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March, 2011

  1. Restaurant Week: Skipjack’s

    March 10, 2011 by Dan

     

    Skipjack’s

    199 Clarendon Street
    Boston, MA 02116
    (617) 536-3500

    I went to Skipjack’s in Boston for their Restaurant Week promotion where a three course dinner is only $33.11 before tax and tip. One thing I would like to note that I did not know about previous to going to the restaurant is that there is a parking garage directly next to the restaurant which you get 2 hours of free parking. Just for people to be aware of.

    Food

    The food was excellent, I really enjoyed all the dishes. But the one dish that stood out to me the most was definitely the crabcake appetizer, I do recall saying that I could eat an entire meal of exclusively the crabcakes, they were nice and crispy on the outside, while juicy and succulent in the inside, and the slaw and sauce definitely complimented the flavors of the crabcake perfectly. Both the fish dishes were very juicy, the fish was not dry at all, and tasted quite fresh, though the wasabi crusted salmon lacked much of the wasabi flavor. The haddock was excellent and the stuffing went with the whitefish meat very well. The scallops were very interesting and definitely had a southwestern flavor, both with the fried corn fritter “arepas” and the flavorful avocado and spice combination. Overall, I would say my favorite two dishes were the scallops and the haddock, one for a spicy and flavorful mood, and the latter for a more subtle flavorful experience. And for dessert I had the chocolate break pudding which was excellent, the chocolate was nice and dark, and the bread pudding warm. It was not over sweet as so I would get sick of it, and the whipped cream tasted like regular whipped cream, so not much to comment on it, other than there was an ample amount of it to eat with the bread pudding.

    Overall

    I had a good dining experience, and especially with the restaurant week offer, the meals were relatively well priced, and definitely a great place for a nice date, with a good ambiance and atmosphere. They also had an extensive wine list, but I did not get a chance to get a wine and ask my server to help me pair it to my dinner.

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  2. Homemade Parfait

    March 10, 2011 by Dan

     

    So I was hungry, and so I made a parfait, minus the granola since I wasn’t in the mood. I started with plain Chobani greek yogurt, drizzled honey over it, then sprinkled it with pomegranate flavored dried cranberries and sliced dried mango. YUM!

     

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  3. Bubble Tea Review!

    March 9, 2011 by Dan

     

    163: Vietnamese Sandwiches & Bubble Tea

    66 Harrison Ave.
    Boston, MA 02111
    (617) 542 – 7903

    Open 7 days
    7:30am – 8:00pm

    So I have been curious as to which is the best place to get bubble teas in Boston, in my favorite flavor of Avocado! So this is the first part of my series of reviews! Overall, this place was pretty good. The price was $3.50 including the tapioca. The drink itself was one of the best I’ve had, the smoothie was thick and creamy, and had a tangible flavor of the avocado. But the bubbles themselves were sub par. Some were spot on perfect, but almost half of the bubbles had the hard cold center than led to a less than pleasurable experience, which also made the bubble to drink ratio poor, since all the pearls ended up collecting at the bottom, and not going up the straw.

    Overall: 7/10

    Drink: 9/10

    Pearls: 5/10

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  4. Gourmet Dumpling House

    March 8, 2011 by Dan

     

    Today I went to the Gourmet Dumpling House in Chinatown [Boston] for lunch. I have usually seen a very sizable crowd outside this particular restaurant, so I wanted to see for myself what all the buzz is about.

    After getting inside, I realized just how small the interior of the restaurant was, it was roughly 25 feet by 75 feet of floor space, and the tables were tightly packed, so tightly that my table was touching another patrons table, who was not in my party. But the service was pretty quick and the waiter was friendly. Though I must warn those who cannot speak Chinese that it appeared that the staff were not the most proficient users of English.

    The food came out quickly, and the first dish to appear was the Oyster Pancake, and I must say that this was my favorite dish of the entire meal. The pancake was light and easy to eat without any strong or overpowering flavors, and the sauce was nice and sweet, but not too sweet that you would get sick of it. It was overall a very nicely balanced dish.

    The second dish that was brought out was the Fried Pork Intestines. This dish was probably very well made, but I wasn’t really a big fan of it, I was not in the mood for a chewy fried dish. But it wasn’t too salty or greasy, which was a plus.

    And lastly, but MOST importantly, the dumplings came out. We got both the pork and napa cabbage variety and the pork and leek filled dumplings. In my opinion, the dumplings were decent, but definitely not good enough for the restaurant to pride their name on them. The dough was too thick and doughy for my taste, but the filling was pretty good and had a good balance of meat and vegetable, but nothing spectacular.

    Overall, the portion to price ratio was pretty good at this restaurant, at least with the dishes that we ordered, and there were definitely some very well made dishes that the restaurant made, but I was disappointed by their dumplings, which is what the restaurant is supposed to pride itself on. But I would definitely go back to this restaurant.. but not for dumplings..

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  5. Penang Restaurant

    March 7, 2011 by Dan

     

    Today I went to Penang restaurant in Boston, just at the edge of Chinatown. I ordered the Nasi Lemak as my main entree, Roti Canai as my appetizer, and a Durian Shake as my drink. The service was fast and friendly, and not overbearing. Overall a pleasurable experience. Atmosphere was a comfortable setting for relaxing and having conversation with some good friends.

    The Nasi Lemak was pretty good, though a little on the salty side. Somewhat reminiscent of the original street hawker food, but not quite as good as they used to make it, lacking the banana leaves that they used to use a while back ago.

    The Roti Canai was as good as it has always been, an absolute must-get appetizer when visiting this restaurant.

    The Durian Shake is not for the faint of the heart, its strong and pungent smell which has been likened to the smell of gas is an instant turn-off for most diners, but for those who can tolerate, or even enjoy its smell (I like it), it was a nice, thick, creamy well made shake, and because of its strong smell, you can tell they used the real fruit, though it is hard to tell if they used frozen or fresh fruit, the strong smell may indicate the use of fresh fruit..

    Overall a great and filling meal, after eating all the above, I was positively stuffed to the brim. And throughly satisfied, though the curried beef in the Nasi Lemak could have been a little less savory, relying on the spices of the curry for flavor, rather than the salt.

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  6. Hello world!

    March 6, 2011 by Dan

    Woohoo! Just got my first website up and running! This site will be a blog dedicated to my food adventures! Hope you enjoy the read! :)

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