December 22nd 2013: Winthrop in the Fog

After a late night yesterday, I woke up pretty late today. I had a dinner appointment later tonight at the Sichuan Garden II in the town of Woburn with a friend who had come from Philadelphia and wanted to meet up with a group of friends, so I decided to head straight to the town of Winthrop, where I had a Groupon to use at the Winthrop Center Cafe, a small town diner in town. I decided to get a Hot Chocolate,

the Steak, Eggs and Veggies (8oz Prime Steak, 2 eggs served with mixed grilled vegetables) and a side of Corned Beef Hash.

Pretty decent meal for a cold, foggy day out. 

After breakfast, it was time to start my sightseeing for the day in this coastal town. I visited several places in the downtown area,

Old EB Newton School

Fire Department

Town Hall, 1 Metcalf Square

Metcalf Square

First Church of Winthrop United Methodist

Winthrop Playmakers

St. John the Evangelist Church

I visited a few other places in town

St. John's Episcopal Church

Temple Tifereth Israel

Lewis Lake,
Veterans Road near Cutler Street

before finally heading to the coastal areas, visiting Winthrop Beach,

Water Tower,

Faunbar Avenue and Prospect Avenue

the Public Landing area,

The Crystal Cove Marina,

and finally Yirrell Beach, which is actually better than Winthrop Beach in my opinion.

At this point, I decided it was time to head to the town of Stoneham to use my Groupon at Yoguee Frozen Yogurt. Like most other yogurt places, it has an availability of yogurt flavors, ranging from Espresso, Pumpkin Pie, Pistachio, Old Fashioned Peanut Butter, Cookies and Cream, S'mores, Triple Caramel, Sea Salted Caramel Pretzel, Valencia Orange Sorbet and Tahitian Vanilla. As always, I had to pile my cup high with stuff before I could make the $10 on my deal.

They had some interesting toppings like caramel popcorn and cream biscuits, but overall, it was pretty much the same.

I happened to spot the Japanese restaurant Sato II right next door, where I had another deal, and as I still had some time to spare, I decided to use it in the small place, getting the Boston Uncommon Roll (Special Soy Bean Sheet, inside super white tuna with tropical mango, avocado and topped with chef's special homemade sauce and tender lobster meat),

which was pretty good actually, although the smallness of the place makes me not want to go back again.

With that, it was finally time to head to Woburn for my final meal of the day, or so I thought. The place itself serves pretty authentic Chinese food, Szechuan food as the name suggests. My table ordered several dishes, getting the Ox Meat and Tripe with Roasted Chilli-Peanut Vinaigrette (tossed with cilantro),

the Camphur Tea Smoked Duck,

the House Spicy Ox Meat in Bao,

the Double Cooked Fresh Bacon with Spicy Capsicum,

the Feiteng Fish (boneless fish braised, dried chilli peppers, garlic, ginger, wood ear mushrooms, bean sprouts, sichuan peppercorn),

the Double Cooked Fish Filets (sauteed with leeks, garlic, ginger, black bean paste and capsicum chilli peppers),

the Sautéed Green Ong Choy, the Chong Qin Hot Dry Chicken (diced chicken that has been floured and cooked with sun dried chillies, garlic, ginger and sichuan peppercorn)

 and the Taro and Baby Bok Choy.

To say the least, the food was excellent, and we actually finished all the food for once, something that doesn't usually happen in a Chinese restaurant. But that was the end of it. Some of us decided to stay on for dessert, going to the Applebee's right across the road. We had a ball of a time there, along with the desserts we got, namely the Triple Chocolate Meltdown (A magnificently moist chocolate cake. Its fudge-filled center will erupt upon first bite! Served with vanilla ice cream and hot fudge), 

the Blue Ribbon Brownie Bite (Super moist with hunks of dark chocolate, nuts and hot fudge. Served with vanilla ice cream)

and the Butter Pecan Blondie (Baked with nuts, topped with both ice cream and glazed pecans, and served sizzling, covered with a rich, cream cheese sauce).

I have to say, of all the desserts the Blondie was definitely the best tasting, the pecans and the butter enhancing the taste of the blondie. I'm glad I got it. But it would not have been as enjoyable with my friends around me.