July 23rd 2015: Sunset Dinner by the Charles River

I went out for lunch today, happening to spot the sign for Basil and Spice, a new Thai restaurant in Worcester which has taken the place of Surya, an Indian restaurant I visited a long time ago. Much nicer decor now.

I got the Gui Chai (steamed rice flour and chives dumplings, served with ginger sauce) for appetizers,

and the Lychee Duck (Roasted duck in Thai special curry with lychee, pineapple, green pea, broccoli, carrot, snow pea, mixed vegetable and coconut milk),

which was interesting because of the fruit, but really tasty and almost like what I had yesterday at Thai Place in Shrewsbury. The dumplings were delicious with the ginger sauce as well.

Pretty good meal to say the least.

After work, I met with my friend for a sunset dinner at Charles River Bistro in Boston, located by the DCR Hatch Shell.

As it was a Pre-Fixe Dinner with some choices,

for appetizers, we got the Gazpacho (Chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, garlic, oil and vinegar blended, chilled and topped with a dollop of sour cream)

and the Fresh Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail (Jumbo shrimp chilled, garnished with lemon, and served with a cocktail sauce blended with gazpacho).

For salad, we got the Spinach Salad (Organic spinach, tomatoes, Northern Italian mozzarella, almonds and dried cranberries) with Balsamic Vinegarette

and the House Greens (Mixed greens with feta, locally sourced tomatoes, pepperoncini, cucumbers and lux croutons) with Wood-aged Balsamic Vinegar.

For entrees, we got the Pan Seared Norwegian Salmon (Pepperberry seasoned salmon served with fresh fig glazed carrots and arugula)

and the Caramelized Georgia Bank Scallops (Plated with warm basil and wild rice tossed with oven roasted tomato, baby mozzarella, roasted garlic and shallots).

Finally, for dessert, we got the Molten Chocolate Lava Cake (Served hot from the oven with a scoop of local creamery French Vanilla Ice Cream)

and the Creme Brulee (Vanilla cream caramelized).

The soup had a little too much vegetables in my opinion, but the spinach salad was pretty tasty with the vinegar sauce, and the entrees were surprisingly good, especially the salmon and the carrots. I was disappointed a little by the presentation of the dessert, although they were pretty good as well. I wasn't expecting this given all the bad reviews, but with the nice sunset views, good company and good food, I would say it was a pretty good dining experience, although it was a little on the pricey side. Thankfully, I had a deal and I only had to pay tip. It was a lovely night to have dinner by the Charles River though.