August 12th 2013: Salsa in the Park, Boston

Today after a long day of work, I decided to head to the Salsa in the Park event, held every Monday night in summer at the Blackstone Community Center Park  in the South End area of Boston.

Blackstone Square

There were salsa dancing lessons held today, but by the time I got there, I realized how small the dancing area was, and it was already full of people dancing away.

With my wrist still injured from learning to ride a motorcycle, I decided not to take risks and just watch from the sidelines. As there was still some time before the performance started,  I decided to grab a quick bite at Code 10, a small deli nearby, where I got the Code 4 Panini, consisting of BBQ Pulled Pork, Cheddar and Tomato, which was actually pretty good.

Unfortunately, by the time I got back to the salsa dancing area, the performance was already over, although my friends there told me it wasn't that good anyway. My friends decided to leave at this point to go for dinner, and as I had a Groupon at Vejigantes Restaurant, a Mexican place close by, I decided to use it with them today. Unfortunately due to the symmetric similarities between Franklin Square and Blackstone Square, I led the way diagonally opposite from where we were, only realizing my mistake after we got to the other side. My friends almost wanted to give up and go home, but we persevered and finally got to our target destination, hungry and anxious to eat. After looking at the menu, we decided to get the Tostones Tostados con Salmorejo de Jueye (Crunchy Green Plantains Topped with Crabmeat Stew) for appetizers,

and the Paella Marinera Artesanal (Lobster, Shrimp Calamari and Clam) to share among the 3 of us. 

It was at this point that I realized that I had left my camera behind at Code 10, which was already closed at this point, so I will be forced to go back there tomorrow.

The plantains did not look like much, but they were actually pretty tasty, although my friend thought the crabmeat had the texture of tuna. The paella was excellent in presentation, coming in a plantain clamshell, and taste as well, although it was so huge that even the 3 of us could not finish it. However, service was extremely terrible, with us not getting water for quite some time, and I had to go ask them for it personally, but I can't really blame them as it was already near to closing time. Overall, I enjoyed the food here, and will recommend it.

With that, I gave my friends a lift home, then headed home myself. More of Boston tomorrow, as I come back to have an all you can eat sushi dinner at Yamato in the Brighton area.