American Food When In America: Daedalus Restaurant

I feel like such a spoiled ingrate saying this, but because I have been inundated with too much delicious cuisines in Korea for the past month, my appetite is wanting something much tastier and fancier than dining hall food.

I had dinner with a senior who I met over the summer while she was taking a year off. We went to the Daedalus Restaurant, which also happens to be one of the first restaurants in the Harvard Square that I visited back in my freshman year when I had lunch with my freshman adviser. In warm weather, the diners can dine outside on a beautiful, outdoor patio on the upper level.

I love the pita and hummus! They taste so much better than the regular appetizer bread and olive oil.

The pita bread was warm and brushed with basil. The hummus was slightly dry so it didn't spread too easily on the pita.

A half-moon shaped pita and a dollop of hummus! Just enough to set off your taste bud :)

We shared an appetizer: Sauteed Mussels ($12.95) in a tomato & basil sauce served with grilled baguette.

Look at the beautiful touch of basil! I wish there had been more basil because the scent was absolutely amazing.

The dish was sort of difficult to navigate through because of all the mussels and their huge shells.

Dig, dig, dig! This appetizer is definitely to be shared because you won't be able to enjoy your entree after devouring all these mussels by yourself!

Except for a very select few, most mussels were really small. I personally prefer the big, plump mussels because they are juicier and there is more to chew.

The mussels were tender without being too overly cooked. Because they were served in a broth, it also maintained most of their juices.

Even though the dish is called "Mussels," my friend and I both agreed that the best part was the broth. It had a slight taste of white wine with olive oil, together with strong scent from basil and tomato. A spoon is a necessity for this dish to savor all the broth.

It was a joy to dip the toasted buttered baguette into the broth.

All the mussels completely devoured! This reminded me of a scene from the Alice in Wonderland with the clams. Haha.

My friend ordered the Blackened Haddock Fillet (18.95) topped with cucumber, red onion, cilantro, and mango salsa served with black beans, rice, and chorizo sausage.

I am glad she ordered this dish because I would have ordered it if I didn't get the risotto special. The restaurant was dim so I couldn't tell at the time, but the haddock is definitely blackened.

The mango salsa, tomatoes, and cilantro on top were so colorful. I like the slices of lemons on the side for visual presentation (and flavor!)

The rice turned black from the black beans. I suppose the dish has a Mexican fusion influence?

The beauty of blackened filet is that you get the nice, crispiness from the outside and the moist, soft texture of the fish inside.

The filet was seasoned a bit strongly on top. I almost don't think it needs to be seasoned at all on top because the mango salsa adds enough flavors.

Clearly, the serving was huge.

I ordered from the Today's Special Menu: Kale, tomato, and Scallion Risotto ($18.95) with teriyaki and ginger marinated steak tips.

I skipped the shaved parmesan and cream in the risotto. Good choice or else it would have been too cheesy and too creamy (too things I dislike!)

I love love looooved the kale! It can be quite coarse and tough, but it went well with the mushy risotto.

The kales were huge too! The risotto had strong flavor from the tomato. I asked whether it could be cooked without butter, but the waiter told me that butter was already adde to the ingredient.

The marinated steak that I asked to be cooked rare.

But...when I cut the meat, I could tell immediately that it was cooked well-done. Sadness. I don't like tough meat, so I asked the waiter to take it back to the kitchen.

Tada! My new plate with steak cooked rare.

When I touched the meat with a knife, it was soft and juicy--yes, cooked rare! Look at that beautiful pink meat. I am a big lover of scallions, so I wished there had been more greenness to the dish.

The steak and its pinkness. Unfortunately, the teriyaki sauce was extremely overwhelming and salty! It tasted fine if eaten with the risotto, which didn't have very strong of a flavor compared to the steak, but if the meat is eaten by itself, it's definitely way too salty.

I liked that the steak tips were not too fatty. I ran into some tendons that resisted being cut, but I plowed my way through. I only ate half the dish because I was extremely full already from the appetizer. Steak for breakfast tomorrow? Deal.

A Reward Well-Earned From Studying

While working on some work yesterday, I received a text message from Tyler inviting me to a dinner in Boston with his blockmates. At first I didn't want to go because 1) I was so immersed in my work, 2) I have been a lazy bum in the last couple of days and 3) I went to Boston twice last week. But I would never turn down an opportunity to hang out with the boys in Adams.

Turns out Erik made a spontaneous reservation at the Harvard Club of Boston for dinner, so we took a cab to the clubhouse around 7:15 and had a pleasant dinner there. I got the broiled haddock with jasmine rice and scallion cake, which was quite delicious! I asked to skip the butter because I am watching my waistline...All the guys got the duck confit, which was tempting to order only because it came with acorn squash. Haha

Traditional Harvard Club Broiled Boston Haddock, Jasmine & Scallion Rice Cakes, Roasted Asparagus, Gingered Carrots Topped with Maitre d´ Butter. The haddock was juicy (can't stand dry fish!) but I wished it had been broiled without the bread crumbs on the outside. The highlight for me, however, wasn't the haddock, but the rice cake. I think it was lightly pan-fried because the rice cake was super crunchy.

Sea Salt & Oil Poached “Duck Confit”
Pan Seared with Porcini Mushroom Ravioli with Marinara & Brandy Soaked Plums
Roasted Acorn Squash & Micro Greens with Roasted Garlic Aioli

It was a really long dinner because we didn't leave the clubhouse until around 9:30, granted that we took lots of group photos and toured the place for a bit.

We walked along Newbury street, which was very reminiscent of my Boston Buddies outing with Katya just a week ago. Wow, I really am doing a good job of leaving Cambridge this year. We spotted a small mouse in Boston Commons. Yikes.

After we came back to Boston, Ash and I had a ladies night out with Monica and Luciana. We went to the Donkey Show, which was definitely a new experience that I would not mind not repeating again...a bunch of guys in g-string isn't my thing. Haha

I am glad I had 5 hours in the day to relax and have fun. Enough with studying 24/7!