Today on President's Day I decided to get some Vietnamese food while on my lunch break. I have never had a Banh Mi Sandwich before, so I decided to try one, but after looking at the menu of Anh Thu in Worcester at 439 Park Avenue, I realized that they had nothing of the sort! Bummer, I thought all Vietnamese restaurants served them.
Feeling a little dejected I decided to try an avocado shake instead, which was actually pretty good.
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| Avocado Shake |
I decided to get something other than pho, going for the Mi Vit Tiem, comprising a braised duck leg with egg noodles in chicken broth. Yes, I must say, yet another Vietnamese dish I'm willing to try next time.
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| Mi Vit Tiem |
After heading back to work, I realized I still had some time before my experiment ended, so I decided to head into Boston for an early meetup event with my friend who is new in town for $1 Tapas at
Estragon Tapas Bar. Close by, I happened to see an interesting building, the
Bates Art Center.
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| Bates Art Center |
Thankfully, it wasn't really evening yet, so there was plenty of parking space, so I was able to easily park right in front of the restaurant. It was freezing outside, and the restaurant does not open till 5.30pm, so I decided to wait inside my car. There were a few people coming for the meetup event who were already standing outside the door, but when I asked them to join me inside the car, they all refused, claiming that it would not be manly to escape the cold to sit in my car. Whatever, I do not need other people to tell me I'm manly in order to be confident of who I am. I would rather not be manly and be comfortable sitting in my warm car which is readily available beside me than freeze stupidly right in front of my car door. Thankfully, my friend arrived soon after and he gladly got into the car too.
When the place finally opened, I found it to be a pretty nicely decorated, small bar restaurant, and all who were present chose to eat at the bar where the $1 tapas dishes would be served.
Being in a hurry to get back to work, I decided to start ordering food. In my haste, I failed to see the $1 Tapas menu, choosing to order from the regular menu instead. Pictures of the various stuff we ordered, which were all pretty good, follow below.
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| Sautéed Garlic Shrimp |
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| Braised Goat-Stuffed Piquillo Peppers |
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Left: Crispy Fried Artichoke Hearts, Alioli
Middle: Serrano Ham on Tomato-Garlic Toast
Right: Beef Shank, Pork Belly, Chorizo, Bone Marrow on Toast |
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White Anchovies, Manchego Cheese,
Tomato on Toast |
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Left: Spicy Tripe, Trotter, Chorizo, Morcilla Stew
Right: Salt Cod, Potato, Cauliflower, Saffron Fritters
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Top: Beef Tongue, Mojo Verde on Toast
Bottom: Sautéed Chicken Livers, Sultan Raisins, Sweet Sherry, Crème Fraîche on Toast
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With that, and 2 glasses of wine, the bill ended up being over a hundred bucks. I could not help but laugh at my own foolishness. I had a good time however, meeting new friends and catching up with old ones.
I had to rush off then, and my friend decided to take a lift from me as well, although I tried to convince him to stay and mingle little longer. I'm glad I was able to take a bit of time off from my work to enjoy this meal though.
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