Eat like an Italian, Drink like a Spaniard
Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010
(5 out of 5 hot dogs)
Loading ...Tre
173 Ludlow (Houston and Stanton)
Time: Monday 5-11
Price: Unlimited spaghetti and meatballs and sangria, $19
Spaghetti and sangria: two things that don’t really go together, like a Mac and Cheese burger. But that doesn’t stop it from being awesome! Right off the bat at this hip LES restaurant, they bring you a large glass of crisp, sweet sangria. And then out comes a hearty bowl of spaghetti and meatballs that would even make The Situation miss his mama. The pasta fills you up quickly; I was able to get down a bowl and a half before raising the white flag. I have no idea how many glasses of sangria were served to me, as the waiter came by and filled us up every time our glasses were half-full. We wined and dined for over two hours before the waiter cut us off, and believe me, that was plenty. This made me wonder, what other amazing things have yet to be combined? Guacamole and cheesecake? Tequila shots and lobster bisque? The world may never know…Tre also offers a Sunday-Thursday 3-course prix fixe and a bottomless mimosa brunch, blog for $19, so a ReBlog or two could definitely be in order.
(4 out of 5 hot dogs)
After a $25 Asian 
The Border Café is in Harvard Square (right by to the University), so you can eat Mexican food and simultaneously feel very studious and academic. Upon being seated, you are brought chips and salsa. They are freshly-made and warm and amazing. I may even say that they were the best tortilla chips I’ve ever had (although that is a bold statement, and I’m not sure if I’m ready to make that kind of commitment). Anyway, I ate so many of them that I wasn’t hungry by the time my main course came. The order of guacamole was $3.95, and the margaritas were $5.50 each, and I marveled that the prices here were half or even a third what you would pay in NYC. For my main course, I got fish tacos for $7.50, which came rice and beans and pico de gallo. The fish part of the tacos were fried nuggets, more of a Tex-Mex/ Cajun style than authentic Mexican food, but still good. All that, and I still haven’t told you about my favorite part of the meal. I’m a big water drinker, and usually need my glass refilled seven or eight times during a meal, especially if it’s spicy. Border Café must have known that I was coming and gave us huge plastic cups of water, the size of pitchers, so I didn’t need to have it refilled at all! This place is border-line paradise!
The Sam Adams Brewery is in Jamaica Plains, which is like the Brooklyn of Boston (cute and neighborhood-y but slightly ghetto), and they give free tours six days a week. We took the 11:45 AM Monday tour, and our guide didn’t hide the fact that she had already put a few beers away for breakfast. Her eyes were glazed over a little, but she didn’t slur or spill beer on anyone, which was classy. After about 25 minutes of walking through the brewery and learning how beer was made (blah blah blah), we got to go in the tasting room and sample the beer. Everyone was given a 7 oz. Sam Adams’ tasting glass, which we were able to take home. And we tasted four beers: Boston lager, winter lager, blueberry witbier and brick red (which is never bottled and only served at select bars in Boston!) Technically we were only supposed to have three glasses, but pitchers were being passed around freely, and I was able to have five or six glasses, which kept me feeling toasty in the bitter Boston weather.
There’s nothing better than great gelato, or even average gelato for that matter. I didn’t even realize it was possible to make crappy gelato, until my trip to Melt. Good thing it is “made exactly like they make it in Italy.” Really. I didn’t realize the gelato in Italy has artificial sweeteners and little bits of ice. I ordered the vegetable panini, which turned out to be a limp tomato, basil and mozzarella. Technically, tomatoes are fruits and basil is an herb. Maybe there was something growing on the cheese that constituted ‘vegetable,’ but one can only hope. The salad was a toddler’s handful of greens soaked in oil. I had high hopes for this lunch special, but all my hopes were melted, in a bad way.