It's Hard To Hold Back When You Know

Frank's Suffolk Diner - Revere, MA
http://www.frankssuffolkdiner.com/ordereze/default.aspx

FEAST

     Go to Frank's Suffolk Diner. This is the cutest, nicest, most delicious diner I've been to in Boston. Maybe ever? David and I were on a quest to use up my free coupon (yes another coupon) for a stack of Ihop pancakes but the line was so far out the door and we didn't have time for that (literally... I had a plane to catch). So we headed back to Frank's Suffolk Diner, which we had passed on the way. Frank's is in this little tin box with red accented windows. It's adorable. Inside, it's your standard red, white and black diner colors and is kind of shaped like the inside of a train car. The kitchen was right behind the counter, so you could see them prepare all of your food, which I thought made it feel extra home-y. The staff was also super friendly right off the bat, and our waiter was actually the owner. She wasn't Frank, but she bought the place and fixed it up, as it had been closed for 4 years or something.

Banana chocolate chip pancakes

     Anyway, they had an incredible breakfast menu with some really unique things. I ordered the Airport Special... well... partly because I was going to the airport and partly because it sounded great. It was two eggs any style with bacon, homefries and a "short" stack of banana chocolate chip pancakes. First of all, the bacon was great. It was meaty, thin, and crispy just like I like it. The homefries smelled so good and really were HOMEfries. By that I mean that they were cut there (as opposed to coming frozen in a bag), they had the skins on them, and they were cooked on their grill. Some places deep fry them and I think that's just silly. I think my favorite part was the stack of pancakes. They were not "short" as described. They were fat and fluffy (but not too dense like a buckwheat pancake), full of freshly sliced bananas, and had the perfect amount of chocolate chips in them. Sometimes too many chips make it feel too much like dessert, but these were still light, sweet and didn't even need syrup.
     David got some tasty items he let me try too. His Tex-Mex omelette was HUGE and full of beans and ground beef. Uh. Yum. Protein. His s'mores stuffed french toast was insane. They took two slices of bread, dipped in egg and GRAHAM CRACKER CRUMBS, stuffed chocolate and marshmallow between the two and cooked it. Simply madness. It was delicious, but super sweet. A few bites was plenty. I wanted to put peanut butter in it.
     As I said, go to Frank's. Even though it's not owned by Frank. This lady knows what she's doing.

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Earl of Sandwich - Boston, MA
http://stores.earlofsandwichusa.com/massachusetts/boston/boston-common.html

     Right after finishing the Walk for Hunger (my first walk for hunger) I thought... eh, 20 miles wasn't that bad. Within a few hours of stopping however, I realized I was in for more pain than anticipated. Regardless, once we finished, the Gentle Giant gang broke up and I headed straight for Earl of Sandwich to use my free sandwich coupon (love the coups) I got for signing up for their email list. I went through a newsletter binge a couple months ago and signed up for all the different restaurants that give you things on your birthday, but many of them require you sign up well before the actual day.

The Full Montagu

     Earl of Sandwich sits in the middle of the Boston Common (America's first public park) in a octagonal concrete building. It's odd. I wonder who Earl is. Anyway, you just walk up to the window to order and can go watch the goofballs play Quiddich is the field behind it (I DO NOT UNDERSTAND). To get the full bang for my lack of bucks, I got their Full Montagu which had roast beef, turkey, swiss, cheddar, lettuce, tomatoes and mustard sauce (not sure what that really means). Now I figured this sammie would be pretty standard. Maybe like a step up from Subway, but not as good as the mom and pop deli down the street. It was much better than I expected though! They did something genius I've never seen before. So I have two meats and two cheeses right? They put one type of cheese on one side of the bread and topped it with the meat. Then did the same thing on the other side with the second meat and cheese. In the middle the put all the veggies. Why was this great thinking? Because then when they went to grill it, the cheeses were the closest to the heat source (whether flipped or not), while the veggies were in the middle just chillin' and staying cool. So smart! I could tell the deli meats weren't super high quality, but the construction of the sandwich was just so impressive.

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Met Back Bay - Boston, MA
http://metbackbay.com/

Short Rib tacos, Pork Carnitas taco, and chips & salsa

     Every now and then Malcolm and I like to get together and catch up since we don't live together anymore...which is sad. It was a Tuesday, and apparently he's a big fan of the Taco Tuesday special Met offers. So I headed down to this swanky, dark joint at the corner of Darmouth and Newbury St, felt really out of place and just all around not fancy enough for an evening on Newbury. Either way, the inside of Met was really unique. In the downstairs area, there were two bars. Hanging from the ceiling around each bar was a glass case with goodies inside. The larger bar had bottles of liquor sitting inside the glass, and the smaller bar had mason jars full of veggies and other pickled things. Also hanging near the smaller bar was an enormous leg of meat that looked like it was aged. I have no idea if it was real or not, but it sure was strange. This second bar was definitely meant to give off a sort of butcher/wine & cheese/farm vibe but in a classy way. I dug it.
     For Taco Tuesdays they do 3 tacos for $6, so we got two different kinds and split them up for maximum flavor experience. I ordered the pork carnitas tacos which came in a grilled, soft shell and had a pleasantly surprising amount of carnitas in them. This meat was very different than other carnitas I've had before in that it was much more juicy and stuck together, rather than being moist to dry but fibrous and breaking apart. This also had a slightly smokey flavor from the chipotles. The best part was the roasted pineapple chunks they threw in. The caramelized edges added a sweetness that went perfectly with the spicy meat. Malcolm ordered the short rib tacos, which were served in a larger than normal crunchy taco shell. Inside, they stuffed their short rib meat that was apparently braised or marinated in coca-cola. Yes. Coke. I've never heard of that before, but it makes sense! It probably tenderizes the meat and breaks it down. I knew there was a slightly sweet taste I couldn't pin point when I was eating them. I also loved the charred onions they added in this one. They lent a nice roasted flavor that went well with the jalapeños.
     We also ordered chips and salsa which was excellent. The chips were definitely homemade and if you've read any of my nonsense about chips before, you know that gets a restaurant a big high five from me. I was also in love with the salsa. The chunks of tomatoes and onions were on the bigger side and roasted, but the tomatoes had the consistency and texture of stewed tomatoes which was different. This salsa didn't have the fresh, cilantro lime flavors you'd normally experience in a salsa. Instead it had a darker, roasted and rich flavor that was really excellent.
     Not only were our tacos $6, but they have a meatball bar on Sundays and $4.99 burgers on Mondays. So obviously that needs to happen because their burgs and fries looked deadly. Can't wait.

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BurgerFi - Boston, MA
http://burgerfi.com/

BurgerFi build your own burger :]

     BurgerFi went in on Comm Ave last summer maybe? I'm not sure, but I've wanted to go since I first laid eyes on it, regardless of the fact that it's a chain. David made a good point that it's very similar in look and feel to Shake Shack. They both serve burgers, dogs, custard and brews, and use the same color palette and look. Also, they both are focused on the principle of revolutionizing the world of fast food, cooking from scratch, using fresh and quality products, and instituting sustainable practices within their businesses. How can you not support that?
     Anyway, Meagan and I had planned to go together, but it never happened, so one day on my way home from work I called Eric and asked if he wanted to meet me there. The inside of BurgerFi kind of has that clean, modern industrial feel with a lot of wood, metal and simple light fixtures. It's pleasing to me. I decided to build my own burger with 2 patties, lettuce, tomatoes, sautéed mushrooms, and pickles. As I ate the burger, I was comparing it to the Shake Shack burger and came to many conclusions. 1) The veggies on the Shake Shack burger were much fresher and more crisp, which is huge for me. 2) The burger patty at BurgerFi was much less greasy and more satisfying. 3) The pickles were a big deal sealer, leading me to conclude that the BurgerFi burger was better. Shake Shack's fries were better though, in that they were more crispy and salty. I like the hand cut, real potato look of the BurgerFi fries, which made me think I'd like them more (that's generally how that works), but they weren't done enough and needed some more salt. Kind of just ... meh.

The concrete was pretty solid

     For dessert (never forget), we got a concrete which is custard mixed with a ton of stuff. This economically makes so much sense rather than that self serve froyo because you pick your custard flavor (chocolate... duh) and can mix in as many toppings as you want. We got a bunch: oreos, brownies, chocolate chips, reeses pieces and whipped cream on top. It was overkill, but incredible. I just wished it didn't melt so fast. You can't screw something like this up. It was spot on.

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Kowloon - Saugus, MA

http://kowloonrestaurant.com/

     So then I went to Kowloon. I went to Kowloon, and I was sad. It looks so cool on the outside though, and actually really cool on the inside too with fountains, volcanoes, and boats everywhere. But the food was definitely some of the worst asian food I've ever had. We went after Catherine's graduation with David's family, so at least the company was good. 

"Who ordered the Pu Pu Platter?"

     Now, I love some good mediocre asian food, but this didn't even hit that mark. For starters we ordered two platters of meat. One was the Pu Pu platter (haha) including things like ribs, chicken fingers, egg rolls, crispy wontons and fried shrimp. But really it was all nearly fried... and all made you feel awful. The best part was the flame in the middle. The ribs were actually decent (they were the only thing that wasn't fried), but I'm curious as to what they were marinated in or what the sauce was. Tasted like applesauce. I'm doubtful that it was. 

     For the rest of the meal we got a couple different combinations of chicken, shrimp, rice, lo mein and other random meats like SLICED DELI HAM or hard dry peas. I don't understand what was happening. Things were covered in some sort of slime. The flavors were partly blah, partly awful. However, the sesame chicken was good. I will say that. It was just intensely fried chicken strips coated in a tasty sauce and sesame seeds. That's the kind of mediocre asian food I like. Thank goodness Catherine ordered that, or else it would've been nearly a complete failure. 

      On their website, they have tons of awards listed for "New England's Best Chinese Food" and such and the hallways within the restaurant were lined with celebrity photos. I do not understand. What was I missing?!

Heaven on Earth

Bagel Sandwich on Roids – 578 Washington #3, Brighton, MA

“Heaven on earth.” Generally an overused phrase. I guarantee you that the idea of heaven on earth you just created in your brain is different than mine. There’s no shame in that though. Let me give you a glimpse into the simplicity of my morning heaven. Step 1: Cut a hole the box… just kidding. Unrelated completely.

            Once again, it was Saturday morning. Time for a treat. I knew uncalcified fetus was on the menu, but wasn’t sure how to dress it up. I had a poppy seed bagel that was nearing the end of its life, so that needed to be included. Simply put, I fried up a few pieces of bacon, fried an egg in the thin coat of extra bacon grease and toasted and buttered the poppy seed bagel. Get this… bagel, egg, bacon, crumbled feta cheese, chopped green onion, bagel. I left planet earth. I’m sure of it.

Everything but the____ cookies - 578 Washington St #3, Brighton, MA

           How often do you get invited to a cookie swap? I'd say not often. At least, I've never been invited to one. I always seem to end up with tons of carrots, and I don't eat them fast enough. Plus, I LOVE carrot cake and I LOVE cookies. There had to be some way to mix the two together. I found a recipe online that did just that....plus chocolate. These cookies were amazing. I have no idea how they were supposed to turn out, but they were very fluffy. Almost cakey. Delicious. And they were very mountainous. They didn't spread out much, perhaps due to the lack of butter. There were so many different flavors in each bite. Raisins, carrots, chocolate, oats. Yumm :]

1 ¼ cups whole-wheat flour
1 cup quick cooking oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ cup oil
1/4 cup light brown sugar
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons maple syrup
¾ cup finely grated carrots
1/3 cup raisins
1/3 cup walnuts, chopped

Add 1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips if you're feeling rebellious!

1) Preheat the oven to 350°F.

2) Combine the flour, oats, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl and set aside.

3) Mix together the oil with the sugar, honey or syrup, and carrots until the sugar is dissolved.

4) Stir in the dry ingredients until just combined. Add the raisins and nuts and mix until they’re distributed throughout.

Drop tablespoons of the dough on to a cookie sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes.

Notes: I didn't use the walnuts, simply because I didn't have them. I used soybean oil. The good thing about these cookies is that they're not so bad for you. They have less sugar and fat that most cookies, and they're filling. Perhaps due to the oats. Speaking of oats, I accidentally bought the steel cut oats that are more like oat bits rather than flattened oats. They still turned out well though, in case you happen to make the same mistake. 

Windsor Café – Boston, MA

            Unfortunately, I had been to China Town before but had never eaten there. Supposedly you’ve got to be real careful though because some places will make you blow the bowl. I read in the Boston Improper about this place called Windsor Café that supposedly had the best Dim Sum in Boston. I still didn’t really know what dim sum was other than something with dumplings and asian type things. People rave about it all the time though, and I think it’s what all the real Asians get at restaurants when us whiteys get General Tso’s Chicken. Who is General Tso anyway? And what did he do to get a delicious chicken dish named after him? New life goal. Please bear with me as I attempt to explain what I think I ate and how I think it tasted. Truthfully, there was a lot of uncertainty involved in this meal. Pleasant uncertainty, of course.

            So I met Brian downtown, and we headed to Windsor Café. It was a tiny little restaurant nestled between 3 or 4 other asian restaurants. The street was tiny and smelled like garbage. I wouldn’t have had it any other way. It’s all part of the experience, right? The whole place was full of Asians. Just what I hoped. They had “communal tables” in which you sit down and other people you don’t know sit with you. It was actually kind of cool. Two Asians sat next to us, and they ate like kings. I was jealous of their superior chopsticks skills.

            As I came to learn, dim sum is the asian version of tapas. Tapas and I get along great, so my relationship with dim sum would probably be similar. The staff was relatively on the ball, even though we could never understand what they were saying when they asked us questions. You just gotta go with it.

Naturally I wanted to get the weirdest things on the menu. My first choice was beef stomach. Which stomach? Not sure. Some of the chunks of stomach had a different texture than others. I assume maybe that’s because the chunks were from different stomachs. Either way, the stomach came in a very light and mildly spicy broth. I say broth because it wasn’t the consistency of what I would consider a sauce. It looked like a mix between a fungus, seaweed, and a sea sponge. Seemed to taste like all three too. It was very chewy, but not to the point of frustration. The spice came from some red chilies that they added. Overall, pleasantly surprised with the stomach to stomach interaction.

            Another dish we got was a lotus seed dumpling. Yes, lotus the flower. I definitely didn’t know you could eat a lotus. But this was delicious! A lotus seed paste sat in the middle of a super fluffy bun like dumpling. The dumpling itself was a little sweet and had been steamed. The lotus seed paste was relatively smooth with a little bit of grit was it had a light, sweet taste. No overwhelming flavor punch. It was just simple and sweet.

            I also chose a stuffed eggplant dish. A couple chunks of thick eggplant came sitting in a brown liquid/oil. I have no idea what the liquid was, but it complimented the eggplant well. The eggplant was stuffed with shrimp and something else that I couldn’t pinpoint. I think they must have baked or roasted the eggplant because the outside was lightly crisp and the inside was super soft. It didn’t seem fried though. It was different than any other eggplant I’d eaten before.

            Another one of my choices was a pork sausage dumpling. Each little dumpling had a tiny pork sausage (I think it was pork… who really knows though) in it. It was a little spicy but tasted great tucked inside a sweeter dumpling.

            Beef balls. Not beef testicles. Just beef balls. Literally they were balls of beef sitting in a shallow pool of broth with some…. Seaweed? Leeks? Green onions? Not a clue. They were pleasantly salty. Pardon my comparison, but they looked like the ball of seagull vomit that came hurling at my chest nine years ago at the Arts Beats and Eats festival. Except this time I didn’t cry when I took it to the face.

            You’d think a turnip cake might be similar to a carrot cake. Nope. Not even. So the turnip cake came in two square patties. The outside was moderately crisp and the inside was hot. I want to say it had a consistency similar to that of a crab meat/tofu mixture. Weird, I know. But you could cut it with a fork. There wasn’t too much going on in each patty, but there were small slivers of turnip hidden throughout the cake. It had a slight rooty flavor, but I think most of the flavor came from the crisped edges. Mmm!

            The last dish we got is a mystery. Brian says chicken something, but I thought it was something with vegetables. Either way, I wasn’t disappointed with anything we got, so this must’ve been good.

Great Taste Bakery – Boston, MA
http://www.bostongreattastebakery.com/

            After lunch we went to this pastry shop called Great Taste. I got some huge puffy custard pastry that I waited to eat until I got to the Prudential Center mall (I needed to go do a workout right after lunch, but I HAD to work off some of the food first. I figured a stroll around the mall might do the trick). I popped it out of the bag once I got into the mall, but quickly realized this bun of glory was not something that deserved to be slighted. It deserved my full attention. Walking and eating it was too much to think about, so I sat down on a bench, braving all the jealous stares. The pastry itself was so light and was flaking all over me. Another reason I had to sit down. There was no way I was going to let all those flakes go to waste if I was walking. This way I could catch them all in my lap and still get to eat them. The pastry wasn’t jammed full of custard. I wasn’t sure if it would be like a custard doughnut or not, so this was a surprise. In the middle of the pastry was a huge air pocket. A custard layer lined the bottom of this pocket. Sneaky. At first I thought they forgot to add the custard. Silly. Shows how much I know. The thing had to be 500 calories. Worth it.

Patrick’s Special Guac – 578 Washington #3

            Cottage cheese is totally underestimated. Generally, I eat cottage cheese by itself. Don’t get me wrong; it’s delicious, but I don’t know what else I would pair it with. I don’t know of any dishes that require it. It’s kind of a weird food. My recent realization of how underestimated it is stemmed from a guacamole experiment I took part in thanks to Patrick. He says, “I’ve got a pretty great guacamole recipe.” I think, “Guac is rather simple and straightforward. How crazy could his recipe be?” Ready for it? Cottage cheese. Is this common? Do other people know about this mystery ingredient? I had no idea. I still wasn’t sure how I felt about it until the complexities of the whole guacamole ensemble caressed my tongue. It was amazing! Something about the subtle cheesiness of the cottage cheese mixed with the freshness of the avocado and cilantro, sourness of the lime, and spice of the peppers just made the whole thing complete. Oh and the garlic. I had never used so much garlic in guac before, and it really made a difference. I think letting the guac cool in the fridge for a while helped the garlic flavor penetrate throughout. The best bites were those that had a huge chunk of garlic in them. I totally and definitely recommend using cottage cheese next time your ready to overhaul your guacamole recipe. Here’s the full “recipe.” Just spitball it.

2 avocados

2 chopped red chilis

Diced tomatoes

Diced onions

Tablespoon of minced garlic

Salt and pepper

2 cups cottage cheese

Lime juice

Cayenne pepper

Cilantro

A couple notes: I used a little yellow onion because that’s what I had. I’d suggest a red onion. That’d be killer. I also added cilantro to his original recipe because I think it’s a critical ingredient in guac. I searched 5 different stores and couldn’t find red chilis. Come on. Instead, I chopped up some dried jalapenos that I had and added a little chili powder. I’m sure it’s not nearly the same, but sometimes you just have to improvise. Also, I’d suggest fresh lime juice. Squeeze it yourself. It’s so much better. I found that this guacamole was best tucked inside a pita. Super filling too. I love when friends share good recipes.

Hoy Hing - Brighton, MA

             It was a Sunday, and I was working late. My month long craving for mediocre asian food still had not been satisfied... and it had been a rough weekend. But Karl came through for me when I got out of work. Ellen had been talking about how Hoy Hing was hoppin'. Some chinese place right down the street. The general and I had been separated for far too long, and it was time for a reunion. You can get a "Special Meal Dish" for 6.75 that comes with General Tso's Chicken, white or pork fried rice, and an appetizer. Amazing deal, right? I still don't understand how the special meal dish differed from the specialities, chef's specialities or the combination platters, but it was irrelevant. This was going to be beyond satisfying. I got crab rangoons as my appetizer and pork fried rice. The crab rangoons could've been a little more crisp and crabby. Not as good as Golden Wok, but completely acceptable. I'm not so sure what it is with asian food and dying pork bright red, but there were little red chunks of pork in my rice in addition to some onions and other random things. It was simple, but great. Now the general tso's chicken wasn't no Golden Wok General or Rice Kitchen General on a Saturday night, but it seriously hit the spot. Whatever that goo is that he's so famous for was great. The chicken was mildly meaty, yet provided a satisfying fried flavor and crispness. Ellen said their portions fed her for three days. I finished mine in 15 minutes... tops.