February 28th 2014: A Day of Eating in the Boston Area

I had the day off today, and I took the opportunity to use a few groupons at places which are only open on weekdays during work hours. Before that though, in order to avoid peak hour traffic, I started my morning off visiting a few water bodies in Leominster,

Goodfellow Pond,

Mount Elam Road and George W Stanton Highway

Lake Samoset

Morse Reservoir, 716 Elm Street

Rockwell Pond,

Pond Street and Elm Street

Notown Reservoir,

Palmer Road and George W Stanton Highway

Lunenburg

Lunenburg Public Safety

Marshall Pond, 35 Highland Street

Hickory Hills Lake

Lake Shirley, 895 Flat Hill Road

and Townsend

Graves Pond, 50 Emery Road

Vinton Pond,

Vinton Pond Road and Sauna Row Road

before heading into the Financial District area for my first meal of the day at Flame Cafe, a relatively new Mediterranean takeout place. I could not find parking, so I decided to park illegally, thinking I could possibly get away with it, as the place was relatively close by. I had called earlier just to check if they were serving their special, the Grilled Salmon Steak, and they told me they were after finding out what time I would arrive. As it so happened, I arrived right on time, but I did not expect that they already had the dish ready, awaiting my arrival.

Grilled Salmon Steak

Pleasantly surprised, I also ordered a chocolate

and a cherry baklava, tipped the server well.

Unfortunately, my good luck was to end right there, as I  discovered an orange parking ticket on my windshield, nearly tucked beneath my windscreen wiper. Those guys must have been lying in wait, pouncing immediately on my car once I left the vicinity. Just like that, 55 bucks down the drain. I guess this is retribution for all the times I parked illegally and did not get a ticket. At least the food was good.

From here, it was on to my next meal, at another Mediterranean place at 107 Avenue Louis Pasteur in the Longwood area of Boston, Sami's, which turned out to be an interesting looking structure on the pavement, much like a cargo container.

With my groupon, I have to order several wraps, getting the Sami's Signature Burrito (BBQ Pork meat, Spanish rice, cheese, and BBQ sauce),

the Roast Beef, Bacon and Provolone Wrap,

the Filet of Fish (served on a sub with lettuce, tomatoes and tartar sauce)

and the Mushroom Steak Wrap.

Except for the Filet of Fish Sub, which was a little bland, the other wraps were actually pretty good, which was probably why there were quite a few people lining up to get food here.

From here, I decided to check out a place in Brookline I missed before,

Longwood Towers Condominiums

before heading to my next meal, this time Indian, at Curry N Wok, in the city of Cambridge.

Another pretty simply decorated Indian restaurant in Cambridge, I wasn't hoping for much from the Lasooni Shrimp (Garlic flavored sautéed shrimp with special sauce) appetizer

and the Chicken Chettinad,

The shrimp was excellent, if not for the mounds of onions below them, and the curry was good too, though a little spicy.

I finally had a little time to spare before dinner, so I decided to check out the Dedham Historical Society in Dedham for a bit. A pretty small place with a few exhibits and a library in the basement. The curator was pretty friendly, showing me around the place and telling me about the city's history. Apparently it encompassed several towns in Norfolk County a long time ago, being split up gradually over the years. After a while, I was left to my own devices, and I took a few pictures of the pottery and other antiques in the museum.

After leaving the museum, I decided to check out the Dedham Public Library nearby next, pretty on the outside, but not so much on the inside.

The next library I headed to was the Needham Public Library in Needham. This place is definitely more modern looking and spacious than in Dedham, with a cool Lego model of the Needham Town Hall.

 Finally, it was time for dinner at Waban Kitchen, a pretty upscale place in the town of Newton.

I had great hopes for my meal, but I was to be sorely disappointed. My fish fumet soup sounded really interesting,

but the ingredients, including the wood ear and the dumplings, did not go well together, making the soup taste pretty weird.

The Curried Cauliflower (garlic, shallot, golden raisin, anchovy) appetizer was just so-so, with not much of a hint of curry.

Only the Pistachio Encrusted Faroe Island Salmon wasn't too bad,

although nothing amazing.

So, as it turned out, the most highly anticipated meal of my day ended up being the most disappointing. The parking ticket did not help either. What's even worse, I've realized I misplaced my leather jacket here as well.
 

February 27th 2014: Dinner with Colleagues at Kyoto Bar and Grill, Worcester

As I was about to leave work today when my colleague invited me to dinner and drinks at Kyoto Bar in Grill in Worcester, a Japanese Hibachi place which I have been to many times before. This time, I decided to get a drink like the rest of them, getting the Ruffino, a brand of Moscato dessert wine, which was really good. For food, I decided to just get the Mafia Roll  (Lobster tempura, crab, cucumber, avocado, tempura crumb, mushroom sauce, eel sauce, tobiko), which was actually one of the better rolls I've had here. 

By the time we left, it was actually snowing pretty heavily, even though it wasn't even in the forecast. Stupid New England weather. Thank goodness I got home safely.

February 25th 2014: Dinner at Thai Jasmine, Leominster

Today after work, I had some time before the sun set, so I decided to visit a few water bodies in Sterling, starting with the West Waushacum Pond on 31 Gates Road.

I took more pictures of the pond from the Mass Central Rail Trail that I embarked on from ~83 Gates Road,

as well as of the Quag on the other side of the trail.

After heading back to my car, there was time for one more water body in town, Hy-Crest Pond at ~350 Upper North Row Road,

before I headed into Leominster,

Lake Samoset,

Lincoln Drive and Argentine Street

for dinner at Thai Jasmine, a small Thai restaurant at 446 Lancaster Street in town.

The menu was pretty uninteresting, so I decided to go with Shrimp Silver Soup (glass noodles with shrimp, mushrooms, spinach and scallions in a flavorful broth),

and the Beef Lad Na (Thai wide noodles prepared with broccoli, carrots, mushrooms, snow peas in thick sauce).

Unfortunately, both dishes tasted heavily of MSG, which really spoilt my dinner for me. Oh well. At least I had nice views of the ponds today.