Penny's current crush at Select Oyster Bar on Gloucester Street in the Back Bay is the Blue Prawns (heads on) on the plancha with espelette pepper and lemon. This is such a lovely way to get totally messy with food between sips of Txakoli.
As you know from a previous post, we fell in love with Select at first bite and we highly recommend this wonderful addition to the Back Bay and to Boston's seafood scene!
It's good to see our most trusted food scout, MC SLIM JB, add his endorsement in his Improper Bostonian review. He said, "Having quickly taken its place among the growing ranks of genuinely excellent seafood restaurants, Select’s novel focus on more Mediterranean flavors gives it some useful differentiation." But do read the entire review to get his full story on Select.
Here's another view of those lovely prawns. I hope they remain on the ever changing menu for a while longer!
We visit Thinking Cup for great coffee. But, last weekend, we added a Boston Cream Pie to our order and discovered that they do a great job with this classic Boston dessert.
Freshness is something they certainly have mastered with their coffee drinks. And, fresh, fresh, fresh, moist, creamy, and delicious are words we muttered between bites of this lovely cake.
In this side view, you can see the layers of cake and cream.
The other important element in a great Boston Cream Pie is the chocolate ganache frosting. Thinking Cup makes theirs with an excellent quality chocolate. You can taste the difference. And, we love the little tray (complete with a tiny grab handle) to lift the cake from the case.
We visit Thinking Cup for great coffee. But, last weekend, we added a Boston Cream Pie to our order and discovered that they do a great job with this classic Boston dessert.
Freshness is something they certainly have mastered with their coffee drinks. And, fresh, fresh, fresh, moist, creamy, and delicious are words we muttered between bites of this lovely cake.
In this side view, you can see the layers of cake and cream.
The other important element in a great Boston Cream Pie is the chocolate ganache frosting. Thinking Cup makes theirs with an excellent quality chocolate. You can taste the difference. And, we love the little tray (complete with a tiny grab handle) to lift the cake from the case.
On a June Monday afternoon, we slipped into Neptune Oyster with a meer half hour wait for two seats at the bar – another reason why June is our favorite month to be in Boston!
We make a habit of checking the menu while we wait and seeing King Salmon cooked rare on the entrees made Ed's decision an easy one.
Ed said it reminded him of a piece of black & blue tuna with a slight crust, tender – an almost sushi interior.
A second indication of how much he was enjoying this fish … he wasn't eating his veggies, "They were prepared well (al dente), but I found myself ignoring them until I devoured every last morsel of salmon." But, rest assured, the plate went back to the kitchen wiped clean of veggies and sauce.
By 3 pm, there were a few walk-in seats available and the staff was taking a well earned moment to breathe. Ed was talking about ordering a second plate of King Salmon. It was that good.
The final word from Ed. "I always know that I’ve had a special dish when I keep thinking about it hours (or in this case days) after the meal."
While King Salmon may not be on the menu when you visit Neptune, our advice is to try the fish that Chef Michael Serpa has decided is perfect to put on his menu that day. You may find yourself thinking about it for days to come.
Want to learn more about wine? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site! Here are three of our favorite wine books.
On a June Monday afternoon, we slipped into Neptune Oyster with a meer half hour wait for two seats at the bar – another reason why June is our favorite month to be in Boston!
We make a habit of checking the menu while we wait and seeing King Salmon cooked rare on the entrees made Ed's decision an easy one.
Ed said it reminded him of a piece of black & blue tuna with a slight crust, tender – an almost sushi interior.
A second indication of how much he was enjoying this fish … he wasn't eating his veggies, "They were prepared well (al dente), but I found myself ignoring them until I devoured every last morsel of salmon." But, rest assured, the plate went back to the kitchen wiped clean of veggies and sauce.
By 3 pm, there were a few walk-in seats available and the staff was taking a well earned moment to breathe. Ed was talking about ordering a second plate of King Salmon. It was that good.
The final word from Ed. "I always know that I’ve had a special dish when I keep thinking about it hours (or in this case days) after the meal."
While King Salmon may not be on the menu when you visit Neptune, our advice is to try the fish that Chef Michael Serpa has decided is perfect to put on his menu that day. You may find yourself thinking about it for days to come.
Want to learn more about wine? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site! Here are three of our favorite wine books.
The lovely, late, June weather made a visit to Coppa Enoteca's patio a perfect afternoon delight. We have so many favorites on this menu that it's hard to try new items. But, when the Coppa menu said, "Ricotta gnocchi with nasturtium butter-cacio e pepe," we knew it was time to eat gnocchi again.
Having had some excellent versions in the past, we have been disappointed so often that we've avoided ordering it in most places. But, this was Coppa, home of many best bites.
Gnocchi is one of those dishes that requires a skillful hand and dedication to quality. The team at Coppa aced both aspects – achieving a light, delicate flavor that complemented our prosecco.
And, as you can see, it was as pretty as it was delicious. So, we declare this a Boston Best Bite and suggest you get to Coppa and enjoy it while it's on the menu.
The lovely, late, June weather made a visit to Coppa Enoteca's patio a perfect afternoon delight. We have so many favorites on this menu that it's hard to try new items. But, when the Coppa menu said, "Ricotta gnocchi with nasturtium butter-cacio e pepe," we knew it was time to eat gnocchi again.
Having had some excellent versions in the past, we have been disappointed so often that we've avoided ordering it in most places. But, this was Coppa, home of many best bites.
Gnocchi is one of those dishes that requires a skillful hand and dedication to quality. The team at Coppa aced both aspects – achieving a light, delicate flavor that complemented our prosecco.
And, as you can see, it was as pretty as it was delicious. So, we declare this a Boston Best Bite and suggest you get to Coppa and enjoy it while it's on the menu.
Fans of this Boston treasure know that their official hours are short (Mon-Sat: 11:30am-2:30pm) and get even shorter as things begin to run out. When the dough is gone, they shut down. And, they take the month of July off. This year's posted dates for the Galleria Umberto vacation are 6/29-7/28. That means you need to get there in the next couple of weeks or wait until August.
We used one of our recent picture perfect spring days to walk to the North End and enjoy the simple but delicious food from this longtime Boston favorite. The pizza is Sicilian style with thick crust and an abundance of sauce and cheese. It's filling but suprisingly lighter than it would seem.
The arancini are filled with a mixture of meat, cheese, and peas and are about the size of a softball. They are fried but with a skillful hand that assures they are not greasy.
There are other items on the menu. We'll get around to covering those on another day. This visit was about the two items that most of the people in those lines-out-the-door are ordering.
Calzones in the warming case never stay there long. Everything is in a constant flow as food moves from the cooks in the back room into boxes for takeout or trays for dining-in that are handed to customers.
There is a really great piece of writing over on Serious Eats about Galleria Umberto's pizza. Carey Jones wrote, "Pizza flies out from the kitchen, enormous pans appearing every three or four minutes, smacked down on the counter, slices scooped up so quickly the cheese hardly has time to ooze over the side."
Simple, old world, fresh, ready, hearty, warm describes the food and the people. If you're a regular, you may get a hug or a conversation in Italian with your order. Regulars also have cash in hand because this is a "cash only" establishment.
Many locals also know that you can phone ahead with your order and go to the left of the main line, pull out your cash, and pick up your order. You'll see lots of locals picking up boxes of 10, 15, or 20 slices of pizza and a stash of other goodies.
You can dine in, if you choose, and have beer or wine in a paper cup with your food. But our crowd often has dogs in tow so we do this on really nice days and we eat in the park. Part of the clan finds a table on the Greenway or at least they stand ready to pounce on a table the moment one is free.
We keep a photo of the menu on our phones to put together our order. With decisions made and cash gathered, we make the call and tell them yes we do need napkins, forks, knives, and plates. They generously add those to your order. (And, they do supply ample napkins – they know their food.)
Then, one or two of you can walk down Hanover Street, pick up your feast, and return to the park for an outstanding picnic by the fountains.
Galleria Umberto
289 Hanover Street, Boston, MA 02113 (map) 617-227-5709
Cash Only!
Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!
Fans of this Boston treasure know that their official hours are short (Mon-Sat: 11:30am-2:30pm) and get even shorter as things begin to run out. When the dough is gone, they shut down. And, they take the month of July off. This year's posted dates for the Galleria Umberto vacation are 6/29-7/28. That means you need to get there in the next couple of weeks or wait until August.
We used one of our recent picture perfect spring days to walk to the North End and enjoy the simple but delicious food from this longtime Boston favorite. The pizza is Sicilian style with thick crust and an abundance of sauce and cheese. It's filling but suprisingly lighter than it would seem.
The arancini are filled with a mixture of meat, cheese, and peas and are about the size of a softball. They are fried but with a skillful hand that assures they are not greasy.
There are other items on the menu. We'll get around to covering those on another day. This visit was about the two items that most of the people in those lines-out-the-door are ordering.
Calzones in the warming case never stay there long. Everything is in a constant flow as food moves from the cooks in the back room into boxes for takeout or trays for dining-in that are handed to customers.
There is a really great piece of writing over on Serious Eats about Galleria Umberto's pizza. Carey Jones wrote, "Pizza flies out from the kitchen, enormous pans appearing every three or four minutes, smacked down on the counter, slices scooped up so quickly the cheese hardly has time to ooze over the side."
Simple, old world, fresh, ready, hearty, warm describes the food and the people. If you're a regular, you may get a hug or a conversation in Italian with your order. Regulars also have cash in hand because this is a "cash only" establishment.
Many locals also know that you can phone ahead with your order and go to the left of the main line, pull out your cash, and pick up your order. You'll see lots of locals picking up boxes of 10, 15, or 20 slices of pizza and a stash of other goodies.
You can dine in, if you choose, and have beer or wine in a paper cup with your food. But our crowd often has dogs in tow so we do this on really nice days and we eat in the park. Part of the clan finds a table on the Greenway or at least they stand ready to pounce on a table the moment one is free.
We keep a photo of the menu on our phones to put together our order. With decisions made and cash gathered, we make the call and tell them yes we do need napkins, forks, knives, and plates. They generously add those to your order. (And, they do supply ample napkins – they know their food.)
Then, one or two of you can walk down Hanover Street, pick up your feast, and return to the park for an outstanding picnic by the fountains.
Galleria Umberto
289 Hanover Street, Boston, MA 02113 (map) 617-227-5709
Cash Only!
Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!
Ed, Poppy, and I took a walk to the Parker House and found the gift shop that was reputed to sell the pie to go. It’s called Morsel’s and is located next to the 60 School Street (map) entrance to the Omni Parker House.
As you may know, the Parker House is said to have invented this creation. It’s so popular, that they have it ready to go in the coffee/gift shop attached to the hotel. It’s priced at $8, at the time of this post.
It was not on display when I went in, but signs in the window said they sold it, so I asked the woman behind the counter. She asked how many I wanted. “One,” I replied, and she went to a refrigerator to get the dessert.
“And, how many forks?” She tucked the two requested forks and a supply of napkins into a small bag that was perfect for carrying the cake in its protective, domed container. She was charming and had obviously mastered “Boston Cream pie to go” hospitality.
We took our Parker House Boston Cream Pie to the Brewer Fountain Plaza (map) on the Boston Common for tasting.
This famous confection was lighter than you might expect with a nice moist cake, moist cream filling, and a good chocolate coating. Ed liked the addition of coconut to the sides. The portion was large enough for the two of us to happily share. And, we cleaned the container right down to the last flakes of coconut.
But, the Parker House Boston Cream Pie will be a welcome snack when we are looking for a sweet downtown. And, we’re happy that those who come to eat it as a part of their Boston experience are going to enjoy a very good version of this historic dessert.
By the way, if you’re one of our readers from out of the area or a baker who would like to recreate this classic, the Parker House has shared their recipe. Download Parker House Boston Cream Pie Recipe.
from here to support this site! Here are three of our favorite wine books.
