Saturday, July 31, 2010

Nauset Beach Club (East Orleans, MA)

222 Main Street
East Orleans, Massachusetts
508.255.8547
website


On the day after the wedding festivities, my boyfriend A and I took it pretty easy. We had breakfast hosted by my brother-in-law D's family. As D and my sister L headed out to Martha's Vineyard for a few days of rest, A and I went to check out the beach. After our long walk, we came home to leftovers of cheese and cake from the wedding.

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A on the jetty in Provincetown.

While A napped after our long walk, I researched restaurants in Cape Cod. I narrowed them down to a couple. I let A make the final decision since he faces less choices because he's vegetarian. We decided to go to the Nauset Beach Club. The Nauset Beach Club specializes in Northern Italian cuisine and is set in an old converted beach house. By the parking lot, I spotted a garden that I assume supplies the kitchen. I think that's a good sign for a restaurant!

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The garden and Beach Club!

We were first served two pieces of bread with sage flavoured oil. I remember really enjoying the hot bread (because it was a foggy and cold evening), especially dipped in the sage oil. And I decided to share a starter and picked the risotto del giorno: grilled radicchio with shaved asparagus. It was very good and I really liked the unusual use of radicchio in the risotto.

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Top: bread and sage oil. Bottom: risotto with radicchio.

For my main dish, I ordered the linguine con vongole ($13 for the antipasto portion) since I figured clams in Cape Cod would be quite fresh. This dish was very simple and depended on the freshness of the clams. The little neck clams were great but the sauce lacked a bit of excitement.

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Linguine con vongole.

A on the other hand loved his gnocchi con asparagi ($19) and stated the homemade gnocchi was the best he had ever had. I tasted a gnocchi and had to agree it was pretty tasty. My friend C whose family hails from Northern Italy likes her gnocchi more chewy but I like them soft and melt-in-your mouth and these were in that category! (On a side note, I remember having amazing gnocchi at Tom Colicchio's Craft in NYC years ago.)

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Gnocchi con Asparagi.

With our main dishes, I decided to order a contorni. The verdure ($6) I selected consisted of escarole with garlic and carona beans and tomato confit. It was a great choice! With my Asian background, I love eating cooked greens. The dish might not look spectacular but I loved the creamy beans and the tomato confit was perfectly flavourful. Anyone would eat greens if they were served this dish. I have been obsessively searching the internet for a recipe to replicate!

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Escarole with garlic and carona beans and tomato confit.

One thing I noticed going out for dinner with A is that he encourages to stop eating when I'm full, while I'm happy to plow through sometimes. The result is that when we go for nice meals, we usually skip dessert since we are pretty full at the end of our meal. But come to think of it, I think I'd rather have a nice appetizer than dessert.

If you're looking for a nice Italian restaurant in Cape Cod, or a good restaurant in general, I really think we picked a winner!

Nauset Beach Club on Urbanspoon

For other Massachusetts posts:
* Pulled pork at Red Bones BBQ (Cambridge)
* Crab cake at Legal Seafood (Cambridge)
* Fried seafood at PJ's Seafood (Cape Cod)
* Awesome wraps at Box Lunch (Cape Cod)
* New England wedding meal (Cape Cod)
* The Mayflower (Cape Cod)
* Best ice cream at Lewis Brothers (Cape Cod)

Thursday, July 29, 2010

My Sister's Wedding

As I mentioned in previous posts, the reason I was in Cape Cod was for my sister L's nuptials to D. L and D rented a beautiful beach house in Provincetown, where we had all been staying. Months of preparation culminated to this special day. We hoped for good weather; instead it stopped raining just enough for the backyard ceremony.

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As for the food, their caterer PTown Parties Catering provided a perfect New England feast. After the ceremony, we enjoyed cocktails while L and D went to get pictures taken at the beach. Appetizers included freshly fried clams, potato latkes, mini BLT's and endive spears. I was too busy to take pictures but everything was quite tasty. Being cheese lovers, L and D also had prepared an extensive selection of cheeses.

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L thought of every detail for the wedding!

After L & D's return, we sat down for our meal (that is, after I gave my toast, which somewhat helped me regain my appetite!). We were first served clam chowder. You can't have a New England meal without, can you? It honestly was the best clam chowder I had. It struck a perfect balance of clam brininess and creaminess; I realized then that most chowders are too rich and heavy. My boyfriend A arrived right before the ceremony and enjoyed his corn chowder that he was highly praising too. (By the way, A generously offered to take food pictures of me.)

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Corn and clam chowders.

The main meal (the majority ordered the lobster) was served with jalapeno corn bread with honey butter. The corn bread was good but had a surprising kick from the jalapeno that was a bit overwhelming.

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Corn bread served with honey butter.

Finally, our lobster arrived. I have to admit I slightly regretted my lobster decision. I just didn't want to work for my food at that moment (embarrassingly, I was spoiled and got help from my mom...). However, the lobster meat couldn't be more fresh. A's vegetarian option consisted of a lasagna that seemed quite good. Each main dish was accompanied by roasted potatoes, grilled vegetables and half an ear of corn.

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Top: Lobster and lasagna. Bottom: the newlyweds getting ready to chow down!

L and D's wedding was a small affair, 30+ guests. The night was filled with different activities, from the Mexican shoe game to the anniversary dance. The night did end with traditional cakes. The chocolate mousse and carrot cakes came from Whole Foods. The prices were ridiculously reasonable compared to wedding cakes. I couldn't eat more that night but I did really enjoy the carrot cake for breakfast on the next two mornings!

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Cake time (L made the cake toppers)!

It was a beautiful wedding and a memorable night. Congratulations to my sister L and my b-i-l D! I was happy to be there as maid-of-honour! If you'd like to check out more pics, their photographer Shang Chen did an amazing job!

For other wedding meals:
* Maid-of-honour at Gastronomer's wedding
* My friend AM's wedding to L
* S & L's Wedding at Glencair Golf Club

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Fresh Scallops & Shrimps with Peppers

After enjoying the fried scallops at PJ's Seafood, I couldn't stop thinking of big, fat scallops. So while we were debating where to eat for dinner, I suggested to simply stay in and buy scallops! My mom and H went to the nearest Stop and Shop in Provincetown and picked up these babies!

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You have to admit, they look pretty amazing, don't they?

Fried Scallops
* salt and pepper, to taste
* fresh scallops
* oil

Season the scallops with salt and pepper.
Heat up oil on high.
Fry scallops for 1-2 minutes on each side . Do not overcook them; no one likes rubbery scallops! (Alternately, you can BBQ them.)

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Shrimps with Peppers
My mom also supplemented the scallops with some shrimps. Not sure if the shrimps were also from the Cape, but pretty tasty the same!

* salt and pepper, to taste
* red dried chili flakes (optional)
* 1 lb. fresh shrimps
* oil
* ½ onion, diced small
* 1 garlic clove, minced
* ½ green pepper, diced medium

Season the shrimps with salt, pepper and chili flakes.
Heat up oil on high.
Add onion, garlic and pepper until slightly softened.
Add shrimps and stir fry quickly. Do not overcook these either!
Tada!

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I wish I live near the sea all the time! Next up is the wedding post (finally)!

For other yummy seafood recipes:
* Baked Shrimp Toasts
* Potato Salmon Cakes
* Salt and Pepper Lobster
* Seafood Pie
* Shrimp & Pesto Alfredo
* Stir-Fried Broccoli and Scallops on Pan Fried Cantonese Noodles

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Box Lunch (North Eastham, MA)

Route 6
North Eastham, Massachusetts
508.255.0799

website

The Box Lunch serves wraps or as they call them, rollwiches. After reading through the many items, the Californian ($6.39) appealed to me the most: turkey, mayo, tomatoes, avocado & alfalfa sprouts. I paid extra and added bacon. The combination of ingredients was awesome. I loved the saltiness of the bacon, the creaminess of the avocado and the earthiness of the sprouts. The turkey also tasted like it was of high quality.

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The Box Lunch.

It was only when I came back the second time and ordered the same wrap, but asked for whole wheat that I realized that my first rollwich was a pita and the second time a tortilla. I preferred the pita much better. However, it didn't matter much since the second time I tried to eat it was on the day of L's wedding and I couldn't stomach much more than half anyway...!

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The Box Lunch has many locations across Cape Cod. It also has a largeselection of Cape Cod chips not available elsewhere (perfect for the chip lover like me)! If you're looking for a lunch to bring the beach, this is the perfect place to stop by!

Box Lunch on Urbanspoon

For the remaining Massachusetts posts:
* Crab cake at Legal Seafood (Cambridge)
* Pulled pork at Red Bones BBQ (Cambridge)
* Fried seafood at PJ's Seafood (Cape Cod)
* New England wedding (Cape Cod)
* Nauset Beach Club (Cape Cod)
* The Mayflower (Cape Cod)
* Lewis Brothers Homemade Ice Cream (Cape Cod)

Friday, July 23, 2010

PJ's Seafood (Wellfleet, MA)

Route 6
Wellfleet, Massachusetts
508.349.2126


As I mentioned in an earlier post, I was expecting to eat a lot of seafood on my trip to Cape Cod. So what's better than enjoying fried seafood on my first day on the Cape? While I did read Mark Bittman's article on Cape Cod restaurants, I didn't remember to bring his recommendations with me that day. It was nice to see that he had included PJ's Seafood on his list after I paid a visit.

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We were five (my mom, her husband H, my sister L, her soon-to-be husband D and myself) and decided to start with 2 8 oz. chowders: the clam chowder $3.99 and the lobster chowder for $4.99. The lobster chowder had large chunks of lobster and was our favourite while the clam chowder was a little too rich/creamy for my blood. But you can't go to New England without having clam chowder!

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Chowder two ways with the mandatory crackers!

Next, we shared a seafood platter for $23.99, made up of flounder, whole clams, shrimp and scallops. My favourite? The huge scallops, fished right in Cape Cod. They were big and sweet, and just delicious! Nothing beats fresh seafood, and scallops are definitely one of my faves! Not to say that the remaining seafood wasn't good either; the shrimps were a close second in my book!

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Seafood platter and a scallop up close!


And just because we were having fried, fatty food anyway, we ordered a basket of sweet potato criss-cross fries. I didn't even touch the regular fries that came with the seafood platter because I enjoyed these so much. I love criss-cross fries and that it was made up with sweet potato? Even better!

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Sweet potato criss-cross fries.

What a first great seafood meal! Cape Cod is definitely my kind of place!

P.J.'s Family Restaurant on Urbanspoon

For my other Massachusetts posts:
* Crab cake at Legal Seafood (Cambridge)
* Pulled pork at Red Bones BBQ (Cambridge)
* Rollwiches at Box Lunch (Cape Cod)
* New England wedding meal (Cape Cod)
* Nauset Beach Club (Cape Cod)
* The Mayflower (Provincetown)
* Lewis Brothers Homemade Ice Cream (Provincetown)

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Redbones BBQ (Cambridge, MA)

55 Chester Street
Sommerville, Massachusetts
617.628.2200
website

After walking around Cambridge while E took baby A to the doctor's, we headed to her place. Still chatting up a storm (lots of catching up to do when your friends live so far!), we finally decided on ordering BBQ from Redbones BBQ nearby. According to E and her husband T, they made great pulled pork.

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The restaurant has very colourful décor.

Unfortunately, we were running a bit behind with my mom picking me up to head to Cape Cod and the 45 minute wait for take-out. Apparently, Redbones BBQ is quite the popular joint and we witnessed this as we waited in line at the restaurant. Finally, we got our macaroni and cheese and pulled pork.

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Top: salad and mac & cheese. Bottom: pulled pork.


E has always been very healthy and made a salad with berries and mozzarella to go with our less healthy dinner. The cheese in the macaroni was perfectly gooey. I liked the pulled pork as it was not overly sweet, as I had in Montana. I had to say my goodbyes, and off to Cape Cod I went!

Redbones Barbecue on Urbanspoon

For my other Massachusetts posts:
* Crab cake at Legal Seafood (Cambridge)
* Fried seafood at PJ's Seafood (Cape Cod)
* Awesome wraps at Box Lunch (Cape Cod)
* New England wedding (Cape Cod)
* Nauset Beach Club (Cape Cod)
* The Mayflower (Cape Cod)
* Lewis Brothers Homemade Ice Cream (Cape Cod)

Monday, July 19, 2010

Legal Seafood (Cambridge, MA)

20 University Road
Cambridge, Massachusetts
617.491.9400
website

It seems my Massachusetts posts have been a long time coming... I went down there for my sister's wedding in Cape Cod. I made a pit stop in Boston (or rather, Cambridge) to visit my university friend E. I met E and her baby girl A at her office at MIT. After the Taiwanese restaurant we visited was too busy, we settled for Legal Seafood in Charles Square.

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Me and Little A in front of Legal Seafood - what a cutie!


I ordered an iced tea and it came unsweetened. It confirmed I was in the USA! In Canada, when you order iced tea, you get the soft drink Nestle type. We were served a little bun each. I think it was hot; nonetheless, I devoured it since I was famished.

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I was very much looking forward to eating as much seafood as I could during my week stay in New England. For my first seafood experience, I had Legal's Signature Crab Cake ($15.95). The crab cake, which eerily looked like an apple pie or crumble, was made up of jumbo lump crab, just as it was described on the menu. The crab cake came with a salad, mustard sauce, and choice of one side: coleslaw. The crab cake was awesome, mainly because of the quality of the crab!

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Legal's Signature Crab Cake.

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Coleslaw and lumps of crab meat!

My friend E ordered the Blackened Raw Tuna "Sashimi" ($13.50). After 9 months of being unable to eat raw fish, she couldn't resist. Unfortunately, I was too distracted catching up to take a picture of her dish. When I finally remembered, E had already eaten the accompanying seaweed salad. E seemed to have enjoyed her tuna.

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Blackened Raw Tuna "Sashimi".

It's so nice to meet up with old friends, especially over good food! Legal Seafood is a chain restaurant and has many locations in Massachusetts. However, the quality of the seafood was atypical of a chain restaurant. If you're looking for good seafood, this is a great place to go! There is definitely much more seafood posts to come!!

Legal Sea Foods - Charles Square on Urbanspoon

For my other Massachusetts posts:
* Pulled pork at Red Bones BBQ (Cambridge)
* Fried seafood at PJ's Seafood (Cape Cod)
* Awesome wraps at Box Lunch (Cape Cod)
* New England wedding (Cape Cod)
* Nauset Beach Club (Cape Cod)
* The Mayflower (Cape Cod)
* Lewis Brothers Homemade Ice Cream (Cape Cod)