Location:
32 Church St., Cambridge, MA
Appearing as though it's the red light district of Harvard Square, this Border Cafe in Cambridge is loud, crowded and welcoming.
The margaritas were STRONG, the nachos crispy and the Cajun/Mexican mains absolutely delicious. Each of us in our party of five enjoyed our round-table meal.
I even spilled a drink on my brother in law.
If you can't have a good time here, there is no hope for thou.
Location:
26 Park Plaza, Boston, MA
Everyone said to go, so we finally went.
With our fish eating friends from New York.
They know good eats, so it was fun to try a variety from the menu: Oysters, New England Clam Chowder, Lobster Bisque, Signature Crab Cake, Lobster Roll, Fish n' Chips and the Wood Grilled Assortment.
Although it seemed like forever for our food to arrive, reaaaaally forever, when it finally showed up, we were all really happy with each dish. It was totally worth the wait! I even tried a bit of the cream-based soups and marvelled at the scrumptiousness of them. Definitely hands down the BEST sea food I've ever had! And our friends agreed!
With their:
"If it isn't fresh, it isn't legal"
slogan spanning more than 60 years now, Legal means business and they're open for it; I highly recommend giving it a try if you're looking to try sea food or are a sea food fanatic!
Location:
700 Boylston Street, Boston
My sister, niece and I went to The Boston Public Library's The Courtyard for Tea after the the Fall Fashion presentation by Roopal Patel at Neiman Marcus.
The Courtyard restaurant is set within the gorgeous Boston Library courtyard, which is one of the most beautiful places to have lunch - quiet and serene, as if transported to another era.
It was before 2pm and tea hadn't officially started (Wed-Fri from 2-4pm) but they seated us graciously and even made vegetarian accomodations for my sister who is vegetarian (and I also don't eat chicken, but my niece does). They were able to switch out the smoked salmon canapes for more cucumber/cheese ones.
Our server was really sweet.
The teas were excellent - ranging from Earl Grey (who else?), Ceylon Indian and Raspberry Herbal.
Although the sandwiches were tasty, we were surprised at the quantity, which was very little. We each perhaps got 2.5 sandwiches (that's in the quarter size that it's cut into) and 2-3 tiny pastries each.
For $22.50 per person, we were expecting a bit more. Even the scones were small. My sister who has had afternoon tea all over Boston (and Toronto) and I, who's had it all over Ontario were not satisfied with the portions.
Might have worked well for someone like my niece and her friends and their doll-size proportions of high tea.
Seems like their lunch portions are much larger, but for a high tea experience, this is probably not the best place in Boston for it.
Location:
900 Boylston Street
Boston
towneboston.com/
I had a lunch date with fellow Boston Blogger Style'N at Towne earlier this week. I didn't realize until I saw the building again that it was the same place I'd spotted one evening in the myriad of street lights, after shopping at the Prudential and thinking, what is that place, I want to go to there.
Huge and cosy interior. Friendly, unintrusive staff. Really tasty meal.
I had the daily pasta - rock shrimp in a red sauce.
Style'N had the cheese & bacon sandwich with tomato bisque.
After the disaster at Kashmir (review coming soon), this was a welcome change.
Location:
250 Northern Avenue
Boston, MA
www.temazcalcantina.com
We went to Temazcal to celebrate my BIL's birthday.
It was one of those early Fall September days, so the rain was coming down, and it was a Friday so we did get caught in rush-hour traffic.
On top of this, a few things to note:
Temazcal doesn't take reservations.
They have valet parking which is $20 (!) but you get it validated by the restaurant so it's actually $16 (!). (There will be much usage of exclamation points in this post).
We had to wait at the bar for our table, which was to be about a 45 minute wait. (!)
We had a round of cocktails - the mojitos were served in these giant glasses, with the thick rim, you know the kind, when the rim of the glass fills your whole mouth as though you won't be able to get a sip to drink? And the entire drink had far too much ice for enjoyment.
Then we were seated and given iPAD menus!
My BIL mentioned how unhygienic something like that would be to use - but then again, so are paper/laminated menus as well. They say menus are the filthiest of all.
But I digress.
The light emanating from the iPads were incredible - all of our faces were highlighted in a blue glow, but as soon as we'd all ordered and the iPads were taken away, it was as if someone had turned off a light. We were left to make conversation with ourselves, without the entertainment of swiping through the menu.
The view from the restaurant is quite lovely, and I must say the interior is really nice. Watch out for the slippery floors though - not a friend of a lady and her heels!
Beside us, a table was served with an ENTIRE PIG (LECHON ASADO)! Gross to the vegetarians of the table (and although I don't eat chicken anymore, but do eat bacon - don't ask - I was also not happy to catch the visual).
For the table we ordered the "GUACOMOLE DE LA MIXETA" which doesn't come with chips by the by. Is this not weird to anyone? We then had to order a couple of chip plates.
The guac was AMAH-ZING. And very filling.
I ordered the HUACHINANGO A LA VERACRUZANA (red snapper with plantain mash). It was incredible; the portion was huge and the entire thing was absolutely delicious.
My Mom got the POLLA A LA PERILLA MEXICANA which she loved (surprising, as she's very hard to please)!
Unfortunately those were the only dishes at the table that were good.
This is also largely due to the fact that 98% of the menu is non-veg, and although on the phone they said they'd be able to make any dish veg, our server didn't think so. Thus, the only real veg option was the ENCHILADAS VERDES, which was not a huge hit; the BIL especially did not like it.
The QUESADILLA BOLILlOS (chicken) were average.
The MOLE PABLANO (chicken mole) was served alone without any side of rice or anything. Hard to eat that much mexican chocolate without any carbs, you know what I mean?
Our server, however, was good, and tried his best to accommodate our dietary restrictions as much as he could.
Still, most of the group, aside from me and my happy red snapper, felt like their meals were a huge rip-off in the end. Fancy Mexican is apparently not for this family. Maybe we're just happy with our version of Mexican dinners, with our Uncle Bens Spanish rice and refried beans.
OLE!
Location:
81 Charles Street, Boston MA 02114
www.izzyscurlycakes.com
My girlfriends were visiting from Toronto this past weekend. As we toured around Boston and wandered towards Boston Common on Charles St. we came across Curly Cakes. I'd been past it before and have always wanted to visit.
We did.
Gorgeous Little Shop. Gorgeous Little Cakes.
These babies were absolutely delicious. Each one tasting different than the last. We got three different kinds:
Triple Chocolate (Moist buttermilk, chocolate cake with a rich ganache filling, topped with creamy chocolate buttercream and dipped in melted chocolate, dusted with Cocoa PuffTM streusel. $3.95) Yes, THE Cocoa PUFFS!!!
Red Velvet. (A rich Southern Red Velvet Cake that combines classic cocoa and vanilla flavors, topped with velvety cream cheese frosting, dipped in melted white chocolate. $3.95)
Boston Cream - how could you not? (Moist vanilla cake filled with rich vanilla pastry cream, topped
with chocolate buttercream and dipped in dark chocolate. $4.95)
With our lattes and coffees and teas, everything hit the spot. Did I mention it was only lunch time?
Location:
738 Cambridge St., East Cambridge, MA
Having just moved to Boston, one of our explorations took us to the Royal Pastry Shop on Cambridge Street. We chose a very simple chocolate cupcake.
It was divine.
Open since 1941, there are now two other locations feeding locals delicious American and Italian pastries. I'm looking forward to being one of these locals.
Location:
300 Hanover Street
Boston, MA
Is it touristy? Yes.
The woman behind the counter insisted that we take a plastic "Mike's Pastry" bag for our box even though we had a bag we were going to put it into. Nothing like advertising by carrying their logo, right?
Is it ridiculously crowded, ALL THE TIME? Yes.
Came here twice in one weekend and the first time, I was able to get to the counter.
The second time, it looked like this:
But are these the best mo-fo cannoli's you'll ever taste? You bet your a$$ they are!
Location:
3 Brattle Street
Cambridge, MA
www.toryrow.us
YOU GUYS, I'VE FOUND MY FAVOURITE FRENCH TOAST!
It's at Tory Row, in Cambridge, Massachussettes!
At first I was a little dismayed by it's small portion size, making sharing all the more difficult.
But with the blueberry jam and the New England maple syrup, and for only $7, with a side of applewood smoked bacon,
I was in love.
And to think I almost went with the english muffin egg sandwich. Wtf.
(If you know me, or have been reading this blog) I always get french toast for brunch). Always.
N gave me a look when I said, "Maybe I won't get french toast, this time." hahahaha! Who was I kidding? SO glad I did. It was perfect...not soggy in the middle or eggy smelling, which I hate, but crispy and moist and just cinnamon-y enough..and with that blueberry jam and NE maple, I want to go back.
Besides that, the "hashbrowns", which are really cut up potatoes were incredible! Especially with the pico de gallo (salsa) it came with.
One thing they could definitely improve upon is to serve hotter coffee! As it was, when served, it was luke-warm at best and then our server took longer still to bring the as-is cold milk, which further cooled down the coffees. We asked to get our cups warmed, but then received new coffees, which were still not hot enough. And, no Earl Grey tea?!Fo' shame. I did enjoy my OJ, though and the Spiced Apple Cider was lovely.
The flatbreads are served on wooden boards, looking very rustic and also easy to cut into if needed. The jalepeño chicken sausage, black bean, egg flatbread ($9) was good, but the pico de gallo would have been better as the sauce spread atop the flatbread instead of the black bean.
The vegetable frittata arrived in an iron skillet. The only problem with this is that the egg overcooks sitting in its heat, and is too hot to eat before it overcooks because its sitting in it's heat - see where I'm going with that?
The greek yogurt filled with berries and bananas and granola (from Nashoba Brook Bakery) is a steal at $5 and a great light breakfast.
Next time, would love to try the parmesan prosciutto black pepper scone ($3) from the Nashoba Brook Bakery and something from the lunch menu - those burgers were massive!
The decor is simple and modern.
Perched on the high stools at long commune tables, the place was mainly filled with Harvard students, with their friends or parents. There are Shepard Fairey pieces on the back wall. That's the artist who did the famous Obama "Hope" poster.
As an aside: those coffee shop white mugs with the wide-as-your-lips-rims, have gotta go. Come on, people; drinking from them makes you feel as though the coffee's going to dribble over the side of your mouth.
That said, Tory Row is a keeper. Kept!
