Boston Food and Drink

After a libation filled Saturday, we thought we would keep the run going with a Bloody Mary filled brunch at Back Bay Social Club.  I gave you guys a heads up in a previous post that it was the old Vinny T’s spot right on Boylston.  Two floors with a bar on each floor (downstairs closed for brunch and lunch).  Plenty of bar stool seating, table seating inside, and  a small outdoor patio with a handful of tables.  Definitely has that speakeasy feel to it with the furniture, checkerboard floor and mahogany bar.

We rolled in with reservations at 10:30.  Didn’t look like we needed them but it filled up after 11 or so.  Those who partied even harder chose to roll in around noon.  Outdoor seating was taken up fast even without any umbrellas at the tables.  We sat inside and it had a nice feel to it.  They have the front opened to the patio and you have just enough fresh air from outside to make it feel very open and spacious. 

We were sat promptly and rolled the dice on a few Bloody Mary’s  Their was 5 of us, 3 of us ordered the Pickled Bloody and 2 of us ordered the Pepper Bloody.  Both types won rave reviews.  My Pepper Bloody came packed with a jalapeno, a pepperoncini, and what tasted like a little vinegar in it.  All of these tastes really came together and it was very good.  The others really enjoyed the Pickled Bloody, can’t go wrong with either.

I ordered the “Cowboy” scrambled which had 4 ribs on top of some good scrambled eggs.  It said it came with peppers and onions, but mine definitely didn’t.  Good side of spiced home fries and a biscuit that was pretty dry (consensus of the table).  “The Treatment” was ordered, basically a giant plate of fried chicken, waffles, and eggs.  Received rave reviews and was gobbled up in minutes.  The “Social Breakfast” was gobbled up in seconds and I canonly assume that is was a hit.  The “Belgian Waffles” were good but could have used a bit of syrup on them (we asked for a side of it and it came right away). The only disappointment was the “Fatboy”, everything was a bit dry and had to be dolled up with some syrup.  The portions were huge and the BBQ sauce they use is very good.  Read the menu thoroughly and make sure you know what you are ordering; this isn’t the waffle, syrup, and butter type of place (which is fine by us).

Very good service, the managers came over to say hello and give us their recommendations.  Waters and coffee were poured right on cue and we never had to wonder where the staff was.  I liked the atmosphere and can see this also being a cool after work spot for the late 20’s, 30’s, and 40’s crowd.  Interesting take on the traditional brunch that should keep people coming in!

If anyone has dinner there let us know!

Back Bay Social Club, 867 Boylston St, Boston 617.247.3200 www.backbaysocialclub.com

So we decide to take the short walk over to Vapiano.  I mentioned the setup in a previous post but it is sort of like a fast food place rolled into a casual sit down eatery.  Walking up to it, picture a baseball diamond.  The dugouts are the outdoor seating on each side of the location (the right side being much cooler than the left side).  You have to go to home plate when you walk in to get things going.  The eatery opens up to various stations along the outfield walls and the seats are within the fences. 

You need to get a card from the hostess, this card tally’s all of your food.  When you are done eating, you go up to the hostess, hand her your card, she gives you the total, and you pay right there.  Sounds easy, but don’t let them fool you.  The biggest problem was the fact that it was new and no patrons had a clue on what to do…this will obviously pass as more people know what’s up.  The lack of waitstaff was tough too, we ate outside and found ourselves getting up a lot for more wine, waters, condiments, etc. 

As far as the food goes, it was ok.  The pizza’s were undercooked and lacked any real sauce or flavor.  I could tell the pizza’s weren’t done when the cutter couldn’t make it through but I didn’t speak up (dumb move).  We each ordered a salad and they were actually really good.  I had the Caesar and she had the Caprese, both fresh, well dressed, and a great portion.  We were both very happy with the choices.  The wine list is better on the Red side, with a lot of Italian and Chilean wines.  The white selection was a handful of the basics with a nice Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand (Fire Road).  With the lack of a waitress around we had to get up, go grab fill up from the wine station, etc etc…kind of a pain.

We bolted after the second wines, unimpressed with our dinner.  I think the place can be fun, just know what you are getting into before you go there.  They have some kinks to work out but I really want to emphasize that the staff was great.  Everyone was helpful, courteous, and accommodating.  This should lead to better times ahead.

Vapiano, 191 Stuart St, Boston 857.445.0236 www.vapiano-boston.com

We went over to Joe V’s in the South End for an impromptu late night dinner.  It was the kind of Friday when EVERY place is slammed and you go in and out of each place bitching about some reason why we can’t get a seat at the bar.  Shouldn’t we be VIP?  Not even close apparently…

Next stop, Joe V’s.  This is the place at the corner of Union Park and Shawmut, across from the Buttery.  It wouldn’t be the first choice, second, or even third choice really.  I mean it has 5 bar seats, a rather unfriendly interior, and not a “foodie” menu, but outdoor seating makes it a nice spot on a hot night.

The greeting could have been warmer, in fact it was pretty rude.  I guess they have a policy (probably for the neighborhood) that they cant have patrons out on the patio after 10.  That’s fine, it was 9:30 and I looked as if I could eat the entire menu.  Needless to say I was going to eat pretty quickly.  Come 10, when everyone is supposed to turn into a pumpkin, I would be happy to move inside…but until then, give the guy some fresh air already! 

They have small wine list, we chose 2 reds, and planned to split a…..you guessed it! Caesar Salad and a pizza.  Caesar salad was a little dry, but pretty good, not my top 20 but it wasn’t terrible.  Hey, at least I was outside right?  We ordered one of their gourmet pizzas, sausage and carmelized onions.  Great pizza, thin crust, over grilled, perfect tomato sauce.  Thoroughly happy with the selection.

I guess this is a place that you would go to on a weekday night, or when everything is packed.  We got out of there for about 54 bucks, not too bad.  It will be a great takeout place though.

315 Shawmut St Boston, MA 617.338.5638 DO NOT GO TO THE WEBSITE, it will freeze your computer, trust me on this one…please fix this

Been here lately? let me know!

We were sitting around on a Tuesday night thinking of places we hadn’t been to in awhile.  Oddly enough, Mistral popped into the conversation.  Funny, people always think of Mistral as an expensive, special occasion type place…but the bar can be great too.  They have some great pizzas that you can split, 2 glasses of wine, and you are out of there for 50 bucks!  We did sit at the bar (as always) but we went for the big hitters.

We started out with 2 glasses of Arona, a SB from the Marlborough (not Mass ) region of New Zealand.  Real cold, real crisp, and looked great on the cement-like material that the bar is made up of.   Our servers could have been better, they seemed more interested in chatting with each other than pouring drinks.  You expect a bit more on a quiet Tuesday night, maybe as our names? where we live? what my cat’s middle name is? something… I also asked them to change the TV channel 3 times to no avail, no idea who wanted to watch the PawSox but more power to you.

I started with the (boringgggg) Caesar salad, yeah it’s boring but I feel like I could write a book on these damn things.  I know a good one, and this one nailed it.  Passed on the anchovies, good mix of greens to cheese.  Now my girlfriend really went after it.  Let’s just say that the Summer Corn Soup was fantastic.  Chilled summer corn soup around a hunk of lobster and avacado, unreal.  The soup tasted like your favorite sweet corn off the cob.  All of this topped with a mildly spicy Jalapeno oil to give it a kick…just great.  Please get this asap!  She followed it up with a Gnocchi in a delicious tomato sauce.  This isn’t on their online menu, check it when you get in there.  Very light, summery, excellent. 

For my main course I struggled between the Hen and the Tenderloin.  I looked to my left and saw this woman absolutely going to town on the Hen, I mean she even ate some bones.  I figured it had to be good so I took the plunge.  A good choice.  Cornish Game Hen, cooked perfectly moist with pancetta and a spinach salad.  Seasoned with just some light Rosemary, this went perfect with the wine and led me to a very comfortable full. 

We skipped dessert so we could actually walk home without rolling each other. 

223 Columbus Ave Boston, MA 617.867.9300 www.mistralbistro.com

Have you been recently? Have some comments about it? Let us know!

Joanne Chang (of Flour fame) has really done it again at this SE hotspot located at the corner of E Berkeley and Washington St in the South End.  Calling this a “Chinese Food” restaurant doesn’t really do it much justice.  This place has some of the best food in town.  Dumplings, seafood, noodles, exotic cocktails…everything we all like.

You walk into the space and immediately feel the vibe.  They play great music throughout, have a really cool open kitchen, and even try to have tables always open for neighborhood walk-ins.  This wouldn’t be the place I would go to have a drink as the bar really isn’t condusive to hanging out with some drinks, it’s really all about the food.  Joanne was there the night we rolled in and was a hawk at the kitchen making sure everything came out right.  We sat at the bar and met head chef, Matt, who had some great suggestions for us.  We tried the Mama Chang’s Pork dumplings, tea smoked spare ribs, beef and broccoli chow fun, and a great piece if Haddock.  All dishes came out when they were ready and all were excellent. 

We stuffed ourselves to the brink of disaster so we chose a small Lemon-Ginger Mousse as desert and it was fantastic, very light and sweet.  Nice wine list and a pretty extensive cocktail list, yes they have scorpion bowls!

Service was average at best.  Maybe it was just one of those nights but it seemed like they were somewhat clueless about when the food was coming and they actually forgot about one of our orders.  We will give them a mulligan this time because when it did come out, it was very good. 

Apparently they have cheap PBR’s and play a lot of loud music on Sunday nights to create a Sunday Funday vibe, great idea.

Love Myers and Chang and will be regulars there, even the bathroom was pretty cool “You drop watch in toilet, you have shitty time”…you’ll understand when you get in there.

Food 5, Bar 1, Space 4, Service 2, Coolness 5

Myers and Chang, 1145 Washington St, Boston 02118, 617.542.5200, myersandchang.com