Day 28 -Restaurant Week -Dinner at Forum on Boylston Street

 DUCK CONFIT PUFF PASTRY

slow roasted duck confit wrapped in puff pastry, goat cheese, cranberries, pepper jelly & watercress 

 SHORT RIB DUMPLING

fried dumpling stuffed with slow roasted short rib, tangy pickled cabbage & sweet chili sauce 

 FISH TACOS

local haddock, red cabbage, pico de gallo, & chipotle aioli 

 LOBSTER RICOTTA GNOCCHI

maine lobster & cherry tomatoes served in beurre blanc & sorrel pesto sauce 

 CHOCOLATE BANANA BREAD PUDDING

maple crème anglaise, banana chocolate sauce, vanilla bean ice cream 

 GRILLED CIDER-BRINED PORK TENDERLOIN*

mashed sweet potatoes, braised collard greens, apple butter 

 ESPRESSO CHEESECAKE

cookie crust, coffee caramel brittle 

Have I ever told you how much i love restaurant week, i try to make a point of ordering outside my comfort zone when i try some place new.  On this beautiful Spring evening (the weather, not the day in general...this particular day sucked, but i digress) i met my friend Andrea and her boyfriend Eric at Forum on Boylston street ( in the back bay). Andrea recommended this restaurant to us to try and i have to say she hit the bullseye with this choice.

The staff at Forum seemed very friendly and attentive, I wasn't wild about our waiter. He wasn't a bad waiter, just slow and a smidge forgetful. Mixed up a few drink orders and put a lime on my Dos equis amber ale (not a beer to confuse with a Corona).  But overall i would chalk it up to him having a bad night or maybe even being new to this line of work.

This was one of the BEST restaurant week menus i have ever seen as far as choice. 5 in the appetizer category , 5 in the entree category and 3 Dessert choices....yeeeeeeeah !
most places only give you 3 choices in each, so this was a great place if you wanted variety.  I was torn about what to start with , so i got the Duck confit (it's the best French word i pronounce, besides croissant) it was delicious and flavorful. The pastry was not dry and the pepper jelly was a beautiful accompaniment with just the right amount of heat and sizzle.  Having said that, Andrea's fish tacos and Eric's short rib dumplings looked delicious and i must confess some appetizer envy.

For the entree i got the Lobster Ricotta Gnocchi, wow was that good.  A nice amount of lobster (mostly claw meat) with some of the plumpest gnocchi's i have ever had. However if I have 1 enormous complaint, its that Andrea's bowl looked like it had more food that mine did. When i was done i had to look on enviously as she still had gnocchi's left in her bowl while i was sopping up sauce with the bread on the table. The sauce was succulent, and it was almost like have 2 sauces in 1 dish that became a 3rd sauce when combined, it was sauce-a-palooza in that bowl.  Eric got the pork which he seemed to enjoy very much and said was cooked very nicely.

I can genuinely say i was looking forward to my entree all day, but i was also really looking forward to my dessert. I got the chocolate banana bread pudding. It was just as good as it sound and looks, so rich and decadent. Just the right amount of sauce and vanilla ice cream.  I was slightly torn and almost ordered what Andrea got , the espresso cheesecake, but i am happy with the decision i made. She let me try some, and it was quite nice but just a little too creamy for the way i like my cheesecake.  The cookie crust was delicious though, it worked well with the creamy cheesecake.

So i have to say it was restaurant week that brought me to Forum in the first place but it was the outstanding food and ambiance that will bring me back and soon.

Anyone want to go, let me know..i need my gnocchi fix.

Have a great night and a great meal

Love
K. M. Boyle




http://www.forumboston.com/menus.php?p=dinner

Day 27, Lunch at B Good Burger was A-bysmal

b-good Burgers  (Real food fast...perhaps a little too fast)

 a cheese burger with avocado and red cabbage cole slaw

 Perhaps the most undercooked burger i have ever received.

Well for those of you who know me personally, i work near Downtown crossing Boston. I have several decent choices for lunch (Sam LaGrassas, Al's sub shop, Pizzeria Regina) but on 1 particular day i said to myself "Kevin, you need to try something new....expand your horizons".  So after taking a walk around downtown i stumbled upon B Good.  Well never have i regretted going out of my comfort zone more.  First these new high end hamburger places that seem to be the big trend of the moment (5 Guys, Wahlburgers, U Burger, etc etc) are really not all they are made out to be,  i can't say that any of them have good French fries. In fact i would call them lousy and artery closing with the amount of grease they are cooked in. Have any doubts about that statement, carry them in a brown paper bag for a couple of minutes and you will be able to see through the bag they are so covered in grease.  

After having paid $11.75 for the lousy fries, a small coke, and the above burger i had quite high hopes based on B Goods promise of better quality products and the outrageous price ( something that $$ should be amazing) well after 2 bites i saw what i can generously call RAW beef.   For $11.75 they can't even cook a burger fully !!?? 

Now i know what you are thinking "Come on K Dawg why you gotta be hating, anyone can make a mistake!"  I would be the first to agree with you, BUT to me the way a restaurant handles such a major culinary catastrophe is the symbol of a well run establishment.  When i went back to the restaurant to complain, i was walked over to the manager who looked at the burger and said "Ooops how did that happen?  Ha ha ha ?"  Ummm it happened because you people aren't doing your job and don't realize a burger takes more than 14 seconds to fully cook.  

So without asking me what i wanted he told his staff to do a redo of the order.  In fairness they actually cooked it this time, but wow was that burger disgusting. The cole slaw was far too strong and pungent, and an overpowering flavor. 

The next time i want a burger in Downtown crossing, i will be at Wendys or Burger King, because i may not know whats in it, but i know it will be edible and under $10.

Have a great night and a better meal than the 1 i had at b good.

Love 

Kevin Boyle

http://www.bgood.com/menu.php

Day 26 - Dinner at Cuchi Cuchi in Cambridge ( easily my favorite restaurant name)

 Tartufo chocolate-coated gelato ball

Brie en Croûte -$ 14

Brie, walnuts, bacon in puff pastry

Singapore Sling

(Raffles Hotel - Singapore - 1915)

gin, Cherry Heering, Benedictine, Cointreau, orange & pineapple juice, soda water

Fried Artichoke Hearts(Italy) - $14

filled w/ gorgonzola, pistachios & basil

Thai Mussels - $15

Potato Croquettes - $10 ,with tomato and cheese dipping sauce

Caspian Heaven (Russia) - $13

Roasted Fingerling potatoes, crispy oysters, creme fraiche, salmon roe & champagne sauce

 First and foremost i want to apologize for my photos and take this time to say Heather you were right and i was wrong, i should have used the flash.  I have learned my lesson.

This restaurant was a suggestion made by my friend Heather,  when she , her husband and i were trying to think of a new place to try for dinner. This establishment with the best name ever is located in Central Square on Main street. When you walk in the front door you feel like you are swept back to the 1920's. The hostess and waitress's are dressed like flappers, and the waiters are dressed in very stylish uniforms.  Our waiter started our evening off by presenting each of us with a hot towel to wash our hands, he then removed the towels immediately to not leave them sitting on the table with us.

We decided to start off our evening with a cocktail,  Frank had a scotch based cocktail that i'm sorry to say i can not recall, Heather had a Strawberry Basil Martini , and i had a Singapore Sling. The cocktails were fabulous, beautiful presentation with the fruit and garnish, and the taste was quite exquisite. Strong but not overly, extremely flavorful.

Now we come to the food....soooooo much food. Cuchi Cuchi makes of point of stating their meals are for sharing but they are not a Tapas restaurant. Their menu has the most eclectic options i have ever seen, they offer different styles of food ranging from French, Thai, Russian, Cuban, Italian, and Japanese to name just a few.  We ordered potato croquets(see above) , these were perfectly cooked little potato bites with cheese inside , that comes with a tomato puree dipping sauce and cheese dipping sauce, a great combo when dipped in both.   

Fried artichoke hearts( seen above), that were amazing and definitely in my top 3 food choices for the night, i love the taste of artichoke but never had them stuffed before. They come stuffed with gorgonzola , pistachios & bass...glorious.

The thai mussels(pictured above) come with a very generous portion, sitting in a subtle cream sauce (the full ingredients escape me, but it had coconut milk, lemongrass and basil ), these were some of the most perfectly cooked mussels i have ever tried and i enjoyed every single one i devoured. 

The cuban cigar (not pictured) was tasty but not extraordinary. It was a simple dish beef short rips wrapped in pastry, with black bean salsa on the side. My only issue with the dish was the salsa was ice cold, and it was such a contrast to the hot beef pastry, when i ate them together it was too much hot and cold at once.

The Tsukune (aka chicken balls) were a slight disappointment as well. Theoretically they should have been amazing, but we all felt they had an overpowering soy flavor that made me satisfied to just have 1.  To know me is to know i love chicken, but this could have been any meat because with all the soy flavor you wouldn't be able to tell the difference.  It was essentially a chicken meatball, on a shiitake mushroom, with soy/mirin glaze. If you love soy then this is the dish for you.

The Caspian Heaven(pictured above)....mmmmmm these were #1 for me & Frank this evening. Ridiculously good, i love oysters but i have never had them this good before. You get 4 in a serving and we split them , but i definetly could have eaten an order to myself. They are crispy oysters, with creme fraiche, salmon caviar, and a Champagne dipping sauce.  I need a cigaret just thinking about this...sigh..ok i am composed. You taste the oysters , but not the salt water flavor. The crispy coating is far superior to any "fried" oysters i have ever had. The dipping sauce was sublime,  too quote the lady from the commercial  "I would put that sh#t on anything !" 

Finally for dinner we had the Brie en Croute, Brie, walnuts and Bacon wrapped in a puff pastry served with green apple slices. This was tremendous, so simple but glorious flavor and visually pleasant. Thankfully this was the picture Heather took so the flash was on. The sour of the apple, with the hot creamy cheese and the saltyness of the bacon was a deadly combination, just delicious.

We were all pretty full, but not overstuffed considering all the food we ordered. So we decided we could split 1 more thing.   Dessert, Heather picked very wisely.

Neopolitan gelato in a hard chocolate shell. The gelato had pistachios and cherry slices inside of it and the chocolate shell was rich and cream, a perfect ending to a perfect meal.

I would highly recommend Cuchi Cuchi to anyone looking for a fun and adventurous night out on the town that includes a 5 star meal and 6 star cocktails. If you need someone to come along to make recommendations and to help you eat your crispy oysters, then just say the word and i'll be there.  ; - )

Have a great night and a great meal.

Love 

Kevin M.W. Boyle I

http://www.cuchicuchi.cc/menu.html