Showing posts with label burgers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label burgers. Show all posts

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Boston: Harvard & Samuel Adams Brewery

For our last day in Boston, we decided to stop by the area around Harvard, do a little exploring, and check out some of the popular spots.  Afterwards, we headed towards south of Boston for the famous Samuel Adams Brewery.


Pinocchios Pizza & Subs
74 Winthrop St 
Harvard Square
Cambridge, MA 02138

pinocchio's pizza & subs
First stop, Pinocchios for some Sicilian style pizzas!

sicillian pizza
Spinach & Garlic (white) and the Tomato & Basil.

marguerita
Tomato & Basil, which is essentially a margherita.  Really nice crunchy thick crust.

spinach
The Spinach & Garlic was the favorite out of the two.  Very strong garlic flavor, which is what I like!







Since Jadson was already out and about visiting a few schools, we met up with him at the Train station and headed towards Mr. Bartley's for the real lunch.  I was pretty stuffed from the pizzas but gotta visit this landmark!


Mr. Bartley's Gourmet Burgers
1246 Massachusetts Ave
Harvard Square  
Cambridge, MA 02138 

mr. bartley's
Mr. Bartley's!

sign
Since 1960.

menu
Menu.  Lots of burger selections, many named after celebrities!

burger
I decided to go the safer route since I didn't really know what to expect and got the Joe Biden (just read a pretty cool article about our Vice President in GQ). Comes with bacon, american cheese, and BBQ sauce.

onion rings
Upgraded to their onion rings!  Very different from your typical onion rings.

cooked perfectly
The burger after a few bites.  Nothing that really stands out about the burger since the sauce is fairly standard BBQ sauce, but dayum, burger patty cooked perfectly!

P1020648
Diana got their sweet potato fries.

pineapple relish
They have this jalapeno pineapple relish on the side that's pretty interesting.






After our lunch, we took the train and went south until we got to Jamaica Plains for the Samuel Adams Brewery!  We got there just in time too because when we got there, the last tour of the day had already started.


Samuel Adams Brewery
30 Germania St
(Between Marmion St & Brookside Ave) 
Jamaica Plain
Boston, MA 02130

samuel adams brewery
The brewery.  Definitely can't compare to the Budweiser Brewery in STL haha.

"ticket"
The "ticket" for the tour.

tour
The tour.  Rather than bringing you around the brewery and showing you the different process of beer making, Samuel Adams is more about explaining about the process and a little hands on with some ingredients.

P1020657
Hops!  Smells just like beer.

P1020674
They have you take a handful and rub it between your palms to get the fragrance extracted.

malts
Variety of malts.

lightest
Lightly roasted.

P1020665
Medium roasted.

P1020663
Dark roasted for them heavier beers.

P1020673
A collection of the beer they brew.

P1020678
The most famous, the Boston Lager, with its awards.

awards
Banner for all the awards they've won!

tanks
Some of the tanks.  SO MUCH SMALLER than Budweiser's.  They were doing so renovating so not all of the brewery was operational and many beers are brewed elsewhere, but even as one of the biggest craft brewery, Sam Adams is still tiny compared to the giants.

aging room
Barrel Room, where they age some of the more unique microbrews.

tasting room
The tasting room!

what's on tap
On tap today, Boston Lager, Summer Ale, Citra Pale Ale, and "The Prohibition" Cream Ale.

free glasses!
Free glasses for going on the tour!

how to taste
Instructions on the glass on how to taste a Boston Lager.

boston lager
Of course, start out with the Boston Lager!  Really is better fresh.

citra pale ale
We got to try one of their newer creations, the Citra Pale Ale!  It's one they are just testing now and not on market yet.  Pretty cool!  Like its name implies, hint of citrus.


Gotta say, I was really surprised at how small Boston is, and even though people talked about how Boston is a clusterfck, we were able to get around the city without much trouble.  The North End was a little harder to navigate around but somehow we managed haha.  The "T" was a lot more convenient than I thought too.

Some LA & SF posts coming up!

Monday, December 24, 2012

Saint Louis: Taste Bar & Brasserie by Niche

I think most people associate BBQ and pork with Saint Louis so when I visited Diana while she was there for her internship with Purina, BBQ was definitely on the top of my list.  Diana told me how she attended a speaker session on how a chef expressed the importance of design in his restaurants and how it was really memorable.  Just so happens, the chef, Gerard Craft, owns a few of the top restaurants in Saint Louis, so we decided to check out two of the restaurants while I was there!

We stopped by Taste Bar for a quick late night dinner on the night I arrived and then Brasserie by Niche the next night for a more proper dinner.  Taste Bar is a super hip spot with a professional mixologist on site.  Definitely expected a place like Taste Bar to be in SF or the hipster areas of LA, but not STL!


Taste Bar
4584 Laclede Ave 
Central West End
St. Louis, MO 63108


taste bar
Taste Bar.  Sorry for the crap lighting haha.  Had the camera on the wrong setting.

open kitchen
The open kitchen.

coaster
Paper coaster.  Saint Louis and Taste loves pork!

food menu
Food menu.  Since it was late, we decided to get one small plate and one large plate.  Had to get two pork dishes haha.


big in japan
Since the drinks menu was created by a professional mixologist, I had to get one, and went for the Big In Japan, which is made with Yamazaki 12yr Whiskey, Buffalo Trace Bourbon, Byrrh, Cocchi di Torino Vermouth, Cherry Herring, and Laphroaig Scotch.

far and away
Diana's Far And Away, made with Fiji Apple Infused Hendrick’s Gin, Cocchi Americano, Lemon, Smoked Rosemary, and Don’s Spice.  Fancy fancy :P

pork tartine, orange, fennel, walnuts, pickled caramel apple
Pork tartine with orange, fennel, walnuts, and pickled caramel apples.

another angle
The pork was super tender, but all the toppings was what made this open-faced sandwich bomb.

pork burger with bacon & fries
Pork burger with bacon & fries.  Had to add $1 for the cheddar cheese!

pork patty
Nice thick pork patty.

fries
Crunchy fries!

old fashioned
For the 2nd drink, I wanted to test the mixologist's skill and ordered an Old Fashioned.  Yea, he knew what he was doing haha.


---


Brasserie by Niche is a French bistro by Gerard Craft.  Totally different vibe from its next door cousin, Taste.  It's loud and fast-paced, just like how a French bistro should be!  Good thing we made a reservation too cause the place was packed.


Brasserie by Niche
4580 Laclede Ave
Central West End 
St Louis, MO 63108

brasserie by niche
Brasserie by Niche.

brasserie
Front of the menu.

s&p
S&P.

bread
Fresh bread!  Warm!

2012-11-10 19.53.23
Since I liked the cocktails so much from Taste, decided to get another whisky cocktail.  Forgot the name, but whoa it just punches you in the face.  Definitely a sipping drink haha.

french onion
Had to get the French Onion at a French bistro!  Love the thick layer of cheese on the top, and the soup is piping hot too!

mixed lettuces with goat cheese, hazelnuts, and roasted shallot vinaigrette
Diana's Mixed Lettuces with goat cheese, hazelnuts, and roasted shallots vinaigrette.   The hazelnuts were candied!

white beans, pork belly, duck confit, and sausages
My entree, white bean with duck confit, pork belly, and sausage in tomato sauce.  I couldn't resist since it had three of my favorites: pork belly, duck, and sausage!

pork belly
The pork belly hiding under the white bean tomato stew.

white fish, clams, mussells, shrimp, potato, light cream
Diana's white fish, clams, mussels, potato, and croutons in a light cream sauce.   Very light and I actually liked this over mine!


I think overall, I preferred Taste Bar over Brasserie, just because I liked the creativeness of the dishes there.  There's also a high end restaurant in the Niche family, Niche, which does French cuisine.  Maybe sometime in the future!