Traditional Taiwanese Cuisine at Sugar & Spice

My dorm is located in between Harvard Square and Porter Square. Even though I have visited several restaurants in the Square due to its proximity to my classes and social happenings, I rarely spend time near the Porter Square. Really, there is no reason for me to be there! Now that school is out for good and that I have so much free time, I decided to venture out to Porter Square to check out a Thai restaurant there called Sugar & Spice.

My friend and I ordered the Steamed Shrimp Shumai ($4.95) appetizer to start. We got 7 pieces of really dry shumai that tasted like one of those frozen shumai you get from Costco. The fillings were pretty much absent and it was mostly the outer skin. The shumai was also bland and tasteless, even when it was literally dunked in the soy sauce.

Our first entree was Gra Prao Chicken, ($9.95) spicy minced chicken in chili sauce. There was a bed of greasy, chili oil underneath which freaked me out a little. The white rice tasted a bit undercooked, and I couldn't really taste the chicken because it was minced so small. I would have liked more spices.

The Pad Thai ($8.95), or stir-fried rice noodles with shrimp, chicken, egg, peanuts, bean sprouts and scallions, is a must-dish at a Thai restaurant. The pad thai was sweeter than other pad thai I have had (indeed it reflects the name of the restaurant well!). There were only three medium-sized shrimps and bits of chicken. Usually the ground peanuts are served on the side, but this restaurant had it all mixed in the noodle already.

 

A Friend's Birthday Dinner at Catalyst

To celebrate my friend's 20th birthday, a group of us went to Catalyst Restaurant in Kendall Square near MIT. This relatively new restaurant serves modern American cuisine with French influence. According to its website, Catalyst uses products centered on locally grown organic produce and wild and farm raised food from sustainable practices.

The five of us started the meal with two appetizers to share. The first dish that came to the table was the Curried Tempura Asparagus ($10) with Deviled Egg Aioli and Pickled Ramp Salad. Fried food, along with pork and cheese, is something I do not eat, but I made an exception for this tempura asparagus. The tempura batter was crispy and seasoned perfectly that it did not need any dipping sauce. I have never had tempura asparagus, only tempura potatoes, onions, shrimp, carrots, etc. The pickled ramp salad was refreshing. I did not really taste the deviled egg aioli.

The second appetizer was Lobster Strudel ($15) with Bisque Emulsion and Herb Salad. It was a special appetizer of the day.

I really enjoyed the bitter greens in the salad. It accompanied the slightly creamy insides of the lobster strudel nicely.

The strudel looked like Chinese egg role from the outside. It actually didn't taste that much different, except it was filled with lumps of lobster meat and some sort of creamy sauce. The outside wasn't fried flour, but baked phyllo. The outer layer of the phyllo was crispy, but the inner layer became soggy from the fillings.

For my main, I got the Herb Crusted Salmon ($27) with mushroom, fava beans, pesto, asparagus, and lemon sauce.

The salmon seemed to have been rubbed with more pesto than herb. I didn't taste any of the herb crusted on top.

I really like the strong scent of lemon layering the bottom of the salmon. The sour zestiness of the lemon went well with the fatty salmon. Also the fava beans and the asparagus both had nice textures.

The salmon was cooked rare-just the way I like it! It was so juicy and melted right in my mouth.

Bacon Wrapped Saddle of Rabbit ($28) on a bed of mashed potatoes with sherry jus.

Tournedos of Beef ($28) with Rainbow Chard, Taleggio Ravioli, Garlic, and Parsley Bordelaise Sauce. It looked like a person staring at you!

Roasted Blue Cod ($27) with Olive Oil Crushed Butterball Potatoes, Mussels Chowder, Bacon, and Herb Nage. What an interesting choice to have a filet on top of chowder.

No matter how full people are, they always have more room for dessert ;) Because we had hard time choosing our dessert, we decided that we might as well order everything on the menu. This is the restaurant's signature dish, Butterscotch and Passion Fruit Pudding ($9) with Warm Pound Cake Croutons on the side.

This was by far my favorite dessert. The butterscotch pudding had the right amount of sweetness, and it was so fantastic when dipped with the pound cake croutons, which was quite dense, yet moist and tasty! It tasted like denser version of churros without the sugar & cinnamon on the outside. I would definitely order this again.

Pear-Almond Financier ($9) with House Made Crème Fraiche Ice Cream and Candied Almonds. The financier is a light, moist teacake, similar to sponge cake. I only had a bite of this. Nothing too spectacular.

Meyer Lemon Pudding Cake ($9) with White Chocolate Ganache and Caramelized Pineapple Coulis was my second favorite dessert.

The dollop of creme on top was smooth, light, and airy, while the lemon pudding cake had a similar texture to a very fluffy cheesecake with a pretty strong lemon taste. The pineapple coulis reminded me of mango salsa. I also loved the white chocolate ganache at the bottom that I scraped it with my spoon :)

Finally, the Chocolate Fondant Cake ($9) with Caramel Glaze, Hazelnut Streusel, and Banana Coulis was served with a candle on top for my friend's birthday.

I am not a fan of chocolate so I can't say much about this, but if you are a chocoholic, you will love this dessert. The cake was very dense with a strong strong dark chocolate flavor!

Crab and Lobster for Lunch at the Red House

Restaurants in Harvard Square offers plenty of patio seatings even though they are utilized only a couple months during the year. When the weather is nice, it is definitely to your best interest to take advantage of outdoor seatings. I went to the red house for lunch. I have been here before a couple times, but this was my first time coming for lunch. For a starter, my friend and I ordered the baked stuffed Cape Cod oysters ($9) with spring onions, shiitakes, & buttered crumbs to share.

The color of the dish was phenomenal, especially the pink hue of the pickled onions. I personally prefer raw oysters. The stuffed oysters were a bit heavy for my liking and I wasn't a huge fan of the artificial taste of the buttered crumbs. The thin bed of lettuce left something more to be desired.

The Maine crab cake sandwich ($13) with chipotle-caper remoulade was served as two sliders. It also had a side of greens and potato salad.

The buns for the sliders were nothing special. They just tasted like dinner rolls you get in the dining hall. The crab cakes were fried crispy (I asked to see if they could be baked instead, but no luck), but it lacked the lumpy texture of a rich crab cake. The potato salad, made with red potatoes with skins, also had lots of mustard seed. Interesting.

The chipotle-caper remoulade added creamy, a little spicy tang to the sandwich. I think they should change the name to crab cake sliders as opposed to crab cake sandwiches...

Finally we had the lobster risotto ($25) prepared with fresh lobster meat, dandelion greens & triple cream brie.

The dandelion greens were really bitter! Granted that I have a salty taste, this dish was sort of bland and had too strong of a creamy, cheesy taste rather than savory. I would have liked to see more lumps of lobster meat.

 

Back to the Root: Korean Food at Koreana

There is one cuisine that I never get sick of, no matter how much I eat it: Korean. I grew up eating Korean food and it's the food I eat at home. Now that I am a college student living thousands of miles away from home and home-cooked meals, I am beginning to appreciate Korean food even more. I was really craving dolsot bibimbop so I decided to go to the Koreana Restaurant in Kendall Square.

One key thing about Korea cuisine is its generosity. Whatever you order, you get many different varieties of banchans, or little side dishes, including kimchi, flattened fish cake, pickled seaweed, spinach, and bean sprout. These banchans also make a great appetizer.

My entree, kimchi dolsot bibimbop, came in a sizzling hot pot. Smells so good! When I was in Korea this winter, I would ask my mom to make me dolsot bibimbop every single day, every meal. No exaggeration. This dolsot bibimbop had a generous portion of summer squash, bean sprout, mushroom, carrots, spinach and kimchi. Because of the sauce from the kimchi, I didn't even have to add that much chili paste.

All mixed up and ready to be gobbled :) I much prefer the bibimbop in a dolsot because it keeps the food warm (or, rather, hot!) the entire way through. My favorite part is the crackled rice at the bottom. It is like discovering tootsie roll in the center of the tootsie roll lolli pop.

My friend got a serving of galbi. It was sprinkled with scallions, and carrots & broccoli on the side.

With the brown rice in the back...I don't think char-grilled galbi does justice to Korean BBQ because the legit version has to be grilled right in front of you! Although one negative part about that is that your clothes stain afterward.

 

Red Velvet from Crumbs Cupcake

My friend's mom brought Crumbs Cupcakes from New York City. According to its website, Crumbs Bake Shop first opened its doors in March of 2003 on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Although the menu includes a variety of comfort-oriented classics and elegant baked goods, the specialty of the house is the Crumbs Signature size cupcakes. I had the Red Velvet Cupcake: Authentic red velvet cake with rich cream cheese frosting, topped with red velvet crumbs and edged with white sprinkles.

Usually when I eat a cupcake, I only eat the cake and not the frosting, but this one was an exception! Not only was the velvet cake moist and just the right hint of cocoa flavors, but the frosting and the white sprinkles added nice texture and extra sweetness. The size of the cupcake is also worth mentioning...it was the size of a baby's head!

Tex-Mex and Cajun Food at Border Cafe

A friend's mom came to visit and she wanted to treat us to dinner. We went to Border Cafe, which serves Tex-Mex and Cajun food. This is the Half-and-Half (Beef and Chicken) Fajitas, served sizzling on a pan with a side of tortillas, rice, beans, and pico de gallo.

The same dish, but just chicken.

Mexican Burger: mesquite broiled hamburger topped with a scoop of guacamole, and served with pico de gallo and fries. Can you say a heart attack? Those were some of the thinnest fries I have ever seen.

Mesquite Swordfish: a fresh 10 oz. swordfish steak grilled over a mesquite fire. Served with seasoned corn and black beans, Jose's rice and mango salsa.

The swordfish was surprisingly juicy! It really melted in my mouth. I also loved the mango salsa.

Chimichurri Steak:an authentic Argentinean style flank steak grilled over mesquite wood, cooked medium, sliced and served with black beans, rice, ad pico de gallo. I had one piece of the steak...it was quite tough.