March Madness

March is always a busy month for me. Birthdays. And catching up with friends, since the snowboard season is usually winding down.

This past week started with an unseasonably gorgeous Sunday (considering that it's mid-March). After unpacking and going grocery shopping, Tai wanted to stay out a bit longer. And when it's sunny and warm, he wants fried seafood. After some googling, we find that although Tony's Clam Shop is not yet open for the season, The Clam Box opened March 4th.

Now, The Clam Box is never my first choice, but since it's the only option...we go. And the line is out the door. With one person taking orders, this line is slow to move. And the wait for food is not much quicker.

Fried scallop platter - decent. I prefer Tony's fries. And the scallops could be sweeter. But they weren't bad.

Small shrimp and small whole clam - again, I think Tony's shrimp is better. Clams were okay though.

New England clam chowder - pretty good. Not as thick as I like, but definitely meaty. Add pepper, lots of it. And maybe a bit of salt too.

















Tai and I might have to do a fried seafood comparison between Tony's and Clam Box one of these days. But we shall see.

Following a very long week (adjusting back to eastern time compounded with the start of daylight saving time was not a fun thing), I got my weekend started a bit early with dinner at Doretta Taverna Thursday evening. Michael Schlow closed Via Matta to open this Greek seafood restaurant. I had high hopes, but I was not impressed. The space itself is great - homey but lounge-y at the same time. I was early and had a drink at the bar, which sits center stage at this restaurant. The bartenders are friendly without being overbearing, and not at all condescending like many others. The drink I had was also fantastic.

But then my dining companions (Suky, her sister Kim and niece ST) came, and we were seated at a table. I was very excited to meet Kim and ST, as I feel that I know them already. Thankfully, they were of like mind in that they wanted to share small plates as well. And the dishes sounded great - if only they lived up to expectations.

Tasting of Doretta's spreads - I wish I remembered what each was. Bottom right is obviously hummus. To the right of that was something (perhaps eggplant?) that I think had roasted red pepper and was topped with feta. Top middle - I have no idea haha. The hummus was good, but it's hummus, can you really go wrong? The red pepper was also decent. However, my biggest issue with this dish was the bread. It was grilled but hard to bite into and rather chewy. Just did not work for me. Give me a flatbread please.

Zucchini chips with a spicy cucumber yogurt - I liked this until I got into the middle of the bowl and had soggy chips.

Warm shrimp - this dish was pretty good, although the breading was uneven. It looks like they just toss in some bread crumbs on top of the shrimp in the bowl, but I think this dish would be better if the shrimp are coated in the crumbs.

Lamb meatballs - good flavor, but so hard on the outside. Seriously, I was not expecting it, and the lamb jumped a bit on my plate when I went to cut it.

Slow cooked white beans - this would have been so good with a touch less salt.

Greek fries - which are apparently potato chips. Delicious ones though.

Galaktoboureko - I wasn't sure what to expect. And although it was pretty good, I'm not sure I love the graininess of the custard part.

















I wanted so much to like Doretta. But there wasn't a single standout dish. How can you serve spreads with awful bread? And everything (minus dessert) was a tad too salty. Perhaps I shall be back for a drink though.

The following night, Tai and I went to Grill 23 & Bar with Rosa and Wei after work. It was restaurant week, so we each had 3 courses for $38 (Rosa's entree had a $15 supplemental charge though). I had made reservations for 6:30pm, and the host tried to tell me they had it for 7pm, but that they'd seat us anyway. Um, no. Don't give me that sht because it took you 3 minutes to find my reservation. Ugh.

Rosa's cauliflower soup.

Oyster duo - the raw oysters were fantastic. The oyster shooter on the right? Not my thing. The glass is lined with old bay seasoning, which I am not a big fan of. And the juice is like a clamato juice, which I am also not a fan of. But the oyster itself was good.

Close-up of the oyster shooter.

 Tai's swordfish.

 Wei's duck.

Rosa's NY strip.

My steak tips - really good, great flavor, plus a good portion size for restaurant week. And the mashed potatoes were so delicious. Did I mention there's bacon in there? Yup. Amazing.

Tai's strawberry milk pudding - yes, it was as odd as it sounds. Didn't work for me. Or for Tai.

Brownie sundae - with coffee ice cream that kept me up.


















The food at Grill 23 is pretty great. But I don't dig the vibe. Too much like an old boys' club that is trying to adapt to current times but is not really happy about it. So they tolerate you because you're keeping them in business. And there are enough restaurants in the city that I don't have to deal with that attitude. Shame, because the food is solid.

And that brings us to today, which was a fun-filled day. It started out at Legoland Discovery Center, which I really enjoyed. They had quite a few activities, two rides, and a 4D movie theatre.

Where else would you see a giant ice cream bowl made of legos?

For lunch, we walked over to Fuji at Assembly because the kids wanted sushi. Service was a bit slow, considering it was not busy. I wouldn't want to be there during peak hours. The restaurant itself is definitely more family-friendly than the Fuji in Quincy, which is more bar scene than restaurant. The odd thing was that they have kids meals and offer juice, but do not have apple or orange juice. Just grape juice or lemonade. Grape juice? Really?

Avocado salad - good, but do you see avocado? Because I see maybe one chunk. Maybe rename this one cucumber salad.

Salt and pepper calamari - this was done well, although a bit on the salty side.

Hokkai yaki - no shell? I didn't care for this. The flavor was okay, but the oily aftertaste was not pleasant.

Fried shumai - I wish they warned us that the sauce is a wasabi one, especially since we were dining with three young children.

Stir fried udon with chicken - the kids enjoyed it.

Caterpillar, scorpion, and red crab meat California makis - not outstanding, but okay.

 Oyako don.

Unagi bento box.

Fuji isn't a bad sushi option in the area, but it's a bit pricey for your run of the mill sushi joint.

That concludes week 1 of post-snowboard season meals. Let's see what else March has in store for me. 

BONUS:

Puffle cones at Monkey King Tea in Malden.

Lego bunny.

FRB in Legos.

The Zakim bridge and TD Garden in Legos.