Shup Up. I'm Food Drunk!

Rosebud - Somerville, MA
http://rosebudkitchen.com/

      Finally! I got to go to Rosebud in Davis Square. I've been wanting to since before their remodel last year? The year before maybe? I can't remember. Jimmy asked me on Sunday if we could go to Rosebud someday. I said, "how about tomorrow?" Deal.

    From the outside, Rosebud looks like a cute little diner with the silver dining car exterior. lnside, however, it's actually very big and extends pretty far back from the street. I was surprised. The decor is not the sunflowers, roosters and pie I anticipated (they are known for their pies), but instead it was super rustic, hipster chic. They had so many different types of lightbulbs, mason jar candle holders and animal sculls and farm tools on the walls, yet these beautiful red leather booths. It had a really relaxing feel, but seemed out of place in the dining car.

Lobster Hush Puppies

     To start our meal, I wanted the lobster hush puppies because hush puppies are about the 10th best thing ever on a menu and lobster is the 11th. The hush puppies hit the spot on a cold day. They were big, which I liked, and had a slight lobster flavor but there weren't any chunks. That part was sad. I liked that they added whole kernels of sweet corn to them. I love when people do that. I wanted more corn and lobster though and less oil infiltrating into the hush puppy itself. I like them when they're a little less oil soaked. They also apparently had bacon in them, but I didn't get that flavor at all. They were served with a smoked paprika aioli which was delicious. It had a really subtle smokey flavor which was really nice. These were good, but didn't compare to those from Hyman's Seafood in Charleston.

Texas Rachel in a Skirt

     For dinner, I went with the Texas Rachel in a Skirt which was smoked brisket, BBQ onions, horseradish sauce, and creamy slaw on rye. AND it was in a cheese skirt. Neither of us knew what a cheese skirt was, but it was just what it sounds like. It was a ring of crispy cheese surrounding the whole sandwich, and it was pretty close to my favorite part of the sandwich. The sandwich itself had incredible flavor. The meat was delicious but it wasn't as tender as I had hoped. It was broken into some bigger chunks and not tender enough to rip apart when I took a bite, resulting in pulling half of the meat off the sandwich with each bite. That could've been mediated by just shredding the brisket a little bit more. The BBQ onions seemed more like just really caramelized onions. They were really sweet, and I loved the way they paired with the creamy slaw. The slaw added a good crunch to each bite too. I'm bummed about the horseradish sauce though. I didn't taste it at all, and I was really excited about it. Admittedly I forgot about it when eating it, but the flavor wasn't enough to stand out to me either. Lastly, the bread was a little too crispy and oily for my liking. It was just pretty greasy, and I would've loved a slightly toasted piece of bread instead, especially because there was plenty of juice from the meat and slaw. Overall a great flavor, but the textures were not where they needed to be.
     Jimmy went with the hanger steak, which was delicious. It felt like a really clean cut of meat, and it was cooked perfectly medium rare. It was paired with potato, pablano, and onion hash with swiss chard. I really would've liked more swiss chard and pablano, but the hash was fabulous. A little salty but super savory.

The chocolate cream pie and Dutch apple pie. 

     Rosebud's is known for their pies. Apparently they're "world famous," but I wouldn't say that were the best I've ever had. I got the Dutch apple pie which was tasty, not too sweet, and the apples maintained a perfect texture. Not too overdone and not too hard. I think they used some more lemon for the insides of the pie than I'm used to, so that slightly sour flavor was different but interesting. I was hoping for more crumbles on top, which is obviously the best part of a Dutch apple pie. I also wished it came warm. The top of the pie was a little warm, as if they they stuck it in the oven for a minute, but the inside was pretty cold. We also tried the chocolate cream pie which was decent, and the dark chocolatey cream was rich and beautiful like a more dense chocolate mousse. The crust wasn't that great though. Sadness. I'm love crust.