scorp508's Profile
Bove's, did they pay off the food network to come there?
Ok this and Shann's responses are about the only reason I can see that would make any sense. Maybe it was a college following that somehow got them on there, because it couldn't have been anything else.
Bove's, did they pay off the food network to come there?
I was in Burlington for business back in mid-January, and noticed Bove's was in the area and one of the Throw Down contestends from the Food Network. I thought it must be worthy of a visit, so I trecked out one snowy Wednesday night when it seemed like most of Burlington was shut down.
I walked in and it was just myself and one other couple at a booth, the rest of the place was empty. The interior decore was interesting and did spark a the feeling that it was a local place that has been there forever so I thought I was in for a treat. I also didn't mind going in on a dead night to help out a local family owned business. The employees were taking bets about when they would close for the night (couldn't blame them!) and chit chatting up at the bar. The waitress was friendly and I have no complaints from the service aspect.
I ordered a Tom Collins and it was dreadful. Needless to say I only ordered the one and then stuck to water. I think they waived the liquor around the glass and it never actually got poured in and the lemon juice also seemed weak.
I got the lasagna since it was "the" advertised item for a Wednesday night and the Throw Down focus. I asked for the garlic sauce instead of the normal red sauce they'd use. While I did really like the garlic sauce, the lasagna itself was treacherous. I've had better lasagna at a school cafeteria before. The noodles were pasty, the meatballs were bland, and I couldn't even tell you what kind of cheese was in it. They served a piece that had to be over a pound and a half, but it didn't make up for the mediocracy and feeling of lost hope. It also didn't help that they had a small TV with a DVD player running through the Throw Down episode over and over and over and over and over while you were eating like some kind of personalized Chinese water torture.
I can't help but wonder how this place even got on the Food Network in the first place. A night later at the Vermont Pub & Brewery I shared my story with the bar tender and local sitting next to me and they both told me they'd never go into the place themselves unless they were ordering lunch for work and needed cheap eats. They said not to worry I wasn't the first victim and the place hasn't changed in years. They gave me he name of 2 other italian places in town try out next time I was in the area.
I guess you don't know unless you try something, so I'm still glad I tried it.... but yikes.
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Bove's Restrnt
68 Pearl St, Burlington, VT 05401
Lunching in Lynn?
Jamaica Flavor is quite tastey. The place isn't much to look at, but I've always liked the food when I had it.
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Jamaica Flavor
121 Pleasant St, Lynn, MA 01902
Chicken wrapped in bacon for 26 hours, any bacteria worries before cooking?
Thank you to to two of you. :) I had hoped that was the case, but was slightly fearful of getting a call on the 26th that various family members were ill.
Chicken wrapped in bacon for 26 hours, any bacteria worries before cooking?
Hi Everyone,
I'm trying to get ahead of the game and doing some prep work tonight for a few things to make on Christmas. Chopping stuff up, pre-measuring, etc... for the most part.
I'm also making these little guys..
http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/recipes/r-penzeysChickenBaconPoppers.html
I cut up the chicken, wrapped them in the bacon, coated them in the mix, and put them in a roasting pan covered in the refrigerator with aluminum foil.
Are they ok sitting for about 36 hours like that? They're going to cooked at 350* for 30-35 minutes, but it wasn't until I was completely done that the "Hey... you're putting pig and chicken together, that's normally bad." ran through my head. :)
Thank you in advance!
VOSS glass bottled water?
Do you want the still, normal, or sparkling? Every now and then I'll find the sparkling at Farmland in Wakefield. Sometimes they'll have the small glass bottles, but most times it is the large ones. My girlfriend loves it and it is the only place we ever see it. If you walk in the entrance, hang a quick left and it is usually in the end display of one of the first couple aisles by the registers.
Farmland
415 Main Street, Wakefield, MA
(781) 245-9797
The Diner in Peabody on Route 1 North?
Oh this looks good. It's in my contacts and I'm ready for a trip!
The Diner in Peabody on Route 1 North?
Yes, the Bel-Aire! That's too bad it sounds like it's defuncted. :(
The Diner in Peabody on Route 1 North?
I've only lived up here 3 years so I'm not shocked. :)
The Diner in Peabody on Route 1 North?
Does anyone know if the "Closed for renovations" Diner on Route 1 North in Peabody is truly being renovated or not? If you don't know the location, search for 152 Newbury Street, Peabody, MA on Google Maps and the pushpin should almost land on it.
My dad used to eat there all the time when he was younger and I kept hoping they would open it back up so I could take him back. I've seen that renovation sign for at least 3 years now.
Naked Fish, Lucille's & ?
Wow! I didn't even realize it had opened as Lucille's yet alone already closed! That was fast. I had driven by and saw renovations ongoing, I just assumed they were for Lucille's still. Do we really need *another* mexican place in the area?
Black Currant Nectar
Does it have to be a nectar? Not quite the same, but Stop & Shop in Lynn has Black Currant juice you might be able to reduce in a pinch.
Sonic to Open in Peabody MA!!
Ironically a bunch of people at work today were describing their trips to Sonic and everyone agreed the food was barely warm and never anywhere near hot. :( Everybody combined had been there different days of the weeks and different times of day. Drive through, walk up, and car hop didn't seem to make a difference either.
Sonic to Open in Peabody MA!!
The two times I've eaten there my food has been warm, but nowhere near hot. You definitely don't want to drive home and eat it, eat it right there in your car or at a table.
Sonic to Open in Peabody MA!!
Yup. Go past Sonic, past the hotel entrance, and here is a side street. Take a right down that, turn right behind the hotel, then turn right into the rear access to road into Sonic. Drive around the parking lot towards the right and park in a space and walk up to the table area. You still have to shout into a drive-up style menu to someone on a headset behind glass 30 ft' away from you and hope they hear you right, but it is quicker if there is a long line of cars.
There is actually an entrace just beyond the first turn in for Sonic that is with the hotel entrance, but they often have cones blocking it off so the rear access road is easier.
Karl's Sausage Kitchen Trip
I live near Karl's, but for some reason am afraid to go in there. I know I like different sausages, keilbasa, chorico, etc... but is this place newbie friendly? I don't want to go in there asking questions and get the cold stare. :)
The Blue Ox
My girlfriend and I finally hit up The Blue Ox last night after hearing many good things about it. We got there around 7 while it was raining and we had to do a couple circles around the block to find parking and the bank parking lot with signs for complimentary parking was completely full. There was quite a crowd already inside, but we were seated very quickly towards the front windows.
I thought the table itself was a little small, but otherwise enjoyed the interior and overall feel of the place. It wasn't too bright and it wasn't too dark, and everything felt clean and new while the building itself I thought did a good job of retaining it's older charm. The loudmouth guy behind me was annoying as hell and it made conversation a little tough at times, but at least he sounded like he was having a good time and wasn't completely obnoxious. :)
Our server came right over and took our drink order and bread soon followed. The bread was warm and tastey with their butter, but the heels of the bread were pretty tough to pull apart without fear of knocking something over on the table. I'd consider skipping serving them and using them for breadcrums or stuffing. My girlfriend had a glass of the Roseta (sp?) wine and it was good not great while I had the pumpkie pie martini (Vanilla Vodka, Irish Creme, Pumpkin Liquor, topped with cinnamon/nutmeg?). I liked my drink very much (had another one too), but it would have been wiser to order it perhaps after dinner with a dessert as it was quite heavy. Regardless I might start making them at home!
We got the appetizer plate made up of prosciutto, fig, blue cheese stuffed olives, and red peppers. While it was no doubt tastey, the prosciutto was a little fatty and for what you get I thought the price was a touch high. You get two medium sized stuff olives, a few slivers of red pepper in a pile, maybe 3 slices of prosciutto, and 4 little slices of fresh fig. If you're looking for a very light and small app this is good, but I was really hungry and was salvating over the french fries at a nearby table. :)
For dinner I had the butternut squash ravioli with brown butter and sage. It was absolutely delicious and I could have eaten another plate full. The brown butter sauce almost had me asking for more bread so I could soak it up. My girlfriend had the herb roasted half chicken, red bliss mashed potato, spinach, white wine butter sauce. The chicken was deboned and served "flat" over the mashed potatos. It was perfectly cooked and quite flavorful especially when you got a bite of the skin.
All throughout dinner the stream of people was very busy coming in and it made me happy to see the business appear to be doing very well. The crowd was made up of all kinds of people in all levels of dress which was nice. The waiter at a nearby table came out singing happy birthday in an opera quality voice to his table which shocked everyone and was rewarded with a round of applause. The single downside on the service all night was leaving the empty bread basket on the table all night even thought it was empty during the appetizer. It wasn't a big deal, but with a table already so small every square inch counted. Otherwise they were very pleasant and attentive without being overly invasive.
We skipped dessert as we were trying to make a movie, but we both came away quite pleased that we finallly got here for dinner and will certainly will be back to try some more items.
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Blue Ox
191 Oxford Street, Lynn, MA 01901
Anything like Purple Cafe and Wine Bar in Boston?
We went to Seattle a couple weeks ago and stopped by this plae the Purple Cafe and Wine Bar and had a great time just trying a few flights of their locally made red and white wines. It was a nice dark roomie place with a deep circular bar in front of a 3 story pillar of wine. The bartenders were very pleasent and the manager had plenty of time to talk to a couple of wine newbies about some of the different ones we were trying and how we could try to find something similar when back home.
Have any of you by chance been to one of their 3 locations in Washingotn, and/or what do you think may come the closest in Boston?
http://www.thepurplecafe.com/
Thank you in advance.
Good cider donuts close to Boston?
Agreed, Wilson Farms has some tastey donuts and they aren't far from Boston at all.
Apple cider donuts
The Wilson Farm ones are good, but my parents' recently got back from a trip to the Erie Canal and stopped at an orchard named Fly Creek Cider Mill and Orchard in Fly Creek, NY. They got me a dozen cider donuts and they were to die for. Getting them hot out of the oil from somewhere is perfect (Cold Hollow Cider Mill comes to mind from childhood), but for packaged and a couple days old these were still astonishingly good.
Best Monte Christo?
Lendy's Deli in Saugus between Route 1 South and the Lynn Fells Parkway has a massive Monte Cristo. I actually liked the one Bennigan's sold as well.
Sonic to Open in Peabody MA!!
I talked to a guy today who knows the franchise owner, the wait this weekend was >2 hours at some points.
I'm looking for good NY Style Knishes here in Boston
Has anyone had the Knishes at Lendys Deli in Saugus or Art's Deli in Chelsea? I've never had one before and keep meaning to try one, just curious if either of those places are any good for them. I love Art's in general.
Best Baked Beans in Beantown?
Persy's can go either way. They're either good or look like they've been sitting in the crucible for 3 hours and have a skin over the top.
Best Baked Beans in Beantown?
I nearly shed a tear every time I drive by the building. There's a sign on it now saying another taco/burrito place is coming. Like we need another one. :(
Sonic to Open in Peabody MA!!
Wow you got there at the right time. I tried going around 3PM today and the line was INSANE. After about 2 miles of backup on Route 1 we saw the police had shut down the Sonic lot and were directing cars into the Hampton Inn parking lot and spiraling through that to get to the Sonic lot. The line at the walk-up window looked to have 50+ people in it. We just said screw it and went to eat somewhere else. I'll go back late at night some time this week instead. :)
Hampton Beach eats next week?
Girlfriend and I are back from our mini trip. We were there from Thursday afternoon to Saturday afternoon.
Thursday night we had dinner at Ocean Wok. Along with the Scorpion Bowl for 2 (with Bacardi 151 in it) we got a rather generic chicken finger, beef teriyaki and chicken win appetizer. All three tasted really fresh and the teriyaki wasn't super sweet like many places are. The chicken wings had a great crunch to their skin and plenty of flavor.
For dinner she had the orange flavored chicken and I had the Pineapple Chicken Hawaiin Style. Both were really good and the presentation of the pineapple chicken was really cool (to me at least). I could have eaten five pounds of that stuff.
Friday I think we slept through breakfast and had lunch at the Purple Urchin. I forget the drink names, but she had a Bacardi Dragonberry (Dragon Fruit & Strawberry) based drink and another one that was almost like a French Martini and named the Purple Urchin-Tini. I think the pineapple juice was replaced with raspberry vodka or something. I had a "rootbeer" drink with Three Olives Rootbeer and Vanilla vodkas as well as a Beach Breeze that was sprite, peach schnappes, orange juice, and Absolut Mandarin. All of them were really good.
To eat there she had some kind of grilled chicken sandwich on Ciabatta (it isn't on the online menu as her's didn't have jalepenos) that was good and I had a Roast Beef and Boursin Cheese panini which was good, but could have used a few more peices of roast beef in it.
For dinner we went to LaBec Rouge who had about a 15 minute wait. Once inside we orderd nachoes with beef and side salads. The nachos took a while and the salads even longer. We only had the salads about 45 seconds before our meals came out. I had steak tips (medium well ended up being very well) and needed A1 sauce to liven it up. She had the char grilled lemon chicken breast which looked smelled and tasted pretty good. Drinks here were a 1/2 Sweet Carolina Sweet Tea Vodka & 1/2 Frozen Lemonade. I had no idea what to expect here, but it was actually refreshing and scarily tasted alcohol free. A few of those could do a number on you. I also got some kind of grapefruit vodka and orange drink that would have gone better with breakfast, but I liked it. She had another dragonberry based drink and something else that totally escapes me right now, but I know she liked em'. We then walked back to the hotel for a prime seat on our balcony right in front of the launching point for the massive fireworks show that night and drank some Sam Summer Ale munching on fresh and hot caramel popcorn w/cashes from the Surf Hotel candy shop that was just being bagged as we walked by the open shop window and got drunk from it's smell. :)
Saturday Breakfast ended up being at the Ashworth buffet as we were running low on time before having to check out. Let's see scrambled eggs good, french toast ok, pancakes dry, mini-omelettes good, fruit good, roasted potatos dry, coffee strong (i like that), danish good, cinnamon rolls looked good but didn't have, mimosa good, bloody mary good but not spicey enough for me.
Overall I'd say we had a really good time and were thankful for all of the suggestions. We didn't end up going off-strip much, but it gave us more time locally to see things.
The Death of 24hr food in Boston
This place better not suffer the fate the vocal few are trying to impose on it. This is the same kind of crap people who buy a house next to a drag strip or airport try to pull. "OMG.. the realtor didn't tell me what was on the other side of the trees. No wonder they would only show it on a Monday night!" Sorry folks, that diner has been there long before you have been and it should stay that way too.
If the MBTA ever finds a way to operate a limited schedule 24 hours without going 1 trillion in debt I bet we'll see the demand for more 24 hour eating pick up. One can dream...
Hampton Beach eats next week?
Oh no worries, alcohol is definitely part of the plan. Been working far too many hours lately. :)
Thanks everyone, we'll print this up and take it with us!
