, where I had never ventured to before.

We looked at the menu and each ordered our respective beers. We munched on the lightly spicy pickled vegetables and perused our menus. While the entrees were tempting, we all wanted to try so many different things that we ended up ordering a bunch of appetizers and sides to share. We told our server to bring each dish out as it was ready and we were ready to dig in. Here is a low-down on each dish and their designated bomb rating:

Russian Roulette Style Deviled Egg Challenge (2 - 8 Bombs)

We had all emailed earlier in the day about wanting to try the deviled eggs. B and I wanted to do it the last time but it would have been pretty lame with just the two of us. A has a strong aversion against deviled eggs so she opted out but the rest of us gladly took our chance with fate. Basically the dish is served with four deviled eggs and a hot sauce is under the whipped egg yolk. Each hot sauce has a different bomb rating and you take your chance from mild to insanely spicy. KK, B and I each took a deviled egg and at first it didn't seem so bad. That was until I realized that I was the one with the 8 bomb egg. I cried. I coughed. I prespired. I swallowed water and cornbread, which provided relief. Lady Luck was not on my side. B seemed fine with his 4 bomb egg and KK found her 6 bomb to be a bit spicy. At the end of the night, KK had the fourth egg. She said it wasn't that spicy so it was either a 2 bomb or her taste buds had gotten used to the spiciness of the other dishes.

Crispy Smokin' Hot Pork Spare Rib with Guava Lava Glaze (3 Bombs)

A ordered eight spare ribs to share. Despite my aversion to meat on bones, I tried my best to attack the ribs. Each rib was smoked with a sweet guava glaze that left you wanting more. But the spare ribs were also drizzled with a yellow sauce that I think may have been the Inner Beauty sauce. It added a LOT of heat but the dish was by no means unbearable. Besides my 8-bomb deviled egg, I'd say the spare rib was probably the spiciest dish for me and underrated with a 3 bomb standard.

Korean Glazed Smoked Pork Ssam with House Kim Chee & Ssamjang (3 Bombs)

I ordered this because ssam (Korean lettuce) is one of my favorite things to eat. You basically eat this by making a lettuce wrap and fill it with rice, meat and kimchi or ssamjang. It is a delicious meal that I grew up eating with my mom's garden fresh lettuce. This dish was very light on the spice. I was disappointed that the dish lacked rice but the smoked pork was so tender and moist. The kimchi is a cold pickled spicy cabbage and it added a tiny bit of heat but also the texture of the crunchy cabbage. Ssamjang is a spicy soybean and chili paste sauce that is traditionally served with ssam and other Korean dishes. Overall, this was a solid dish.

Grill Blackened Peel N' Eat BBQ Shrimp New Orleans Style (5 Bombs)

KK ordered this dish for her and I to share. First of all, the shrimp was WAY overrated with 5 bombs. The shrimp were perfectly cooked and the spicy rub added some heat but this was no different than a spicy Cajun style shrimp that I have tried elsewhere. This was really delicious and a good alternative to get away from some of the spicier dishes but a little disappointing in the heat factor.

Crispy Jamaican Beef Patties with Tomato - Tamarind Jam & Curried Jicama Slaw (4 Bombs)

B ordered this dish and I only stole a bite. The beef patties were golden fried without being greasy. The beef filling definitely had an underlining heat that slowly built in your mouth, The tamarind jam only added a cold spiciness to the dish. I can't say much more after only stealing a bite but I will add that B enjoyed the beef patties tremendously.

Wings of Ass Destruction" Original Recipe ... Brined, Jerk Smoked & Grilled Chicken Wings with Real Inner Beauty Hot Sauce (7 Bombs)

The review on the wings are varied. We all tried some (even me!) and some of us found it to be incredibly spicy and others not so much. The chicken was so tender from the brine and it was full of deep layers of flavor from its smoked and grilled cooking preparation. But the chicken alone was only a moderate level of spiciness. The true source of heat came from the real Inner Beauty hot sauce. The recipe for the sauce is reportedly framed on Chris Schlesinger's desk with the following ingredients, "Five pounds of Scotch bonnet chilies, one gallon of yellow mustard (preferably the cheap stuff), plus molasses, brown sugar, honey and spices. The method: Throw it all in the blender and serve." If you want to avoid serious spiciness, then avoid the Inner Beauty hot sauce.

Tidewater Cole Slaw

A ordered this and it was a popular side. The creamy cold cole slaw helped cool your mouth down immediately if you got a spicy bite of something that was too much. I would never have thought to order this but it is definitely worth it and something I will order again.

Cornbread

B ordered a side and got two enormous pieces. The second piece was my saving grace after the deviled egg. The cornbread was not overly sweet and a little on the dry side, but like the cole slaw, I highly recommend ordering this.

Fried Sweet Plantains & Banana Guava Ketchup

I love anything that involves plantains and these were perfectly fried. To be honest, I was not a huge fan of the banana guava ketchup as the sweet flavor and consistency didn't mesh well with the plantains for my palate. But amidst the table of spiciness, the fried sweetness was definitely welcome. The side is HUGE and definitely made for sharing.

Hell Fries

This is another large side made for sharing. B and I had ordered these fries before and I was looking forward to trying them again. They were made with the house special spice blend and there was an overall very light level of heat. But like last time, the spices were not evenly distributed so some fries had a huge amount of spice rub and would surprise you with the unexpected heat. The fries were a thinner cut than last time but consistently well cooked and nicely crispy.

Hoppin' Jalapeno Cornbread

This was probably my least favorite dish. Again, the cornbread was not overly sweet and a bit dry and the jalapenos added a very direct heat. While I do enjoy jalapenos in cornbread, I think it is best done with the cornbread is more sweet. But I note that if the jalapeno cornbread is the only dish you don't enjoy, you've done well at Hell Night.

The service was hectic but that is to be expected during ECG's popular Hell Week. But the servers were definitely pleasant and quick to give advice or recommendations. I will say that the dining room by the kitchen was a little unbearable as the smoke from the grill was often so spicy that our eyes would water and we'd cough uncontrollably. In fact, the smoke was what drove us to escape the restaurant and leave our unfinished beers. The line cooks wear face masks with reason and I'll hopefully avoid sitting on that side in the future. In fact, I hate to note but one diner needed immediate medical attention during our meal although it is unclear if it was from the smoke, spicy food or some other medical condition. Needless to say, we were all a bit worried.

My lovely friends were so sweet and treated me to this dinner as an early birthday meal and it was one of the most delicious yet painful birthday meals I've had! Despite the cold last night, we headed to Christina's Ice Cream next door and indulged in some ice cream to soothe our throats and stomachs. I chose half pumpkin and half chocolate cherry. Delicious.

Like me, KK and A loved the experience and we are already talking about when we can go again. This time, we'll bring more people because we've discovered that the fun lies in experiencing all of this together - over sweat, tears and laughter.

Lessons learned: 6. The bomb ratings can be inconsistent. Follow your gut in what you think will be tasty and not based on the bomb ratings alone. 7. Order some of the heat-reducing sides like the cole slaw, cornbread or plantains. It will help you enjoy your meal more. 8. Avoid sitting by the kitchen, if possible. The line cooks use face masks with reason and the smoke from the chile peppers are almost painful. 9. Bring friends. Hell Week is always a good time.

Barbara Lynch's Drink

This past weekend, B and I found ourselves at Drink in Fort Point Channel. Although this bar has been open for over a year, I still haven't been able to check it out because B loathes going to Fort Point Channel during his free time since he works in that neighborhood. But we headed over there anyway because we were meeting some friends at Lucky's Lounge. By the time we arrived, the line at Lucky's was way too long and I was too cold to try to wait in it. Since we were in the neighborhood, we decided to check out Drink.

There was a bit of a line at Drink but luckily it was indoors. We waited for about ten minutes before we entered the bar. Now, I should say that the staff at Drink had already begun impressing me in the short time I was waiting in line. We were greeted by the host who took our names and told us an approximate wait time. We were soon brought indoors where he told us that another staff member named Johnny would find a spot for us at the bar but in the meantime, we could order a drink while we waited. Despite how busy it was there, each and every server was impeccably polite, friendly and without even the slightest hint of attitude, which is something that many other bar staff employees could take note of in Boston.

While I sipped on the water they brought us, I told the staff member who stood with us in the "waiting area" that I would like something with vodka and not too sweet. They offered me a Moscow Mule, made with vodka, fresh lime juice and ginger beer. B preferred something with gin and he was described a drink with gin, lime juice, maraschino liqueur, and chartreuse. (I've been told that this drink is called the Last Word - thank you blog readers!) While our drinks were being made, we were brought over to a standing spot by the bar and Johnny whispered that two seats were opening up right away at the bar and sure enough we grabbed seats at the bar right away.

While our drinks were being made, we were greeted again by the friendly Ted Allen look alike bartender who again set up our water glasses and offered us menus. Our drinks soon arrived and I loved the Moscow Mule. Their house-made ginger beer was really delicious and added a spicy kick to the cocktail. As I sipped my cocktail, we perused the menu. Despite noshing at the party we were at earlier that night, we wanted something else to nibble on. Since we heard the bar menu portions are small, we decided to order two small plates.

The first plate was a half dozen gougeres. The gougeres were completely traditional - light airy bites of French puff pastry with grated Gruyere cheese mix into the batter. They were perfectly baked and seriously addictive. I could have eaten a dozen of them in one sitting.

The second was a petite canning jar filled with bacon smoked candied cashews. This was the perfect bar snack with the combination of the smoky salty bacon flavor, sweet candied taste and the crunch of the cashews. This take on bar nuts was completely thoughtful and so flavorful. I was seriously impressed.

I soon found that my drink was emptied faster than I though. For my second and final drink of the evening, I ordered something bubbly and something sweet. I received a cocktail that I would love to wake up with every morning. The name escaped me (as the bar was very loud) but I was told it was named after a French philosopher and contained fresh grapefruit and lemon juices and lemon zest.

The bartenders were all incredibly busy but each drink was worth the wait. Our unexpected visit to Drink ended up being a wonderful way to end our evening with a few hours of delicious drinks and bar bites. I love everything about this place - from the basement ambiance, piles of fresh fruit and palate cleansing water. Most of all, it is great to finally be at another bar besides Eastern Standard or No. 9 Park where the bar staff are true mixologists and have a sincere knowledge and passion for cocktails.

Drink is located at 348 Congress Street in Fort Point Channel.

We Are Not Martha 2nd Anniversary Party

If you read this blog, you know that I mostly focus on blogging about local restaurants and different recipes that I'm trying out. But if you know me, my interests go way beyond food. My blog lacks a specific focus but it has never bothered me because my blog has never been about proving something or lecturing to others. It is about my life and the different people and events that make it up. This blog started out private with just a few close friends as readers. I figured that nobody would be interested in reading my blog but once I went public, my readership slowly began to build. as a result, I started to get more interested in the blogging culture and I began to follow a few blogs faithfully, whether they be about food, gossip, fashion, shopping or just humor.

Awhile back, I was turned onto a fabulous local blog - We Are Not Martha. These two bloggers really inspired me because they write about their adventures in the kitchen, while shopping or on vacation but they never seemed to take themselves too seriously. I could feel their fun personalities in each and every one of their blog entries. While we have left comments back and forth on each other's blogs and tweeted, I have actually never got to meet Sues or Chels.

When I told the ladies how I definitely want to meet more Boston bloggers and get involved in the local blogging community, they graciously invited me to their anniversary party to celebrate their two years of blogging. Their party took place this past Saturday in the upstairs Venom Lounge at Poe's Kitchen at the Rattlesnake.

B and I arrived a little after 7:30 PM and I was admittedly a bit nervous to meet two people that I would definitely recognize but had never actually met. But Sues and Chels were so lovely that they greeted me with hugs, which helped ease my nervousness. The night was a lot of fun and I got to meet some wonderful new bloggers, including the fabulous Nicole Chow from Healthy Chow. Nicole seriously had me cracking up most of the night.

The food was delicious and Chef Brian Poe was mingling throughout the crowd. There was a lot of different food but my favorites definitely included the fresh lime zested tortilla chips, which were served with a mint tomatilla salsa, a fresh traditional salsa and a tequila cream cheese. The tequila cream cheese was seriously addictive. My other favorite appetizer was the grilled corn bread, which had the spicy kick of chiles, fresh corn and of course delicious cheese. I have not eaten at the Rattlesnake since Chef Poe took over the kitchen but he has me really excited to go back there for the rest of the menu, especially since I'm still having Mexican food cravings from my Cozumel trip a few months ago.

We had an absolute blast but we sadly had to leave before the party ended. The girls had put together really adorable swag bags filled with lots of goodies. I'm actually munching on a bag of Cheddar Popchips from the swag bag as I blog and I'm looking forward to using the reusable swag bag as a beach bag (if summer ever comes).

Thanks again to Chels and Sues for inviting me to their party and warm wishes for a very Happy 2nd Anniversary. I can't wait to see what you ladies blog about in 2010!

Steak and Pureed Cauliflower

On Friday night, I had plans to head out to a birthday party after work and then cook a delicious late night steak dinner for two. But after being sick all week and a long day in court at the Cape, I was utterly exhausted. I fell asleep on the couch while watching old DVRed episodes of Dollhouse.

The next day, since the steak had already been defrosted in the refrigerator, B and I decided to cook a delicious steak dinner for lunch. To be honest, I very rarely eat steak for lunch with the exception of perhaps a steak strip salad for a business lunch. It felt strange to cook steak in the middle of the day but I was looking forward to our hearty lunch.

B got to work on the steak. We had 20 ounces of a beautiful top round steak to work with. Although the top round steak is flavorful and a bit more tender than other round cuts, it should still be marinated first if it is to be grilled or broiled. B rubbed some salt and fresh cracked pepper on the meat along with a marinade of Worcestershire sauce.

While the steak rested in the marinade, B sliced up some onions and garlic. He heated up a cast iron skillet with butter spray and sauteed the onions and garlic. When the onions and garlic were caramelized, he added the steak to the skillet to add the nice onion and garlic flavor to the meat. The steak was seared for about five minutes on both sides for a nice deep brown crust. When the steak was nicely seared, the onions and garlic were removed from the skillet. The steak remained in the skillet and was broiled in the oven to finish the cooking.

While B was working on the steak, I got to work on our delicious side of pureed cauliflowers. I love pureed cauliflowers because it is a healthier and delicious substitute for mashed potatoes. I took a bag of frozen cauliflower florets and steam-cooked it in the microwave. I drained the cooked cauliflowers and put it in the food processor with large pinches of salt, fresh cracked pepper and garlic powder. I slowly pulsed the cauliflower and added unsalted butter and whole milk to taste. When I got the taste right, I found the consistency to be too loose so I added some cornstarch to thicken up the cauliflower.

B took the steak out of the oven and added the onions and garlic back with it into the still very hot skillet to heat them up. After the steak had rested, B split the steak in two portions.

The steak was deliciously tender and I savored each bite with a bit of the pureed cauliflower. The cauliflower has the same consistency as mashed potato but with a pleasant sharper bite. I found that steak and pureed cauliflowers makes for a delicious early Saturday lunch.

Nirvana Coffee Company

Most of the time, I check out local restaurants and food joints in downtown Boston for lunch because these are the places close by to my work. Today, I had the opportunity to stop by Nirvana Coffee Company, located on Route 6A in Barnstable, Massachusetts. I was in Barnstable most of today for a court hearing and I decided to check out Nirvana for lunch at the suggestion of one of the court employees.

When I entered Nirvana, I noticed immediately that it is a small but cozy space with plush leather chairs and couches along with a few bistro tables and chairs. The walls are adorned by photographs and artwork from local artists in the Cape Cod Art Association and there is plenty of information on each of the artists. The dining area is separated from the counter with a fireplace and I was disappointed that a fire was not burning on a cold and snowy day like today.

The staff were both young and friendly. I asked a few questions and they told me that Nirvana had been open for about a year and a half. Their main focus is on serving coffee using fair-trade coffee beans. They also uniquely offer handmade New England pottery mugs for sale that you can bring in and fill up at a discounted price. While it seemed impractical because the mugs could be easily broken, this seemed fairly popular with the customers who seemed to come in from either the courthouse or neighboring businesses. While most customers come in there for a cup of coffee or a latte, Nirvana also sells coffee beans for retail. I also noticed that they have an impressive array of Mighty Leaf brand flavored teas.

I'm not much of a coffee fan but I was hungry for lunch since I'd been in the courthouse all morning. They offer a very limited menu of scones, muffins, and cookies, along with a few types of sandwiches. I decided to try their ham and cheese panini. When I ordered, the young employee indicated that I pick up the pre-made sandwich that was in the refrigeration unit with the cold drinks and then they press it behind the counter. To be honest, I was wary but he assured me that the sandwich had just been made in the last hour. The panini was served piping hot with ham, swiss cheese and tomato on perfectly pressed marble bread. It was absolutely delicious to the last bite and totally hit the spot for me to refuel for the afternoon hearing session.

Overall, Nirvana Coffee Company was a great find. It is housed in a small building, which gives it an immediate cozy feel. I loved the absolute Cape Cod charm with the focus on local artists and the ceramic mugs. If you ever find yourself down in Barnstable, give this place a visit.

Nirvana Coffee Company is located at 3206 Main Street in Barnstable, MA.