Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Michael's Deli (Harvard ST, Brookline MA)

Constantly voted as one of Boston's best deli's, Michael's is located in Coolidge Corner across from Bank of America and Bruegger's Bagels.  Michael's has a reputation for unfriendly service and most of the staff including the owner really live up to this.  I disagree with anyone who accepts unfriendly service as part of the tradition of any establishment ( a la The Soup Nazi).  There are a few new staff members that actually care about the customer however.  The pastrami and Knish are good enough to forget about the service, but it is because of the service that I don't go more often.  Portion sizes are huge and the price isn't unreasonable, especially for the amount of food you get.

Past experience has proven to me that Michael's has the best pastrami sandwich around.  A whole sandwich is piled with nearly a pound of meat that is perfectly seasoned, warm throughout and moist.  With enough bread to hold the sandwich together, the meat is the star even with any amount of condiments or toppings added. My standard is hot pastrami, spicy mustard, mayo and muenster cheese.  The muenster is a perfect companion for the pastrami because you get the gooey consistency without the cheese overpowering the meat.  If you are in the mood for a deli sandwich, look no further, Michael's is your answer. 

Walking by a few weeks ago, I noticed that Michael's added steak and cheese subs to the menu.  Based on the taste of the pastrami (Excellent), I thought I would give it a try.  My over dramatic reaction is that the steak and cheese here is one of life's great disappointments.  I had really high hopes and the sandwich was truly bad.  The steak was flavorless chop meat, that resembled ground beef more than anything.  My sandwich came with peppers, mushrooms, mayo, hots & cheese (my standard).  Even with all those toppings, all I could taste was the bland meat (because like most of their sandwiches, the meat was plentiful).  The sandwich was huge, but I didn't really want to waste the calories on it.  Oh how I wish I ordered the pastrami!  I asked the owner (Michael) when i arrived if the steak and cheese was any good; he replied by staring blankly at me. A truly asinine response!  I guess if he didn't think it was good he wouldn't put it on the menu, but come one Michael; help a customer out!  Michael really needs to lose the steak and cheese and gain some personality

I have tried all four styles of knishes Michael's imports from New York (they say daily).  All four are very flavorful and a nice treat, I try to get them for my mother and sister who really enjoy them.  They have pastrami, meat, potato and spinach varieties.  You can reheat them in the oven (or the dreaded microwave), just be careful with the pastrami as it will dry out if its cooked too long.

Michael's is the best deli I have tried in the Boston area.  The deli sandwiches, Knishes and different side salads are delicious.  Bagels are imported from New York and are mediocre.  No matter what you order, you will leave full.   Michael's is a great place to grab a quick lunch, but don't expect good customer service while your there.

Ambiance: 8- Standard deli, not too much decoration but generally clean.  Sign's are posted stating that no reading is permitted in the dining room, so expect to eat quick.
Service: 6-While service is always quick and accurate, there lack of customer service brings them down.
Overall Menu: 9- Good selection of traditional deli items. Steak & Cheese was a bad addition, but I will give them a few weeks to remove it from their menu
Presentation: 8- Nothing spacial, but it looks good enough to eat.  Its a deli, not a 5 start restaurant
Order Accuracy: 9- Never had any issues with my order and I order my own combination every time
Overall taste: 8- was a solid 9 until they added the steak.  Pastrami sandwich is as close to perfection as you can get.
Value: 10- Huge portions at a very reasonable price.
Flavor Complexity: 8- Their deli meats are seasoned perfectly and the knishes all have very distinct flavors.
Quality of Ingredients: 8- Top quality meats and cheeses (with the exception of the steak and cheese meat).
Accessibility:8- located in Coolidge corned their is street parking right in front and less than a block from the T.
Total: 82 If you are craving corn beef or pastrami, feed your craving here. 

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Washington Square Tavern (Washington Street, Brookline MA)

The Washington Square Tavern is a small restaurant located in Washington square in Brookline (hence the name).  This is one of the few places that Keri and I go back to with some degree of regularity.  Since our most recent trip was last week (Saturday 9/18), I feel like this would be a great time to write a review.  While I still enjoy this place, I have come to see it for what it is: a tavern that can do some simple things really well.

When you walk into the restaurant there is a large bar area on the right and the dining area on the left. While there is not separation of the space, they really make this work because of the long group tables that run almost the whole length of the restaurant.  Even though the space is small and can get crowded at times, we love the atmosphere on the inside.  The kitchen is located right behind a study style wall of books and there is window so can sort of see what is going on.  A few tables seat up to 10 people and more than one group may be at the same table (sort of private cafeteria style seating).  The lighting on the inside is soft and the windows tinted, which give the place a warm feel.

We went out with our friends Erin and Brian and when we arrived around 7:30, there was about a half an hour wait. There is a great selection of beers, wine and cocktails so the wait flew by. Our second round at the bar  that we all had was the Brooklyn Brewery Post Road Pumpkin Ale, which had a nice hopy pumpkin flavor; a great way to kick off the fall.

The menu is small and they always have a few interesting specials.  Generally when we go, i get the Steak Frittes or the burger and if we go back I will stick with those two.

We decided to start off with an order of PEI muscles in a dijon mustard sauce.  The muscles tasted fresh and the order came with plenty for the four of us to share.  The mustard sauce was flavorful and not overpowering, but not nearly enough to get a taste with all the muscles.  I also started with a traditional wedge salad.  The salad was a quarter head instead of the usual half; covered with two strips of perfectly cooked bacon and a healthy amount of bland blue cheese dressing.  Overall the salad was decent, the star was definitely the bacon.  The dressing needed some pepper, which says a lot coming from someone who doesn't really love pepper.

The girls both had black bean burgers with sweet potato fries on top of greens instead of a bun.  They both really enjoyed their meal.  The burger was over an inch thick and had a large circumference.  Even with the large size, the burger was cooked throughout and very moist.  The flavor of the burger was excellent and a great vegetarian option.  Brian had a traditional burger that he said was excellent, having them in the past, I would concur.

I decided to mix things up a little tonight and got the linguini and clams sauce.  The serving was a decent size, but not huge.  There were 8-10 small clams that tasted good, but I would have liked a few more.  The pasta was fresh but had a very sticky consistency which I attribute to the lack of sauce on the dish.  The sauce was a garlic white wine sauce that tasted great, but the noodles were not coated with the sauce and there was truly an under-abundance.  overall the dish was mediocre and I would not recommend it.  The clams and noodles were fresh, but the miniscule amount of sauce left the dish flavorless.

With a great atmosphere and a few good entrees on the menu, I would recommend this to anyone looking for a fun night out.  Don't get too adventurous with what you order as it seems they only do the simple things really well.   The sauces they use lack complex flavors and while no one wants their food drowning in sauce, don't expect their to be enough sauce to cover your food.  Stick to the standard burger, veggie burger or Steak.

Rating


Ambiance: 8, they really make the small space work.  Even when it is busy, it doesn't get too loud.
Service: 9, service is accurate and friendly, we have never had an issue.
Overall Menu: 7, small can be good, but not if only a portion of those items are good.
Presentation: 8, food is assembled with care, nothing fancy though
Order Accuracy: 9, the ladies made a few substitutions and they got them all right
Overall taste: 7, nothing tasted bad, but the food lacked elements
Value: 7, if you want a good deal, go with the burger.  drinks can be very pricey.
Flavor Complexity:  7, simple flavors and a lot of the ingredients are bland without their sauces
Quality of Ingredients: 9, everything tasted very fresh, especially the seafood.
Accessibility: 8, located in washington square, there is street parking around and 30 seconds from the T.


Total: 79, Worth trying but don't be too adventurous!

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Restaurant Rubric

We will be reviewing restaurants on a 100 point scale.  Scores will be broken down into 10 categories worth up to 10 points each.  The categories are as follows

Ambiance
Service
Overall Menu
Presentation
Order Accuracy
Overall taste
Value
Flavor Complexity
Quality of Ingredients
Accessibility
 

Nashoba Winery

Two weeks ago, Keri and I took our annual trip to the Nashoba winery for some apple picking and some wine tasting.  We were joined by our friends Katie and Matt, who were making their first trip to the winery.    Nashoba is a great place to go for a nice picnic where you can sip some wine and cheese on a blanket or one of the many picnic tables.  Keri and I both had the opportunity to sample 8 different Nashoba made wines, spirits and beers.  Since we are still working on our tasting rubric, we will save our  first wine review for another day.  My all-time favorite wine comes from Nashoba; a Raspberry Dessert Wine.  The wine is not has a mild sweetness and really tastes like what you would think fresh raspberry juice would taste like.  With a smooth consistency, the wine is on the thicker side with just the right amount of tartness.  Keri loves the Riesling and we always travel home with a bottle. After our tasting, we all shared a bottle of their Maiden's blush and a bottle of Riesling accompanied by a delicious assortment of cheese's and dips we brought from home.

If you get a chance to travel to Bolton, MA be sure to check out Nashoba!