Restaurants

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Dorchester’s dining scene just keeps on getting better. We’ve long loved places like Ashmont Grill, dbar, and The Ledge, and Savin Bar + Kitchen has been a more-than-welcome addition to our neighborhood. Not too long ago, through friends, we discovered another new favorite, Van Shabu, a hot pot and sushi bar located on Dorchester Avenue. After a lovely day of boating with Michelle and her fiancé on Saturday, we worked up quite the appetite and decided to head to Van Shabu for dinner.

We decided to share a few starters, including a healthy favorite, seaweed salad.

seaweed salad

I was feeling dehydrated and opted for iced green tea instead of alcohol, but I stole a sip of my husband’s Sapporo.

Sapporo

edamame

We also grazed on edamame and the Thai spiced wings. The dipping sauce was seriously addictive.

spicy Thai wings
And then the sushi arrived. Van Shabu has the usual sushi offerings, but they also have a pretty extensive menu of creative options.

Van Shabu sushi

We chowed down on a bunch of different rolls. I discovered at Haru that I love fruit and fish sushi, and I love that Van Shabu has a variety of fruity options.

Van Shabu sushi

Our sushi choices included the New California (fresh crab meat, avocado, cucumber, tempura flake & tobiko), Volcano (new california roll topped w/ spicy baked scallop), the Celtics (spicy white tuna, cucumber & avocado topped w/ wasabi tobiko), and one of the specials of the day, pictured below. I really loved the spicy baked scallop atop the Volcano roll. I could have dined on that alone!

Van Shabu sushi

Sushi is one of my perfect summer foods. It’s filling enough to get rid of those hunger pangs, but it also feels so light and fresh. Van Shabu also happens to be one of the few places that deliver to our house, so we are very happy. I will look forward to trying their hot pot options when it gets a little bit cooler out.

Are you a sushi fan?

Tags: Dorchester, Food, Restaurants, sushi

Our family  trip to Sanibel Island brought us to some great local restaurants. Even before we landed, I knew I would be all about the seafood and the rum, and for each dinner we had out, I sought out the two.

After our morning on the Sanibel Thriller, lunch at The Bubble Room, and hours and hours on the beach in the hot sun, we were hungry. The little ones were also very tired, so my mom offered to stay at the condo with them while my sister, brother-in-law, husband and I got dinner out. We decided to make the short drive back to the marina where the Thriller is docked to check out a little seafood place, Gramma Dot’s Seaside Saloon.

Gramma Dot's, Sanibel

Gramma Dot’s is a down-home kind of place, not at all fancy, just comfortable with good food and amazing views. I know the below is blurry, but I kind of think it looks cool like that.

Gramma Dot's, SanibelGramma Dot's, Sanibel

We decided to share a pitcher of a local-ish beer, Key West Sunset Ale.

Gramma Dot's, Sanibel

We also shared a delightful sampler of crab meatballs, fried oysters, and coconut shrimp. There’s something about fried seafood after a day at the beach. . .

fried seafood platter

The menu was pretty extensive and offered lots of seafood options. My husband went with the curried lobster salad, a cool and refreshing mix of sweet, tender lobster, celery, onion, curry, and mayo. It was incredible.

 

curried lobster salad

Grouper is a pretty popular option at Sanibel restaurants, and I definitely wanted to have some. I ordered the blackened grouper Caesar salad. It was great to have some crunchy salad, and the grouper was fantastic. The spices gave it a tiny kick, and the salad and dressing cooled it off. The fish itself was meaty, flaky, perfectly cooked. I am a grouper fan!

blackened grouper

We really enjoyed our meals as well as the friendly, relaxed vibe at Gramma Dot’s. It’s definitely not a bad thing when you can see dolphins out the window while you eat!

Sanibel Island

Work this week is sloooooowwwwww, and having a mid-week holiday has thrown me off. Did you do anything fun on the 4th?

Gramma Dot's Restaurant on Urbanspoon

Tags: beer, Florida, Food, Restaurants, Sanibel Island, seafood, Travel

Long-awaited, highly anticipated, and well-attended, the reopening of Todd English’s Charlestown Olives location made for a fabulous Tuesday night out with friends. Never having had a chance to visit the restaurant before a fire closed it in 2010, I was more than a little curious to check it out, and I really loved what I saw.

Olives Charlestown

Olives is laid out in a bright, airy, and open space with high ceilings and an open kitchen. It is beautiful, chic yet comfortable and a great place for a party.

Olives Charlestown

We were fortunate to be able to attend the media portion of the event which was complete with an olive oil tasting from Chile Olive Oil. Olive oil was the theme of the night, and it was even in the signature cocktail.

image

Have you ever had an extra virgin olive oil martini? These were delicious and strong!

olive oil martini

I brought the recipe home; I think this would make for a delicious boat drink.

olive oil martini

Passed bites like ceviche and steak tartare circulated throughout the room all night long.

image

I enjoyed these delicious little jars of carrot soup.

carrot soup

But I passed on the raw quail eggs and olive oil.

quail eggs

This tres leche cake, made with Chilean olive oil, stole the show for me. It was light, buttery with a gentle sweetness, simply delicious.

olive oil cake

Olives’ owner Todd English also circulated throughout the room all night. Despite his reputation, which has not been so great in Boston, I found him to be very gracious, stopping to take photos with everyone including our group. Now I just need to track the photos down!  He was also very sweet with his kids; it was definitely a family affair, and it was really nice to see.

I love wandering Charlestown, and I look forward to visiting Olives for dinner soon. I wish Todd English and Olives the very best as they get reacquainted with their old neighborhood.

Olives on Urbanspoon

Tags: blogger events, Charlestown, events, Food, olives, Restaurants, todd english

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