Boston-"Home of the Bean and the Cod"

Unpacked and awaited the arrival of our Granddaughter, this one a Junior at Bates College in Lewiston ME. Since it was her "fall break" she joined us for the next 4 days. Our local(Cambridge) Grandson is a Freshman at Harvard and ostensibly that was the reason for the two days in the Boston area. His home is in the LA area and already he thought the weather was cold, nights in the high 50's during our visit.
Wednesday night 7 of us, 2 grandchildren and a cousins daughter and her two teenagers had a mostly seafood dinner at "Legal Sea Foods"-617-491-9400- in the Charles Hotel just off Harvard Sq. in Cambridge.
Knowing there would be many things to taste I ordered reasonably, Bombay, Lobster Roll, my only dealing with this crustacean on the trip, and an iceberg wedge salad, with the usual bacon bits, tomato's, blue cheese crumbles etc. I was not disappointed with anything nor was I with my tastes of crab cakes( from two of our party), plenty of good lump crab, Baked Scrod( Marilyn's entree), salmon and of course the shared desserts, Chocolate pudding cake and Banana's Foster. My Lobster roll was almost exclusively claw meat and was accompanied on the plate with fried onion rings and very good slaw. There was plenty, as all the items which are served are good sized portions."Legal Sea Food" is a chain, very well run with high quality food and attentive service.

Next morning, after some time at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, we met some of our granddaughter's friends on Newberry St. for lunch and some shopping. The friends had chosen "Sonsie" on Newberry St. and had scoped out a table for 5. I enjoyed a wonderful Butternut Squash soup with plenty of curry and a few other additions, crab, apple slices and mango. This I followed with Cauliflower Pizza, a first. The Cauliflower was sauteed, roasted and flavored with various spices. The pizza also contained thinly sliced prosciutto, tomato's and caramelized onions. It was an interesting combination and I shared several pieces with others. All in all it was a fun and different lunch.

The evening was a special treat. Our grandson had made a reservation at "Craigie on Main" 853 Main St. Cambridge MA, 617-497-5511. His sister had seen a food channel show on this restaurant and he and his Dad had been there for the 6 course tasting menu ( a whole evening).
At Craigie's all the food is cooked to order and the whole menu and experience is well merchandised. That's is not to say that the food and service is not first class, they are, but the selling is fairly obvious.
When Marilyn and GD ordered the "whole roast chicken", a specialty, we were told that it would take approximately 50 minutes, a very good projection. Therefore after a drink we all sampled one order of fried Pig's Tails, small bone in, slightly bar-b-qued, pork pieces which were grill to crisp perfection. For dinner I had the Veal 2 ways, veal tenderloin( slightly chewy) and beautifully prepared sweetbreads( one of my favorite foods). Our granddaughter knew what I would order before I had looked at the menu, I'm that predictable. A side of sauteed Brussels Sprout in butter and herbs completed my main course with enough of the vegetables for all to share. I drank a glass of Gunner Ventliner, as you know Austrian white, which complimented everything. A very satisfying shared berry crisp concluded my intake for the evening.
As mentioned the two women had the whole roast chicken, with Grandson taking home what was left, carcase and all, while for his main item he had the Grilled House bacon burger, he had started with Hiramsa, a sushi grade white fish first course.
The menu has very interesting selections and the wine list also contains unusual items, with prices to match.