February 17th 2014: A President's Day of Eating

My friends and I woke up pretty late today, and headed to Toro in the South End area of Boston for some tapas brunch. At our table, we could see a staff member cutting tuna, and my chef friend who used to work at a sushi restaurant could only shake his head at the guy's cutting technique.

We ordered a lot of food, very much like the last time I was here, getting the Escalivada Catalana (Smoked Eggplant, onions, peppers and tomatoes with sherry vinegar and olive oil),

the Corazon (smoked beef heart with Romesco),

the Pimientos del Padron (Hot Green Peppers with sea salt),

the Coliflor a la Plancha (Cauliflower with pine nuts, golden raisins, and pimenton de la vera),

the Lengua con Lentejas y Salsa Verde (Smoked Beef Tongue with lentils and salsa verde),

the Paella Valenciana (Mussels, clams, shrimp, Spanish pork sausage, chicken and Calasparra rice), 

the Pato con Membrillo (Smoked Duck Drumettes with quince glaze)

and the Asado de Huesos (Roasted Bone Marrow with radish citrus salad and oxtail marmalade). 

Of all the dishes, only the peppers were just so-so, while the rest of the dishes were excellent, especially the beef tongue and the cauliflower. Our bone marrow was a little raw, so we sent it back to the kitchen, getting a new one, as well as a complimentary plate of Patatas Bravas (Fried Potatoes with alioli and spicy tomato sauce), the sauce of which was so good I had to get more bread to lap it up.

After lunch, we headed to Flour Bakery and Cafe nearby to get some dessert, my friends trying the famous Sticky Buns here, while I tried something different, getting the Lemon Meringue Tart, which was really good as well.

All good things must come to an end, and after doing some shopping at the Prudential Center, I dropped my friends off at South Station, but it was still not the end of the day for me yet. I had dinner with another friend at Bella Luna Restaurant and Milky Way Lounge, a bar restaurant in Jamaica Plain.

The first thing about this place that caught my eye was the plates they use, which have children's artwork on them. 

Apparently the artwork was done by kids in neighboring schools, with the restaurant taking the designs and imprinting them on the plates.

For appetizers, we decided to try the Sam Adams Braised Ribs (braised pork ribs smothered in homemade Sam Adams barbeque sauce).

 It wasn't anything special, and with just 4 ribs on the plate, definitely not something I'll ever order again.

For our main dishes, we both got pasta, with me getting the Princess and the Pea (potato gnocchi w/ sausage, peas and tomatoes in pesto cream sauce w/ parmesan cheese and basil),

and my friend getting the Half Moon Bay Farfalle (scallops, diced asparagus & grape tomatoes in basil white wine sauce served over farfalle).

My friend's dish was actually pretty good, while my gnocchi were mushy and simply made me lose my appetite for it, although the sauce was good. 

We decided to get dessert as well, settling for the Apple Crostada (with JP Licks vanilla ice cream).

Once again, nothing too fantastic, with the crust being soft and not crispy at all.

Overall, not a very good meal for me, although the bill was cheap because of the groupon.

With that, a long weekend of eating and hanging out with friends was at an end. Back to work tomorrow, with yet another snow storm on the way.