Monday, April 30, 2012

April 30th 2012: Dinner at Toro, Boston

Today after work, my friends who were in town wanted to go to Toro, a tapas place along Washington Street in Boston.

Unlike the last time where we were told that our wait time would be at least 2 hours long, we decided to come early, so we were able to get places by the window while we waited for a table. Everyone got a drink, so I decided to get one too, going with the red sangria, which was actually really good and not too sweet.
It was at least an hour before we finally got a table to sit at, although that time quickly passed with fun conversation. With regard to the food, we decided to try all the interesting stuff as always. Our first tapas dish was the Jamon Bianco, consisting of house cured lardo with kimchee pears. When we initially saw it, we thought there wasn't anything substantial on the plate as it was as white as the lard itself, but it was definitely sinfully tasty.
The Datiles Con Jamon, which were Medjool dates filled with Marcona almonds and Cabrales blue cheese, wrapped in Jamon Serrano ham, came next. We realized the serving was really small, so we decided to get 2 more servings to staisfy everyone. I must say, I'm typically not a fan of dates, but these little bites definitely did the trick.
Following this, the tapas dishes came along in quick succession, all really delicious, especially the Corazon, which is smoked buffalo heart with romesco, which was simply scrumptious, while the Asado de Huesos consisting of roasted bone marrow with radish citrus salad and oxtail marmalade was another interesting addition to our dinner. Pictures of the dishes follow.
Tripe, Pork Belly and Lamb Stew
with White Beans
Mejillones Escabeche
(Warm marinated mussels, fennel, garlic toast)


Corazon

Suquet De Mariscos
(Catalan Stew of sea Urchin, lobster, crab,
swordfish, sunchokes and romesco)

Asado de Huesos
Finally we decided to try half portions of the Valencia Paella, which is filled with seafood, and the Chorizo and Snail Paella. Both rice dishes were exceptionally good, need I say more. Now I know why this place is always so crowded.
Valencia Paella
Chorizo and Snail Paella










With that, another night of having fun with my friends ended. I am going to have to take a short break from the fun before I run out of steam.

Sunday, April 29, 2012

April 29th 2012: Lunch Courtesy of My Chef Friend

As we got back to my place really late last night, early this morning, my friends and I only woke up at around noontime, and by the time we got to my friend's place in Malden, where he was making lunch for us, almost all the food had already been prepared for us. We started off with hors d'oeuvres first, served on biscuits. One was a salad mixture with a tomato on top, and the other consisted of a block of watermelon with duck prosciutto on top, both of which were delicious.
Hors d'oeuvres
Next came courses of steamed cod, eggplant stuffed squab and foie gras with orange marmalade.

It was great to see my friend at work in his kitchen, and my friends and I just kept taking pictures of the food and him in action.
Pan searing the foie gras
cooking at a controlled temperature





Testing the internal temperature of the meat
The food itself was excellent, as always.

Steamed Cod 
Foie gras with orange marmalade


Stuffed squab with asparagus
After lunch, we decided to go visit my friend's accomodations in Cambridge at the Marriott Residence Inn Boston Cambridge, and she decided to invite us to her potluck dinner with MIT students at the penthouse floor of the Eastgate Apartments at MIT. On the way there, we passed by a few interesting places on campus.
Sloan Office of Communications at MIT,
238 Main Street
Point Park, Main Street and Broadway











Eastgate itself was like any other typical building in the area, but when we finally got up to the penthouse area, the views of downtown Boston were simply amazing from across the Charles River, especially in the light of the setting sun.













As the sun continued to set, we had a good time eating and meeting new people, and at the end of it all, I headed back home to start another week of work.

Saturday, April 28, 2012

April 28th 2012: Spending Time with Friends from Out of Town

Today, my friends from out of town were coming to Boston to visit. I had to pick up one of them from the Boston Logan International Airport, but I still had some time before that, so I decided to do some sightseeing first on this cold spring day. Heading to the town of Belmont first, I visited several areas in town, including the Boston Massachusetts Temple that I had seen previously from afar, before heading to Claypit Pond on Underwood Street and Concord Avenue. There is also a beautiful view of the Boston skyline from the Concord Turnpike here.
Belmont Town Hall
Homer Municipal Building



Belmont Public Schools Administration

Boston Skyline from Concord Turnpike














Boston Massachusetts Temple
Plymouth Congregational Church
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints













Open Door Baptist Church
Cornerstone Baptist Church










There is a path around Claypit Pond, so I decided to talk an early morning stroll around it, and took a few pictures of the area as I walked around it.






After enjoying my short walk around the pond, it was time for more sightseeing, and I especially like the area around the old Wellington Hill Railroad Station on the corner of Common Street and Concord Avenue, where there were beautiful flowers as well.
First Church in Belmont Unitarian Universalist
Belmont Memorial Library



First Armenian Church
St. Joseph's Catholic Church



Old Wellington Hill Railroad Station,
Common Street and Concord Avenue




War Memorial,
Royal Road and Common Street

Belmont Lions Club
All Saint's Church


First Church of Christ, Scientist
Finally done with Belmont, I headed to Robbins Farm Park in Arlington next, where the Boston skyline views from atop the hill, into which slides have been built, was simply fantastic.


Slides on the hill
Boston Skyline
The playground



Next, at Menotomy Rocks Park, there is a pond here, and I decided to walk around it as well.















There was still a little time after this, so I visited a few other places in town before heading to Boston.
Brackett Elementary School
First Baptist Church


Highrock Church
Arlington Main Post Office
Arlington Town Hall



While on the way to the airport, I took a few pictures of the Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge on West City Avenue

After picking up my friend, we were a little hungry, so I decided to take her to Eo Noodle at 1245 Worcester Road in Framingham to try out some noodle soups.
Interior Decor
As appetizer, my friend got the crab rangoons, and for noodles she tried the fishballs with meat sauce soup, while I got the Chi-A Mein Soup, which had slices of pork, chives and fishcakes.
Crab Rangoons
Chi-A Mein Soup










I think I still preferred the fishballs soup that I had the last time I was here though.

Later tonight, we headed to our mutual friend's restaurant in Boston at Oishii Boston. Being early, we sat at the bar and ordered drinks, with me getting a virgin lychee martini, which was pretty good, since I was the designated driver.
When our friends came, we moved downstairs and started our feast. After finishing the complementary Edamame mousse in a shot glass, We started off with the desserts, of which we got the Grilled Breast of Moullard Duck, served stuffed into an apple, the Sakura Smoked Hamachi Sashimi which I had before, served in a glass of smoke, The Salmon on Fire, in which salmon sashimi slices are served on a little spit over a real burning fire, and the Toro Tartare, which is served with Ossetra caviar in a bowl placed on an extremely large block of ice, lighted green from below.
Grilled Breast of Moullard Duck
Salmon on Fire






Toro Tartare 
On top of the above delicious dishes, our friend also made for us a few complementary courses, one being smoked sashimi on a bed of pineapple, served topped with sherbet ice cream, and the other was even more exquisite, being ivory salmon served in truffle oil and topped with black truffle pieces and gold flakes.
Sashimi on a bed of Pineapple,
topped with sherbet ice cream
Ivory Salmon in Truffle Oil,
covered in black truffle pieces and gold flakes













The pineapple dish was simply fantastic, giving a plethora of flavors, starting from the sweet and ending in the smoky salty flavor of the sashimi, while the other was covered in the savory taste of the truffles, and it felt really classy to be eating gold flakes.

We ordered a lot of maki rolls for our main course, starting with the White Tiger Roll and Tokyo Style Soft Shell Crab Maki, with the Rock Shrimp Explosion Maki, consisting of tempura rock shrimp and avocado rolled in white seaweed, topped with brown rice chips and Ting's wasabi flavored lemony sauce, the Shikai Maki, made of a cucumber roll cut into quarters, placed together in the form of a square with spicy crispy stuffed in the center of the formation, and further wrapped in another layer of seaweed, being among the more interesting creations tonight. On top of this, we had the mackerel sashimi, which was arranged artistically, and the Japanese Yam Tempura Maki was as tasty as it was good looking, being covered in sweet potato. Lastly, as part of my curiosity, I decided to check out what the squid ink noodle is like, never having had such a dish before, and was actually quite pleasantly surprised with the dish, which was pretty much a mass of blackness.
White Tiger Maki
Tokyo Style Soft Shell Crab Maki









Rock Shrimp Explosion Maki
Shikai Maki





Mackerel Sashimi
Japanese Yam Tempura Maki


Squid Ink Noodle

When we were all stuffed, we still had space for dessert. I recommended the coconut sphere that I had the last time, but my friends decided on the Black Sesame Ice Cream Bon Bon instead, the bon bon surrounding the ice cream being made of dark chocolate, shrouded in a tower casing of caramelized sugar, complete with a cherry on top and blueberries on the side. Of course, it was exquisite as always.

If you think we were done, you guessed wrong. We next headed to the Golden Leaf Karaoke in Chinatown, to sing some songs until the place closed for the night. I was a little disappointed though that all the song selections had to be done without a book to refer to, and it was really hard to find particular songs in an unorganized maze of song lists.

With that, I brought 2 of my friends to stay the night at my place before another day of fun tomorrow at my friend's place , where he will cook lunch for us.