Now that I’ve moved back to the east coast, visits to my friend Ellen in Boston are super-easy. With the excuse of seeing her new place, I hopped on a train last Friday after work and headed north.
Myers + Chang
My first night we went to this sort of nouveau Asian place. The executive chef, Ellen told us, was on Top Chef (and looks startlingly like another chef, albeit fictional).
We had the braised pork belly buns, grilled duck kebabs, wok-charred octopus with grilled corn, sweet and sour brussel sprouts, and another dish I can’t remember. It was all very tasty.
I also had a cocktail, the Fire Monkey Mai Tai.
This ham is turkey
The next morning Aki, who was also there for the weekend, was kind enough to make us French toast. I wanted some protein so Aki fried up some leftover ham Ellen had.
It was delicious. So delicious we wanted seconds. Unfortunately Ellen had no more ham, but Aki had brought some from home. As Ellen and I ate our second batch, one of us commented, “This ham seems dry.” Another one of us said, “This ham tastes like turkey.”
“That’s because this ham is turkey,” Aki told us.
Turned out she was using “ham” as a general descriptor for luncheon meat.
Blue Hills Reservation
The next day we headed out to the Blue Hills Reservation for a hike. We were hoping to see some fall foliage, but the leaves were still pretty green.
It was also quite warm, making our trek a good workout. Luckily we had banh mi sandwiches from Ba Le Restaurant in Dorchester to give us strength.
Short Path Distillery
What better way to cap off a long hike than with a trip to gin and rum distillery?
Short Path Distillery offered a free tour and a free tasting. The tour was more of a talk — about the history of the place and how the gins and rums are made — but it was still interesting.
That is, except for one drunk guy who kept asking the same questions over and over. After a while even his girlfriend and friends were like, “Dude, shut up.”
The tasting was more fun because free booze. My favorites were a gin infused with star anise and this sweet hibiscus-infused rum. Aki got a bottle of that. I should have too.
Hokkaido Ramen Santouka
I always crave something salty after drinking so ramen from one of our favorite go-to Boston places hit the spot.
The ramen was yummy as usual. They’ve expanded their menu since I was last there. Now they have these combo dishes, which I got.
Ramen with an egg and gyoza. I shared the gyoza.
Already looking forward to my next visit!