Ironside Grill - Sports Bar in Charlestown!

Nick and I were over in Charlestown a couple of weekends ago doing a little recon on the housing market over there.  Not that we are moving anytime soon, we were just curious what things are like in that part of town - what's better than going and walking around peoples houses and secretly judging and being envious all at the same time?!  After a long day of criss-crossing Charlestown more than once we were starving and thirsty.

Rather than waiting until we got home for some refreshments, we decided to head to Ironside Grill to grab a drink.  We both had been there once before.  The main focus point is the big bar that actually has a second bar like table behind it (almost like stadium seating) so there always will be plenty of places to grab a stool and watch a game.  With some of the football games on, Nick and I decided to grab a seat at the bar.

Even though it was not officially fall, Nick couldn't resist ordering a Pumpkinhead as it is his favorite beer, and one of the million reasons he looks forward to the season is because this is available!  However, Ironside Grill added something that neither of had seen before - a cinnamon and sugar rimmed glass.  This was beyond tasty and now, of course, Nick does not want to drink his beer any other way.  I had the Sam Adams Octoberfest, which was delicious as well.

Look at that rim!

Temazcal Tequila Cantina

For Nick's birthday this year his mom gave him a gift certificate Temazcal, which was a great gift because it meant I got to share!  Having heard there are crazy waits and no reservations, timing this dinner was going to be a bit difficult as I really did not want to wait 2 hours.  However, I had a conference over at the Westin, and since Nick works over there we figured this would be the best time.  Nick left work with the mission to add our name to the list in person (you cannot call in your name), but to make it more difficult, your whole party has to present in order to even add your name!  So after a bit of a hustle on my part from the hotel I met Nick at Temazcal at about 6:15 and were sat straight away right at the front windows looking out over the water.  With the water views and the bright and vibrant decor it makes you want to have a good time.

Sitting down with our iPads for menus we started looking at the menu, with pictures to boot.  After seeing the first one on the list I was sold, the Besos - complete with Patron Silver, St. Germain, lemon wedges, Agave nectar and fresh raspberries.  The drink was delicious, fresh and tasty.  I really could not even taste the tequila.

Besos

After getting our drinks, they served us a heaping pile of chips and a varieties of salsas.  The chips were fresh and the salsas were not your typical garden variety with a mild, medium and hot.  Instead they was a sweeter one, a medium heat and then almost like a bean dip with some cheese on top. Really, these chips could have been a full appetizer.

Zen - My favorite sushi place...

I have been looking for a good go-to sushi place since I moved to Boston.  After trying a few places in Chinatown, Watertown, and in Beacon Hill (Ma Soba) I was still left wanting - that is until I went to Zen Sushi Bar on top of the Hill right next to the State House.  Prior to actually going there, I had walked by numerous times without giving it a second thought until a co-worker suggested it was worth trying.  Nick and I figured "why not?", and thank goodness we did because it was some of the best sushi in town.

After craving sushi for awhile Nick and I decided to head up to this new favorite spot for a little dinner.  Lucky for us it was still warm enough that we were able to sit out on the patio and enjoy some of the last days of summer.  In sticking with the Japanese theme, we of course went with some BIG Asian beers: a Kirin and a Sapporo.

Big Beers

Petit Robert Central

Recently, I was lucky enough to go out to eat with one of my favorite people, L.  It had been awhile since we had gotten together and we had plenty to catch up on.  Not wanting to travel far, we opted for Petit Robert Central, a French Bistro right in the heart of Downtown Crossing.  When Petit Robert took over the old Vinalia space, it really made a good effort in creating a sleek downtown bar and restaurant that was not too over the top.  Having worked in that area for 5 years, I can say I only stopped in once and it was for the company Christmas party - Petit Robert should not suffer the same fate as it really is a space you want to spend more time in.  With a large bar and lounge area in addition to the dining tables, there is plenty of space to spread out an enjoy.

On this Friday night, L and I seemed to arrive after the apres work crowd died down (and it was one of the last summer weekends) so we were seated straight away at a table for two.  After ordering some beers from their less than traditional selection (Matilda and Leffe Blonde) we set to ordering an appetizer.  After a little back and forth, we settled on the Steamed Mussels Marinière, which had a lot of flavor, and certainly were not lacking in the butter department (a theme felt throughout the dinner), however it did not mask the mussels taste.  

Mussels

Lucky for us, there was plenty of the hearty bread to mop up all the good sauce from the mussel plate!

Frontera Grill - Rick Bayless Amazingness

In my final recap of my recent Chicago trip, I think I saved the best for last.  After going to Chicago with Nick last year, one of the only things that he wanted to do was go to Xoco (the walk-up/fast food restaurant) for lunch.  However, once we got there the place was closed and Nick was somewhat devastated to say the least!  Not only was it closed, it was closed for two weeks while Rick Bayless took his entire staff to Mexico to learn about local food, so we could not go back.

So, when we were headed back to Chicago this summer, I called about 4 months in advance to make reservations at Frontera Grill.  Frontera is the family style restaurant of the Rick Bayless Chicago complex, and on a Saturday night you can wait up to three hours for a table!  They generally only take a few reservations an evening, and lucky for us our reservations were all set, so we were sat straight away. To begin, our server brought over a bowl of spiced mixed nuts, a flavorful bite getting us ready for the rest of the evening.

Spiced Nuts

When we were looking over the menu, it was difficult to make a decision on what to order because everything sounded delicious.  Lucky for us, our server seemed to know just about everything on the menu (I mean they go to Mexico to learn!) so we felt we were in good hands.  

Sushi at Coast

After a bit of a whirlwind weekend in Chicago seeing the sites and dealing with our cancelled flight, Nick and I were finally able to spend some time with our lovely hosts, C and S.  While we spent some time with C already, seeing them together is always a bit more fun!  Having covered many of our food bases already, we decided on sushi.  One of C's favorite places, Coast, was right down the street in Bucktown.  With a modern and fun atmosphere it makes for a great place to enjoy good company over some wine brought from home (yay for BYOB!).

I was actually the first person to take C to a sushi dinner.  It was some random NYC restaurant when were in high school, so needless to say we had no idea what were were ordering.  We ended up with some interesting rolls, including octopus and eel - why we chose those I still don't know.  In retrospect, salmon and tuna would have been some good starting points.  While eel is now one of my favorites, back then it definitely wasn't.  This is always a story we have to go over whenever C and I go out to sushi because it still makes us laugh!

After placing our white wine in some ice buckets we put an order in for Hamachi Carpacio, which had five pieces of yellow tail sashimi style topped with garlic olive oil, jalapano, and cilantro and was drizzled with lime juice and garnished with mixed greens with garlic balsamic dressing.  The fish was fresh and the citrus and jalapano added a perfect contrast. 

Hamachi Carpacio

In true Erica sushi ordering fashion, we got a serving of edamame.  All of the pods were filled and steamed well with the perfect amount of salt mixed in.