Russell House Tavern


Yesterday, after finishing two of my five exams, I joined a big group of friends in search of a long lunch somewhere across the bridge. After being cooped up in my room for 4.5 hours with a laptop and a timer ticking away, I was happy to go anywhere, but was even happier to check out Russell House Tavern, the new restaurant in Harvard Square. Located on a busy section of JFK Street, its easy to miss this place, especially if you’re used to ignoring the Finagle-a-Bagel that formerly occupied this building. The restaurant is actually rather large and when you step inside you’re greeted with a modern but tasteful ambience and a casual, quick fix feel. Bar stools and high tables dominate the floor, with lower, more intimate-looking tables set against the walls. If you venture to the back, a large staircase leads down into a cave-like expanse of richer-looking tables, a more old-world ambience and a hostess ready to seat you. This is clearly the real restaurant. The upstairs lunch area reminds me a little of Pizza Express, Ping Pong and other higher-end chains in England, while the downstairs is more brasserie-meets-gastropub.

We ordered burgers, crab cakes and an assortment of lunch time sandwiches. The grilled cheese was melt-in-the-mouth delicious and the fries were satisfyingly crunchy. The Tavern Buttermilk salad however, turned out to be a huge letdown, with an egregious ratio of romaine and almonds to grapes and fennel and a painful lack of Benton ham. Our waiter was friendly, prompt and helpful with recommendations and the food itself was quick to appear.

I’ll post pictures when I have some, but till then, there’s a delicious-looking selection on Russell House’s own blog (bonus points for hosting on WordPress!)

The Damage: Between $15-$20 including tax and tip
The Verdict: Expecting it to clean up the competition…..Great choice for lunch, large enough to accommodate big groups, can’t wait to check it out for dinner and try the famous Chip-in Farm Egg!

A Trip to Shalimar for some Authentic Indian


Deciding our skills best lay in food, Niya and I donated a home-cooked, authentic Indian meal to our Section’s Annual Charity Auction. One week later, on a beautiful Friday evening, we embarked on a pilgrimage to Central Square’s acclaimed Indian grocery store, Shalimar. We were cooking for four lovely, “mild spice” friends, and our elaborate recipes called, amongst other things, for paneer, okra and paranthas. As we approached the storefront, the rich aroma of ground spices filled my lungs, awakening long-lost memories of Indian-store adventures in Leeds.

Shalimar turned out to be a magical place, triumphantly living up to its British counterparts. Tiny aisles overflowed with giant sacks of basmati rice, unpainted shelves groaned under the combined weight of black jars, green jars, tall jars, fat jars, translucent jars with curious insides and opaque jars with unintelligible labels. Crates of gnarled, ancient-looking vegetables littered the floor, bottles of Limca and Fanta peeped out from an old fridge and the fragrance of ripe, juicy mangoes permeated every cramped, crowded inch. Mmmmm!

We predictably OD-ed at Shalimar but, luckily, its prices were just as old-world as its produce and we escaped without much collateral damage. Once home, we hit the the Raj Kapoor playlist and divvied up the recipes. I got started on the yoghurt marinated chicken curry, while N handled the palak paneer. We also made raita (a yoghurt based cucumber dipping sauce, traditionally used to cut the spice of a rich curry), bhindi bhunjia (chopped okra, sauteed with spices and onions), steamed rice with cashew nuts and peas and paranthas with methi (fenugreek) and onion.

Sauteed okra with onions, turmeric and mustard
Steamed rice with cashew nuts and peas
Methi parantha and naan

The meal was a big hit and, despite a debilitating food coma, we even managed to drink some mango lassi for dessert. Yay Shalimar! I can’t wait to go back 🙂

The recipes:
Bhindi
Palak Paneer
Raita
Chicken

 

First Day of Summer

Nothing says summer like steaks grilling on a BBQ. Sunshine, a charcoal grill, a couple of beers and plenty of appetites – all key accompaniments to the arrival of summer. Deciding that May Day would be an appropriate time to celebrate, we opened up the NoHo patio to 25 sun-loving friends and fired up the barbie.

The menu included home-made, blue cheese and onion infused beef burgers, turkey and garden burgers, chorizo and andouille sausages, rib-eye steaks, portobello, chicken and vegetable skewers, greek salad, hefeweizens and of course, coronas.


Mercat, Noho, NYC


The Bolt Bus got me to NYC in 4 hours last night. It’s our last long weekend at school (yikes..) and I decided it was time to head back to the city and see the boy. As soon as I stepped out at Tick Tock Diner, I knew the weather Gods had been kind. It was a perfect New York night – clear skies, full moon, warm enough for sandals, cool enough for sleeves.

After a quick stop at home, we headed over to Bond Street for dinner. I’d made the reservation on Open Table and was extremely surprised to discover that the awesomeness of Mercat was only a 3 minute walk from our apartment. What a place. Rustic but minimalist, dark but candle-lit, Mercat is warm, airy and unobtrusively positioned on one of NoHo’s more trendy cobblestone streets. The walls are red-brick and unfinished, the kitchen is open-plan and the music, like the menu, is decidedly Catalonian.

Our table wasn’t ready until 9.45pm but our waitress was friendly and the service was quick and helpful. Encouraged by Yelp’s glowing reviews, we made sure to order Patatas Brava, Croquetas de Pollastre, Fideua Negra and Coca D’Anec. We also decided to try the Vedella (hangar steak), Remolatxa (warm beet salad) and vegetable croquetas. While the steak was a little tough and the capers in the salad a little contradictory, the Coca D’Anec (coca bread topped with duck, pears, spinach and hazelnuts) was absolutely divine, combining distinctly interesting flavours with a beautiful assortment of colours and aromas. The Patatas Brava were predictably addictive, the Croquetas were crisp and perfectly gooey on the inside and the Fideua Negra (noodles with squid and squid ink) surpassed all expectations.




The dishes were definitely smaller, tapas-sized and perhaps on the saltier side, but I didn’t find that it detracted from their flavour in any way. I tried the first cocktail on the menu – a delicious concoction of watermelon juice, sauvignon blanc and mint, somewhat questioningly named “Gypsy Tears” – and quickly ordered a second, with less ice. The boys drank gin cocktails (“the Dandy”) and, for dessert, we shared the obligatory churros con chocolate.

The Damage: $180 for three with two drinks each. Definitely on the pricey side but to be expected with NY tapas.
The Verdict: Mercat is chic and stylish but not overly trendy. The menu is interesting, the food is delicious, the service is friendly and the location, in my opinion, is lovably perfect.

Spring Weekend of Gluttony


Cambridge is incredibly pretty in the spring time. Grassy lawns glisten with morning dew, blankets of fallen blossoms litter campus paths and cheery flowers peep their brightly coloured heads out from winter flowerbeds. The spring sun is sparklingly magical, the air is fresh, the light is soft and the whistle of the wind is sweeter than winter would have you remember. It’s a perfect time of year. Perfect also, for food.

With Suzanne visiting these past few days, we had a wonderfully indulgent weekend of fresh lobster, outdoor chili cook-offs and sunday morning dim sum. Lobster is something I lust after, but a disturbing reaction to shellfish prevented me from going near the darn things for a number of years. Now that I’ve eaten my way through my allergies, my obsession for hunks of lobster dressed in lemony mayonnaise and stuffed inside a crispy, buttery roll (particularly the kind served up at Ed’s Lobster Bar) has reached new heights. This Saturday I took the leap and attacked a freshly steamed lobster friend (shells and all) at Erin’s birthday party.

Sunday morning, we joined the resident Asian crew (hailing, of course, from Denmark, England, Australia, Canada and even China) in a gluttonous meal of dim sum. Upon discovering that “Empire Seafood”, the Beach Street institution we’d planned on visiting, had shut down, we decided to walk farther down to Hei La Moon – a busy, bright-looking place with a long, but fast-moving, line and fierce, microphone announcements. Fifteen minutes later, we were sitting at a large table, ogling at carts of giant white pearls, curious parcels and multi-coloured layer cakes. We started with congee – “soupy rice” – served in small bowls with chinese soup spoons and savory flavorings. This was followed by an assortment of steamed dumplings, grilled meats, soya drenched vegetables, rice cakes and puff pastry.

I discovered, to my amazement, that almost everything we ate was in some way, a derivative of rice. The gelatinous layer that enveloped every dumpling, the bread-like cushion around meaty goodness, heck even the desserts – all rice! I didn’t eat too much of any one thing, but my favourites included the char siu (spare ribs), which were succulent and smoky and the sweetcorn cakes, which tasted like sweetcorn/eggdrop soup.

Desserts included Jin Deui (a chewy dough filled with red bean paste, rolled in sesame seeds, and deep fried) which I found a little too sweet, egg custard tarts (which I thought were too eggy and not sweet enough) and some sticky, rice-based buns topped with coconut and flavoured with mango/peanut/pistachio (which I thought were pretty great). The two things I didnt try were the turnip cakes and the chicken feet (not sure I will ever try these!). I do wish though that they’d had soup dumplings and the traditional bready pork buns (bau) would’ve been really nice. Overall though, this place was pretty darn good, and at $13 bucks a head, I have absolutely no complaints.

The Verdict: Cheap, delicious, group-friendly and quick!