Summer Summer Summertime

Last day of school and Nhi needs a ride home to transport her big bags of school supplies. It's a gorgeous evening, so we go to dinner. At dbar. Did you know they had an outdoor area? Because I did not. But I do now.

It's a really cute little area, and surprisingly not loud, considering you're right at an awful intersection on Dorchester Ave.

 Stonefruit smash - delicious and boozy.

Predictable Nhi gets the salmon - pretty big portion (she had leftovers, and she usually does not have leftovers), and she said it was really good.

Mac and cheese with chicken - another huge portion (I had two more meals worth of leftovers), but delicious.










dbar is consistently great for comfort food. And yummy drinks.

Finally it's the weekend, and Friday evening Tai and I meet with Alex for dinner at Rod Dee in Fenway.

Thai iced tea.

Pineapple basil smoothie - different, but really good. A refreshing summer drink.

My side of crispy chicken that decided to come out before anything else. For $3 this is a pretty generous amount.

Tai's pad see ew with beef - we asked for this to be a little spicy, which made this great.

Alex's drunken noodles with beef.

My crab fried rice - so this decided to come out when Tai was more than halfway done with his dish. And he's a slow eater. I honestly thought they had forgotten about me. It wasn't bad, but it was interesting. And I'm not sure I'd get it again. I'd go back to the Indonesian fried rice or the Tom Yum fried rice before this.




I have never seen such confusion at Rod Dee. First, they bring over two plates of pad see ew, one spicy and one not. Nope. Then they bring the drunken noodles. Shortly followed by another one. Nope again. And then my dish comes another 20 minutes later. They're usually so on top of things. Still one of the better Thai options around though.

BONUS:

Peanut butter cup ice cream from the Cookie Monstah food truck. They actually get their ice cream from Richardson's, I believe. And it's delicious.

The Boloco burrito that I didn't even eat, because I was too full from ice cream.

"When I Grow Up"

"I will eat sweets every day on the way to work and I will go to bed late every night."

- from Matilda the Musical

And so, Friday night Tai and I have a dinner and a show kind of night. It's a beautiful evening, we're walking around Downtown and pop into Legal Crossing and have a seat at the bar. It's crazy and amazing, the resurgence of Downtown. And I guess it's fitting that the Legal there takes the Legal concept and went trendier. The interior is nice, but dark. Really dark. At least where we were sitting.

The menu here has small plates, shared plates, sides, and entree options. I was really sad that the watermelon crush was not on the menu. Especially since some of the drinks on the menu were really vague (at least list the liquor you're using, please).

Cherrystones - sorry for the super dark picture.

Korean short ribs (good, but a tad dry), pommes frites (really good, with two dipping choices), rosemary braised kale (good, could use a bit more garlic).








Legal Crossing definitely represents the change that has been occurring Downtown. Like the area, I think Legal has a bit of an identity crisis going on here. Duck baos and butter poached lobster. Crab and pepperoni pizza and scallion pancake. Sure, you're situated between Chinatown and the Financial District. But must your menu have both? I'm not sure.

It's not a bad pre-theatre option. Or after-work option. But I don't think it'll be a go-to for me.

Saturday, after fighting traffic and then crowds at Wrentham (why was it so busy today?!), Tai and I stopped by Oishii Chestnut Hill. It has been a while since I've been here, so everything is foreign yet familiar, like a much faded memory. What hasn't changed - the place is still tiny; the menu is still laminated so you can write on it; service is more efficiency than friendliness. Oh but it's still as good as I remember.

Seaweed salad - cold and crisp and just the right amount of sesame.

Salmon sashimi - really big pieces. Were they always this big? Solid though.

Caterpillar and spicy tuna - these rolls are bigger than I remember. This is the very hungry caterpillar aaaafter he ate the salami, the ice cream, the cherry pie, etc. (or, as I was calling it, the chubby caterpillar).

Tokyo style soft shell crab maki - this has soft shell crab tempura, tamago, unagi, cucumber, tobika and rice, which is then wrapped with seaweed and then daikon. I didn't think I'd like the daikon here, but I really did.

Jeffrey's maki - always my favorite. Spicy scallop and imitation crab make for the topping. And it's served warm. And so good.









What has changed - the plating. Or perhaps we just didn't order enough. But the plating used to be more artistic, with a flower on the plate. The food is still delicious though. Also nice that we weren't there during super busy hours, so we didn't feel rushed, which happens. Definitely will be back. Go here! Just don't go during busy hours. Seriously, it's tiny and they don't take reservations and it can get packed.

BONUS:

Outside the Opera House.

Matilda - super entertaining and fun and funny. But yes, there will be kids. Lots of kids. In the show and in the audience.

Tai's face when he realized we were sitting in the mezzanine instead of front orchestra. Relegating him to balcony next.

Crabcakes and Tapas

I feel like I should be on a fruit and water diet after this past weekend.

It starts with Chick-fil-A on Saturday for lunch. Do NOT get the lemonade unless you're prepared to be spitting out lemon seeds. A lot of them. It is good lemonade though; I just wished they thought to filter out the seeds.

After a bit of shopping (let's be honest, it was returning on my part), we go to a cooking class at Sur La Table.

My station

I really wanted to like it more. But it wasn't much of a cooking class. We mixed a few things. Scooped them into bowls. Tossed and plated a salad. And then we ate.

We got one of these for 5 people. And it was only to fry crabcakes and then toast breadcrumbs.

Summer salad (with peas, yuck) and a crabcake.

Baked cod with toasted breadcrumbs. Bland.

No crust blueberry pie (it was really more like a blueberry pancake baked in a cast iron pan).










I may have to use that crabcake recipe though. Super easy.

We weren't sure how big the portions would be at the class, so we made plans to have dinner at Bocado.

And what would a meal at Bocado be without sangria?

And fried goat cheese.

Tres leches cheese with chorizo and serrano ham.

Patatas asadas.

Esparragos con gambas - shrimp and asparagus salad. And more goat cheese.

Gambas al ajillo - these shrimp were really good. But why would they think one piece of bread would be enough?

Pork belly on polenta - I didn't eat this but it looked very dry.










I was much too full to really enjoy the food, but the serrano ham was really good. And the bread. And of course the goat cheese.

Sunday started with dim sum at China Pearl in Quincy. And then I had dinner with Sam and Nhi at Gustazo in Waltham. They really need to get on that liquor license, because then I would definitely come here again. As it is, I probably still would.

Gustazo is a small-ish, but cozy, place on Main Street. The server was really nice and accommodating, but one of the food runners was not super helpful in explaining what the dish was when she placed it on the table. She quickly said the name of the dish in Spanish, and well, it was a bit lost on me.

If you go the small plates route (and I totally recommend that you do), they do come out as they're ordered. So try to save space for the later ones.

Tamal en cazuela - soooo good. Rich and creamy, but with corn. And then the pork. Delicious.

Tostones - I liked these. But I only ate one, because they're on the filling side.

Frituras de calabaza - this is a squash fritter. And it was too soft, especially with the goat cheese mousse. I would have liked a crispier exterior.

Camarones al ajillo - this was amazing. And that bit of toast is perfect. Just enough salt so you taste it, but it's overwhelming.

Maduros con tocino - this was interesting, but had a lot going on in a tiny, albeit very pretty, bowl. And the sugar caramelized and then hardened and became a bit messy.

Costillas a la guayaba - fall off the bone sweet and meaty deliciousness. Minus the beets. But that is because I am no fan of beets.

Cazuela de coliflor asada - surprisingly creamy and perhaps a bit too rich to eat too much of.

Churros con chocolate - yum. Soo perfect. I could have used an additional two or three churros so I could continue eating the chocolate though.








Definitely worth a stop. The portions are great for sharing, the prices are very reasonable. And it was just a great meal. (Would be that much better with a glass of wine, though.)

BONUS:

Just getting started at dim sum.

Just in case any of you have forgotten his name.

Duck Duck Goose

As much as I love short weeks, sometimes getting through them is tougher than a regular week. I'm not sure why. But by Friday evening, I was done. And so I treated myself to a glass of wine at Shake Shack in Chestnut Hill.

Wine and the Chick'n Shack for me, root beer and the SmokeShack for Tai. Plus fries. This Shake Shack has yet to let me down. Simple but solid food that doesn't make me sick is a win in my book.

Sunday was Sarma day. This place. I made the reservations back on April 19, and the rain today made me really rethink my decision. But I did not want to wait another 6 weeks, so we were troopers. Parking in this area could be tricky - mostly residential parking. 

One of the things I really like about Sarma is that they have daily additions to the menu. Instead of rattling off their specials to you, a server comes around when them on a tray and you can opt to take one or not, almost dim sum style minus the cart. Plus with people that actually explain what the dish is. 

Our first "dim sum" dish - I couldn't even tell you what it was, except that it was topped with pistachio and delicious. Tart, but a great light start to the meal.

Our second "dim sum" dish - sesame fried chicken on tahini. Delicious! Words cannot properly describe how perfect this dish is. Definitely my favorite of the night. Crispy but not oily, perfectly cooked chicken, and that tahini - yum. Party in my mouth.

Moroccan fried shrimp - this was really good, but honestly, it could have been fried anything. I did not taste the shrimp at all. The slaw at the bottom is a great touch.

Brussels sprouts bravas - with chorizo. This was good. But perhaps a bit much going on - I prefer my Brussels sprouts a bit simpler. Maybe I should have gone without the chorizo.

Sweet potato latke - overcooked. Overall, not a bad dish, but I think I was getting too full at this point.

Parsnip fritter - not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn't this. It was good when it was warm; I don't recommend eating this cold. Interesting though. I wish they came earlier when I may have appreciated them more.

Beef sirloin - salty. Very salty. And a bit tough.











Definitely one of the better meals I've had in a while. Next time I'd like to bring another couple of people so I can try more dishes. I definitely got excited and ordered a bit too much, especially knowing that servers would be offering dishes throughout the meal. We'll totally be back - I'm already planning what I want to eat on my next visit.

BONUS:

Super cute party favors from Thuy's baby shower.

 And props for photos.

That I made Tai use haha.