Canary Square

I love Jamaica Plain. I am pretty sure that if we stay on the East coast, JP will be the next place we move. I first started spending time in this Boston neighborhood about three and a half years ago when I started volunteering at the MSPCA, and I have been going back ever since.

On Thursday night, after the Brugal party at the Urban Grape, we decided to swing through JP on our way home to try one of the area’s new restaurants, Canary Square.

Canary Square’s space is SO different than that of its previous occupant, Alchemist (a restaurant I really liked!). Where Alchemist was broken into rooms, Canary Square is wide open with a long bar at the far end of the room and tons of windows.

Any restaurant that starts my experience off with house-made pickles gets an immediate gold star. If these were on the menu, I would have gotten several orders. I am a pickle fiend.

Canary Square has a really good beer and cocktail menu as well as quite a few wines by the glass. It was hard to decide what to order, but I settled on a Harpoon Leviathan, a dark, strong beer served in a cute little glass. The beer was actually too dark to photograph in the dark room, but it was really good.

Deciding on a meal was even more difficult. I thought for sure I would get the SLT, a BLT with smoked salmon in place of the bacon. And I really do want to return to try that.

But, when my eyes came across a really interesting salad, my greens-craving body decided to go for it.

WARM SWISS CHARD AND CRANBERRY
fire roasted pulled chicken, pecans, poached egg, bacon
vinaigrette

Interesting, right? I love chard, and as I am going to be focusing more on getting stronger and toned in my workouts, I liked that this had a lot of protein from the egg and chicken. This was the perfect winter salad, and I never would have dreamed it up!

My husband’s meal was a little less exciting but just as delicious.

WOOD ROASTED PULLED CHICKEN
canary slaw, bbq sauce, black pepper brioche,
hand cut fries

These were some seriously good fries, thick cut, well-salted, rustic and flavorful. The slaw was quite good as well, and the tender, zesty chicken went perfectly with the peppery bread.

Canary Square was a great place for a casual and reasonably priced meal. The service was quick and friendly, the vibe was fun and relaxed, and the restaurant was bustling but not obnoxiously loud. I look forward to returning to sample some of their special cocktails.

I have been on a big greens craving lately but feeling too cold to eat salads, so warm greens it is! What have you had a craving for these days?