five boston greats

Hi, Boston! How've you been?!

If you're in need of some local inspiration, or happen to be planning a trip to the city this summer, these are a few spots where I've been eating and drinking the last couple months for group dinners and date nights, ladies evenings and bar hopping - it's all here! 

Highball is a vintage cocktail lounge with a playful edge; the drink program is serious while the rest of the scene evokes a childhood nostalgia. There's a room full of old school board games, (think Candy Land, Trouble, Guess Who), a menu board with brightly colored magnet letters, and anything from a rubber duck to a plastic bendy straw could end up in your drink.

The bar bites focused menu may be small but dishes deliver big time. The Tater Tot Nachos ($11) mean business. A tower of crispy tots comes in a mini cast iron pan piled with chunky guacamole, black olives, pickled red onions and dollops of crème fraiche. A heavenly melted cheese sauce pools at the bottom, so make sure to take advantage and dig all the way in. The Crab Rangoon Spring Rolls ($9) are also a really satisfying choice. I'm drinking an Epiphany ($11) with plymouth gin, bianco vermouth, agave, lime, cucumbers and pomello soda in a super cute retro glass. 

Highball Lounge | Beacon Hill
90 Tremont Steet
Boston, MA 02108
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An impromptu Friday night date at Eastern Standard turned into a group dinner (we ran into a few friends, who are meeting other friends) next thing you know, we're all slurping a couple dozen Oysters ($2.75 ea) and perfectly shaken, always strong cocktails are flowing. Combining gin, st Germain, lime, peychauds and parsely, The Thaw ($13) was a bright, herbal ode to springs arrival. In the Calypso ($10) vodka, celery and lemon keep things tart and fresh. The Friday Special: Saffron Fettucine with Shellfish ($26) proved to be an outstanding entrée. The pasta dish arrives with mussels and generous chunks of sweet, plump lobster meat, fava beans and cherry tomatoes all laced with green garlic and a terrific uni butter. Wow.

Eastern Standard | Kenmore Square

528 Commonwealth Avenue

Boston, MA 02215  
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A few weeks later, ES's sibling-neighbor Island Creek Oyster Bar plays host to a crew of 17 ladies to celebrate Tracy's bachelorette party. We started with oysters and cocktails (and a trend in this post emerges, but it must be said!) The cocktail menu keeps you guessing and I have fun interpreting - Juniper = Gin, Agave = tequila, The Spice Island = rum based. The Salt Washed ($13) it is, with juniper, tarragon and celery. Lately, I'm all about celery and herb based libations. This one is an awesome pairing with some briny Island Creeks.

The first course presents a baby arugula salad in a light dijon vinaigrette and a gorgeous Salmon Tartare shared family style, along with individual cups of Clam Chowder. Their chowder is something to marvel at, featuring hand dug clams, house cured bacon and buttermilk biscuit crackers. The entrée pictured is the Pan Seared Gloucester Halibut atop a spring vegetable chowder and ICOB Bacon, paired with a bottle of the Ameztoi Getariako Txakolina Bianco ($38) a mineraly, slightly effervescent, food friendly Basque white wine. Desserts are divine, we share caramel milk chocolate pot de cremes and lime-coconut crème donuts with mango jam. (We paid $85 for the prix fix meal, inclusive of tip - arranged ahead of time.) For one of the freshest seafood and raw bar selections in Boston, featuring inventively prepared New England classics, Island Creek is one not to miss!

ICOB | Kenmore Square

500 Commonwealth Avenue

Boston, MA 02215   

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 The youngest sibling of the former two restaurants, Row 34, located across town in Fort Point Channel is the self described workingman's oyster bar. The lively industrial space was the perfect spot for Friday after-work drinks and to celebrate a friends new job. Our bartender provided superior service; he was friendly, attentive (always noticed a newcomer) and kept the cold beers and impeccably shucked oysters and clams flowing. With a wide selection of craft brewed and funky European choices on draft and in the bottle, the beer menu (plus that raw bar!) is reason alone to make this place a destination.

 Row 34 | Fort Point

383 Congress St
Fort Point, MA 02210 

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Oh, Shōjō. I adore you, but, what an incredibly confusing experience with the hostess(es). I rarely rant, but here goes....

• We arrive and hostess #1 affirmatively tells us the wait will be 45 minutes and takes my cell number. 
• The bar is packed so we head out and just as we are ordering a beer five minutes down the street, hostess #1 calls back and we are told our table is ready. (It has been five minutes. So from 45 to 5. What?!) 
• On our walk back, hostess #2 calls me again. (um, why are they calling me again?! So confused.) I assure her we will be right there!!
• Upon arrival, hostess #1 explains our table is not ready, it will be 20 more minutes. What is going on here ladies!? Do we stay? Do we go? 
• In that moment two seats open up at the tiny bar, so we stay. 
• Before we even order drinks, not a minute later, hostess #2 appears with menus to seat us. What?!? Meanwhile, the table she appears to want to lead us towards has been open the entire time. 
• As we are now comfortably seated at the bar, we tell her no thanks to the table. This was all super annoying!

I still want to recommend Shōjō despite the hostesses antics. They were apologetic, and we're over it because we've been here before and know their creative take on Asian food and drinks are worth it. Everything has always been really freakin GOOD.

They focus on small plates, so plan on ordering a bunch to share. We devoured the Crispy Shrimp Bao ($9) with charred shishito and yuzu aioli, the Tiger Ribs ($9) with thai basil, shallots and peanuts and a bowl of Kimchi Fried Rice ($12) with a sunny egg. Cocktails are superbly done, like my Sum Ting Wong ($12) with ocho, campari, lime and rhubarb shrub. They have a unrivaled Asian craft beer and spirit list and then there's also a solid selection of the one's you know - Sapporo on draft and Singha (Thai), Asahi (Japan) and TsingTao (China) bottles. Service from the bartender is perfectly normal and attentive. Despite being really crowded, I still feel like this place flies under the radar. They take reservations for parties of 10 or more, otherwise, you'll just have to try your luck with a table.

    

Shōjō | Chinatown

9A Tyler Street

Boston, MA 02111 

the hawthorne

1.  phil collins
2.  500A commonwealth avenue
3.  frisee & manchego, chestnut honey vinaigrette
4.  the newest reason to visit kenmore square
5.  “you must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.” rb
6.  thick sweet cognac.deep italian bitters.aged yellow-green liqueur
7.  cheese
8.  meghan drinks an old fashioned while her husband Eric looks on
9.  convenience
10.  the hawthorne strainer was patented in 1892 in Boston
11.  there's a zebra couch
12.  vodka.cucumber.lime.chartreuse+a metal straw-meets-stirrer
13.  fingerling potato skins
14.  lin and che
15.  deviled eggs, crispy prosciutto, cornichons

cheers, jackson cannon, to a job well done. well done indeed.

Island Creek Oyster Bar

A little over a year ago a group of 12 bloggers got together at Lord Hobo for Sunday brunch. The next month that group doubled in size for a morning rendezvous at East Coast Grille. After that, the Boston Brunchers was officially launched with dedicated founder Renee Hirschberg at the helm. Ever the brunch enthusiast, Renee began lining up exclusive events; an intimate gathering at KO Catering & Pies followed by a grand scale buffet at Cafe Fleuri. The buzz about this community took off and one year later the success is measured by all the fantastic new and re-discovered brunching options in Boston. Brunch with this crew is always a wonderful way to begin a weekend morning, this was especially true for last Sunday's Birthday Bash held at Island Creek Oyster Bar. Located at The Hotel Commonwealth in Kenmore Square, the welcoming modern meets beachy ambiance is clean and bright. White and gray tones define the Oyster-centric space; the back wall is constructed entirely of their shells encased in mesh wire, met by a photograph mural of farming cages and equipment. On the opposite side, driftwood-esque weathered boards act as shutters. Attendees scoring tickets were treated to coffee, cocktails, breakfast pastries and a main course, in addition to receiving awesome SWAG bags containing numerous goodies from our sponsors.I started with an effervescent libation titled McCarthy's Crossing an eye opening mix of Clear Creek Pear Brandy, spiced honey, Rose Vermouth, fresh lemon and bubbles. Others enjoyed Spicy Bloody Marys with house made "clamato." Tables shared baskets of Freshly Baked Pastries which included a blueberry muffin, doughnut muffin, cinnamon roll, butter croissant, raspberry coffee cake and a citrus scone. Sharing with my dining companions, I attempted to sample a bite of each. The raspberry coffee cake and the cinnamon roll were particularly memorable!
For my main course I chose Ethel's Lobster Roll named after the owners Grandmother. The fresh lobster was generously dressed in a mixture of mayo and crème fraiche laced with crunchy celery and red onion, all of it piled high onto a soft rosemary roll. Despite the bulkiness of the roll, the lobster meat was hard to contain. After a loosing battle I succumbed to eating my delicious lobster with a fork. The delicate slivers of kettle chips were nicely seasoned and crispy, the accompanying cole slaw was zesty with a light crunch. I normally learn towards the breakfast side of brunch, wanting to start my day with an egg centered dish, but the lobster lover in me could not pass this up! Plus, this is a restaurant know for their seafood. (Of course, oysters in particular!)Just a few of the 40 attendees, pictured below. L to R, top row: Elina of Healthy & Sane, Bianca of Confessions of a Chocoholic, Melissa of The Foodies at Work, Michelle of Fun and Fearless in Beantown, Elizabeth of Free Food Boston; bottom row: me, Meghan of Travel Wine Dine and Megan of Delicious Dishings. Cheers my fellow brunchers - to a year of memorable morning meals and to delicious discoveries in the one ahead!

Island Creek Oyster Bar

Hotel Commonwealth

500 Commonwealth Avenue

 Boston, MA 02215

Citizen Cope | House of Blues

Eclectic beats backed by bear-it-all lyrics; deeply personal and intensely powerful references to grief, love, American culture and never giving up. A mix of hip-hop, blues and folk music, sung with passion and conviction, Citizen Cope barely opens his mouth but that soothing raspy voice and his relaxed stage presence have the crowd mesmerized. He is one of my favorite singer/songwriters who a friend turned me onto with a mixed CD in college. My sister and I saw him acoustic two years ago at the Orpheum Theater (front row, hanging onto every word) and last night backed by his band at The House of Blues. For those of you mumbling to yourselves Citizen who? I'll leave you with some videos of my favorites. My apologies for the bumpy ride and the fuzzy views. It's the sound that counts!

Bullet And A Target

Let The Drummer Kick

Penitentiary

Other favorites include: If There's Love, Son's Gonna Rise, Hurricane Waters, Pablo Picasso, and in the encore performance: Sideways.  

The House of Blues sits on Lansdowne Street across from Fenway Park. The majority of the venue is standing room with some seats located on the upper levels. We had a blast and even ran into a few high school friends from Cape Cod at the show! Post concert we made our way to The Lower Depths (which you will find a more in depth review of here, pun intended) for some food at the bar. I drank a Cisco Pumple Drumkin ($6) and ate Cheese Quesadillas ($7). Insanely good homemade salsa and guacamole accompanies them. As we paid the tab we realized it was 12:30 am and we needed to catch the last Green Line train home!

House of Blues

15 Lansdowne St

Boston, MA 02215