Forum Burger

Last week I found myself attempting to get back into the swing of things, and well, it was not working as well as I thought (in my mind I was still in the Indian Ocean!)  Luckily I had some fun things I had to do along the way, like go to a Junior League committee meeting.  While a previous meeting introduced me to the Power Hour at Morton's, I was happy to find myself back at Forum.  Forum is still a relatively new addition to the Back Bay scene, but with the major renovations done to the space that used to be Vox Populi, (spoiler alert!) I highly recommend stopping by and checking it out.

This time around we were seated downstairs and ordered off of Forum's extensive bar/bistro menu that had many interesting looking dishes.  However, being me, the minute I saw the burger it seemed like a burger type of night.  Forum's burger is made with bone marrow, pancetta, Swiss cheese, Dijon and house made pickles.  With all of these fun ingredients, how could I choose sanything else?!?

The Burger

I actually was really surprised by how tasty this burger was.  First, it was cooked a perfect medium rare, and if you've read any of my previous burger posts before you know the temperature of the burger is one of the most important things to me.  The Dijon was strong in flavor, but in a great way.  It made the burger stick out in my head compared to the many other burgers I have had in the city.  The rest of the flavors were really just supporting the Dijon in highlighting the beef.  All in all, I was happy with my burger selection, and at $16 it did not completely break the bank.

To go with my burger I of course needed a drink.  Normally I would not have gone so fancy with my drink to accompany a burger, but the drink order came first!  Being the St. Germain fan that I am, I could not resist the Elder's Tail, which was made with Elderflower, Grey Goose vodka, agave, fresh lime, and topped off with Prosecco.  I mean, this drink had my name written all over it.

Elder's Tail

If you like elderflower and/or vodka definitely order this drink!  All in all I was once again totally pleased with my experience at Forum.

Trade Boston

When my cousin and her family came into Boston over the Thanksgiving holiday for an extended visit, they wanted to do dinner at one of the many restaurants she sees on this blog!  They were staying at the Marriott Long Wharf, so I was trying to think of a good place to meet up that would be simple (tougher than one might assume in Boston!).  Finally it dawned on me - Trade, Jody Adams' new restaurant at Atlantic Wharf.  Between the buzz surrounding Trade and the fact that it's a straight shot from the Marriott I immediately made some reservations.

On the Tuesday before Thanksgiving I headed over to Trade after work and was there a bit early, which gave me some time to snap a few shots of the amazing interior and a beer.  I decided on the Delirium, something I had never had before, but a Belgium Ale that happened to be a bit higher in alcohol content sounded perfect to me!  That, and the cute elephants on the tap and the glass ;)

Delirium

The interior of Trade is quite striking with the combination of the washed out industrial I-beams, the con-caved brick ceilings and the fun lighting throughout.  The contrast in style really comes together in the cavernous space to make a place you want to come and hang out at.

The Bar Area

Trade has quickly become a go-to space for after work, so even though we were there on a Tuesday night the place was packed.  Once the 4 of us had all arrived, we were quickly seated at our table in the front of the restaurant along the huge windows looking out over the Rose Kennedy Greenway.

The Trade menu is made of up dishes inspired by Adams' trips across the world, including anywhere from India and Asia as well as right here in New England.  Needless to say there is an eclectic mix of food on the menu.

My cousin decided to start out with a steamed artichoke drizzled with some oil and garnished with parsley, served with an aioli for dipping.  This is a nice appetizer you do not see at many restaurants - a nice clean dish.

Artichoke

Nick went with something a lot less traditional: the grilled squid and fried tentacles with Borlotti beans and vinegar peppers.  Nick enjoyed this salad with all the good flavors and textures.  The vinegar from the peppers added a great tangy bite to each mouthful.

Grilled Squid and Fried Tentacles

While there were a number of great looking menu items, I of course went for the burger - by now any reader of this blog should not be surprised!  The Trade burger is served with pancetta, Vermont cheddar and grilled onion.  The burger was a good and solid sandwich.  Mine was a tad overdone - more medium than medium rare, but I am used to that by now!  However, the one thing I wish came out more was the pancetta as it got a bit lost in the mix.

The Burger!

I guess I can officially say I am now on a brussels sprout kick.  Turns out I actually like them as long as they are not boiled or soggy!  These brussels sprouts were roasted with Allepo pepper and nuts.  Loads of good flavors mixed in with the roasted sprouts - who knew these were going to become one of my go-to's?

Brussel Sprouts

With the open wood fire pizza oven well displayed behind the bar when you walk into the restaurant, I was not surprised by the number of flat-breads on the menu.

Pizza Oven

Nick decided to go with the rosemary, ricotta salata and sea salt flat-bread, which he really enjoyed though it was a bit on the small side.  The pizza crust had a nice bite at the top but was soft and fluffy on the inside.  While I did not have a taste, it did look a little sad when it was brought out to him.  I did love that it was served on a nice wooden board. 

Flat-Bread

My cousin's husband wanted seafood when he came to New England, so he went directly for the fish special.  I cannot recall the exact type of fish, but our server likened it to a sea bass.  When served, it came out complete with head and all.  While it did require a bit of work to eat, it was worth it.

Whole Fish

I had glanced at the menu during work that day to help better prepare myself and determined that I would have to hold off on an appetizer to make sure I had room for dessert - the options just looked too good!  Being in the chocolate mood (even though I was splitting with Nick) I decided on the Taza chocolate budino with sea salt, rosemary and a hazelnut wafer.  I loved this dessert!  The flavor combination was incredible and the texture of the budino was smooth and delicious.  I really enjoyed the salt and rosemary cutting some of the sweetness of the chocolate out.  I would highly recommend this!

Budino

My cousin and her husband decided to split the Maine apple crostada with sweet cream and caramel, which they enjoyed - there was not one bit of it left on the plate!

Crostada

Overall I really enjoyed the ambiance of Trade - it was definitely bustling with an after work crowd that flowed directly into diners enjoying an evening out.  The food is good but I expect it will only get better.  I highly recommend you take a trip to Trade and enjoy the new Atlantic Wharf!

The Gallows

The Gallows is one of those restaurants that has been on our ever growing "list" for a while now.  When Boston Magazine listed The Gallows as one of the top restaurants in the area, it finally reminded me that I needed to go!  So that Tuesday, Nick and I headed over to check it out after work.

When I arrived, Nick was already sitting at a snug little booth sipping on a pumpkin beer, but the pumpkin martini on the cocktail list caught my eye!  This was delicious because it was not creamy but instead just had a good pumpkin spice flavor.

Pumpkin Martini

Inside, the Gallows is rustic and warm with its slatted wood ceiling and interesting lighting fixtures.

Inside The Gallows

We had to strategize a bit when ordering because there were so many good looking items on the menu.  Finally, after deciding to save the poutine for the next trip we ordered the lobster fritters for an appetizers.  The moment they were put down in front of us I knew we made a good decision.

Lobster Fritters

They were so light and fluffy, the perfect texture for a fritter.  The Asian inspired hoisin dipping sauce that accompanied the fritters was the perfect complement - seriously, it looked like we licked the plate!  We both personally felt that there wasn't a very overwhelming lobster flavor, but these were still a great kick-off to our meal.

Fluffy Fritter

The Gallows had a pretty good looking burger menu, and never being ones to pass up a delicious burger, we went that route.  Nick got the Johnny Appleseed, which has an heirloom apple chutney, smoked Cheddar and mustard greens.  The chutney was not too sweet and a nice change-up from ketchup or mustard.  The smokey flavor of the Cheddar worked well with the slight sweetness of the chutney.

Johnny Appleseed

I went with the Carpet Burger, which was topped with fried oysters, remoulade, american cheese and iceberg lettuce.  I have decided all burgers need oysters on them - the salty brine makes it so delicious!  I normally don't do creamy remoulade's but this one worked since it wasn't too heavy.

The Carpet Burger

The burgers here, I think, are cooked on a griddle, and the result is the perfect comforting sandwhich with just the right amount of greasiness.  I think these would be perfect on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon after a long night out!

While we did not order dessert, our server brought over the cutest little soft serve cones.  These were just enough sweetness to leave us completely satisfied after out big meal.

Soft Serve Cone

The Gallows had a great combination of ambiance, food and drink.  The restaurant provides a welcoming place to get together with friends over great food at a good price point.  The warm atmosphere makes it a go-to place on the approaching chilly nights.

Highland Kitchen - a trip to Somerville

Nick and I had been trying to get together with friends G and J for what seemed like forever, but for whatever reason we could never figure out a date.  The original destination for our dinner was supposed to be P.F. Changs because we had a gift certificate, but we passed on the free pastures for something a bit more fun.  Even better for our Somerville friends, we decided to go out to them - a rarity! - and went to a great neighborhood restaurant: Highland Kitchen.

Driving up, we really wondered where we were going because from the outside, the restaurant looks like an old dive bar (which in fact it is - a pool hall to be exact).  When we arrived, we were told there was an hour wait, so we decided to head to the bar and grab some drinks.  Highland Kitchen has a pretty good cocktail list so I had no problem waiting - that, and we had perfect company!

Milk Stout

G could not wait to get her hands on a Mark and Stormy - a dark and stormy made with Makers Mark - and it was just as delicious as she remembered.

Mark and Stormy

I decided on the Bloodhound, which had vodka and grapefruit and blood orange juices.  This was a great fresh and fruity drink!  The blood orange juice was nice, since I haven't seen it in too many cocktails lately.

Bloodhound

Nick went with the Highland Fling, which had Hendrick's gin, St. Germain and lime juice.  If this were a vodka drink I would have been all over it.  Nick really enjoyed it.

Highland Fling

While they originally said an hour wait, we actually were brought to our table after only maybe 35 minutes, which was fantastic!  After seating our server brought us some bread to tide us over while we reviewed the menu, which had a variety of different types of food to select from.

Some Bread

At this point it was actually time for my second drink and I went immediately to the Dorchester, which was made with vodka, triple sec, pink lemonade and cucumber.  I loved this drink - the flavors were delicious.  I loved the combination of the lemonade and cucumber.

The Dorchester

Going into the meal I had heard stories of the buffalo fried brussel sprouts, so naturally we had to put in an order.  These were unreal!  They were brussel sprouts that had literally been deep friend and then tossed with buffalo sauce.  First off, the sauce was nice and spicy.  Second, these could replace a plate full of wings in a heartbeat.  Seriously, we could not get enough of these!

Brussel Sprouts

For dinner, I was at a bit of a loss for what to order, but when in doubt, I always go burger.  This night was no different.  The Highland Cheeseburger is an angus steak burger that I had topped with mushrooms.  The mushrooms had some substance so you really got to taste them.  Even better, there were some perfectly caramelized onions to add to the burger.  The burger was cooked well and the bun was buttered and grilled.  A great burger, especially at $9.95.

The Highland Burger

G went with my second choice, the Wild Mushroom Ragout served with crispy corn and parmesean polenta cakes and lacinato kale.  Between the delicious polenta and the mounds of mushrooms, what's not to love?!

Mushroom Ragout

J ordered the spicy coconut curried goat stew with jasmine rice and sweet fried plantains.  When you order this, the waitress actually warns you that this dish is spicy!  Something to keep in mind, but the dish is delicious.  The meat is nice and tender and the plantains add a great consistency and flavor.  I love these "tropical" curried dishes!

Spicy Coconut Curried Goat Stew

Nick ordered the grilled pork and veal meatloaf with mushroom gravy, garlic mashed potatoes and collard greens (Nick's favorite!).  This dish was good and he liked the different style meatloaf but it was not as comforting as the traditional beef.

Meatloaf

Even though we were all full at this point, but I could not leave without some dessert.  We wanted to order the buttermilk biscuit pudding that was a special for the evening, but by the time we ordered it had sold out.  Instead we ordered the warm banana bread pudding with caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream.  This was a perfect way to top off our dinner.  The bread pudding itself was good, but the bananas and the caramel sauce made it so much better!  This was so warm and delicious.

Banana Bread Pudding

I totally enjoyed my Highland Kitchen experience and will definitely be looking forward to heading back.  The price point was really good for the quality and quantity of food you receive.  Highland Kitchen is just a really easy place to enjoy.

After dinner we were not ready to head home, so instead the four of us headed to Sacco's Bowl Haven and the Flatbread Company.  I guess this used to be a straight up bowling alley, but now it is half restaurant and half old school candle-pin bowling.  I mean, you have to keep score yourself - no computers here!  I don't know if I even remember how to do that anymore.  Since there was a pretty long wait for bowling, we just went over to the rather nice bar (made with reclaimed wood from the bowling lanes) with a great variety of beers, including Narragansett on draft for us to enjoy.  The flatbreads definitely looked and smelled worthy of a trip back to Davis Square.  Bowl Haven has plenty to offer on any evening and is easy to enjoy.

Bar at Bowl Haven

All in all, our night out in Somerville was loads of fun!  With plenty of other places to enjoy in Davis and in Somerville in general, I will be heading back soon.

FOUR Burger - Boylston Street Burgers on the Common!

Back when I was diligent about working out, waking up at 5:30 AM, and heading out to bootcamp, I would longingly run by FOUR burger during the "warm-up" run.  Then, during the rest of the hour I wondered about their food - was it tasty?  With only catching a glimpse of the inside on each run, I saw some red booths, but really had no idea.  Was it fancy or casual?  Needless to say, Four Burger was way better to ponder than how much pain I was in!

The Burger

After the entire summer, Nick and I finally decided (remembered) that Four Burger was right around the corner and a perfect stop before heading to the movies to see Drive (a little Ryan Gosling goes a long way).  Upon a little review, turns out that Four Burger is basically a fast-food restaurant that is turned up a few notches - perfect for a good quick bite.

The premise of FOUR Burger is exactly as the name describes - they offer four different types of burgers: grass-fed beef, black bean, turkey, and an Atlantic salmon burger.  Each burger can come with a varieties of toppings of your choosing.  If burgers are not your thing they also serve hot dogs.

The Four Burger Menu

They serve beer and wine - and milk of course!

Stalked Fridge

Wanting the full effect, I of course went with the grass fed burger with beef from Northeast Family Farms, so it was totally local.  I topped my burger with cheese, lettuce, and grilled onions.  The burger was well seasoned and delicious.  For $7.00, this has to be one of the most tasty burgers - and with all local ingredients, even better!

Grass-Fed Burger

The Inside Decor

Nick went with the turkey burger and topped it with an apple and cranberry chutney, cheddar, lettuce and tomatoes. This burger was a great alternative to the traditional burger without losing any of the delicious flavor.  The chutney was a great compliment to the turkey.  It was sort of like Thanksgiving in burger form. 

Turkey Burger

Four Burger offers both sweet potato and regular fries.  Luckily they offer a combination side with both!  The side had a great mixture of nicely crisped thin fries perfect for snacking alongside a delicious burger

Combo Fries

FOUR burger offers up delicious food at a great price.  While you order at a counter, there is a server to bring you your food and clear your dishes away.  So, while you get the benefits of the quick service and prices, you get the full service you sometimes want on a night out.  FOUR Burger has all of it so I highly recommend a trip.

Mooo....

I will start out this post by saying that I am a huge fan of Mooo....  Nick and I had a fantastic Valentine's Day dinner there in 2009, it had my favorite burger for awhile, and the restaurant itself is contemporary.  I have been saying that with all of the burgers we have been eating since starting this blog, I needed to go back to Mooo... to get a good comparison.

While Nick and I were in Chicago for our extended long weekend, I was lucky enough to have my mom take care of Holly.  As a thank-you, I thought we could do lunch at Mooo... and see if their burger holds up as the favorite.  When we walked in, there was only one table of people.  The three of us decided upon the corner bar seat.  The bartender greeted us warmly and took our drink order, from which it took him awhile to return.  Turns out he had to fresh brew our coffee - OK, that I appreciated.

Coffee

Once he returned with our drinks, he took our food order.  From there it actually took about an hour for us to get our food.  As you will see, we did not order anything too crazy.  In fact, one order was a salad!  What made the wait worse was the bartender seemed not to care at all.  He occasionally would fill our water if we asked, and same for the diet coke.  Knowing we were heading to Mooo... for lunch, I had not eaten anything and was ready to eat my arm at this point.  I really have no idea what was going on, and the bartender never made any mention that the food seemed to be taking an extra long time.  In fact, the bartender was the only person working the front of the house.  I get that the place was more or less empty, but you expect a certain level of service from a nice restaurant like Mooo....

For lunch, Nick went all sorts of healthy and ordered a Greek Salad with grilled shrimp, chopped romaine, baby tomatoes, kalamata olives, feta cheese, cucumber, and a cabernet vinaigrette.  While this salad was only OK, it was a $15 salad and after waiting forever, it was so underwhelming.  The salad only had three pieces of shrimp and really had little flavor to offer.   Also, it may not be clear from the photo, but what came out was a side salad at best - definitely not something I would consider a lunchtime entree.

Greek Salad

Meedless to say, as a previous favorite burger in Boston I was seriously looking forward to my 12 oz. Sirloin Burger with Vermont cheddar, sauteed onions, brioche roll, and fries (truffle fires, special ordered).  While I had recently replaced my favorite burger with the Craigie on Main burger, I was hoping the Mooo... burger would reclaim first place.  However, I was disappointed.  The burger was over-cooked from the medium rare I ordered.  While it had decent taste, it wasn't nearly as good as it has been in the past.  Considering the service of the day I am just not surprised.  I still need to go back and re-judge.

The burger

Sadly, I was so disappointed by lunch.  I went in expecting what I always had received (pre-blogging, which is why I don't have a review), but I received not nearly want I know Mooo... can deliver.  Please don't let this review deter you from going to dinner, but I hope this is a bit of a wake up call to the brunch/lunch people who truly did not deliver the quality they can deliver.

Sonsie - a Back Bay Go-To

Two weekends ago my brother and his girlfriend came to town - her first time in Boston.  Needless to say we were under some pressure to show her a good time and what an amazing city Boston is!  After a delicious late dinner at Tico, we woke up the next morning ready to explore.  First up: a Duck Tour starting and returning at the Pru.  When the tour wrapped up, we were ready for some food!

Being in the Back Bay, there are so many good places to go.  We decided on Sonsie for a number of reasons - first and foremost, great food, but also this is the restaurant where Nick and I are having our rehearsal dinner.  Nick still hadn't seen the space so we figured better late than never!  Lucky for us, the four of us walked right in and were seated in the cafe area up front.

After getting a lovely tour of the downstairs private wine room, we were ready to eat.  My brother was so ready that he ordered some calamari before we even had time to really look at the drink menu!

Calamari

The calamari is flash fried with zucchini strings, lemon aioli and fried parsley.  It was the perfect, tasty, crunchy food to satisfy us! 


As this was a special occasion, it definitely called for a drinking lunch.  Nick and BL (My brother R's girlfriend) went the Bloody Mary route.  These bloody Marys had the extra special touch of blue cheese stuffed banana peppers and a high level of spice.  The peppers were so delicious, we asked (and received) some extras on the side. 

Bloody Mary - that is a celery garnish

I ordered the cucumber vodka drink, which was completely refreshing for in the early afternoon.

Cucumber yumminess

 My brother, R, stuck with a Sam Summer...never a bad option.

Sam Summer

The menu had a number of really good items to choose from.  Every time I had been to Sonsie previously I ALWAYS went with the mushroom pizza, but I decided I really needed to branch out, so I decided to order the Cubano, which had spicy roast pork, ham and cheese with plantain chips.  The sandwich was delicious, though I forgot that Cuban sandwiches have loads of pickles.  After pulling a few of them out, though, I was good to go.  The bread was light and fluffy and the combination of sliced meat and cheese was delicious - not too spicy by any means, just good flavor.  I loved the crispy plantain chips - such a great alternative to french fries.

Cubano

R went with the cheeseburger (such a ME order!) with plum tomato, lettuce, pickle and steak fries.  The burger had some good melted cheese and tasted really good.  The fries were what he couldn't stop talking about. 

The Burger

Nick and BL went the pizza route.  Nick ordered the Duck pizza, which had Chinese roasted meat, hoisin BBQ sauce, scallions and toasted sesame.

Duck Pizza

BL went with my traditional order and got the mushroom, caramelized onion, mozzarella, and brie cheese pizza (BRIE on pizza - is there anything better?).

Mushroom Pizza

The pizzas were both delicious - the crust is light but with a nice crisp.  Its not too thin but really has a good crust for you to bite into.

After we finished up and were asking for our check our waiter asked if we were in a rush because he had something for us.  As a congratulations on our engagement he brought us a warm chocolate bread pudding with soft whipped cream and chocolate sauce.  Nick is normally the bread pudding fan of the couple, but I could not get enough.  This was so yummy!  The whipped cream was so thick it could have been mistaken for ice cream.  The dessert was such an amazing treat!

Bread Pudding

The meal and the service were great and while I had experienced it before, this was Nick's first time at Sonsie, and after seeing the room and enjoying his meal he ensured his mother that the location was perfect for our rehearsal dinner.  Even my brother got excited for the rehearsal dinner after our yummy lunch!  The downstairs has a great bricked in wine cellar complete with a bar area that makes for a perfect private dining space.

Sonsie always has great food, and if you get to experience the cafe area in the front of the restaurant with the windows open it really makes for such a fun dining experience.  And, while I have never witnessed it, Sonsie is supposedly also a good location for local celebrity sitings.  So if you head on over for a good meal, keep your eyes out!