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May, 2011

  1. Giacomo’s

    May 16, 2011 by Dan

     

    Giacomo’s

    355 Hanover Street
    Boston, Massachusetts 02113
    (617) 523 – 9026

    Open Mon-Thu 5pm-10pm; Fri-Sat 5pm-10:30pm; Sun 4pm-9:30pm

    I vividly walking by this restaurant when I was with family and showing them around Boston, and had originally wanted to eat here, hearing that it was a very good restaurant, but decided not to due to the absurdly long wait. What a poor decision that was a few years ago. This time I went with a small group of friends, and luckily seating time was less that 30 minutes.

    Setting

    Even before entering, you can already see that it is a tiny establishment. There are only about 8 or 9 tables in the restaurant, and a small section of the bar that is open to seating. So this place really doesn’t hold that many people at one time, so you can assume that table turnover is pretty quick, so this isn’t exactly a place where you want to have a long chatty dinner. Continuing on that, it was definitely not quiet inside, with such close proximity between the tables AND the open kitchen, this place is NOT for the claustrophobic. But the open kitchen is definitely something that was very interesting, you can really see the chefs preparing the food, and it allows you to see just how freshly prepared everything is, and also the handiwork of the staff. The waitstaff were very nice, though it took a little while to get a replacement fork, it was understandable because of such a busy restaurant. Overall I like the semi dim atmosphere, it had a real homey feel to it.

    Food

    This is where the stars come out. Beginning with the bread, it wasn’t extraordinary, but it was quite good with butter, fairly standard except the bread was slightly heartier than what I am usually accustomed to. Now onto the appetizers. The mozzarella sticks were AMAZING. Now it seems like a very simple concept, breading pieces of mozzarella cheese, frying up these pieces, then finally putting these strips into hot marinara sauce. But somehow these sticks were absolutely astounding, and must absolutely be eaten while still hot and gooey. Next up came the calamari. The calamari was pretty much standard calamari, with both the rings and the tentacle pieces. Nothing really special about their calamari, except that they put in battered and fried pickled jalapenos or banana peppers in with the calamari, which was an interesting and appreciated touch. Onto the entrees! These are definitely the main course! I got the mussels, clams and half lobster over linguini with Giacomo sauce (lobster based red with a touch of bechamel). The seafood was extremely fresh, and the mussels and clams were not chewy at all. The sauce was also the right amount of flavorful, and the lobster was of a good size, definitely not a runt lobster. I also had the honor of trying the lobster ravioli, which I might actually have liked more than my own dish! It was in a white sauce and was absolutely delicious. There were generous amounts of lobster in each pocket, and the raviolis were huge! Definitely a good deal at the restaurant as I walked away with an insane food coma.

    Overall

    I definitely enjoyed my experience at Giacomo’s and would definitely return if I wanted to have Italian food and seafood. Though personally I am not all that into rich foods, their food tasted well balanced, and very well priced, as my lobster dish was roughly $20, and as you can see from my pictures, the amount of seafood was quite generous. Since the portions are pretty big, I suggest splitting dishes with you companions or date so you can survive until dessert, which none of us could fancy.

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  2. Pattie Palace: Beef Patties and Coco Bread

    May 9, 2011 by Dan

     

    Pattie Palace

    344 Main Street
    Middletown, CT 06457
    (860) 704 – 0558
    (860) 704 – 0559
    pattiepalace.org

    I discovered this small Jamaican restaurant by chance by strolling down the street in Middletown with a friend, and I had previously been seriously craving an authentic Jamaican beef patty. As I walked by I noticed that this restaurant actually specializes in patties! I was ecstatic to try out the patties here, and get a taste of authentic Jamaican food.

    Setting

    The ambiance of the restaurant was a very relaxed one, with a high ceiling and a room full of earth tones. Also there was slow reggae music playing in the background that led to a very authentic feeling to the restaurant. The place just felt very casual and comfortable, and not intimidating whatsoever.

    Food

    The first thing I noticed was that the prices of the patties seemed very reasonable. A beef patty was only $2 and the coco bread to accompany it was only 60 cents. And together, it made a very filling snack indeed. The coco bread came out piping hot, so hot in fact that I wasn’t able to separate the top and the bottom immediately because it was simply too hot. The patties were not as hot since they are kept in a warming box, while the bread seemed to be heated up on order. The patties were a perfect blend of spices and salt, and the crusty pastry was absolutely mouth watering, with a discernible flavor of butter. By eating the patty sandwiched inside the coco bread, the flavors complemented each other perfectly, as the bread has a very light flavor to it. I absolutely recommend ALWAYS getting coco bread if ever ordering a Jamaican patty as it completely changes the experience.

    Overall

    I would like to try a larger course in Jamaican food, as the patty was only a small sampling. This restaurant had very reasonable prices from what I saw in the menu, although it was clear that they establishment’s specialty was patties. Also to note, this restaurant carries authentic “kolas” from Jamaica for those interested in washing down their authentic Jamaican meal with an authentic Jamaican soda.

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  3. Itis Burger Creation

    May 4, 2011 by Dan

     

    First and foremost, I would like to credit my good friend Arthur as my partner in creative crime for the birth of this wonderful blight to human arteries. Our brainchild was created during our finals week and we had some scraps of assorted things that we needed to get rid of  so we decided to use my leftover pound of ground beef to make burgers. And this burger turned out to be one of the most delicious burgers that we have probably eaten in our entire (albeit short) lives. There ARE secret ingredients involved in the conception of this burger, and I’m not going to be the weakest link in divulging that information. So the only information I can share about this burger is that one of the key components is the use of ECONOMY BACON. This ingredient is of absolute importance as it is integral to every step of making this burger. It is absolutely paramount that ECONOMY bacon is used, NOT that fancy applewood stuff. The result is a burger so juicy that it induces immediate lethargy and laziness. This burger should NOT be consumed in high quantities as it may result in a loss of productivity and usefulness at varying levels per individual.

    Category Homemade | Tags: ,,,,,,, | No Comments