Hot and Cold

I understand, New England weather is temperamental. But geez, gorgeous and sunny and people are in shorts and tanks one day. Back to chilly and super windy the next. Just when you think you've gotten used to living here, mother nature is like, nope, fooled you.

Saturday I had an early dinner with Thu, Jeff, and Alice, whose arms could be little dinner rolls. So cute. We met at Osteria Nino in Burlington, because no one felt like fighting for parking in the city. Their menu has changed since my last visit, and I'm not sure I like them as much anymore.

Fried risotto - meh. Hard, cold, dry, under-cooked.

Fried mozzarella - better than the risotto, but could use more sauce. And another minute in the fryer.

Thu's orecchiette -  simple but good flavors. And a good portion as well.

 My salad pizza - not bad, but on the salty side.

Jeff's eggplant parmigiana - also a pretty generous portion.










Our server was really patient and sweet. They used to make the pastas in house, and that is not the case anymore. I guess it's still not a bad option for the area though.

Sunday, we met at BonChon in Allston with Harry, Jessica, Rosa, and Wei for a belated birthday dinner for Rosa. I have not been here in years, and I was looking forward to see how it fares now.

Lychee sake - I did not have this, but Rosa said it was all juice. This really looks like the salicyclic acid experiment to me.

Japchae - supposedly this is supposed to be spicy. It wasn't, at all. Not even a hint of spiciness. But it was good. Sweet, instead of spicy.

Pork buns.

Close-up of the pork buns - these were so disappointing. The bun was hard, the pork was not good, and the hoisin sauce, well, there was too much of it.

The chicken! Half soy garlic, half spicy. I only had one (soy garlic) and it was good, but wetter than I remember.

Spicy seafood salad - bleh. This was not flavor other than spicy, and if I wanted spicy imitation crabmeat, I'd make it myself.

Hotate kaiyaki - this was okay.

Cotija corn - Tai didn't love the mayonnaise.

Sashimi platter - not great quality.

Bacorn cheese - probably my favorite dish of the bunch. Corn, bacon, peppers, and cheese! Lots of cheese. Yum.









Did we catch them on an off day? I'm not sure. But I'm not entirely sold.

BONUS:

The many flavor offerings at Christina's Ice Cream in Cambridge.