Johnny's Luncheonette

Sunday brunch was at Johnny's Luncheonette in Newton Center. We'd originally arranged to meet T and S at Chung Shing Yuan in Newtonville but the line was literally out the door and 20 people long (the students are back!) when they got there at 2pm so we decided to switch venues.



Johnny's is always a good place to go for brunch. In addition to breakfast fare, they have a whole lunch menu as well.

I like the corned beef hash at Johnny's but T's promised to take us to a place in Brookline with the BEST corned beef hash.


S and I shared the Blintzes. It was delicious, though it's hard to go wrong with lots of cheese, isn't it? :)


Belgian Waffles. This actually looks better than it tasted. The waffles could have been left on the pan a little longer.


Home fries, turkey links, and eggs over easy. Always a good choice.


Chomp Meter:
We frequent Johnny's quite a bit since we live in the area. The line isn't as bad if you go later (around 2) and parking is also fairly easy to find.

See Johnny's Luncheonette and other foodie finds on a map on Chompster.com

Johnny's Luncheonette
30 Langley Road
Newton Center MA
617 527 3223

Newbury Street Eats: Croma

I haven't been blogging much lately since I just started school again after 5 years. Yes I'm that old. It's so hard getting back in the groove of things! Thankfully this doesn't mean I've stopped eating out.

A bunch of us headed out to Croma last Friday evening since a friend was in town. Croma's a pizzeria/bar on Newbury street with outdoor seating (take note for when summer comes around again). I've only been there once before but remembered that the pizzas were good. The menu actually reminded me of the offerings at CPK but the crust is thinner.

I ordered the pesto chicken pizza and asparagi (goat cheese, tomatos, and asparagus). Both were pretty good. I didn't get to take photo's of everyone's pizzas but N got a pretty unique pie with an egg in the middle!

Asparagi


We ended off with Croma's award winning sticky toffee pudding. Delicious, though it got a tad sweet towards the end.


Chomp Meter:
Good but not spectacular. It was only alright for me. Zzzzz

Croma Boston
269 Newbury Street
Boston MA
617 247 6200

<3 Rendezvous!

Rendezvous's been on my list of restaurants to try for a while. I keep hearing about it in the press, blogs, another blog, and from friends. To start off, here's some random Rendevous facts:

- Rendezvous is housed in the former Burger King in Central Square
- Owner Steve Johnson was former co-owner of the Blue Room
- Chef Deepak Kaul was from BU
- They have a cute blog-style website and don't we all love blogs? :)

The meal we had at Rendezvous was one of the best we'd had in a while! It was tough deciding what to get since everything sounded delicious. We eventually settled on the Kumamoto Oysters and Grilled Chicken Livers with apricot, mizuna, and pancetta vinigrette. Mizuna is a japanese mustard green often found in Mesclun salads.

The oysters were fresh and sweet albeit a little small since they were kumamotos. Very delicious and a great way to start off. I like my oysters a little spicey and the horse radish gave them a kick! Yum!



The chicken livers were creamy and went amazingly well with the fresh apricot slices and pancetta. I don't often see chicken liver on the menu and was strangely drawn to it. I think it was the apricot pairing that sealed the deal for us.



For the main course, I got the Swiss Chard Dolmas while the friends got the Grilled Tuna Nicoise, Grilled Leg of Lamb, and the Grilled Pork Tenderloins with figs. I must say that the highlight of the evening was the Grilled Pork Tenderloins. When first presented, we were surprised the the pork didn't seem completely cooked and a little rare. Isn't pork supposed to be cooked for the most part? Pushing thoughts of food poisoning aside however, we ventured to take a bite of the pork and were pleasantly surprised to find that the meat was perfectly tender, juicy and absolutely delicious!!!




The tuna nicoise was another hit. It was perfectly seared and meticulously seasoned with a salt and pepper crust. The saltiness of the crust was balanced by the milder taste of the rare tuna.



I also loved my swiss chard dolmas. Swiss Chard was substituted for grape leaves and bulger for rice. The plump raisins scattered through out the bulgar added a touch of sweetness to the dish, while the roasted pine nuts provided a variety of textures. I did not even feel like I was missing out on the meat since this was a purely vegetarian dish!



The lamb was soo good too! It was mediterranean-influenced and served with roasted eggplant. Wow looks like we hit a home run with Rendezvous that night. I really liked how assorted vegetables and grains were used to accent the main ingredient of the various dishes.



With the amazing meal we had, we had to end off with dessert. Cherry-nectarin clafoutis with lemon verbena ice cream. Clafoutis as we learned from the waiter is fruit soaked in alcohol (wine I think?) and baked.

Warm chocolate cake w/hazelnut pralines & cinnamon cream. Ahhhh the heavenly goodness of chocolate.



See Rendezvous and other foodie finds on a map on Chompster.com

Rendezvous
502 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02139
617-576-1900



Chomp Meter:
I can't wait to go back! I enjoyed every bite and felt that it was money well spent at $50 per person (including a bottle of wine). We have to try the remaining 2 desserts on the menu. Oooh and the ceviche, cucumber yogurt soup, and duck! I have to tell everyone how much I like Rendezvous! Two thumbs and one paw up!

Breakfast @ Sound Bites

We wanted to try a new breakfast place last weekend. Our choices were Blue Room in Kendall Square, Stephanie's on Newbury, or Sound Bites in Somerville. We eventually settled on Sound Bites (the cheapest hah).

Pacman and I got there a little late. As we drove past, we saw that a line had already formed outside. I was surprised that our friends managed to get seats for us. Well, turns out that they had to order for us as well!

I found the experience quite stressful. Yes, the whole 20 minutes we were there :p. The place is really small and the wait staff like vultures. You have to watch for them. Seriously. They swoop in to grab your plate before you're even done. I noticed this one waiter eyeing our friend, J's plate, waiting ... just waiting for him to put his fork down. No kidding!

Anyway, I digress. The food was yummy and the friends made excellent choices on our behalf! French toast stuffed with figs and cream cheese for me, and chocolate chip pancakes with eggs for Pacman.

My french toast. Delicious!


Chomp Meter:
This is a toss up. Though the breakfast was quite delish, I wouldn't go back because 1) I don't think it's worth the wait 2) my stomach disagrees with me inhaling my breakfast and 3) there are so many other places to try!