Day 36 Dinner at Sip Wine Bar in Boston

 Dragon Maki

 tempura green beans

 Spicy tuna tempura rolls

 S'Mores sticks

 White grape martini

  Bread pudding

 Calamari

 Michael drinking a cougar

 Me drinking a cougar

Let me start off by saying i am not a fan of sushi, i don't dislike it but i can honestly say i have never craved it.  Sushi is one of those things that i feel i have to keep giving a chance because its such a trendy meal that so many people seem to love.  

On this particular night i was meeting my friends Michael and Kevin to go and see the amazing Broadway show Wicked at the Boston Opera House. So Michael had suggested we try to get into Sip which is just a few doors down from the Opera House.  It was a gorgeous late Summer evening and we chose to sit outside. Our waiter (who's name escapes me) came by our table to ask us about a cocktail and let me tell you that was no easy decision. They have an extensive wine list and a vast cocktail menu. So after much deliberation Michael and i both decided to get Cougars ( i think we both chose it because of the name). It was insanely good, and a great Summer cocktail.

I let Michael guide the ship as far as ordering because as i started off with, i am not a sushi expert. But with the fantastic suggestions made by our hilarious waiter. We had some of the best sushi i have ever had. The first thing we ordered was the Spicy Tuna tempura rolls. Wow....amazing, hands down the best Sushi i have EVER had but also 1 of the tastiest pieces of seafood i have ever had as well. Not to mention look at the presentation above, its gorgeous. Then we decided to order some Dragon Maki, easily the 2nd best Sushi i have ever had...and an even more beautiful presentation. 

Kevin joined us a little later and then we order some more food. The out of control roll, the calamari and the tempura green beans. All very delicious and generous portions. I am a huge fan of calamari and theirs did not disappoint. Huge portion and great flavor. Michael and Kevin raved about the Tempura green beans as well as the The Out of Control rolls.

For dessert this was unusual, normally i am out with people we all just split 1 dessert and each take a few forkfuls but after looking at the menu, we all knew we had to get our own.  Oh my God, how this place isn't packed with people just stopping for dessert is beyond me. They have some great options and some unique choices. I had something that sounds so simple, but it was just delightful. S'mores sticks, they gave me 4 perfectly toasted marshmallows with a raspberry sauce, a rich chocolate sauce and some crushed graham crumbs. Just the right amount of food, and the perfect ending to a glorious meal.  Michael got the bread pudding and he said it was absolutley delish. Kevin's dessert (pictured above) was a special and looked heavenly. He enjoyed it very much.

Overall i thoroughly enjoyed my dining experience at Sip, excellent food, friendly & helpful staff and reasonable prices for great quality food. I look forward to my next experience there.

Have a great night ya'll ( thats right  i said Ya'll, i am working on a Southern twang) and a great meal.

Kevin Boyle

xoxo

http://www.sipwinebarandkitchen.com/pdfs/SIP_DinnerMenu.pdf

Day 35 Dinner at Del Frisco's on the Waterfront in Boston

 12 oz Filet mignon

 Dessert menu

 Dinner menu

 Lobster mac & cheese

 Strawberry Romanoff

 Dinner menu part 2 (the sequel)

 8 oz Filet mignon

 6 layer lemon cake

 appetizer menu

 the most amazing onion rings

The VIP...clementine vodka infused with fresh Hawaiian pineapple

King crab gnocchi

I had never been to Del Frisco's before and i may never forgive myself for waiting this long. 

Simply put, this was one incredible meal. A friend was in town on Business so some dear friends and I all got together at Del Frisco's, a restaurant i had heard about but never visited....shame on me.

The restaurant has a classic elegance too it, the hostess team are friendly and polite. Just before being led to our table, our hostess asked us to wait one more moment as she walked over to the table to ensure it was 100% ready for us. Our waiter was personable and quite helpful in his suggestions to us about cocktails and food. 

This is a steak house and we all decided to try the house specialty. Wow...and wow again. Three of us got the filet and the fabulous Christina got the bone in rib eye.  The steaks are seasoned with salt & pepper unless you ask for additional seasoning. My steak was cooked perfectly, i asked for medium and it was just the right amount of pink in the middle. What i liked is that they asked me to cut into the middle right away to ensure its cooked all the way through, which it was. 

The side dishes are not just fabulous, but also enormous sized portions. Three side dishes did four people with enough left over to do my lunch the next day. The lobster mac & cheese was rich and with a generous portion of lobster. The king crab gnocchi was amazing, so tender and plump, i couldn't get over how much crab meat they give. Did you happen to see the onion rings pictured above. they are visually stunning when they arrive at the table and the breading is so light you can really get the taste of the onion, it doesn't fall apart after one bite which always annoys me when i order onion rings out.

After this enormous meal, i thought no way could i eat dessert...what a silly goose was i. 

I saw lemon cake on the website before we came to Del Frisco's and it was love at first site. This lemon cake is six layers, but very light and spongy. The icing had a nice tanginess to it but also kept its sweetness. A very flavorful burst of lemon in each bite. 

I did not try the strawberry romanoff but i was told it was nice and sweet with great strawberry flavor.

I would highly recommend Del Frisco;s to anyone looking for a nice evening out on the town. The evening views from the restaurant of the city adds to the amazing ambiance. 

Have a great night and a great meal.

Love,

Kevin Boyle 

http://delfriscos.com/menu/boston/

Day 34 Dinner at 88 Wharf in Lower Mills

 Menu at 88 Wharf

 Key Lime pie

 Strawberry Napolean

 Haddock dinner with lemon breadcrumbs, roasted potatoes and asparagus

 New York Sirloin with blue cheese and a merlot reduction, mashed potatoes and corn with garlic butter.

88 Wharf menu pt2

What a perfect ending to a lovely 3 day weekend, dinner at 88 Wharf in Lower Mills. What made this meal even better was the fact that we had a $60 groupon for dinner. Which gave us some flexibility in our ordering. The ambiance for 88 wharf is beautiful, the restaurant is hidden away under a luxury apartment building so there's not a ton of traffic or people walking by outside. You can dine inside or out on the patio, but either way the view of the water is just lovely.

They bread basket they give is quite dangerous because the parmesan encrusted french bread is quite addictive, and they are generous about bringing you refills. The wine selections are small but what they lack in volume they make up for in quality. I had a pinot grigio from Oregon (Anne Amiee) that was crisp and delicious, and they are not cheap with their servings.

I had the dinner special, a NY sirloin served with a merlot reduction and blue cheese on top. This was easily one of the most tender, perfectly cooked and seasoned pieces of meat i have ever ordered out. I savored every morsel. The corn on the Cobb with garlic butter was fabulous and a nice accompaniment to the steak (it was a little on the warm side and not as hot as i would have preferred, so i made sure i ate the corn 1st so it would not get cold). The mashed potatoes were creamy and beautifully seasoned, they gave a generous portion as well. Well worth the $29.

My friend had the Haddock, and it was absolutely delicious (  i stole a bite....stop judging me). Normally i prefer some sauce with a piece of fish but the secret to a nice piece of fish is that if it doesn't smell fishy or require a sauce for some flavor. The lemon flavored bread crumbs were just enough to make this haddock perfect. It came with roasted potatoes and asparagus, again generous portions and served well seasoned.

Now once again i am not a dessert person out, normally because i am totally full from my dinner. Tonight an exception was made, but i was hoping for a piece of their red velvet cake (thats not red) but alas my hopes were dashed when the waitress informed me the chef who made that cake has left the restaurant. When i stopped sobbing i decided to still reward myself with a piece of Key lime pie...WOW, quite possibly the nicest, most refreshing ,  fresh lime tasting Key Lime Pie i have ever had. Oh and did i mention they give 2 pieces per order !!  Some call my mama because that is just amazing.

My friend got the strawberry Napolean. Now i am not a fan of diminutive French Emperors, but the man certainly knew how to make a tasty dessert. The fresh cream with strawberry inside of (2 !! ) puff pastries was light and creamy but not lacking in flavor. I would highly recommend.

I found the staff to be very polite, helpful, but not hovering. 

I would recommend this restaurant to anyone looking for a restaurant with great food, and great atmosphere.

Have a great night and a wonderful meal.

Thanks,

Kevin Boyle

http://www.88wharf.com/menus/dinner-menu

Day 33 Birthday dinner at Wicked Pizza in Dedham

 Arancini $ 7.95 Risotto croquettes filled with pancetta, fontina cheese and natural Italian sausage fried and served with marinara sauce

 

 Creekstone Farms Beef Brisket $ 22.95

Hickory-wood roasted, sliced and topped with a honey BBQ sauce with grilled corn bread
Cajun fries, and jicama slaw 

 Cedar Plank Salmon (GF) $ 25.95

Organic Black Pearl salmon, roasted at 700 degrees in our stone hearth oven, with a
raspberry chipotle glaze, accompanied by crispy polenta cake and chefs vegetables selection 

 Wicked Mini Doughnuts

House made and fried to order, served with crème anglaise and chocolate dipping sauce 

It was the best of time, it was the worst of time....  The best was the fabulous meal and the wonderful company , the worst...I turned 40.

I don't often find myself in Dedham's Legacy place, but after dinner the other night i might have to rectify that. Whats funny is Wicked wasn't even our original choice for dinner, but the restaurant we had planned was closed on Mondays (Super annoying). So my dining companions had made some suggestions to me, and after reviewing their menus online i thought Wicked Pizza sounded the most promising.  I was not wrong. 

I have heard for years how amazing Arancini's are, but the place i had to try them in is in the North End (Umberto's) but being that its only a lunch place i don't find myself there to often on a weekday. But Andrea recommended trying them at Wicked Pizza, and i must say they lived up to expectations. Beautifully cooked with the just the right mixture of rice,cheese and sausage. It had 2 flavorful dipping sauces and had a robust marinara under each rice ball. I will definitely add this to the list of appetizers i will order again.

Andrea had the cedar plank salmon and enjoyed it very much , she enjoyed the raspberry chipolte sauce as it was a perfect accompaniment to bring out the flavor of the salmon. I tried some of her palenta cake and i must say it was very tasty as well.  The portion was a good size, and filling.

Eric and I both had the brisket...WOW, delicious ! They gave a generous portion of meat and it was covered but not smothered in a nice tangy BBQ sauce. Every piece of meat was cooked just right and was very tender. The side dishes i was a little mixed about; the French fries were a very generous portion but i felt a little over seasoned (not salty, just too much cajun seasoning), i did not like the jicama slaw, it was a powerful flavor and i didn't like the texture. The corn bread on the other hand was fantastic, not a huge portion not dry and went very well dipped in the honey BBQ sauce. 

I was thrilled when they told me they don't sing Happy Birthday as a group by the waiter, but when we ordered a dessert to split they still managed to sneak a candle in the whipped cream.  For dessert we split the Wicked mini donuts, which they serve hot from the fryer. With 2 dipping sauces, crème anglaise and a hot chocolate sauce, this was the perfect ending to a fabulous meal. The donuts weren't heavy or served greasy. The dipping sauces were nice and creamy. My preference was the chocolate sauce, but dipping in both sauces and the whipped cream at the same donut was pretty terrific as well. In fact i wouldn't mind having a basket of those right now. 

The staff was very friendly and attentive, our waiter was helpful with recommendations. I also observed this would be a great restaurant to watch a ball game, as they had a lot of TV's positioned all over the bar area and some booths had small tvs in the booth.

I would recommend Wicked Pizza to anyone, and i can't wait to go back myself.

Have a great day and a great meal.

Kevin M. Boyle XOXO



Dinner
Menu.
http://www.wickedrestaurant.com/userfiles/dinner%20menu%205-6-13.pdf

Restaurant website.
http://www.wickedrestaurant.com/gourmet-artisan-pizza-main-menu.asp