Wednesday, July 17, 2013

MeiMei Street Kitchen

Tried out Mei Mei Street Kitchen food truck at Dewy Sq. yesterday. I got 2 Pork Fu Buns (perfect size for my 7yr old nephew/ 6yr old niece) and The Double Awesome for me. 

Pork Fu Bun:
This is filled with a generous portion of pork floss (that remind me of beef jerky that I use to eat when I was little). The girl in the truck described it as ham and it's "pulled". It is very wonderfully season with various spices---not to be mistaken for spicy though. The rhubarb hoisin is just the right a amount of sweetness but the minuscule amount is just asking for more. The bits of BBQ flavor chips on top is not memorable. Chips in sandwich to give a CRUNCH to the texture, right... Yes! But here it's irrelevant. This is all placed on a "house bun" which is quite good, half like the white bun that surrounds a sweet pork bun (cha siu bao) just a little more on the chewy side. 

The Double Awesome:
Two scallion pancakes with poached then fried egg and cheddar cheese and pesto spread served with a side of ketchup (that went straight into the trash, ketchup is one of those condiment I can live without). Wish there was more scallion to the scallion pancakes though, but the combo of pesto (sooo GOOD!) and melty cheese is pretty awesome. 

They're a pretty nice bunch of people (with a tagline that says "made with love" they better be hehehehe) and despite the long line (in the 90+ degree heat) the wait isn't that bad, they had it moving fairly quickly.

The menu isn't too clear though. I'm pretty apprehensive about Chinese-American food or Chinese-inspired, or Chinese-American "fusion". It's not that it's not good, but sometime I just wonder, "REALLY???" hymm and get scared. So I just wish there were more pictures to make the connection. Lastly, not so keen on the marine blue ink on the blackboard (>.>) so hard to read, but the good food made up for this.

Overall a good eat. ^__^ Their menu is extensive and changes on the daily, so try them if you find them,  http://meimeiboston.com/

Monday, July 15, 2013

The Salty Pig

First POST!--well kinda, this is a relaunch! I fell off the blog-wagon (due to laziness, and it's so much easier to just post the pic to FB) and also there are so many foodie review/critic already... But I like documenting my favorite places so here goes. Entry dedicate to Mari. ^_~

After spending a long HOT afternoon at the Sowa Market (another post on this market to come! it's so much fun, check it out if you're a local or visiting Boston) Kana-san and I decided to make our way to Back Bay (on foot!). I've been having a pounding headache all afternoon and despite the yummy Union Square Donuts' vanilla bean donut and a "chocolate sundae" cupcake from Georgetown's Cupcake (after a few hours of walking perusing the market we needed the sugar, ok) hunger for real food was setting in, so we started to look for where we can grab some tapas-style food. Toro was out of the way and even though we pass by a few bars/pubs it wasn't want we wanted  (I know I was craving some pâté spread on toast!). We were going to check out Troquet on Boylston Street but then spotted the sign with a pig on it---so cute! and the name THE SALTY PIG ---how intriguing---bacon comes to mind!!---it's certainly my comfort food! so we decided to check out the menu. We like what we saw.

DRINKS:
I had a Pimm's Cup:
I've been seeing Pimm's no.1 in a lot of summer recipes lately so when I saw it on the menu I decided to try it despite being a little apprehensive of the ginger beer that will be part of the drink. To my surprise it was gloriously refreshing and each time I sip my head pounds a little less. It tastes like lemonade. The ginger beer was not overpowering and the bubbly from the beer is so nice.

Kana-san got a raspberry lambic:
look at that color! It's beautiful! Fruity and delicious.

FOOD:
We choose the Pâté de Campange (the top image; the pâté is wrapped in bacon!) and Fromage de Tête is listed as"pork head mix with sea salt and herb). Both are labled "SP" as it's made on location. We also got fig jam but that didn't come in time for the photo session. These were serve with toasted crostini, mustard and sweet pickles. Verdict? --yuuuummmmmy! I generally LOVE pickles, but don't care for these ONLY because it's sweet---has a nice crunch though!


please excuse my messy plate :p
our free extra crostini comes in a cute copper container

For our main dish, we got the charred octopus and boy were we NOT disappointed! Served on a spread of puree chickpea, chorizo, side of crisp fennel, green chickpeas and sliced olive. The oct was nicely seasoned and cooked, tender and crispy at the end of the tentacle. The fennel was prepared via "pinzimonio" style (apparently a fancy way of saying "in oil") and perhaps a splash of lemon juice. The green chickpea was a first for both of us. Quite a nice taste and firm texture, bean-y (you know? remind me of pistachio).


The waitress was friendly and informative, the other staff members attentive too. They even hand out the check tucked inside a small moleskin notebook---filled with past patrons' comments. (should have taken a pic---next time!)

130 Darmouth Street, Boston. Across the street from Back Bay station, orange line. 
A good size venue, comfortable. There's a patio option, too. 
the shelves are stocked with pantry items, heheeh no worry they be out of an ingredients