Revisiting Boca Bistro

The other night my date and I went over to Boca Bistro for a romantic evening. I had such a great experience the last time we were there, I couldn't wait to try some more tapas! Boca was hopping by the time we got there so we were seated somewhat in the corner. I have to say though, it was quite the corner. I loved looking at the extensive wine collection, the wine boxes built into the wall, the tables made out of doors...Boca Bistro has got an amazing decorative atmosphere. Our friendly waitress came over to take our orders and talk to us about the specials...here's what we ended up with...

Artichoke hearts wrapped in bacon...even when I took the bacon off it was incredibly delicious, our waitress told us this dish was selling out right and left and I believe it, it was amazing!

Calamares Fritos, a big platter of perfectly cooked calamari. I enjoyed this dish last time I was there, and it was even better this time, incredible flavor and texture and I couldn't get enough of the garlic aioli.

This dish was the surprise winner of the night - Espinacas con Garbanzos - spinach with chick peas, raisins, almonds and garlic. I highly recommend you try this dish, the subtle sweetness of the raisins with the garlic...yum

Gambas Al Ajillo - shrimp with garlic and lemon. Save some of your bread for dipping, you're going to have your fair share of garlic by the end of the night, and it's going to be great.

Pimientos de Padron, these little guys are hot! We were told that about one in ten of these peppers pack a punch, but I'm pretty sure the first four I ate all had my mouth on fire. We only ate about half, they are tasty but make sure you've got a full glass of water and lots of bread on hand.

While we were enjoying our tapas both the owner and then the manager came over to see how we were doing, you gotta love that personal attention. Everyone at Boca is incredibly helpful and friendly, everything you would want in a restaurant. If you haven't already tried Boca Bistro, what are you waiting for? Taste a little bit of everything and then let me know what your favorite was!

Revisiting The Living Room

So last time I went to The Living Room I wasn't blown away, but I heard that they had changed things up a bit so I wanted to head over and check it out. I went with two friends during the week and we got our choice of tables. They had added even more couches since last time I was there, I love that you can lounge with class during happy hour. We ordered our drinks (sidecar for myself) and checked out the new menu.

The new menu isn't on their website, but it's pretty straight to the point. There's a few appetizers and then two build your own options. There's a build your own burger section and then a build your own poutine section. Poutine is basically an amazing guilty pleasure/comfort food, french fries smothered in gravy and cheese curds. I ended up getting veggie gravy, spinach, cheese curds, grilled onions and truffle oil. Pretty sophisticated poutine if I do say so myself...

Sorry the picture's so fuzzy, it's was pretty low lighting that night. My friends ended up building their own poutine dishes as well, and I would show you pictures of theirs but they pretty much look the same. Now a dinner of french fries may not be the healthiest of options, but it was incredibly tasty! Especially on a cold night this cozy dinner really hit the spot. The Living Room has definitely changed it's style since last time I was there, and I think it's starting to grow on me...what have your experiences been like? 

Revisiting The Turf Club

I went to The Turf Club almost a year ago and thought I would check it out again now that it's got Beverly and seems to have been making an effort to mix things up a bit. We walked on over and once we got there, around 12:30 on a Sunday morning, we were literally the only people there. It's like nobody knows about the place or something! It was nice not to have to wait for a table for Sunday brunch, but it's a little unsettling to walk in to a completely empty restaurant.

After settling in and ordering a coffee we checked out the menu - and it certainly looked like things had changed since last time I was there - and I recognized some of the choices from Beverly's menu. I ended up ordering a German Apple Pancake with homemade coconut syrup.

It was huge! I had never had a german apple pancake before, but it kind of reminded me of a popover. It was pretty good, but I think I would have preferred to have shared it and then gotten something with a little more substance, like eggs, on the side. As much as I love sweets, sometimes I need a savory breakfast that I can really dig in to and feel full afterwards. With this dish, I could only eat about half of it until I slid it over to my date to finish off.

The coconut syrup was really interesting too. I don't know why, but when I saw it on the menu I assumed it would be coconut flavored maple syrup. Instead it was exactly what the menu said it was, coconut syrup! It felt like something that you would use to flavor something else like coffee, it was a bit too intense when I poured it all over the apple pancake. Oh well, live and learn.

My date started off with the fresh fruit of the day and the Smoked Salmon Platter.

I'm not gonna lie, the fruit was pretty disappointing. The honeydew was barely ripe and there was probably a grand total of two sliced strawberries in there. And how much did this cost? $4.50, which is probably about how much an entire honeydew costs. I was hoping it was going to be the kind of honeydew that literally melts in your mouth it's so ripe, but that was definitely not the case. Now that I'm thinking of it, the last time I was there they had an issue with their fresh fruit...

The Smoked Salmon Platter certainly looked impressive...I don't think I've ever seen smoked salmon standing up like that...

This was pretty much a fancy do-it-yourself bagel and lox sandwich...which don't get me wrong is one of my favorite breakfasts, but I really don't think it needs to cost $15. Overall I felt that our meal was pretty overpriced, when the quality of food was only average. The one positive aspect of our meal was we had an extremely friendly waiter who was humming his way around the restaurant and always asking if there was anything else we needed. The thing is though, you need more than a great waiter to make me want to come back and I think my second experience at The Turf Club may have been my last. 

GO VOTE!

Hey guys, go get your vote on today! Mamatoga's got the scoop on some great voter discounts and specials downtown. Anyone check them out yet? Always nice to get a little perk for voting, don't you think?