April 27th 2012: Lunch and Dinner in Worcester

Today was my colleague's last day of work, so we decided to head out for lunch again, this time without higher management. On his suggestion, we headed to the Regatta Deli in Worcester, supposedly the home of the famous Regatta Italian Club Grinder, which is exactly what I got.

In my opinion though, it was just okay, although I could only eat half of the gigantic sandwich before giving up.

After work, I decided to try out Zorba's Taverna in the same town. I wasn't expecting much, to be honest, but this place is actually a pretty high class restaurant. Not only was the decor beautiful, but the food was also pretty artistic, especially the appetizer I got, the Seafood Vol Au Vents appetizer, made of a crispy puff pastry with seafood stuffing and topped with pan seared sea scallops, shrimp and creamy lobster sauce.

I was already full and satisfied by the time I finished it, but I had already ordered the Moussaka, a Greek Lasagne like dish with eggplants, potatoes and minced beef, which came with a side of Avgolemeno, a typical GReek chicken soup with egg lemon sauce.

Avgolemeno Soup

Moussaka

The Moussaka was simply fantastic, while the Avgolemeno soup was a little sour for my taste, but I was still able to finish everything, though just barely. I definitely recommend coming back here again in future.

April 26th 2012: At the Independent Film Festival Boston 2012 in Sommerville

My colleague had his last day of work this week, so the department decided to head to the Sole Proprietor in Worcester to give him a farewell lunch.

As the lunch was complimentary for everyone else as well, I ate quite a bit. We first ordered the Cherry Peppered Squid and Popcorn Shrimp for appetizers, which were pretty good.

Popcorn Shrimp

For my main dish, I decided to get the Baked Stuffed Flounder, which came with a side of Seafood Chowder. 

Seafood Chowder

Baked Stuffed Flounder

I loved both dishes, especially the soup, with the fish having just the right texture and freshness. It was pretty much the best seafood chowder I have had to date. I also tried the Fresh Fried Clams and Surf and Turf Penne that my colleagues had, and the clams were really fresh and delicious.

Surf and Turf Penne

Fresh Fried Clams

Seeing that others at the table had ordered dessert, I decided to get one myself, choosing the Chocolate Tulip Cup. As you can see, it was a pretty artistic dish.

There was a little too much cream, though in my opinion, although the rest of the flower was excellent.

After work, I had bought tickets to watch "Liberal Arts" as part of the Independent Film Festival Boston 2012 at the Somerville Theatre in Somerville.

I had to get dinner before that though, so I decided to use one of my Livingsocial deals at Sandwich Works in Newton, given that I was still a little full from lunch. This place is quite nice for  a deli place, and it even has another shop in it, Jake's Falafel Corner, which does Mediterannean wraps. Having $14 to spend, I decided to go for their Village Sandwich and the Reubenette, and a cup of their split pea soup with ham to make up the difference. Unfortunately, as I was running out of time and not being very hungry, I waited till I got home to eat them.

The theatre itself was pretty nondescript, housing another branch of the Museum of Bad Art, which like the one in Dedham was nothing much to shout about. The movie was really good though in my opinion. I definitely recommend it.

When I finally got home, I was feeling hungry, and decided to see what Sandwich Works had to offer.

The Village Sandwich

The Reubenette

Split Pea Soup with Ham

Perhaps it was because I was hungry, but I found the sandwiches and soup to be really awesome, especially the Reubenette, which is a Reuben sandwich with coleslaw in place of sauerkraut, while the Village Sandwich was full of meaty goodness.

April 24th 2012: Dinner and Dessert in West Fens, Boston

I had a bad car accident last week, so I had to forgo a weekend of fun, staying at home and feeling bored. Today I finally bought a new car, so I took it out to Boston for a drive, going for a meetup event at the El Pelon Taqueria in the West Fens area that I had cancelled earlier. This place was actually quite small, and although there were many tables outside, today was a really cold day, and I was forced to wear my winter jacket to sit out with everyone else and the El Guapo Burrito I ordered, which came with beef steak, plantains and added on guacamole upon request.

The plantains were quite an interesting addition to the burrito, being an unfamiliar yet tasty experience, and I finished my burrito easily.

Not wanting to stay out in the cold for much longer, we soon headed to the Yard House Restaurant nearby, which is a relatively high class bar restaurant. As I had a drive ahead of me, I decided to get dessert instead, choosing the Mini Trio Sampler, consisting of chocolate souffle, apple cobbler and lemon souffle. My friend also got the mini creme brule.

Mini Trio Sampler

Creme Brule

All of the mini desserts were delicious, although I felt that the apple cobbler was the best one of the lot, and the chocolate souffle became too sweet after several bites and numbed the sweetness of the rest of the dishes.

I was glad I decided to get dessert here though, although I had to leave a little early to drive back home for work tomorrow.

April 20th 2012: Lunch at Bagel Bistro Bakery and Deli, Westborough

It was time to treat my colleague to lunch again today, so I decided to use one of my Livingsocial deals this time. We headed to The Bagel Bistro in Westborough, finding it to be pretty much like any other bakery, though a bit bigger with a decent amount of space for dine-in customers. We had $15 to spend, and after looking at the menu, I decided to get the Grilled Turkey Club Sandwich with a Pecan Lovin's Bar on the side, while my friend got the Veggie Burger Sandwich and Elvis Bar on the side.

Veggie Burger and Elvis Bar

Turkey Club and Pecan Lovin's

Both our sandwiches were really good, with the sun-dried tomato mayo on mine really doing the trick, although I felt the desserts were a little too sweet for my liking.

April 19th 2012: Candlepin Bowling in Acton

Today after work, I decided to use another of my Livingsocial deals, this time for 2 games of bowling, shoes, a burger and a shake at Acton Bowladrome in Acton. When I first bought the deal, I had thought that the place had ten-pin bowling as well, but I was disappointed to realize that this was not the case. 

Regardless, I was going to get free entertainment and a meal as well, so I went along with it for today. The place itself had one redeeming feature compared to the other candlepin bowling places I have been to before, namely a computerized scoring system. Even so, I failed to perform well at both of my free games, scoring less than a hundred on either game.

With respect to my meal, I got the Vanilla Shake and the Classic Burger. I did not know however, that the burger would come with fries as well.

The shake was pretty good, and the burger alright. I was hoping that I would still be hungry by the end of it, so that I could head into Bedford to try a new restaurant, where I will be co-hosting a meetup event and need to decide on a place for the group to eat at, but as it turned out, I could not even finish my meal. I blame the shake.

After I was done, I realized that I still had some time before the sun set, so I decided to do a little more sightseeing before heading home. I chose to visit the trails at Buckboard Drive in Westford.

When I reached the area, I could not find any trailhead, and all the water bodies I saw in the residential area were swampy ones. I was about to give up when I finally spotted a trail leading northwards from the southern fork of Buckboard Drive. As it turned out, this wasn't the actual trail, but it connected to the main trail, and finally I was able to explore the area. The path I took here is highlighted in pink below.

The trails I walked were not very well maintained, and there was nothing much to see until I finally reached the northern two ponds, which actually looked like water bodies for once. Here, I was able to take a few pictures of the ponds here, in the light of the setting sun.

From here, I walked out to Chamberlain Road, from which I turned right into Buckboard Drive and headed back to my car.

Overall, I did not think this was that great a place to visit, but the views of the northernmost ponds were decent, so I will leave it in my list of recommended places.

April 17th 2012: Dessert at Crown Bakery, Worcester

My mom and colleagues had always mentioned how good the Crown Bakery and Cafey in Worcester was in terms of its desserts, so I decided to check it out today.

The decor is ok for a bakery I guess, and I was spoiled for choice, with all the delicious looking cakes just staring at me from behind the glass, so I decided to get a box of their assorted cookies, and their cream puffs with orange glaze on top.

Cream Puff with Orange Glaze

Assorted Cookies

Overall, I thought the cream puffs were okay, with the orange glaze being a nice addition. I will probably share the cookies with my colleagues tomorrow.

April 16th 2012: Cycling for 35 Miles for the First Time

Early this morning, I spent an hour hooking up my new bike to my car before driving to Boston to meet my friend at her home to go cycling for 40 miles in preparation for a future biking charity event, Bikes Not Bombs. The route was pretty complicated, so I figured the best way to not get lost was to take note of every single turn we would have to make in the route on a piece of paper and attach it to the front of my bike where I could refer to it any time during the ride. I will not post the route we took because of its complexity, but I will say that we traveled through the towns of Dedham, Needham, Dover, Sherborn and Westwood. It was easygoing for me at first, with my friends and I making frequent stops to take pictures of the beautiful scenery we traveled through, while my directions kept us from getting lost, but eventually the effects of riding a comfort bike with mountain bike wheels began to take its toll on me and I started to consistently lag behind my friends, who had to constantly wait for me. Eventually, at the junction of Springdale Avenue and Farm Street in Sherborn, we decided to cut our route short and take the fastest route back to my friend's place, after having a cup or 2 of lemonade from some kids who were selling it near their home.

With that, we ended up cycling 35 miles, the longest distance I have ever cycled in my entire life, after not having cycled for more than 10 years. I guess that is a pretty good achievement in itself. 

I was feeling sore all over, and I was prepared to go home and crash, but I realized that the day was still young and the weather was fantastic, so I decided to push on and continue my sightseeing. My goal was to get to the town of Belmont, but along the way I took some pictures of churches I passed by in Boston.

St. John Chrysostom Parish

Church of the Holy Name

Trinity Lutheran Church

Annunciation Melkite Catholic Cathedral

As I headed toward Belmont, I ventured into the Brookline area, and I took a few pictures here too.

Christ's Church Longwood

St. Paul's Episcopal Church

Brookline District Court

Episcopal Church of Our Saviour

Brookline Public Library

Monument,
School Street and Washington Street

Unfortunately, the Boston Marathon today made it impossible to get to Belmont with all the roads blocked off, so I had to resort to heading into Newton to get to it. Finally there, I first went for a short walk at the Beaver Brook Reservation at 66 Mill Street. The path I took here is highlighted below in pink.

From the parking area on Mill Street, I headed first to the shore of Duck Pond.

At one end of the pond is the Beaver Brook Dam, which has a decent waterfall.

From here, I headed to the next water body, Mill Pond, which did not look as nice.

With that, I headed back to my car and continued my sightseeing in Belmont.

Payson Park Congregational Church

Holy Cross Armenian Catholic Church

St. Luke's Church

First Baptist Church

CrossRoads Evangelical Church

Immanuel Community Church

Belmont United Methodist Church

Belmont Fire Department

Benton Library, 75 Oakley Road

W.L. Chenery Middle School

Christ Lutheran Church

Old Waverley Village School,
~438 Trapelo Road

Mary Lee Burbank School

Finally, it was too dark for me to take any more good pictures, so I decided to head for dinner. Out of all the restaurants that I had Livingsocial deals with, only the Watch City Brewing Company in Waltham was open on Patriot's Day, so there I went to eat my fill. I worried a bit about my bike, finally deciding to chain it to a post across the river from the Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation at the parking area there. The restaurant is more like a bar, with large brewing kegs in the front of the restaurant.

I had $20 to spend, and upon looking at the specials menu, I was immediately taken by the soup of the day, consisting of curry, sweet potato and corn with crabmeat and scallions, and the Lobster Ravioli with Pan Seared Cajun Salmon, so I got them.

Curry Soup

Lobster Ravioli and Pan Seared Cajun Salmon

I was not disappointed at all with my choices. The curry soup was exceptional, while the salmon was fresh and crisp, going well with the lobster basil cream sauce and corn salsa.

I ate quickly, fearing for my bike, but thankfully it was still there when I returned. With that I headed home for the day, really exhausted from the bike ride.