March 29th 2014: Badminton and Hiking

This morning, I had badminton to go to, so I decided to start off with breakfast at the Weston Road Cafe, a small place with only a few tables in the town of Wellesley. I got my Hot Chocolate as always, and a Steak and Cheese Omelet.

The steak used was shaved steak, and it was really filling and tasty. After another fun badminton session, I had to head out to help my friend with food truck prepping, so I headed out to Malden to have a brief lunch at Maplewood Coffee Shop and Ice Cream. This place is more like a candy store than a cafe, but I had $10 to spend here, so here goes. I decided to try their special drink, the Electric Richie, made with Red Bull and Italian Ice, getting it to go with Mango flavor. For food, I got an Apricot Danish,

and a Chicken Pot Pie.

The drink was actually pretty good for what it was, although the food was just so-so.

From here, I decided to do some hiking in the Middlesex Fells reservation, first going to find the Cascade Falls located in the town of Melrose, starting off my short trek at the end of Goodyear Avenue.

To get here, I needed get onto the Cascades Trail, turning right at the trailhead and walking a short distance to get to the falls, which was thankfully more than a trickle right now, what with all the rain going on.

Next, I went to check out Doleful Pond, Spot Pond, Quarter Mile Pond and Dark Hollow Pond in the town of Stoneham.

The path I took to see Doleful Pond, which wasn't much to see anyway, is shown below in pink, starting at the end of Tedford Road.

Dark Hollow Pond was a little better, located off 643 Main Street. I could not find parking except at Gate 24, so I had to hike to the pond, the path I took being shown below in pink.

Spot Pond was pretty nice from the Spot Pond Boating Center.

Quarter Mile Pond was only slightly better, located a little off Woodland Road.

I decided to head to the kitchen after this, where my friend decided to have dinner at Bronwyn in Somerville. We got the Giant Wurst Platter (6 sausages (Kielbasa (smoked pork, garlic, coriander), Lemon Weisswurst (turkey, pork, parsley), Spicy Bierwurst (pork, paprika, cayenne), Currywurst (pork, veal, curry),Zungenblutwurst (blood, tongue, pork), Thüringer Bratwurst (veal, pork, egg)), potatoes, sauerkraut, haus mustard)

and the Haxe (2 lb. bone-in, beer-braised pork shank, sauerkraut, potatoes, apples), both of which were pretty good.

With that, my day of badminton and hiking came to an end. More hiking to come tomorrow.

March 28th 2014: Dinner at Ladd's Restaurant, Rutland

Today after work, I decided to have dinner in the town of Rutland, visiting a few water bodies in town

Turkey Hill Pond Beach,

76 Victoria Avenue

Kenwood Pond, 144 Kenwood Drive

Demond Pond, 99 Pleasantdale Road

Thayer Pond, inside 49 Miles Road

Muschopauge Pond,

54 Muschopauge Road

Edison Pond, 289 Pommogussett Road

before heading to Ladd's Restaurant, a small town family style bar restaurant. It was pretty full of people when I arrived, but thankfully I was still able to get a table. After looking at the menu, I decided to go with the Lobster Pie en Casserole (tender lobster in creamy lobster sauce topped with cracker crumbs).

It came with sides of summer squash and mashed potatoes, as well as a bowl of turkey vegetable soup.

The soup itself was pretty good, but I have to say I was amazed at how good the casserole was, full of fresh lobster meat in large chunks, and the sauce that accompanied it, amazing. Not bad at all for a small town restaurant.

March 27th 2014: Dinner at Menton, Boston

After coming back from a work trip in Washington DC, I had a dinner appointment with friends for a Restaurant Week dinner at Menton, a really upscale restaurant in Boston. Before that, I had a little time, so I decided to take a stroll around Pleasure Bay, where the views of the ocean were really calming after a tiring day in DC.

After walking around the entire bay and back to my car, it was time to head to dinner at the pretty upscale place.

Thankfully, I was just in time, and as everyone had already arrived, we got seated at our table soon after.

With the Prix Fixe Menu, we decided to split our efforts up and effectively ordered the entire menu, getting the Foie Gras Terrine (Tangerine, Brioche, Black Pepper),

the Fava Leaf Tortellini (Morels, Parmesan, Sweet Breads)

and the Salmon Roulade (Potato, Dill, Vidalia) for appetizers,

the Local Fluke (Saffron, Mussels, Bay Scallop),

the Onion Crespelle (Artichoke, Lemon, Olive)

and the Assiette of Suckling Pig (Wild Rapini, English Pea, Mustard) for main courses,

and the Artisanal Cheeses,

the Chocolate Pave (Pretzel, Cacao Mate, Rum)

and the Ricotta Cremeux (Graham Cracker, Rhubarb, Caramel) for dessert.

We started off with some complimentary porcini mini-macaroons and Prince Edward Island Mussels.

The macaroons were interestingly salty, while the mussels were nicely laid out inside the shell, although they were a little small.

Our next course came in the form of a mini-croissant, which was really buttery and flavorful.

With that came the appetizers, all well presented. My foie gras was the best of the lot, expected because I had to pay an extra $12 for it, with a kind of peanut butter sauce that blended very well with the pate, and the triangular piece of brioche that went with the dish was perfectly toasted as well.

My friends' salmon was really good as well,

while the sweet breads were more than just bread in the tortellini. My friend was weirded out by the texture of the meat, while it was pretty good to me for what it was. Go look it up.

While waiting for our next course to arrive, which took a while, the waiters were nice enough to bring us some bread to pass the time.

Finally, our main courses arrived.

My onion dish had a really strong garlicky taste,

but overall it was actually pretty good.

The fluke was perfectly cooked and moist, 

and the meat for the pork is the second time that I have had pork that was well cooked and not dry.

Our excellent meal left us in great anticipation for our dessert. My cheeses were just alright though, although the marmalade was pretty good.

The chocolate was excellent, especially the white cubes that we could not tell if it was cheese, although it definitely contained butter.

The ingredients for the last dessert came together really well as well.

To top it off, we were given a bowl of mini-macaroons to sample from while waiting for our bill. Some tasted like peppers, making it a little weird at times.

Needless to say, this was a great end to a long day. I'm glad my flight wasn't delayed so I could get to dinner on time.