October 12th 2013: Celebrating My Belated Birthday with Friends

Today, my friends came over from NYC to celebrate my birthday somewhat belatedly. After picking them up from South Station in Boston, we headed to Eastern Standard Kitchen in the Fenway area for brunch. The last time I was here, we sat outside for dinner; this time, we booked a table inside, and the decor inside was really fancy.

For food, I made my friends order something different for each person, with the resultant list of food we got as follows:

Firstly, the Pied du Cochon (Savoy Cabbage, Mushrooms, Fried Farm Egg), which actually stands for pig trotter in French.

I could not find the meat at first, thinking it was the mushrooms instead, but it was actually more of a cake with the trotter meat minced and made into a ball. It was delicious however, with the melt in your mouth sort of feeling.

Secondly, the Cinnamon French Toast (caramel bananas, bacon, toasted almonds).

The bananas were heavenly.

Thirdly, the Grilled Flat Iron Steak, which was the same the last time I was here.

Fourthly, the Standard Burger (cheddar, brioche, fries) which I did not get to try.

Fifthly, the Seared Atlantic Salmon (capers, croutons, spinach), which was my dish, with the croutons being especially crispy and tasty, with the salmon being really fresh as well.

And last but not least, the Mushroom and Leek Quiche, which was excellent as well.

After brunch, I dropped my friends off at Sweet Caroline's nearby where we were going to watch the football game, and tried to go look for the 74th street piano at the Boston Children's Hospital, but my attempt was foiled as the courtyard is closed on weekends. As this is the last weekend the pianos are on display, I guess this means that I will miss out on finding the last 2 pianos of the collection.

Heading back to the bar, the game had yet to start. The game itself was pretty long and nail biting, and it was unfortunate that our team lost in the very end when we could have won so many times. During this time, we managed to order some food, getting the New England Clam Chowder (with applewood smoked bacon)

and the Crispy Honey Cayenne Chicken Wings (toasted in housemade cayenne sauce), which weren't too bad at all.

My friend also brought cheesecakes from Whole Foods in honor of my birthday, and they were really good as well.

After our disappointing loss, we headed to karaoke at Do Re Mi in the Allston area. Although alcohol is not allowed here, my friend actually managed to sneak something in, at the risk of being kicked out. My friends also got a birthday cake, which pleasantly surprised me as well.

I had a great time singing my lungs, and my voice out all night, but all good things had to come to an end as we still had food truck stuff to do tomorrow, so we had to call it a night and I drove my friends to my place for the night.

I am really grateful to all my friends for coming over to celebrate my birthday with me. I could not have asked for a better day. I still have yet to buy the camera with the gift card they gave me as well. Stay tuned for that.