Boston: Wasting Time Until Giacomo's

:: Been a little busy lately but finishing up the last few posts for Boston! ::

Last full day in Boston, we were determined to check out one of the popular Italian restaurants.  A lot in North End do not take reservation so we decided to check out the Giacomo's in South End because they actually accept reservation!  The Giacomo's in North End is probably one of the best Italian restaurant in Boston, and from the reviews, it's South End brother is just as good.

We wanted to grab brunch, but since we woke up late, we didn't get to eat until around 1pm with the wait at the small North Street Grille.

North Street Grille

229 North St 

Between Langdon Pl & Sun Court St

North End

Boston, MA 02113

northstreetgrille.com

One of the highest rated spot for brunch. Waiting outside for a table.  Place is really small.  

We decided to get a pticher of mimosa.

Jadosn and I both got the Lobster Benedict.  I usually don't go for benedict's, but I've yet to eat lobster in Boston so I went for it.

Lobster Benedict with light hollandaise.

Lobster chunks and the poached egg.

I wish I can poach eggs like this hahah.

I paid $3.00 for the pancakes add on.  Legit maple syrup.  Didn't care too much for the pancakes.

Diana's Lobster & Asparagus Omelette.

Lobster chunks + asparagus + hollandaise.

It was good, but not sure if I'd wait an hour for it the next time.  Or maybe I'm just not a brunch person still.  

---

We really didn't have any plan for the rest of the day until Giacomo's, so we decided to check out the touristy Faneuil Hall Marketplace.  It's essentially a few historical buildings converted into a nice outdoor shopping mall.  It also serves as a visitor center for the popular Freedom Trail.

Faneuil Hall Marketplace

4 S Market Bldg 

Financial District

Boston, MA 02109 

faneuilhallmarketplace.com

Quite a few buildings makes up Faneuil Hall Marketplace.  Quincy Market is the building that hosts all the food vendors though!


Had to stop by Boston Chowda Co., another award winning clam chowder spot.  Better than Pike Place Chowder???


"Soup & other Great Stuff"


Clam chowder was good, but I still think Pike Place Chowder has it beat.  Jadson got the lobster bisque, so I got to try a bit of it.  Very sweet.


The Boston Chipyard.  They sell mini-sze cookies.  Couldn't resist... I have a weakness, especially with warm cookies.


Around $6-7 for a bag of cookies.  Pretty pricey for 12 small cookies, but at least I got to mix & match!  Pumpkin chocolate chip was the most interesting!

There were also a lot of souvenir shops, as well as some big name retail stores like Abercrombie.  People weren't lying when they said it is very touristy.  Seemed like almost everybody there were from out of town.  There's also some street performers.

---

Before we headed off to the South End, we decided to stop by Boston Commons, and wanted to make a stop and check out where the area of the recent bombings.  Once we got there, we saw plenty of people around the quick makeshift memorial area, and there was this silence around the area, whether people were paying their respect or just going through.  Plenty of TV station vans around as well.

Stopped by Thinking Cup for iced latte before we headed towards the site.


Area near the bombings.


Pretty amazing I must say.  Lots of people leaving flowers, notes, and everything Boston related.


Lots of marathon runners left their shoes here as well to show support.


One of the bomb sites.


You can see the damaged it caused to the building next to it with the boarded up windows.


Boston Strong.

I must say, didn't really know what to expect before I got there, and once I did, really didn't know what to think.  I must've stood at one of the remembrance area for about 10 minutes just reading what people wrote.  It was also a bit surreal to see the boarded up windows, because it really is a reminder that it did happen and that I was no longer sitting behind a TV or a monitor looking at this from afar.

---

After the visit, we made our way towards Giacomo's, one of Boston's most popular Italian restaurant.  Good thing we made reservations too cause the place was packed on a Sunday.

Giacomo's 

431 Columbus Ave

Between Pembroke St & Holyoke St

Back Bay, South End

Boston, MA 02116

giacomosblog-boston.blogspot.com

Outside of Giacomo's.


Very small, and somewhat cluttered.


One of the best thing about Giacomo's is that their bottles are extremely affordable.  I believe this was less than $40.


Had to start with some Fried Calamari. Love the fresh seafood Boston has to offer.


Caprese! Tomato, fresh mozzarella, and basil.

We really wanted to get the Zuppa di Pesce, which was this huge pasta dish with clams, mussels, shrimp, scallops, calamari, and a WHOLE lobster over linguine, for $55.  BUT they ran out of lobster so it was a no go...  C'mon... how the hell did a restaurant in Boston run out of lobster??? :[  We were all very disappointed since we wanted that meal to be our lobster feasting meal.  In the end, we went for the Frutti di Mare with the Fra Diavolo sauce.  It had mussels, calamari, clams, scallops, and shrimp.


Ok, it was still tasty, but still, not lobster :[

I wanted the Squid Ink Parpadelle Putanesca with swordfish and tuna since I love squid ink, and it definitely did not disappoint!

Putanesca is a slightly tangy tomato sauce with capers and it goes really well with the parpadelle.  I love fresh parpadelle, especially when made with squid ink.


"I'm okay with anything as long as it isn't an almond dessert."  Guess which dessert they chose?   Freaking Almond Amaretto.  It's good but I just don't like the taste of... almond dessert flavor, like almond tofu.  I like real almonds :P

Seriously so sad that we didn't get to eat lobster, especially we saved up the lobster feast for this dinner too.

---

A trip wouldn't be complete without visiting a high rise with a view, and for Boston, we decided to check out the Top of the Hub, located high up in the Prudential Tower.

Top of the Hub

800 Boylston St Ste 52

Between Fairfield St & Gloucester St

Back Bay

Boston, MA 02199 

topofthehub.net

If you've ever been to the Chicago's Skydeck, located at the top of the Willis/Sears Tower, then Top of the Hub will seem very similar.  Definitely not as crowded though!


We wanted to sit in the lounge since they are lined along the glass windows with a great view.  $24 minimum, which was easily achieved wit two drinks.


View from our seat!


Also the front for the live jazz band!


Black Barrel Cider.


Boston's Bully Boy Smash.  Bully Boy White Whiskey, lemon, mint, and cane sugar for the cocktail. Bully Boy Whiskey is actually a small distillery in Boston! Pretty cool.


Diana's Strawberry Basil Lemonade.


Valrhona Warm Chocolate Cake for dessert.  Since I didn't really get a proper dessert (Jadson & Diana did most of the damage of the almond dessert), I wanted something and went with the super rich molten chocolate cake with chocolate toffee crunch ice cream and cherry sauce.


 The best part is probably opening up the chocolate cake and watching the chocolate lava slowly oozing out. Dayum it was chocolatey!

After that we went back to the hotels and prepped for our half day in Boston before my flight out and before Diana & Jadson continue their East Coast swing to NYC!

Boston: Sweek Cheeks Q, Fenway Park & Island Creek Oyster!

We purchased tickets a month before the Boston trip, because a visit to Boston isn't complete unless you catch a game at the historic Fenway Park!  Lots of food options around Fenway too so we planned a night around the area. 

Rather than eating ballpark food on Yawkey or the Fenway Franks (hot dog between slice of white bread), we decided to stop by Sweet Cheeks before the game, and then Island Creek Oyster for some late night grubbing with Peggy.  Sweet Cheeks is a Texas-style BBQ spot opened by Top Chef season one finalist, Tiffany Faison, and it was close enough for us to walk from there to the game!  

Sweet Cheeks Q

1381 Boylston St

Between Park Dr & Kilmarnock St

Fenway

Boston, MA 02215

sweetcheeksq.com

Menu.  It's all about using top quality local ingredients for BBQ.  We decided to get two trays and share so we can try a bit more of the menu.


Leinenkugel Summer Shandy draft..  Not summer yet but the it's a great beer for summer!  Of course, served in mason jars.


No free biscuits so we had to order it.  Kinda sucks for a BBQ spot, but damn these biscuits are amazing.  For $10, you get a bucket of biscuit with their honey butter.  The honey butter is crack.


Sauces.  Texas-style original, Memphis-style vinegar based, and spicy habanero.  I liked the original sauce a lot, with a few drops of the spicy one mixed in.  When I first tried the habanero one, I didn't believe it was that spicy but damn it killed my taste buds for over 10 minutes haha. 

I like brisket, so I choose the Great Northern Brisket with BBQ beans and potato salad.

Thick thick slabs of fatty, moist brisket!  It actually is one of the best brisket I've had anywhere.  Love the color of that smoke ring too.

Potato salad.  The BBQ beans was actually better, but the picture of the beans was corrupted :[

Pickled cucumber and onions to give your taste buds a break from all the BBQ!  Much needed refresher.

The Big Cheeks Tray (2 item combo) with Berkshire Pork Rib and Berkshire Pulled Pork, along with carrot salad and mac n' cheese.

Berkshire Pork Rib!  Berkshire pork is a high quality breed of pork and you can tell from that first bite.  While the ribs may not be as good as what I had in St. Louis, the ribs are juicy, meaty, and tender.  

Pulled Pork.  Sorry for the shaky hands, but pretty good too!  Wish there were more of the outside pieces for the BBQ bark, but it is moist and very good with the BBQ sauce.

Carrot salad.  Probably the best side!  Very refreshing and the blue cheese works so well with the walnuts.

BBQ is probably forever ruined for me after Bogart's and Pappy's in St. Louis, but I gotta say, I did like Sweet Cheeks!  Even though there's nothing in particular that really jumps out at me, everything was tasty.  They definitely focus more on the quality of ingredients and it shows.  I was just glad we were able to secure a table before the game cause it was pretty packed!

---

The Red Sox was playing Houston Astros (one of the worst team in MLB), and the starting pitching weren't that great either, so I wasn't too interested in the game, but it is Fenway!  It was just fun walking around and taking in the atmosphere.

Near Gate D.

Yawkey Way, where the food vendors are at!  They close off this alley next to Fenway Park so people can eat and relax before the game.

Vendors.

View of the field, walking from Gate D to the bleachers.

Astros batting.

Our seats in the bleachers!  Not bad at all.  Of course, the bleachers are the cheapest seats so you get an interesting mix of people.  Definitely heard a lot of trash talking and foul language hahah.  Behind us was a family and you can tell they were a bit uncomfortable with the language :P

Green Monster!

Green Monster at night.

This game was excruciating slow!  3 1/2 hours in and it wasn't even the 7th inning, so we actually left before the 7th inning stretch since we had to meet up with Peggy at Island Creek.

---

Island Creek Oyster is probably one of the most popular restaurants in Boston, and it is all about seafood here!  Of course, they are known for the oysters here, as well as a few other items, but Diana and Jadson were still full from Sweet Cheeks, so only Peggy and I ate.

Island Creek Oyster 

500 Commonwealth Ave 

Boston, MA 02215 

islandcreekoysterbar.com

Bread.  No idea what kind of bread it was, but it was pretty tasty haha.

Jadson ended up ordering a few beers.  Brasserie D'Achouffe La Chouffe.  Had a sip, very good. Definitely a Belgian Strong.

My Brooklyn Brewery Sorachi Ace.  I've been digging saison brews lately!

Halibut ceviche for starters.

My fish sandwich with Old Bay seasoned fries.  Forgot what kind of fish it was, but the spicy tartar sauce was good!

Peggy's Lobster Roe Noodle.  Braised short rib, grilled lobster, oyster mushrooms, Pecorino, and fresh egg noodle.  Holy hell I had a bite of this and I immediately regretted my sandwich.  Intensely savory.  No wonder this is one of their most popular dish.

Day one, done!  I originally wanted to go check out a few bars, but thanks to the red eye flight, we were beyond tired so we just went back to get a good night's rest!