June 14th 2015: Dinner at Blue Ginger, Wellesley

We started out this morning in the Jamaica Plain area, having breakfast at The Purple Cactus, a Mexican fast food place, where we got the Huevos Rancheros Wrap (Scrambled eggs, black beans, shredded Monterey Jack cheese, sour cream & salsa roja).

Not bad, especially with the hot sauces provided.

We spent most of the day at JP Licks nearby,

then headed to lunch at Wonder Spice Cafe, a Cambodian Thai cafe on the same road at 697 Centre Street for lunch.

Thinking the portions would be small, we got the Nataing (crispy Jasmine Rice Cake served with ground golden tofu simmered with coconut milk, light chili sauce , minced garlic and peanuts),

the Shrimp Kuy Tiew (Khmer rice noodle soup with bean sprouts, fried garlic, cilantro and scallions)

and the Southern Pad Thai (Pad Thai mixed with curry powder, celery, bean sprouts, egg, groung peanut and scallion),

along with a Thai Iced Tea.

The rice crackers were pretty good, especially with the peanut sauce. The curry was an interesting touch to the pad thai dish, and while the soup was good, it still tasted strongly of MSG.

After spending some more time in the Jamaica Plain area, getting a Sweet Lavender Ice Cream from FoMu,

 we headed to the Larz Anderson Park in Brookline for a bit before finally heading to Wellesley for dinner at Blue Ginger, a pretty upscale Chinese fusion place in town.

Our four course tasting menu had a few choices to be made for a change, with the starter being the Summer Gazpacho (with ginger rhubarb compote, tea marinated grapes and house croutons),

which was simply delicious, followed by the Shitake Leek Spring Rolls (with 3 chile dipping sauce)

and the Wok Stirred Mussels (with red miso broth, pickled fennel and fennel fronds)

The spring rolls were pretty good, although I did not like the bitter salad that came with it. I loved the broth of the mussels as well, although the mussels felt a little soft in texture.

Our main dishes were the Tamarind Glazed Chicken Breast (Thai Fried Rice and napa cabbage salad)

and the Kurobuta Pork Porterhouse with Edamame Puree (spring vegetables and heart of palm ragout).

I wasn't a fan of the sour tamarind sauce, although my pork was pretty tender and tasty with the sauce provided.

We were already pretty full by now, and with the dessert course left to go, we packed both entrees to go and got the Tahitian Vanilla Creme Brulee (peanut butter Togarashi crinkle and lime leaf sugar cookie)

and the Strawberry Shortcake Donuts (strawberry rhubarb curd and strawberry coconut ice cream).

The donuts were a little sour, but in a good way, while the creme brulee was simply perfect.

Overall, a pretty good meal for relatively cheap, at a pretty famous restaurant.