Weekend in Portsmouth

Rolfe and I spent a long weekend at Wentworth by the Sea in New Hampshire. We got to explore the Portsmouth area and eat at a few really great places.
Friday night -- Jumping Jays Fish Cafe http://www.jumpinjays.com/menu.htm
Great bar, bartender and the best seafood we've had in a long time. We started with raw bar staples (shrimp cocktail and local oysters). They were fresh and delicious. The bar specializes in some pretty interesting concoctions. Rolfe had a dirty martini that was made with peperoncini and jalapeno juice. Very interesting. We will try to replicate this home. We had a appetizer of soft shell crab that was also a little different in presentation and preparation. This was excellent. For main courses I got local grilled Yellow fin on Caesar and Rolfe got 'diver' scallops with lobster volute sauce. Both were fantastic!! The fish was fresh and cooked perfectly with great attention to detail for sauces and sides. This restaurant gives high end seafood places in Boston a run for the money. I will drive up anytime for a meal here.
Saturday night -- The Green Monkey http://thegreenmonkey.net/menu.php
This restaurant was another great find in this town. There seems to be so many wonderful places to hang out and eat. Another place that I would like to make a return visit. We started with pork won-tons and 'grilled' romaine salad. I would say they have an Asian tilt to their menu but the salad was delicious and I just loved how the romaine wilted into the light drizzle of Caesar dressing. We both went with beef options. I got the fillet with an espresso and Chile rub and he got a rib-eye. I am not sure which starch side I liked better (both were really good). Mine came with a Gorgonzola like Au gratin and Rolfe's came with a Vermont cheddar croquette. We tried a Spanish Tempranillo that went perfectly with our dinner. They have a small but interesting wine list.
Best Breakfast in the area -
Shout out to the 'Golden Egg'. (is that just the best name for a breakfast joint?) This was just on 1A around the corner from the main road to New Castle and on the way to Portsmouth. We ate large and Delicious breakfasts Sat and Sun morning that included omelettes, muffins, blueberry pancakes, eggs Benedict etc. Great little spot that the locals seem to flock to as well as the 'vacationers'. Since I suffered with the 'charbucks' coffee at the hotel, the smooth and Delicious coffee here was a welcome respite.
Dessert? - yes we indulged on Saturday night http://www.popoversonthesquare.com/index.html
A great little coffee, cafe and dessert place right on the corner downtown called PopOver (guess what they feature). This is a comfortable spot to hang out and eat or just have a sweet or just some great coffee, espresso etc. I got the 1/2 portion of a the popover sunday. I saw the full portion go by and it was enought for 4 people. It was full of vanilla ice cream, cinnamon sugar nuts, banana slices, hot fudge and caramel sauce (oh yah - whipped cream too!) We also indulged in a piece of chocolate cream pie. That was good, but if you go, definitely get something in the popover.

Best Margaritas - The 'list'

So I am putting my 'diet' margarita at the top of the list. I call it diet because I make the 'mix' out of low sugar ingredients. I pull together - fresh lemon juice, fresh lime juice, 'light' limeade (from Minute Maid), light lemonade (from Minute Maid) and fresh OJ. I mix and add until I have the just the right flavor of sweet and sour. I have two margarita versions that are my favorite right now. The first is the basic Hornitos. I plop a few cubes in a glass, squeeze some lime (you never have enough lime) - pour in a good amount of Hornitos (Sauza), some Cointreau and then splash the home made mix. Just wonderful - and potent. So next my antioxidant version....in a blender add frozen blueberries, Sauza Gold, Bluesberry(schnapps), the homemade mix, a splash of pomegranate - blueberry juice and crushed ice. Whirl to frozen alcoholic bliss.

Now on to my list of other top margaritas-
1) The Border (Harvard, Saugus and now Burlington)
2) Margaritas (Waltham and Revere)
3) McCormack & Schmick (they squeeze everything fresh and add a sugar cube)
4) Cottonwood Cafe (haven't been there in a while, but remember them as being EXCELLENT)
5) Agave(Newburyport) - been there once, but those margaritas impressed me.

Stay tuned for Part II where we'll do the next 5 on the list.

Pre-RedSox Nosh - The 'Bleacher Bar'

What better place to hang out before a Redsox game then under the center field bleachers. There is a new bar/dining place that you can access from Landsdown St. You don't need a ticket and there is no access to the park. There is a large garage door/window that looks on to center field. Pretty cool - you can watch batting practice and other activity. I understand they close the window when the game starts. (they don't want us watching the game for free I suppose)
They have a full bar and pretty decent beer on tap and bottle. The food is simple - think deli. Lots of sandwich options, roast beef, pastrami, corned beef etc. They have the requisite sliders and fries. They don't have any appetizer options. It was a night I was going to be 'bad' and would indulge in Nachos only they don't have them. I settled on roast beef on rye - which I had to send back because they put mayo on it. What?!? Who does that? The second sandwich was pretty good. Susan got the salad with grilled chickie. They gave a good size salad and to my surprise a good amount of well seasoned chicken breast. Definitely will try that next time. Anyway... it is a novelty but I would go back.

Enjoying Kenmore Sq. while the Red Sox are Away - Eastern Standard

After a full day at the spa with Margaret (massage, Turkish scrub, facial, mani, pedi and make-up) we met the 'husbands' at Eastern Standard.

For those of that are old enough and remember the dump rat-hole (bastion of punk rock) Rathskeller..... this place is in the old site. Nothing like it - it is attached to the Hotel Commonwealth. Really nice - decor. Feel like I am in NOLA.

Great cocktails to start with. I got something called a strawberry cobbler - oh my! with infused vodka and mint - just delicious. They also offered a 'cocktail flight'. They bar staff is very accommodating. On to the food....
We started with some great apps - soft shell crab corn dog style, oysters, salad nicoise- all wonderful. I got the sage roasted chicken and Rolfe got au poivre pork tenderloin. Carmen got a sinfully rich pasta dish and Margaret got the seared Bass. This is a great place to hang out and and have creative and inspired food and cocktails. There is a lot of patio seating as well. Too bad it is a mob scene on baseball nights. Oh well. Good thing the Red Sox travel a lot.
http://www.easternstandardboston.com/ES_viewer.html

Tresca - Dinner Party Part II

Had a second dinner party with work in the same week. We went to Tresca in the North End. This is a 'new' style Italian - that focuses on Tuscan food. They have great home made pastas, meats (grilled) and seafood. I was in a rush to run to a Celtics game so I didn't really 'dine', I ate dinner quickly. We shared antipasti and cheese - that was just right. The bread baskets have really great breads, crackers and crostini. I ate a LOT of this. I tried the Fillet and it was a good piece, perfectly cooked and seasoned. We ordered a side of polenta that was fantastic. It had real corn mixed in and I will steal this idea the next time I make it. Nice touch. I am hoping that anyone that attended will post comments to this as I can't speak for them since I ran out early to catch the game and missed a lot of the dinner experience as well as dessert.

Having Tom harass the hostess (Ray Bourque's daughter) was also a nice touch to the evening.

http://www.trescanorthend.com/about.htm

Neptune Oyster - North End Seafood

We finally tried Neptune Oyster in the North End before recent Celtics playoff game. They may not have a full website yet, but they do have a full list of oysters, clam and general raw bar treats. Their daily list may change, but they offer a lot of different oysters, etc from various parts of the country. I like cold North East oysters and I had a lot to choose from. We started with Wellfleet and sampled a few others from New England. They were clean, crisp and delicious. We added shrimp cocktail and Florida Stone Crab claws - Yum! The place is tiny but comfortable if you sit at the bar. They also promote local beer and wine so I was happy they had Westport Rivers available (great wine and sparkling from Massachusetts south coast). We did dinner. I had Sturgeon (never tried it before) and Rofle got Cioppino). Food was well presented, seasoned and extremely fresh. I can't wait to return. This is a great alternative to Italian when strolling around Haymarket or Salem Street.

Avila - dinner party !

I planned a work dinner party for 11 last night at Avila. We were NOT disappointed. The cocktails, wine and food were great. I got the crispy whole Bass. It came on it's stomach and stuffed from the top. It was an interesting presentation and absolutely delicious. Everyone else seemed to like their food - from fillet Mignon to paella to veal chop. The apps and sides were tasty. (I especially liked the 'richness' of the truffle mac-n-cheese and the yucca fries). Even the simple roasted beets were earthy and caramelized perfectly.
We sampled several reds and whites - all good. My favorite was one of the Chardonnays (I forget the name)
http://www.avilarestaurant.com/

This is one of the Steve DeFillipo places. It is as consistent and expensive as it's neighbor, Davio's.

P.F Chang's - Chain Asian Adventure

Usually we do a movie then dinner so we deal with less crowds at the theater. This time we did dinner (actually, drinks, then dinner) then the movie. We went out with Dave and Jenny and both couples had PF Chang's gift cards. We used ours up (plus another 20) at the bar before meeting up with Dave and Jenny. Rolfe notes that they make a really strong and tasty Orange Margarita. I had wine - nothing special but it was good. So we had the perfunctory lettuce wraps. They were a lot better than the last time I came here. I also got the seared Ahi tuna. Dave and Jenny tried it and they don't like fish. They liked this and it was raw. We split the candy beef (Mongolian Beef), the candy chicken (lemon chicken) and a special of candy sirloin (sliced sirloin in a 'special Asian marinade'). Everything here is made with tons of sugar and tons of salt. Makes everything taste like salty candy. So you eat it, feel guilty and feel like crap the next morning. My eyes were puffy and my rings were tight. Oh well, I can't be good all the time. I do eat junk on occasion. 2 hours at the gym ha ha.
Oh by the way... we went to see Ironman - that was excellent and I highly recommend it.