Giacomo’s Ristorante

On a recent (lost-filled) foray into Boston’s North End, my boyfriend and I were fortunate enough to snag two seats at Giacomo’s Ristorante as soon as we got there. All the reviews say be prepared to wait, as Giacomo’s does not accept reservations, but does entice a steady crowd. But as we are obviously VIP’s (or maybe it was the combination of 20 degree weather and no indoor area to wait that only crazy people would endure), we were immediately shuttered to the back corner and plopped down at a table positioned half an inch away from the next. Rose Marie, our delightful server immediately welcomed us and explained Giacomo’s endless choices.

Best chalkboard lesson ever!

Because I have (sigh, again) lost my camera, you can’t really see what’s written on their chalkboard menu in my phone picture, so I, your faithful foodie friend, will obligingly describe. Giacomo’s doesn’t hand out menus; rather it has everything written out on the wall–a method we really enjoyed and that added to the bustling, warm atmosphere. In addition to its hearty Italian appetizers, pasta and chicken & veal entrees, Giacomo’s specializes in seafood. For around $15, you can pick your choice of shellfish over linguine with either pesto, fra diavolo, red, scampi or giacomo sauce.

Neither of us took advantage of this, as we weren’t in a seafood mood, but I can’t wait to go back and try the giacomo sauce, a lobster-based red sauce. I chose the veal parmigiana and Will went with one of the day’s specials, a portobello mushroom and spinach ravioli in a pesto walnut sauce with grilled red peppers.

succulently saucy

the rav

My veal was perfect: juicy on the inside, with a crunch from the breading, tangy tomato flavor from the sauce and great texture from the divinely melted mozzarella cheese. Will’s pasta was equally great–how can you not like those perfect dumpling rounds stuffed with umami-filled portobello mushrooms oozing cheese and topped with salty, fresh pesto?

Our favorite part of Giacomo’s, aside from the food, was the unassuming atmosphere. You go there getting no-nonsense service and no-nonsense food. Hearty, Italian fare from friendly servers in a warm, tiny space filled with people wanting just the same thing as you–a delicious dinner. Don’t mess up Giacomo’s system, though. To be prepared, remember the following pointers:

1. Cash only!

2. No reservations.

3. Only open ONE DOOR AT A TIME!

Giacomo’s Ristorante, http://giacomosblog-boston.blogspot.com/, 355 Hanover Street (North End location), 431 Columbus Avenue (South End location), Boston, MA

Myers + Chang

I’m a huge Joanne Chang fan. So when after my meal at Myers + Chang, my hip server informed me he could introduce us, I had a mini flip-out, followed by immediate heartbreak when the server came back to say she had JUST left. At least the food was good…

With Diner’s Club at BU, a club for food and hospitality lovers that organizes affordable outings to taste quality restaurants around Boston, I had a 9 course tasting menu that allowed me to get a good feel of the food at Myers + Chang.

We started with three appetizer courses: tea-smoked pork spare ribs, crispy spring rolls and mama chang’s pork and chive dumplings. All delish! The spare ribs succulently fell off the bone, the crispy spring rolls were exactly that–crisp–and the dumplings were salty, moist and tender.

Next we moved on to sides: tiger’s tears, a thai basil salad with grilled skirt steak, lime and khao koor, thai ginger chicken salad, a cellophane noodle salad with chicken, lemongrass, napa cabbage and ginger, and dan dan noodle salad with peanut sauce and sambal.

Tiger's Tears

Chicken Salad

Let me just start off by saying that I’m obsessed with the Tiger’s Tears salad. The steak is beautifully tender and rare, the basil is so fresh and the dressing is sweet and citrusy. There are pockets of heat and the khao koor (powdered fried rice) added the perfect crunch that I love in a salad. I didn’t try the dan dan salad, because to be honest, I’m not a peanut sauce fan, but the chicken salad was satisfying. It also had khao koor which added a nice bite, but was a little bland compared to the Tiger’s Tears.

Finally, our entrees were wok charred chinese greens, which was exactly that with chicken, red pepper flakes and garlic, wok roasted mussels with black pepper and lemongrass butter and beef and broccoli chow fun with seared flank steak, wide rice noodles and onions.

Wok Charred Chinese Greens & Chicken

Lemongrass Butter Mussels

Beef & Broccoli Chow Fun

I want to end on a good note, because the meal was great overall, but the wok charred greens with chicken was truly painful to eat. Once it was placed on the table, I started to wonder if someone had just come in from a cigarette break when I realized it was the intensely smoky smell coming from this dish. Taking a bite made me feel like I was on a cigarette break, something I never do, so having it in food was disgusting. I’m not sure if they added a bit too much smoky flavor or if that’s how it normally tastes, but I certainly will never order that again. Otherwise, though, the beef and broccoli chow fun was good, just your normal sweet chow fun, but the steak was a nice quality, which really enhanced the dish. Then, the mussels. Truly the star of this meal. All that’s used to make them is lemongrass infused butter and some black pepper. I think everyone fought over the broth on the bottom–it was decadent soaked into bread, poured over rice  or simply spooned into your mouth. This is a must-order, just as Myers + Chang is a must-try.

Myers + Chang, myersandchang.com, 1145 Washington St., Boston, MA, 617-542-5200

City Feed and Supply

On assignment for my internship, I ventured outside of the city of Boston to the quirky Jamaica Plain. Driving slowly on Centre Street to find number 672, my boyfriend and I noticed cute restaurants, funky shops and wide variety of people roaming the streets. We found a parking lot and made our way over to City Feed and Supply, an organic neighborhood deli and mini-supermarket.

Upon walking in, we were pleasantly overwhelmed by the rich colors and relaxed vibe. Organic everything laid out in front of us: fruits (dark chocolate covered dried apricots!), mushrooms, ravioli, spreads, vegetables, cereal, dressings, cleaning supplies, soaps and so much more.

We ambled through the aisles, perusing the high-quality offerings, eventually making our way over to the deli counter. Will chose the prosciutto, mozzarella and basil sandwich, while I opted for the roast beef sandwich–both with their fresh turkey gumbo. I especially wanted to try their peanut butter and blueberry jelly sandwich with bananas, but I decided to go for meat.

Organic yumminess!

Both sandwiches were super simple, but started with fresh, healthy ingredients that packed them with flavor, and the gumbo was so comforting on that rainy Friday. And, right after we dug in, an employee approached us with an extra mug of gumbo–he said he noticed that ours were a little low the first time around, and didn’t want us to get less than we should! An excellent example of their top-notch customer service.

While eating, we looked around at the flyers on the walls and postings around the restaurant. Everything promotes sustainable living, a concept that City Feed and Supply really has down. Everything they sell is fair trade and mostly organic. Customers can get a 25 cent refund on their coffee if they bring their own mug or to go cup. They host several community events a month for sustainability.

City Feed and Supply is a true gem in JP, one I can’t wait to get back to. Next time, that PB&J is mine!

City Feed and Supply, cityfeedandsupply.com, 672 Centre St. and 66a Boylston St., Jamaica Plain, MA, 617-524-1700 and 617-524-1657.

J.P. Licks

I’ve been a pretty bad Jew this Rosh Hashanah. To celebrate the new year (we’re at 5770!), I’ve done … basically … nothing. So when I ventured to J.P. Licks today on Boston’s famed Newbury Street, I was relieved to see one of this month’s flavors is noodle kugel.

For those who don’t know, noodle kugel is a traditional Jewish egg noodle casserole served to celebrate the new year. It’s spiced with lots of cinnamon, and there are usually raisins sprinkled throughout. J.P. Licks took this classic dish and offered a new twist in the form of ice cream. It was basically vanilla with lots of cinnamon flavor and noodle bits scattered throughout. The noodle may sound gross, but it added just a bit of chew that you might get from a gummy bear.

sweet way to ring in the new year

I paired mine with hot fudge, and it was oh-so-good! Since noodle kugel is a flavor of the month, I’d get there fast as it’s already September 2o! Other unique flavors this month were avocado and sun-dried tomato and basil. I tried both–the avocado was only decent, but the sun-dried tomato and basil was bizarrely divine. It was cream flavored and very salty with bits of sun-dried tomato and basil throughout. At first the salt is shocking, but as you let the flavors mix in your mouth, you realize it’s something you’d never think would work, but definitely does.

I can’t wait to see what they mix up next month!

J.P. Licks, jplicks.com, 352 Newbury St., Boston, MA, 617-236-1666

Lateral

I can’t blog about Madrid restaurants without including my favorite one, which I’ve been saving for last. Lateral, a trendy tapas bar, has several locations throughout Madrid, but my favorite was the Chueca location.

Every time I went, there was a guaranteed wait (no reservations), but it’s so good–and so cheap–that I just came to accept it. They keep the lights dim with tightly packed, candlelit tables and fast, bustling service.

Their menu is a list of typical tapas: spanish tortilla, croquetas, pisto, veal meatballs, iberian cured ham, patatas bravas and blood sausage, as well as more comfortable American favorites, like salad, baked potato and garlic bread, all with a Spanish flair. And, they have English menus if you ask, which makes it a great place to bring visiting friends and family.

The last time I went, I ordered spanish tortilla (a potato omelette) and a baked potato … can anyone tell I like carbs? Their tortilla is prepared my favorite way: rare. The eggs are undercooked and creamy, and the potatoes are lathered in that eggy deliciousness, with onions mixed throughout to add flavor.

Oozing tortilla espanola...YUM!!!!

The baked potato was equally creamy and delicious. The preparation was unique–Lateral baked the potato, scooped out the insides and mashed it with cheese and ham (exactly like the inside of a croqueta, another popular Spanish tapa), then refilled the potato skin. They then topped it with a sunny-side up quail egg. Once you break open the potato, and the egg oozes out over everything, it’s perfectly salty and savory from the ham, cheese and egg yolk.

Before...

...After!

Lateral also has fabulous jarras de (pitchers of) sangria, adding to the trendy, young atmosphere. It’s by far my top recommendation for students abroad in Madrid!

Lateral, five locations (my favorite: C/ Fuencarral 43) in Madrid, Spain

La Barriga Llena

One late Saturday night, Ange, I and a few of her school friends headed out to silence our growling stomachs. Venturing to Chueca, one of my favorite neighborhoods to eat in in Madrid, we ended up at La Barriga Llena, a Mexican place whose name guaranteed an end to our hunger: “la barriga llena” translates to “a full belly,” something we were all desperate to have.

Since it was 11:30 p.m., standard supper time in Spain, we knew there would be a wait, but we happily shared a bottle of wine to make the time pass. Thirty somewhat foggy minutes later, we were led downstairs to the small room that seemed full of fellow Americans. I immediately gravitated to my Mexican go-to: fully-loaded nachos. Reed agreed to share them with me for an appetizer, and I was a happy camper. But, as my eyes are so often bigger than my stomach, I also ordered a tomato-based soup.

After torturously awaiting our food, watching savory looking dishes fly by to other tables, our food eventually arrived and we promptly dug in. Our nachos were beautifully traditional. Warm corn tortilla chips, sweet, smoky meat chile, guacamole, salsa, drippy, tangy cheese and hot chile peppers all piled up on a plate of messy deliciousness. It had been so long since I had had Mexican food and this definitely met my overdue expectations.

My one complaint, which isn’t only to this particular plate of nachos, but plates of nachos in general, is that the chile was on the bottom, making it nearly impossible to enjoy immediately. My perfect nacho has a little bit of all the flavors on one chip, and chile is a hugely important component. Depriving the chip of the chile is just sad.

After satisfying my nacho craving, I moved on to the soup. It was an oily tomato-based broth, accompanied by cheese, mushrooms, tortilla strips, avocado chunks and something else. I really have absoluuuutely no idea what it was, but I’ll do my best to describe it. All I can say is that it was black, crunchy and tasted like charcoal … needless to say, I didn’t add that to the soup. The broth was a little spicy for my palette, but once I added all the sides, it calmed the heat down to where it only accentuated the flavors. It was a good soup, but a little too greasy, as you can see from the fat floating on top.

La Barriga Llena was a fun atmostphere with straightforward Mexican food. Nothing too fancy, but still yummy.

La Barriga Llena, http://www.lapanzaesprimero.com/, C/ Libertad 31, Madrid, Spain

Los Galayos

Think Spanish food, and you think paella; it’s just inevitable. This risotto-like, saffron-infused rice mixed with meat, seafood and vegetables is a classic Castellano dish that has to be explored if in Spain. And since I was, I had my fair share of paella. But I waited until my family came to pay for the good stuff (is that so bad?), which is when we headed to Los Galayos, just off Plaza Mayor in the old section of Madrid.

They had an extensive menu, in more than five languages, of traditional Spanish food, but we stuck with the paella. As in most Spanish restaurants, the paella could be ordered for a minimum of two people, which was no problem as our table of eight all ordered it. We wanted it all, so we opted for the mixed version, which came with chicken, prawns, mussels, calamari and a white fish, as well as assorted vegetables like peas and green beans.

 

Seafood and fish paella

The flavor was spot-on. We squeezed lemon on top to add an acidic touch to the savory dish. The prawns and peas added a sweet flavor, while the saffron gave the lovely, deep yellow hue to the rice. We made sure to scrape from the bottom of the pan, where the flavor was caked onto the pan; eating those crunchy bits are by far the best part.

We also had the more adventurous black rice paella, which is flavored and colored black with squid ink. It really is delicious and has a buttery flavor. If you’re in the mood to try something new, I would give it a try.

Los Galayos delivered exactly what we were hoping for: simple, traditional, delicious paella.

 

Los Galayos, www.losgalayos.net, C/ Botoneras 5, Madrid, Spain

Revuelta

I’m not really sure why I’m trying in the land of bread and ham, but I’m doing my best to keep Passover in Spain. For those of you not following, Passover is the Jewish holiday celebrating when the Jews fled enslavement in Egypt, having no time to bring anything to eat except unleavened bread. So, hundreds of years later, we Jews commorate this victory by forgoing all bread products for eight days. There are virtually no Jews in Madrid, so no one really seems to get it. My señora, the woman I live with, is continually offering me pizza and cookies, despite my constant reminders that I can’t eat that right now.  Which is how we ended up at Revuelta.

It was Holy Thursday, the Thursday leading up to Easter, and my señora insisted on taking me to get the best bacalao in Madrid before the famous Semana Santa processions. “Of course I want to try the best bacalao in Madrid!” I exclaimed, “Thank you so much!” Or, I mean, “Por supuesto quiero probar el mejor bacalao en Madrid! Muchas gracias!” It was very generous of her to offer to take me out to eat, and I was excited by this offer. Revuelta ended up being just around the corner from our apartment; we arrived quickly and had to push our way through the Madrileños for a coveted spot at the bar. “Two orders of bacalao!” my señora shouted. We prompty received our order, and I was absolutely horrified to see this:

Fried temptation

I hadn’t realized the bacalao would be BREADED and fried. It was Passover, and I was doing so well! I couldn’t break now–but it looked so good. I forced myself to turn to her and say I couldn’t eat it. She didn’t understand; I wasn’t sure I did either. It just looked so good. But I bravely tore away the fried casing and ate the bacalao inside. From what I tasted, I believe my señora that it’s the best bacalao around. The fish, which can easily become so dry, was tender and juicy. And, luckily, still had the leftover flavor of the fried outside. I can’t wait for this holiday to end so I can go back…!

My senora, Paz, or Peace, felt so bad that she insisted on ordering something I could properly eat. I chose the torreznos, or yummy little fried pork cubes. They’re not for everyone–they’re basically fried until they have an extremely hard, crunchy exterior, with soft, fatty meat inside. They’re a great little snack, though, and go quite nicely with some nice cold cerveza, more commonly known as beer.

Basically...fried pork fat

Revuelta hasn’t seen the last of me … I will get that bacalao!

Revuelta, La Latina, Madrid, Spain

Calcuta

When I told my friend Daniella that I had never had Indian food before, she couldn’t believe it. “But you have a food blog!” she said. “You HAVE to try Indian!” So off we went to Calcuta in Madrid’s Lavapies neighborhood, which houses most Indian and ethnic restaurants. Now I have nothing against Indian cuisine, I just had never sought it out before (probably due to my aversion to curry). I figured I’d try it when someone took me to an Indian restaurant.

While perusing the menu, we were presented with crunchy flat bread and two dipping sauces. One was a medley of onions, cucumbers and scallions in a sort of creamy-mayonaissey sauce. The other was a minty cream sauce with a variety of herbs mixed in. The minty sauce wasn’t for me, so I munched on the onion salsa as I pretended to understand the menu.

Munchies

I had no idea what to order or what most things meant, so I let my friends take the reins. They ordered various chicken dishes, like tikka and tikka masala, and chose a spinach dish for me. The server asked me if I’d like naan or rice with that, and considering I had no idea what naan was, I chose the rice. I didn’t know what to expect from my order, whether I’d love it or hate it, but I was excited to try something new. When it came out, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that it was a sort of creamed spinach with melted cheese blocks mixed in. Combined with the blandness of the rice, it was a delicious meal. Creamy and sweet from the, well, cream, yet tangy from the cheese and bitter from the spinach. And the rice had various herbs on it which only contributed to the flavor explosion.

My first foray into Indian

I also stole some of my friends’ garlic naan and dipped that into the creamed spinach, which was also delicious. In fact so delicious, that I proceeded to finish their naan. The garlic combined well with the flavors, and the sweet bread was a nicer texture with the creamy dish than the rice. I’ll know to order naan in the future.

After the meal, our server offered us complimentary shots–a nice finishing touch. But my goodwill buzz toward him only lasted so long. When we got the check, we realized that the rice and naan was not included in the price of our meal, yet our server had asked us which one we wanted with each of our dishes. To me, when a server asks that, it means it comes with the dish. But, it was still relatively cheap, so no big deal.

So how was my first Indian experience? Pretty damn good! I’m ready to try again.

Our deceptively friendly server

Calcuta, Madrid, Spain

Bocaito

My friend Ange and I were looking for a break from the (delicious) monotony of tapas, so we consulted our guide books and headed to Chueca, Madrid’s gay neighborhood, for some sushi delights. On the way, we passed Bocaito, the tapas restaurant one of our books claimed as the best in Madrid. I pointed it out excitedly to Ange, eager to return another night. We continued our journey for sushi, only to find that since the guide book had been published, our original destination had been converted into none other than a … tapas bar! So we turned right around and headed for Bocaito.

The front tapas bar was packed when we arrived, so we ordered some house white wine and munched on salty, spicy olives soaked in chili pepper oil as we waited for a table to open up. Smiling down on us from pictures on the walls were various celebrities that have dined at Bocaito–we toasted to Penelope Cruz, Sandra Bullock and Hugh Grant. The wait was pleasant; as we chatted, the people around us downed tapas and smoked their lives away.

Busy Bee Bartenders

The friendly hostess seated us after about fifteen minutes, and she was nice enough to note that we were Americans and offer us the English version of the menu–which proved extremely helpful. Ange and I scoured the menu, trying to find the best options at the cheap(er) prices. I settled on smoked crab on toast, while Ange chose bacalao on toast. We shared mushrooms sauteed with garlic and oil.

Savory Hongos (Mushrooms)

The mushrooms came out first and didn’t last long; they were salty, soft and savory–the garlic perfectly complemented the earthy mushroom flavor. We next tried our respective toasts. Mine was pretty plain and a little disappointing. The toast was a good balance between crunchy and soft, but the crab was cold and didn’t taste smoky at all. Ange’s bacalao toasts were much fishier and had more flavor, but they still weren’t worthy of the “best tapas bar in Madrid” recommendation. Luckily, we had our leftover garlic oil to dip them in, which greatly improved their flavor.

Crab toast :/

As we nibbled on our disappointing second round of food, we noticed plates of scrumptious-looking entrees and tapas flying past us and wondered where we had gone wrong. We decided Bocaito is worth another try, so we’ll be back in the future to toast Penelope, Sandra and Hugh again.

Food we were soo jealous of!

A couple of notes about eating in Spanish restaurants:

1) Don’t expect American-level service. It is not normal to tip in restaurants, so servers don’t need to work as hard for their money. I’m usually a stickler about good service, but I’ve needed to drop that in Spain. Unless you’re at the top restaurants, you gotta move on.

2) Be really sure you want those extra carbs. Restaurants will charge up to 3€ PER PIECE of bread. So before you go reaching for that bread basket, ask yourself, “Is it worth it?”

3) Drink up. According to Madrileños, their water is the best in Spain, if not Europe. Yet for some reason, restaurants are hesitant to serve it to you. If you don’t want to pay extra for every bottle of water, make sure you specify that you want water from the tap.

Bocaito, www.bocaito.com, Calle de Libertad 4-6, Madrid, Spain