October 31st 2019: Kumar's South Indian Village Cuisine, Northborough

Tonight for dinner, we decided to check out the new Indian restaurant in Northborough, Kumar's South Indian Village Cuisine, which apparently has locations in Texas and Connecticut. Nice decor I must say.

For food, we got the Nannari Sarbath  (drink made from sarsaparilla root and bael fruit),

the Kari Dosai (goat - grilled, chopped up, mixed with egg and topped on a dosai),

the Meen Kolambu (southern style fish curry, in a tangy sauce)

and the Paneer Tikka Masala with Garlic Naan.

The drink was sour and sweet, which wasn't too bad, though too much for my other half. The dosai would have been good if not for the onions in it, but the curries were excellent, along with the flavorful naan. This place is actually pretty good, despite the reviews.

October 20th 2019: Second Time at Oak Long Bar and Kitchen, Boston

This morning, we headed into Boston again

Childe Hassam Park

to meet with our friend who missed our dinner appointment yesterday.

this time at OAK Long Bar and Kitchen, located within the Fairmont Copley Plaza.

For food, we got the RED QUINOA (organic baby kale, pecorino romano, scrambled eggs)

the SEASONAL FRUIT + BERRIES

and the Croque Madame (confit pork shoulder, gruyere beschamel, fried egg),

which I got the last time I was here.

The first two dishes were nothing special in my opinion, although the sandwich was good as always. It was good seeing my friend again though.

With that, we headed to the Boston Logan Airport for our flight out of town.

Here we got a bite from Durgin-Park, the only open location of one of the oldest bar restaurants in town,

getting the Soy Glazed Salmon Wrap (arugula, cucumber, scallion, carrots, fries),

Really nothing worth eating. Can see why they are not doing so well.

We also got a New England Clam Chowder

from the Legal Sea Foods location here.

Definitely much better than the wrap.

 Till I get back!!

October 19th 2019: Deuxave, Boston

We were supposed to meet friends for dinner at Deuxave, an upscale French restaurant in Boston tonight, but they cancelled on us at the last minute, which got me into a bit of a panic because they would charge a fee for last minute modifications, but thankfully they allowed us to change our reservation, although we still had to go. Really nice restaurant to say the least.

After our starters with beautifully sculpted butter,

we got the Crispy Duck Confit (Frisée, Radicchio & Comice Pear Salad, Black Mission Figs
Hazelnut Vinaigrette, Huckleberry Purée) for appetizers,

the East Coast Halibut (Red Curry Rock Shrimp Tortellini, Long Island Cheese Pumpkin
Spigarello, Hon Shimeji Mushrooms, Crab Bouillon, Chili Oil) for the main course,

and the Peaches & Cream (Goat Cheese Cheesecake Mousse, Lemon Curd, Speculoos Crumble, White Peach & Lemon Verbena Sorbet) for dessert.

All the dishes were really well presented, and actually were pretty decently sized in terms of portion. The blend of flavors in the duck were excellent, the duck meat being soft while the skin was still perfectly crispy, and the chilli oil in the dumplings went really well with the sauce for the fish. The goat cheese was a little strange companion to the dessert, but somehow it worked.

To end it all, we were presented with a little surprise, of meringue and chocolate.

Sweet but a good ending to the day.

October 18th 2019: Food in Worcester and Shrewsbury

Today, my colleague brought donuts from Donut Cafe in Worcester, of which I got the Chocolate Donut with Sprinkles.

Good as always from this place, with that extra crunch.

For dinner, we headed to Jimmy's Tavern, which we haven't been to for a while. This time, we got the Maple Bacon Chicken Tenders (topped with sriracha ranch)

And the Seafood Puttanesca (shrimp, scallops and haddock topped with plum tomatoes, kalamata olives, capers, anchovy and garlic, served with Jimmy's rice pilaf).

The chicken was a tad sweet, though still not bad, while the sauce for the seafood was surprisingly tasty among other puttanesca dishes I have had in the past. Might be the anchovies in there.

October 13th 2019: Einstein's Workshop, Burlington

After getting a Gourmet Butter Loaf from Tous Les Jours in Burlington today,

we decided to go check out Einstein's Workshop, a specialty school nearby which has open visiting hours on the weekends. It is free for adults and children under 4, so we took the opportunity to see what it is all about.

Not bad for the scientifically inclined kids, and we got a good lesson on 3D printing technology as well. Our little one had a good time here too. Will probably bring him back here again in future.

October 12th 2019: Apple Picking at Berlin Orchards, Berlin

We were running out of apples, so we decided to do some apple picking at Berlin Orchards in Berlin. Decent establishment,

although we had to ride the hay wagon to get to the apple trees.

Not bad of a ride though.

The signs were easy to follow,

and the apples were plentiful enough to fill our bag.

We had to wait awhile for the ride back though.

Back at the main building, we decided to get an Apple Cider Donut.

which was so-so because it was late in the day already.

From here, we headed to the Shops at Chestnut Hill in Newton,

where we decided to check out Forty Carrots, a cafe located within Bloomingdale's.

For food, we got the Forty Carrots Salmon (grilled salmon filet with sauteed baby vegetables and parsnip puree),

along with their supposedly famous plain frozen yogurt.

Pretty tasty salmon, not dry, along with the accompanying vegetables. The yogurt was somewhat deserving of its name, smooth yet flavorful.

Not a bad end to a day of checking out a new place to pick apples.

October 7th 2019: Panera Bread at Work

We had Panera Bread from Shrewsbury during our lunch meeting today, of which I got the Roasted Turkey, Apple & Cheddar Sandwich (Roasted turkey raised without antibiotics, Vermont white cheddar, fresh apple and cabbage slaw, arugula and mustard horseradish sauce on Cranberry Walnut Bread),

the Steak & Arugula Sandwich (Seared steak, arugula, vine-ripened tomatoes, pickled onions, garlic and herb cream cheese spread and mustard horseradish sauce on Sourdough),

the Triple Chocolate Cookie with Walnuts (A freshly baked flourless chocolate cookie with a soft, brownie-like texture, made with chocolate chunks, white chocolate chunks and walnuts)

and the Lemon Drop Cookie (Freshly baked lemon sugar cookie topped with lemon flavored powdered sugar).

The steak sandwich was not bad, although the turkey was a little on the dry side. With respect to the cookies, the chocolate one was a little on the intense side, while the lemon one was not bad. Good day to try new stuff from Panera.