February 20th 2014: Dinner at Carmen, Boston

Today after work, I decided to head to Carmen, an Italian restaurant in the North End area of Boston, for dinner with a friend. This small place was pretty full of people when we finally arrived after being stuck in traffic for a while, so we had hope that the food would be good. The appetizers started out good enough, although the olive oil that came with our bread was a little too virgin for our liking. We got the Calamari Fritti with Spicy Pomodoro Sauce,

and the Homemade Meatballs Baked in a Plum Tomato Sauce and Topped with Fresh Mozzarella.

The meatballs were especially good, the sauce not being too sour.

We had hope at this point that the Marinated Pan Seared Lamb Loin Chops Served in Pan Juices with Parmesan Polenta

and the Roasted Rack of Pork with Acorn Squash, Braised Escarole and Spicy Mustard Sauce we got for our main dishes would be good as well,

but we were to be utterly disappointed. The presentation of both dishes weren't too bad, 

One bite into my pork, and I knew it was completely dry. The escarole was really sour as well. The sauce for the lamb tasted really sour and salty, and my friend had it sent back. However, the second time around, the lamb was way undercooked for my friend's liking, and the cook insisted it was already medium rare. My friend sent it back again, but by now, I had already lost my appetite for my meal by then, and my friend just wanted to get out of the restaurant to avoid the anger of the cook, so we ended up boxing both dishes. The waitress decided to take the cost of the lamb off the menu, and with my groupon, the meal was pretty much free, but we still decided to tip her anyway, as she was not responsible for the state of the food.

Needless to say, never coming back here again.