April 22nd 2016: Lunch in Worcester, Dinner in Medfield, Dessert in Quincy

I had a company lunch today at O'Connor's Restaurant in Worcester. I have been to this Irish bar restaurant at least once in the past. This time around, we shared the McIlhenny's Hot Irish Style Calamari (full bodied squid, golden fried, cornmeal dusted and tossed with fresh garlic, white wine, lemon herb butter, a dash of tabasco, chopped tomatoes, hot cherry and banana peppers. House Rice Pilaf),

the BBQ Chicken Fingers,

the Dougal's Scotch Egg (shell hard boiled egg, wrapped in seasoned Irish pork sausage mixture, coated in mustard powder and breadcrumbs, flash fried and served with Heather Honey Coleman's Mustard Dip)

and the Brendan's Now Legendary Irish Potato Pizza (hand dug potato skins, topped with 3 cheeses, herbs, real bacon bits, tomato, red peppers, mushrooms and scallions).

For myself, I got the New England Fisherman's Pie (haddock, salmon, shrimp and bay scallops baked in a traditional chowder style sauce with diced potatoes. Topped with a mashed potato, cauliflower and white cheddar crust, with a side vegetable medley).

The chicken fingers and scotch egg were just alright, although the calamari and the potato skins were pretty good. My pie was interesting and somewhat tasty, but it got a little boring after a while.

We had dinner tonight at Antara Peruvian Cuisine, a small but nice Latin American restaurant in Medfield.

We got and interesting cup of roasted corn kernels for starters, which were okay depending on the corn type we ate, some of which were a little bland and felt burnt.

For food, we got the Parihuela (concentrated seafood mix with cilantro and lime) soup

and the Aji de Gallina (Breast of chicken cooked with eggs, peanuts, milk & cheeses. Accompanied by steamed rice & black olives).

The soup was really tasty, the seafood being cooked to perfection, while the chicken was not bad too.

We had the flan for dessert as well.

The flan by itself was already pretty good, but with the cream provided, it became so much better. Never had cream do that for me before. Amazing.

Overall, a place I would come back to, although it was pretty empty the whole time we were there.

Later on, we stopped by Vivi Bubble Tea in Quincy for a drink, getting a Bubble Milk Black Tea

and a Lychee Sherbet.

Nothing special really, and the lychee dessert was a little gooey as well. Definitely not coming back again, especially with Yocha being across the road.

February 28th 2016: Meals in Chinatown, Dorchester and Medfield

We started out today with our first meal in the Chinatown area of Boston at Hot Eastern, a nice looking restaurant that is located in the basement level.

We got a glass of Soy Milk,

the Beef Mala Bang,

the Lamb Skewer

and the Chinese Crepe.

Excellent stuff, especially the glass noodles, the soup for which wasn't too spicy and was actually peanut flavored. The crepe was something we have never tried before either, the crispy wonton skin inside making it really delicious. A pretty good meal to say the least.

Our next meal was in the Dorchester area of town at an African restaurant, Restaurant Laura, which is actually pretty nice inside, and today they had a buffet spread and a live jazz band to boot.

Unfortnately, the food itself was nothing special.


Next, we headed into Hull to do a little bit of sightseeing on this nice day in winter.

Hull Yacht Club

Memorial Middle School

Sunset Bay Marina

Fire Department

Nantasket Beach

St. Mary of the Assumption

We were a little apprehensive about going onto Spinnaker Island, as it apparently is a private place and we were technically trespassing.

Luckily, we left just fine, Done with sightseeing for the day, we headed into Medfield for dinner at Rock and Roll Ribs Joint, a small bar restaurant serving BBQ in town.

We got the BBQ Sundae (piece of homemade corn bread covered in baked beans, topped with pulled pork, cole slaw and covered with candied pecans),

the St. Louis Ribs (dry rubbed and smoked for hours. Served with cole slaw and BBQ baked beans)

and the Burnt Ends Sandwich (the tip of the beef brisket which was smoked for over 12 hours, cut it into bite size pieces and then slow roasted in homemade BBQ sauce for an additional 3 hours.  Served on a soft roll with  fries).

The only good thing was the burnt end, which were tender and delicious in the BBQ sauce. The rest were absolutely tasteless, and the BBQ sauce provided did not do much to make it better.

Definitely not coming back again.

December 13th 2014: 3 Meetup Meals in One Day

I started out early this morning in the town of Seekonk, visiting a few places

Our Lady Queen of Martyrs

Turner Reservoir,

Newman Avenue and Arcade Avenue

Free Methodist Church,

453 Taunton Avenue

before heading to the Caratunk Wildlife Refuge for a hike. The path I took here after parking at the lot on Brown Avenue is shown below in brown.

I first made my way to Muskrat Pond, which wasn't really much to see,

Next, it was on to the observation platform in the northernmost part of the reservation,

where the views of the wetlands from here were not very impressive either.

From here, it was on to the Ice Pond,

then to the powerlines where I had some trouble finding my way back into the woods. After doing so, it was pretty smooth sailing back to my car, although I did go the wrong way around to find Monument Rock.

After leaving the area, it was on to another hike at the Seekonk Meadows, located behind the Seekonk Public Library. The path I took here is shown below in pink.

The park itself is not too bad,

and there were okay views of Gammino Pond as well.

Overall, a much better place than Caratunk.

From here, it was on to North Attleborough to visit the Falls Fire Barn Museum, passing through East Providence RI

Newman Congregational Church

First Baptist Church

East Providence Community Center,

1320 Pawtucket Avenue

Bethany Church of the Nazarene

Church of the Epiphany

St. Margaret Church

and Pawtucket RI

St. Teresa of the Child Jesus Church

Epworth United Methodist Church

Goff Junior High School

St. Cecilia Church,

750 Central Avenue

along the way to the museum.

Standard Chain Company,

84 Chestnut Street

The museum itself is housed within an old fire station, and the pictures I took here while the curator showed me around the place follow.

Next, it was on to my next museum in Medfield, at the Medfield Historical Society.

Really small, and really disorganized. No pictures here though.

From here, I headed for my first meetup meal for the day: dimsum at The China Restaurant and Sports Bar in Quincy.

This place looks more like a sports bar than a Chinese restaurant, hence the name I guess. We had a lot of food today, most of it pushed onto us by the waitresses with their food carts. Pictures of the delicious food follow.

Everyone was surprised to discover that the filling for the green balls was actually durian, with some of my friends refusing to eat it thereafter.

Even more surprising was the discovery of a tiny crab inside one of the clam shells.

My friend actually ate it as well, saying it did not taste like much.

After finally being done, we decided to take a walk to Yocha nearby for dessert. I enjoyed my dessert the last time I was here, so I was looking forward to more. This time, I decided to get the Purple Hawaiian Soup with Sweet Potato,

which was pretty good for a while, but got a little intense after eating it for a bit, especially with the ginger in it.

The Ying Yang (black sesame soup with peanut mochi balls and tofu pudding) my friend got was much better though.

After getting back to my car, it was on to Hingham for a bit,

Hingham Public Library

North Beach,

Howe Street and Parker Driveway

Hingham Harbor,

Downer Avenue and Cushing Avenue

Foundry Pond,

Rockland Street and Kilby Street

By the time I reached Weir River Farm, where there were beautiful views,

I realized I had no more time to explore the area, so I headed for my next meetup meal in Boston at Deep Ellum, which I had just been to a week ago for brunch. This time, I got the Root Beer Braised Pork Belly (Smoked turnip puree, pickled cranberries, toasted hazelnuts)

and the Pan Seared Monkfish (Squid ink couscous, apple-beet puree, shaved Brussels sprouts, bacon vinaigrette).

I do have to say the monkfish was a little on the bland side, although it was really fresh. The pork belly was decadently delicious though, with all its fat. The Best Wurst Appetizer (One housemade sausage, mustard and seasonal pickles) my friend got wasn't anything special either.

As I had another meetup dinner to go to, I decided to leave my friends a little early, heading to Crave: Mad for Chicken in Chinatown, where my next event was.

I have only eaten takeout from here before, so tonight was my chance to eat at the restaurant for once. My side of the table got the Seafood Pancake,

the Truffle Fries,

the Sushi Pancake,

and of course lots of chicken.

The fries and the sushi pancake was actually pretty good, although the seafood pancake was nothing to speak of. The chicken was good as always, although it took the longest to come out.

With all the meals I had already eaten today, what we had here was enough for me, although everyone else in my group was still a little hungry.

I decided not to stay though, heading to Newton instead, where I decided to watch the movie "Interstellar" at the Chestnut Hill SuperLux Movie Theater.

This place is super fancy,

with expensive movie tickets and reclining seats, although the feet could not be raised at the price I paid. I got a $5 credit for food, which I could order from my seat with the lighted menu provided.

Aparrently, the menu is totally different if I had paid more for my ticket. Oh well. I decided to just get Sour Patch Kids in the end, and that lasted me well past the movie, which started out pretty good for me, then transcended into nonsense. I don't know why so many people think this movie was good.

I also think the theater in Braintree is much better and cheaper than this place.