Tag Archives: lunch

Feb3

Oak Long Bar and Kitchen, Back Bay

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Where: Oak Long Bar and Kitchen – 138 St James Ave, Boston, MA

One of the many benefits of my day job is that I get to work with the Fairmont Copley Plaza on our annual gala. The gala is a blast to plan and has gone off without a hitch (or at least appeared to have which is the important part) and looked beautiful the past two years. This year my contact at the Fairmont Copley suggested I meet her for lunch at the hotel restaurant, the Oak Long Bar and Kitchen, to discuss set up and the details of the event. I quickly agreed as this is so my kind of working lunch. I hadn’t been to the restaurant since it was the Oak Room and had only been for drinks so it was like trying a completely new restaurant. Well, it basically is.

Lunch was not only very productive but also very delicious. I had the Organic Mushroom Flatbread with roasted garlic, wild arugula and a fried egg. I don’t know why all pizzas / flatbreads aren’t served with a fried egg, such a good addition. It reminds me of being in France, they throw a fried egg on everything- pizzas, burgers, fries… you name it. The mushroom flatbread was an excellent choice – salty, cheesy, light, and the crust gave good bite. I’ve had a soft spot for anything mushroom since I was a little girl and, in fact, refused to eat anything other than toast and mushrooms for a good year which must have driven my parents nuts.

I didn’t think I would be able to finish my flatbread as its generously portioned but it wasn’t as heavy as I had thought it would be (or I am pretending it wasn’t so I don’t feel like such a fattie) so I did. Bravo, me.

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[Btw, no, that's not a wine glass stem you see in the photo. I would never drink during a working lunch, that would be totally inappropriate and unprofessional. I just like drinking my ice tea in a wine glass....]

My lunch date insisted I try the whoopie pie for dessert so I, reluctantly (ha!), agreed to split it with her. It was an ice cream whoopie pie, chocolate on chocolate. You all know I love my chocolate but I am actually not a fan of chocolate ice cream for whatever reason so had wished it was vanilla (or caramel? or anything but chocolate really) but I can see how anyone else would have been drooling over this. I do love the side of milk- very cute!

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Overall, it was a lovely lunch with great service. The menu is nice and short and everything delivered on its promises of tastiness. Can we host another event at the Fairmont Copley, please?

How did Oak Long Bar and Kitchen measure up? 4 Spoons!

Oak Long Bar + Kitchen on Urbanspoon

Jan18

Giulia, Harvard / Porter Sq

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Where: Giulia- 1682 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138

After reading about Giulia on one of those “hot new restaurant” lists, I quickly made a reservation to go with OZT. Excellent. I had a week to pine over the menu and figure out a tactic to convince her to share a few different items with me, which it turned out was just waiting for her to make the suggestion. Great minds think alike.

Giulia is conveniently (for me) located between Porter and Harvard Squares in the old space where Rafiki briefly lived. The layout is similar but with an additional built up seating area (watch your step), open kitchen, large pasta / dining table at the back and more rustic charm. Our server told us that if you walk by Giulia during the day around 3:30 you can peek in and see the chef making all the pasta from scratch on this big table. Not sure I could resist joining if I ever caught that.

We were quickly seated and greeted by our server. He poured over the menu describing half of the menu items in great detail while we stifled our giggles at explanations of fairly well known items like “lardo”.

“I still don’t understand this trend in restaurants to have the server describe each item on the menu in flowery detail. One or two items to point out fine, but if you don’t want me to read the menu for myself don’t give me one! I could have taken a nap in the time he took to finish!” – OZT.

After we were left to look over the menu, he came back and told us that he “didn’t want to previously tell us about this other item but is now ready to…”. Um, why didn’t he want to tell us before?! Did he think we weren’t worthy of knowing? Was he watching us to make sure we were sophisticated enough? Why was it some big secret?

We started with the Bruschetta with tuscan kale with house made ricotta and chilies. The bruschetta looked gorgeous with the deep green kale and bright white ricotta with little specks of chili oil. Sadly, the Bruschetta didn’t taste as vibrant as it looked – it was pretty bland. We couldn’t taste any heat, zing, or seasoning from the chilies. Nada. Salt helped a little but the Bruschetta were definitely missing something.

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We then shared two pasta plates – the lobster agnolotti (umbrian truffles, chives and lobster brodetto) and pappardelle with wild boar (black trumpet, juniper and aged parmigiano), the latter being highly recommended by our server.

The lobster agnolotti, which were like little tortellinis, came out in a delicate broth and looked divine. I couldn’t wait to get in there so I started with this one before we did the midway swap. I was pretty disappointed to find that the lobster flavor was very, very mild. I likely wouldn’t have been able to distinguish the lobster in the pasta at all had it not been for the small pieces (2) of shell I came across.

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We did the midway swap, and as soon my OZT took a bite of the lobster agnolotti she said that what she had started with, the pappardelle with wild boar, was definitely better. I couldn’t agree more. The pappardelle with wild boar was phenomenal. The pasta was perfect, the sauce rich but not heavy and boar salty and a touch gamey. Delicious. I would like another whole plate of that, please. I polished that off and then dug into the bread to get the rest of the sauce off the plate. This dish made up for the first two.

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I wasn’t too bothered with getting dessert but why not? Boy am I glad we did. We split the Panna Cotta with madagascar vanilla bean, and poached quince and it was well worth the calories. The panna cotta was nice and firm and the vanilla tickled my senses before I could even take a bite. The quince, which I realize I know far too little about, was light and a perfect contrast to the dessert.

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Overall, I’d go back to Giulia for a drink at the bar but I don’t think I would go back for dinner, at least not until they settle in and for a few months and work out a few of their kinks. Half of our meal was fantastic but the other half was lacking in flavor. The wait staff were a little too attentive which may just be growing pains, but you really don’t have to reach in front of us mid conversation to fill up our water glasses after each sip. I really wanted to love you, Giulia, but you didn’t give me much of a chance.

How did Giulia measure up? 2.5 Spoons

Dec13

West Bridge, Kendall Sq

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Where: West Bridge – 1 Kendall Square, Cambridge, MA

I haven’t spooned anyone in so long! Actually, that’s not true, I have been spooning like its going out of style but just haven’t polished up any drafts to a postable state in a while.

You know its been too long when you are writing about a menu item that no longer exist, as the case here at West Bridge in Kendall Sq. A colleague and I headed across the street from our office to West Bridge for lunch on one of those fall days where the sun was no where to be seen and the chill of the rain goes through you right to the bone. Obviously I got soup. And a glass of prosecco on tap. Just kidding, I would never do that during the work day…

I started with the Sunflower Chowder featuring a Woodbury clam as an ode to the traditional clam chowder. I had emailed Jared at West Bridge who told me that Chef Matthew Gaudet blends sunflowers into a familiar cream-based broth and finishes it with smoked pork shoulder. This chowder was… simply amazing. It was creamy and salty but not heavy. It was so damn good I regretted ordering a meal on top of this as I wanted another bowl. I don’t think a rainy day goes by that I don’t think about this dish. They also feature a larger portion for dinner, thank god.

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I then got the GLT, which is the item no longer on their menu. The GLT stands for Guanciale (an Italian style of unsmoked bacon), Lettuce and Tomato. Its a glorified BLT, which is probably one of my favorite sandwiches. It came served with thinly sliced fried chips and some pickled veggies. I loved the flavors of this sandwich but the Guanciale was a wee bit too fatty for me. Don’t get me wrong, I love fat, but this was Fatty with a capital F. Even putting aside my concerns about having a heart attack on the spot, I couldn’t eat more than half of it as it was just too much for me. I ended up wrapping up the other half and eating it later on a flight. It did travel well.

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Overall, the chowder was phenomenal, the service was great, loved the clean simple design of the restaurant, and they have prosecco on tap (so I hear). The sandwich was good but I don’t think I could get it again (and I don’t have a choice as they don’t have it on the menu anymore anyways) as it was just too fatty for me. I’m happy to have West Bridge just around the corner for many more lunches, dinners, and after work libations.

How did West Bridge measure up? 3.75 Spoons!

Nov7

Amelias Trattoria, Kendall Sq

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Amelia’s Trattoria – 111 Harvard Street ,  Cambridge, MA

Girls night!! I had really been looking forward to this particular girls night out with some of my favorite women in development and was excited to try Amelia’s Trattoria, which happened to be just a couple blocks from my new office. Perfect.

Amelia’s is tucked away on Harvard Street near Kendall Sq just behind Tech Sq. Its unlikely that you would find it just wandering around which is what contributes to the fact that you can actually get a table easily. We made a reservation and trickled in slowly just after. We were promptly seated and had had a very patient waiter as we mulled over the menu while waiting for our party to arrive. The chef even agreed to make us bruschetta even though it wasn’t on the dinner menu.

So we started with the Bruschetta -Grilled foccacia bread, marinated tomatoes, fresh basil & red onion. Personally, I didn’t love this dish. I thought the bread was a little hard and a little too big (hence making it messy). The marinated tomatoes were delicious though, I could eat that right off the plate – who needs bread anyways?

We then split two dishes to get more variety for our buck. We started with the Baby Spinach Salad – Baby spinach, caramelized balsamic shallots, crispy pancetta & Vermont goat cheese. Re-read that. I mean, can it get any better than that combination? This salad was delicious – salty, crispy, tart, and creamy.

We then shared a Lobster Ravioli dish which was one of Amelia’s daily specials that night. If I can give Amelia’s one piece of unsolicited advice it would be to get this item on the menu permanently. It was delicious. The raviolis were tender and meaty and the sauce creamy and bursting with flavor. I loved how saucy it was as there was just enough leftover for me to mop up with some bread. Its a keeper.

Overall, I was impressed with the ravioli and salad dishes but a little let down by our starter. Service was great and I would recommend Amelia’s for lunch, dinner, groups, or a date. The restaurant is small, giving it a cozy feel, and I can imagine sitting by the window watching snow fall with a big hot plate of pasta. I’ll be back.

How did Amelia’s Trattoria measure up? 3.25 Spoons!

 

Amelia's Trattoria on Urbanspoon

Aug8

India Castle, Central Sq

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Where: India Castle – 928 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139
When: June 2012

With the foot still broken (seriously?) its time to try Indian food delivery. There is a place near me that I had ordered from before, pre-Five Spoons, that I did not like at all so made sure to avoid it. I was thrilled to find that India Castle, which I used to go to all the time when I lived on Harvard Street in Central Sq, delivers to my neighborhood. Let the ordering begin!

We got an order of Meat Samosas (homemade turnovers stuffed with lightly tempered and fresh minced lamb with peas) to share and then I got the Malai Kofta, my favorite Indian dish ever, which is balls of minced vegetables cooked with mild Indian spices in a tomato cream sauce. Doesn’t that sound delicious? Well, it was.

The Samosas were good but I didn’t find them to be above and beyond Samosas from a lot of other places – pretty standard but you can’t go wrong with them. The Malai Kofta, on the other hand, was amazing. The sauce was rich, with a touch of spice and cream. The vegetable balls were soft but firm bursting with Indian spices and flavors. Nice and saucy to slather on naan or polish off with rice. My only complaint would be that I want double the amount of vegetable balls but no one ever seems to give you more than two per order anyways.

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Overall, India Castle delivered hot, flavorful dinner pretty quickly considering they are a little ways away from me. The Samosas were good but the Malai Kofta was delicious, definitely better than any other place I have discovered near me. I haven’t been into the restaurant in years but I remember it being nice, service good and everything all around authentic. I’ll definitely be ordering from here again, broken foot or not.

How did India Castle measure up? 4 Spoons!

India Castle on Urbanspoon

Aug2

Olecito, Inman Sq

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Where: Olecito - 12 Springfield Street, Cambridge MA
When: June, 2012

I’m a big fan of Ole in Inman Square and, before I started this blog as an excuse to eat out as much as possible, I would come up with excuses to get people to go there with me. “I’m celebrating growing my hair out!”, “I found the perfect nail polish color!”, “I perfected my cursive Gs!”… You get the point. I love Ole.

Because of my immobility (are you sick of hearing about my broken foot yet?) a good friend offered to come over with dinner from Olecito, Ole’s little brother who only does take-away, across the street. I clearly win the competition for world’s greatest friends.

I had picked up dinner from Olecito once before and had gotten the Arrachera Tacos which come with marinated steak, pinto bean spread, jack cheese, lettuce, and avocado sauce per a friend’s recommendation. Although very, very good (its still my friend’s go-to dish from there) it was a little heavy for me so this time I went for the Baja Tacos which come with battered fish (or shrimp), pickled cabbage, chipotle mayo, and cilantro pesto. Oh My My! Now this is what I am talking about.

The Baja Tacos were light, zesty, creamy, crisp, and just exploded in your mouth with flavor. I got two of them but likely could have eaten another two if they had been put in front of me. We also got some chips and guacamole which were delicious, as you can see by the empty guacamole container in front of me in the photo.

Overall, Olecito has a small menu and no seating but if you are looking for a quick, delicious dinner to go – this place is for you.  I’ve never tried anything but the tacos and likely never will as these own my heart.

Ole and Olecito are up there with The Painted Burro and East Coast Grill for my favorite shrimp / fish taco places in the greater Boston area. Olé!

How did Olecito measure up? 4.5 Spoons!

Olecito on Urbanspoon

Jul9

Spicy Shrimp Sandwich with Chipotle Avocado Mayo, Recipe

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Do you remember when you were really little your teachers showed you that flashcard with the witch made out of sand and convinced you that you sandwich was spelled “sandwitch”? You obviously didn’t believe that for long, right? I mean, it certainly wouldn’t have stuck with you until your late 20s, right? Yes, of course, me neither.

Its summertime here in Boston and sandwiches just belong. I stumbled across this recipe last summer and its been a favorite since. The shrimp are spicy, the mayo creamy and zesty, bread crunchy, and lettuce fresh. I think I ate these for two weeks straight. Hope you like them as much as I do!

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Spicy Shrimp Sandwich with Chipotle Avocado Mayo
From Life Ambrosia

Serves 2

1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 pound medium shrimp (about 20 shrimp) peeled and deveined
1 avocado, pitted and diced
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 chipotle pepper
Juice of 1 lime
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 french rolls
4 romaine lettuce leaves

Combine cumin, garlic powder, 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, chili powder and olive oil together in a bowl. Place shrimp in the bowl and toss to coat.

Combine avocado, mayonnaise, chipotle pepper, lime juice and 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt in a food processor. Pulse until smooth.

Place shrimp in a skillet over medium heat. Cook until pink and cooked through, about 5 minutes.

Toast rolls, if desired. Spread chipotle avocado mayonnaise on the roll. Place lettuce leaves on the bottom half of the roll and place 10 shrimp on each sandwich.

EAT.

Jul7

Full Moon, Huron Village

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Where: Full Moon – 344 Huron Ave Cambridge, MA 02138
When: June, 2012

A neighborhood friend of mine suggested Full Moon, which is only a few blocks away from me, when I first moved to Huron Village in Spring of 2010 but only just made it over there. I had been told it was a “family friendly” restaurant but I guess I didn’t really understand what that meant. I assumed “family friendly” meant that they have a kid’s menu but this place practically caters to kids. There were as many children there as there were adults, the tablecloths were paper and a cup of crayons were at every table. There was also a playroom with train tracks where kids could roam free and roam free they did. Don’t get me wrong, I like kids (sometimes), but as someone who doesn’t have any I was a little overwhelmed by the noise level and constant stimulus.

As good as the food was, if you are child-less I wouldn’t recommend going here as there are plenty of other great places to go. If you dislike children, whether you have them or not, I would tell you to run in the other direction.

The food was good. Eleanor had the pancakes with whipped cream, fresh fruit & bacon. I personally don’t think bacon has any business being on the same plate as pancakes but since they refused to leave I did have to give her pancakes a little attention. Good fluffy pancakes.

I had the smoked turkey sandwich, bacon, avocado, Russian dressing, lettuce, tomato, with greens. The greens were a little heavily dressed for my liking but the sandwich was stellar. My plate seems small with all that food on it and I think I made more of a mess than any child in the place did. I would definitely get that sandwich again though, the combination of the salty bacon with the buttery avocado, fresh greens and tomato and creamy dressing was perfect.

“We like to think of Full Moon as a parent’s dream come true” – New England Travel & Life

“I like to think of Full Moon as the childless person’s worst nightmare” – Vanessa P.

How did Full Moon measure up? 3.75 Spoons!

Full Moon on Urbanspoon

May17

Spinach Avocado Salad with Bacon Vinaigrette and Fried Egg, Recipe

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You had me at Bacon Vinaigrette…

I was looking for a salad to make for a Saturday lunch and thought this was perfect. Indulgently rich and salty and yet it is a salad so it gives the impression of being healthy. Yes, sneaky deliciousness.

The bacon vinaigrette was delicious and everything worked really well together. The only thing I will do differently the next time is cook the bacon a little longer as, although it looked very cooked and brown while frying it, it got soft and a lighter in color once it had been made into a dressing. This is a keeper – how great would it be as part of a brunch?

I’ve posted the recipe below the photo for your pleasure!

Spinach Avocado Salad with Bacon Vinaigrette and Fried Egg
From the Tastespotting Blog

makes 4 salads (yeah right)

Ingredients
4 very large handfuls of baby spinach, washed and completely dried
1 large or 2 medium/small avocados, peeled and sliced
Bacon Vinaigrette (see below)
4 eggs, cooked sunny side up
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
In each salad bowl or plate, place a large handful of spinach. Divide and arrange avocado slices on one side, then fried egg. Drizzle generously with Bacon Vinaigrette and hit with fresh cracked black pepper.

Bacon Vinaigrette
makes about 1 cup

Ingredients
6-8 slices of bacon, chopped
1 tablespoon cooking oil (I used grapeseed)
1 clove garlic finely minced
1 shallot, finely minced
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste (about ½ teaspoon each)

Directions
Heat cooking oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the chopped bacon and cook until cooked through but still soft, about 5-7 minutes. Add garlic and shallots and cook until garlic is fragrant (but doesn’t have to be cooked all the way through), about 2 minutes. Remove the pan from heat and drain off as much of the bacon grease as you can.

Pour the cooked bacon, garlic and shallots in a bowl. Whisk in vinegar and olive oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Mar12

Lord Hobo, Kendall Sq

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Where: Lord Hobo – 92 Hampshire St Cambridge, MA 02139
When: March, 2012

Meg and I have been trying to get together for what seems like months but with all sorts of work related crisis coming up we had to postpone a few times. This time we managed to get on the same schedule and made a plan to go to Lord Hobo for burgers after work. I loved being able to walk there in under 10 minutes from our new offices. I even had time to head to the gym for a quick run to ease the guilt of what was bound to be a high calorie evening. Gotta love that.

I had been to Lord Hobo only once, for drinks, since they took over the B Side’s space a couple of years ago. The B Side, on the other hand, was one of my go to places for drinks and dinner.

Meg started with a beer and I went for the London 77 half based on the list of ingredients, half on the description: “Punks like pink”. The London 77 is made with Hendrick’s gin, grapefruit, St. Germain, and Prosecco. I recently learnt that the London 77 is a play off the French 75 which I am a big fan of (get it at Chez Henri next time you are there). No wonder I enjoyed it so much.

While we sipped on our drinks we started with an order of the daily Hand-cut Chips and Dip which today’s special was served with a caramelized onion and goat cheese dip. The dip was really good, like a fancied up version of the Heluva Good French Onion Dip we all hate to love. The chips were also very good – made to order, crispy and not too greasy. You truly can’t just eat one.

I had planned to get the burger, as Meg did, but then saw that it was taco night and they had Fish Tacos, which totally swayed me. I wanted to love the tacos but I was a little disappointed with the them. The flavors were all great with the zesty creamy guacamole and the rich black beans balancing it out but the fish wasn’t crispy at all. The batter thick, soft and a dull. I couldn’t even tell you what kind of fish it was as the flavored were so muted by the batter. It really needed that crunch as all the other ingredients were very soft.

20120306-210321.jpgMeg got the Lord Hobo Burger which came with Cabot cheddar and on a brioche bun with a side of fries. She said it was a very good burger, reinforcing that I made the wrong choice. I can confirm that the fries are excellent as I stole at least a dozen off of Meg’s plate throughout dinner (thanks, Meg).

For “dessert” we got another London 77 to split. It was delicious but that meant when I got home I would need to have a couple cookies for my chocolate fix. That’s ok though.

Overall, I still love the feel of Lord Hobo as its a lot like the B Side was – dark but cozy. Service was really great; our waitress was super friendly and attentive. Drinks were definitely awesome. Food… I need to give it another go as those fish tacos didn’t impress me at all but I think the food at Lord Hobo has the potential to based on the chips, dip, and fries that I did have. Great place to go to with colleagues or a group of friends after work, which I am sure I will be doing often. I hate to give it a low ranking but must until the next time.

How did Lord Hobo measure up? 3.5 Spoons!

Lord Hobo on Urbanspoon