samosk318's Profile
Savory dishes with berries?
Does anyone know of any good savory dishes where berries are the main ingredient? I'm looking for something creative (and delicious) aside from the standard goat cheese/raspberry combination. If the recipe is flexible in terms of what berry its called for, that would be best so I can use whatever looks freshest. Thanks in advance!
Restaurant Choices for Next Week
I particularly enjoyed Taranta when I ate there, so consider this a third recommendation for there. The mussels appetizer was outstanding. Both the fusilli al cartoccio and the gnocchi with lamb ragu were delicious as well. Couldn't tell you about dessert (DC and I walked across the street to Modern for cannoli instead), but if the rest of the meal was any indication I'm sure they're quite good as well.
only 3 Meals in Boston.....
I definitely second Neptune Oyster, particularly for a nice lunch -- if you go, the hot lobster roll is a must try. Probably the best lobster roll I've ever had. Their raw bar is excellent as well. I'm pretty sure they don't take reservations, so you may want to try to get there early.
After lunch, you can always stop at one of the Italian bakeries for cannoli. Check the boards for more advice re: cannoli, everyone has their favorite (mine is Modern Pastry). Enjoy your trip!
Winter 2009 Restaurant Week Reviews
Went to Ivy in Downtown Crossing a few days ago for dinner with friends. They had many of their menu options on their RW Menu: pick three courses from three boxes, dessert was a scoop of gelato. The food was good (the meatballs were my favorite of the evening but the truffle arancini were really good too), but it seemed like they messed up the timing of some of our dishes. Since Ivy is usually small plates, sometimes two "courses" came out at the same time. Perhaps we should have been clearer that we weren't going to be sharing the dishes, but some of the things we all ordered didn't really lend themselves to sharing anyway (chicken saltimboca springs to mind). They also ran out of scallops by 7 o'clock. I'd probably try them out again (their wine list was diverse and affordable) and stick to a more traditional small plates style of eating.
The restaurant wasn't very crowded at all when we were there, which I found surprising. Has anyone else noticed the same thing?
$35 dinner at Mistral, Sorellina, L'Andana and Mooo
Has anyone checked out the special menu at Mooo? The website mentions the special, but doesn't have the menu. I'd like to check it out but not if the menu is particularly uninspiring.
Good (and bad) Restaurant Week experiences
Why avoid Sibling Rivalry? Their offerings for RW looked pretty good (http://bostonusa.com/images/restaurant_week/menus/sibling_dinner.pdf).
I've wanted to try there for a while -- I think the concept is interesting (in an Iron Chef sort of way). Is it someplace avoid only during RW, or did you mean generally as well?
where can I get key limes?
I'm pretty sure I saw them, believe it or not, at the Stop and Shop in Allston on Friday...
Boston for a short weekend ?!
The hot lobster roll at Neptune Oyster is the best lobster roll I've ever had. It's easily my favorite place to go for lunch in Boston. Their raw bar is also excellent. If you're looking for a seafood lunch, you won't be disappointed.
Dining at Ten Tables -- Recommendations?
Reservation was last night at 6:30 and we were seated right away. Short review -- It was great, and will definitely be returning. If people are interested in more detail, see below.
We each ordered a cocktail (the KK Kamikaze for her and Le Gaston 76 for me), and both were great. The Gaston was very crisp and refreshing and would be a great cocktail for the summer as well. Our waiter brought us over an amuse bouche after we ordered; it was Israeli cous cous with golden raisins and kalamata olives. Really nice balance of sweet from the raisins and salty from the olives. DC and I shared the chicken liver pate as an appetizer, and it was very good. It only had three toast points for a relatively large slice of pate, but it was definitely better on having too much bread and not enough pate! For the main courses my DC had the cavatelli with lamb ragu and I had the bavette steak with "salsa verde," though our waiter explained it as more of a chimichurri (with parsley, chervil, and tarragon). Both were phenomenal. My steak was cooked perfectly and the rosemary polenta was also excellent. I would have cleaned my plate but I wanted to save room for dessert. We decided to go with two desserts -- I had the chocolate terrine with thai basil ice cream and my DC had the profiteroles with banana ice cream and chocolate sauce that seems to have replaced the banana upside down cake on the online menu. Again, both were outstanding. I've been really into sweet courses with savory components lately so I really enjoyed the thai basil ice cream (and the sea salt accompanying the chocolate terrine). The profiteroles were also delicious. The banana ice cream was very banana-like, if that makes sense. A very enjoyable meal overall, and I'm looking forward to going back soon.
Sorry that got somewhat long-winded, but as you can probably tell I thought it was great and wanted to make sure I gave it its due. Kudos to anyone who read the whole review, and thanks to everyone for all the suggestions!
Dining at Ten Tables -- Recommendations?
Thanks for all the suggestions! Dinner is tonight, I'll report back and let you all know about it.
Mussels?
I'm going to agree with nomadgirl. I was at Taranta a few months ago for dinner, and the mussels were far and away my favorite part of a pretty delicious meal. Just thinking about them again is making my mouth water.
Dining at Ten Tables -- Recommendations?
Do you get to see what the courses are on the tasting menu prior to choosing, or is more of a "chef's whim" kind of thing?
Thanks for the advice on the creme brulee. It's usually a go-to dessert of mine, but there seem to be many more interesting options on the dessert menu right now. If I don't go the tasting menu route, I'll probably be torn between the chocolate terrine (per galangatron's recommendation) and the banana upside down cake. Anyone have any thoughts regarding the latter option?
Dining at Ten Tables -- Recommendations?
Do you remember how they prepared the rabbit with the pappardelle? Do you think it'd be similar to the cavatelli with lamb ragu they currently have on the menu (and looks great)?
Also, has anyone had the vegetarian tasting menu? I'm not a vegetarian but if it's something meat-eaters could enjoy I wouldn't be opposed to trying it out...Thanks!
Dining at Ten Tables -- Recommendations?
I have an upcoming reservation at Ten Tables and was wondering if there were any "must try" dishes on the menu. I looked around the boards a bit already and saw that many people like their charcuterie plate -- is that the chicken liver terrine they currently have on the menu or is it something else? What else have people had that they liked? Thanks in advance.
Issues with white chocolate ganache
This past weekend I set out to make some chocolate truffles for Valentine's Day. The dark chocolate and milk chocolate ganache both set up fine after I hit them with my immersion blender, but the white chocolate ganache stayed soupy and non-ganache-like. I'm guessing that it had something to do with the percentage of cacao in the chocolate, but I'm not sure. Has anyone else had similar problems? Is there a (home kitchen) way to get the white chocolate ganache to set up firm enough to roll into truffle form, or should I just stick with dark chocolate (and to a lesser extent, milk chocolate) from here on out for truffle making purposes?
