restaurant week: l'espalier

Whenever we ask friends for suggestions about restaurant week places to hit, L'Espalier is always mentioned. We tried it out for lunch and instantly understood why everyone loves it. It's located two blocks away from the Boylston T, but is also connected to the Mandarin Oriental Hotel that is connected to Copley and Prudential Center. The contemporary cuisine highlights French flavors and New England ingredients.
http://www.lespalier.com/

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  the ceiling of the salon in l'espalier.

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  biggest bread basket ever! we chose one of each: milk bread, corn bread, and focaccia. milk bread was the softest and most delicious.

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  shrimp with cashew nuts, lychee, and avocado sauce was nicki's appetizer. interesting and unexpected combination of flavors, but it worked.

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  endive salad with feta cheese and a chickpea fritter. very salty with the feta and fritter even with the greens.

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  nicki's entree: salmon over couscous with beets. the fish was cooked perfectly. it's mild flavor paired nicely with the sweet sauce and couscous.

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  tim's entree was pork with mushrooms, caramelized onions, and kale. the tough and bitter kale off set the tenderness of the pork and softness of the mushrooms. overall, really delicious and a good portion for lunch.

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  chocolate caramel cake with toffee chips, cocoa crisps, and pumps of lemon foam. the tart of the foam canceled out the rich sweetness of the cake, and the crunchy toffee chips and cocoa crisps contrasted the softness of the cake. nom nom nom.

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  fruit parfait cake with nuts, lychee foam, and green tea topping. it was very sweet and soft, but the top layer was gelatinous. the flavors tasted artificial making the dessert only so-so.

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  as we left, we got coconut macarons. very buttery and full of coconut flavor, these were a perfect mid-afternoon snack.

Atmosphere
Before even entering the restaurant, there is a salon (waiting room) with lots of comfortable couches. The dining area is sectioned into three rooms making each room feel more intimate for such a large restaurant. Being on the second floor allows for lots of sunlight to enter during the day giving the restaurant a very bright and natural setting.

Service
The hosts and wait staff are very polite. Our food came in a timely manner and staff walks around constantly in case you need something, but they don't bother you all the time.

Food
Each part of our meal, from the bread and butter to the little take home macaroons, was yummy and a great portion. Highlights were definitely the shrimp, salmon, and chocolate cake. L'Espalier also has prix fixe lunch on weekdays that we plan to check out in the near future!

Rating:

restaurant week: sorellina

  

restaurant week: osushi

To kick off restaurant week in Boston, we chose OSUSHI for lunch. While their menu was packed with specialty rolls and combos, the restaurant week menu was straightforward including standard Japanese sushi bar food. Initially hesitant because two of the courses only had one option, we opened up when the kind waitress allowed us to move from the dim-lit booth to the high chairs. http://www.osushirestaurant.com

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  it rained all weekend in boston. so gray and miserable outside.

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  first and second course: miso soup and house salad. it was our first time having baby mushrooms in our miso soup, which made it earthier and heartier. the house salad came with lots of mixed greens, tomatoes, rice noodles, and sesame soy sauce dressing - very fresh tasting.

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  third course: steamed and fried shumai. yum.

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  fourth course: spicy tuna roll, tuna and salmon sashimi rolls. thick tuna and salmon pieces on top of bite size pieces of rice made this dish so filling.

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  we ordered a caterpillar roll in addition to the restaurant week menu.

Atmosphere
Located near to the Westin in Copley, the one-room restaurant is small filled with mirrors, tall windows, and dark red and black colors.

Service
The service was standard. Our first waitress allowed us to move to another table. The food took awhile to come out, but when it did, the first three courses came out within 10 minutes of each other.

Food
Overall, the flavors were classic Japanese and very filling for lunch. We even had leftovers, which is rare for us.

Rating:

snappy sushi

Snappy Sushi is our favorite sushi place in Davis Square. We've dined there several times but it was the first time we've been there since we started this blog so we decided to go all food-paparazzi on them. http://www.snappysushi.com/

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  hmm. what to order.

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  sashimi appetizer. arugula and cucumber with three slices of salmon drizzled with asian pear dressing. a very light and refreshing start to the meal.

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  snappy's chicken teriyaki roll with spicy chicken teriyaki, truffle oil, avocado, and cucumber. first time we've ever had a sushi roll with cooked meat. an interesting experience, but very yummy and filling. it was a large piece of chicken and very savory.

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  beef don. pretty standard for japanese food. the caramelize onions were very sweet and soft. beef was very savory and the rice gave a nice balance to the heaviness of the beef and onions.

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  tuna gone wild roll with torched white tuna, avocado, cucumber, ginger, fish roe, and a spicy sauce. the ginger was subtle, but too strong for nicki's strong dislike of the flavor. besides that, the roll melted in your mouth.

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  nom nom nom.

dining in - cornish hen and haricot vert (french green beans)

Last Thanksgiving we saw a simple recipe during Food Network's Thanksgiving Turkey show for cornish hen that only requires a panini press and a few spices to prepare a delicious snack [Recipe]. While we had agreed to try the recipe some time, it wasn't until we saw cornish hens on sale to try it out! Here are some pictures to recap our endeavors and triumphs!

   

preview - restaurant week

In two weeks, Boston's own restaurants will open its doors to crowds of new, sophisticated, and cheap restaurateurs for its semi-annual Boston Restaurant Week.

Our list of restaurants to dine include:
OSUSHI - www.osushirestaurant.com
L'ESPALIER - www.lespalier.com
SORELLINA - www.sorellinaboston.com
MARKET BY JEAN GEORGES - www.marketbyjgboston.com
GARGOYLES ON THE SQUARE - www.gargoylesrestaurant.com
PETIT ROBERT - www.petitrobertbistro.com

If you have any other recommendations, please let us know!

preview - amelia's kitchen

We decided to use one of our http://www.restaurant.com gift certificates because we could only use during the weekdays. Amelia's Kitchen is a Italian-bistro style restaurant located in the center of Teele Square. The restaurant was empty while we dined and there was very little activity besides the occasional delivery. The food was salty and oily and lacked flavor and visual appeal. The only good part of the meal was the Baby Spinach Salad that we had for our appetizer. See pictures below!