Mango & Tomato: boston

11/19/10

Boston: Lunch at Stephanie's on Newbury

The last few weeks have been hectic, and I can't wait to finalize a few things and head out to Seattle for Thanksgiving, my dad's big birthday and Hanukkah latkes! In the mean time, not having a recipe to post today, I wanted to share a fun lunch I had in Boston during my Columbus Day weekend mini vacation.

Elyssa from State Dinner recommended I check out Stephanie's on Newbury for some great people watching and good food. She did not steer me wrong!

One of the benefits of traveling solo is that you are on your own schedule. It's also much easier to snag a table for one instead of a table for four. Of course it's sometimes lonely to dine by yourself, but that's where Stephanie's on Newbury was a great place: I sat outside, enjoyed the sunshine, and checked out many different fashion trends Bostonians and tourists wore as they passed the restaurant.

I ordered a short rib sandwich with sweet potato fries. Look at the meat! Let's just say I ate the sandwich with a fork. The meat was tender and juicy and filled with flavor. The sweet potato fries were thin and crispy and benefited from a sprinkle of salt. The coleslaw, however, had zero flavor. That was fine with me: there was plenty of good food on the plate.

If you are ever in Boston and need a break from shopping on Newbruy street, head out to Stephanie's for lunch.

10/20/10

Boston: Brunch at Craigie's with Dan and Katie

You know what the nice thing about being a food blogger is? There are other food bloggers everywhere. That's why when I travel (especially when I travel solo), I try to get together with a few food bloggers. On my latest trip to Boston, I decided to check out brunch at Craigie on Main and invited Dan of The Food in My Beard and Katie of Once Upon a Small Boston Kitchen to come along.

We showed up at 11 am on a Sunday, right when the restaurant opens for brunch, and were told that if we did not have reservations, we'd have to sit at the bar: they were completely booked otherwise. That was fine by us. We ordered coffee and chatted for a bit getting to know each other. Perhaps you might think it's odd to meet almost complete strangers for brunch, but I thought both Dan and Katie seemed absolutely normal from their blogs, and plus we were meeting at a public place!

Craigie on Main had a prix fixe menu, but we all decided to order from the regular one.

Dan said he was going to order Grass-Fed and House-Brined Corned Beef and Smoked Beef Tongue Hash $16 (slow-poached farm fresh egg, crispy onion rings). This was exactly what I wanted! I might be weird, but I typically don't like ordering the same dish as other people at my table. Luckily, Dan was willing to let me take photos of his dish and let me try it: loved it!

I knew I was in the company of like-minded people when we all agreed to order a house-made doughnut with confiture du lait $4. I think it rivaled my favorite doughnuts from Tabard Inn!

For my dish, I decided to get House-Smoked Finnan Haddie Hash $14 (farm fresh poached egg, chorizo, brussel sprouts, grilled country toast). I wish it had more chorizo, but otherwise the dish was perfect. If you've been following me for a while, you know I love pretty much anything topped with a poached egg!

P.S. Just because my friend Cindy was super curious, Katie had Country-Style Organic Whole Wheat Huckleberry Pancakes $12

The food was solid, the decor of the restaurant was pretty, and we had fun watching the bartender making up drinks at the bar. But it was even better to spend time with Katie and Dan and chat about Boston and food blogging. Oh, and did I mention Dan brought us home-made pretzels!?

In case I don't blog about this, I want to mention that I finally got to meet Megan from Delicious Dishings and had a great dinner with her at Toro, Spanish tapas restaurant.

10/17/10

Boston: Dessert @ Modern and Flour

Oh vacations. Short or long, they are a great way to get away, recharge, try new food and more than anything eat dessert. Or at least that's my thinking. Not that I stay away from desserts in my regular life!

After a lobster roll in Neptune Oysters and a bit of walking around the North End neighborhood, my plan was to check out Mike's Pastry, but a local Bostonian whom I asked for directions said to go to Modern Pastry instead. And I listened.

Actually both bakeries had lines. So I'm sure both are equally popular and must have great pastries. You make your own choice when you go.

Once inside, I saw a cute poster telling me the various options for cannolli. It's a good thing I had something to look at because there was more waiting in line to be done.

I know the photo below is blurry, but I just had to include it: can't you just see this old man coming to Modern on regular basis for the past 40 years? I find it so touching!

I knew I was going to get a chocolate covered cannolli with whipped cream filling. But the other choices were incredibly tempting as well:

I finally got through the line, ordered my treat and got to sit down with a cup of coffee and enjoy seeing families trying to decide what to order and how much of each variety to get.

The shell of this cannolli was fresh and crunchy, with the added protection of dark chocolate. The beauty of the Modern Pastry is that cannolli don't get filled until you place your order: freshness all around! I did not need to eat anything else the rest of the day (other than a snack of hummus and chips!).

Modern Pastry wasn't my last dessert adventure in Boston. The next day after brunch with Dan and Katie, visiting ICA museum and walking around, I just had to check out Flour Bakery because my friend Megan used to work there.

The inside of the Flour Bakery was bright and cheery with a huge blackboard, art on the walls, and clever reminders such as eat dessert first.

I had a hard time deciding amongst many dessert options. When everything looks so good, how do I choose just one?

In the end, I opted for a sticky bun and a glass of mint iced tea. I took my food outside and enjoyed the gorgeous Boston weather and chatted with an older couple who gave me a few suggestions of what to do around the city.

I liked that the sticky bun wasn't overly sweet. It was sticky, messy and quite indulgent. I finished the whole thing as soon as I took this photo.

Hope everyone's had a great weekend. After a few more Boston posts, I'll let you all know about my awesome POM harvest trip!

10/16/10

Boston: Lunch at Neptune Oysters

I decided to fly to Boston for Columbus Day weekend: just needed some time away, good food and culture. Boston was the perfect fit. When I told my friend Mary of Arugula Files about my trip, she said I must go to Neptune Oyster and order a lobster roll. Usually when Mary tells me to do something I listen, and this was one of those times.

One of the benefits of traveling solo is that you don't have to wait for a table that fit 4 people. Instead, I waited less than 10 minutes in the crowded Neptune Oyster restaurant, located in the North End neighborhood, and took a seat at the bar.

I looked around, observed a woman shucking oysters, and checked out the decor.

I liked the ordering form for oysters that listed the names, the origin the oysters, the price and the description. It reminded me of an order form you'd get in a sushi restaurant.

I did not need to look at the menu though: I knew I was going to get a lobster roll. And I also decided to listen to Mary's recommendation of ordering lobster with butter instead of mayonnaise. I was excited and my expectations were high: for $25, it'd better be good.

And good it was! Look at the chunks of lobster swimming in the butter!! Mentally I thanked my parents again for not raising me to keep Kosher :) The lobster roll came on a freshly baked roll and with a side of fries.

If you go with a friend, I definitely recommend you share this dish. It was almost too much to finish, but I just forced myself :)

In between taking bites of lobster, I chatted with a woman sitting next to me who has been dining at Neptune Oyster for the last five years every time she's in Boston. And of course I took a few photos because on this trip, my camera was my friend. Well, it's always my friend.

I did not finish all the bread and all the fries, but there was not a gram of lobster left on my plate!

Have you had a lobster roll? Do you prefer yours hot with butter or cold with mayonnaise? Where do you get your favorite lobster roll?

I'm still in Fresno on the POM Harvest trip. I'm having a great time and getting to know wonderful bloggers, learning about pomegranates. Today we went to a bottling plant and tomorrow we get to check out pomegranate orchards! Photos coming up next week.

10/12/10

Boston's Haymarket

I'm back from Boston. I had such a fabulous time: a lot of walking around, eating out, and just relaxing. The weather was gorgeous: blue sky, sunny and perfect for a mini fall getaway. This was another one of my solo vacations, which I quite enjoy from time to time. This time, however, I was lucky enough to meet up with 3 Boston food bloggers: come back later and I'll tell you all about it.

For now, though, a photo food essay of Boston's Haymarket. I went to the market on Saturday and was flabbergasted by the variety of produce and by how incredibly inexpensive everything was! Too bad my hotel did not have a mini kitchen. I had to be satisfied with walking around, snapping photos and looking at everyone else filling up their bags with fruits and vegetables.

There were two guys shucking oysters at the market. Not having lunch yet, I could not resist: six oysters for $5!

After the fresh seafood, I also bought a container of green fresh figs for $2 from these two older men: how endearing are they?

I have a few more posts to write about eating out in Boston. Make sure not to miss them! Seafood, tapas, dessert, etc. And head to my other blog for non food photos from Boston (coming up soon!).

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