Panera Bagel

Running late to work and hungry, I stopped at Panera for a bagel and a coffee. I picked the Asiago cheese bagel with veggie cream cheese, and a medium hot coffee.

First, I found I had to pump my own coffee. I kind of don't like that. I'm okay with adding my own milk but I'd like to get the cup with the coffee already in it.

Second, the bagel was to go and they didn't spread the cream cheese. Now, if it's to go, wouldn't you think, maybe I'm getting in my car, so how would I spread the cheese while driving? So I did it myself in the place.

Third, the bagel wasn't really a good bagel. It actually seemed like it was made from butter roll dough. It was really greasy, nothing like those great Bagel Time bagels. I wish I had just gone there. It cost about $4. Too much, if you ask me.

Satisfying the Mall Thirst

You have five dollars, you’ve been at the mall for four hours, and you’re really thirsty. You need a pick-me-up, and a water or a Coke just won’t do. You want a good, satisfying beverage. I’ve been in this situation twice recently, both times at the Providence Place Mall.

The first time, I’d been to each and every shoe store twice, and bought some at the very first store I entered. This day called for an Orange Julius. Last time I had one was probably at least 5 years ago, at the Auburn Mall. The OJ tastes the same as it did back in the day: orangey, creamy, and slightly unnatural. This one wasn’t as foamy as I remembered, but it did the trick. Price: about $4.

The second time, I was wiped out and had a long night ahead of me, so I opted for the caffeinated route. There’s a coffee shop right outside of Nordstrom’s. You can get normal coffee there, plus all the fancy stuff, and dessert. I went for the Iced Caffe Mocha. My shopping buddy got the Iced Caramel Mocha. Both were fantastic: just enough caffeine, the flavoring didn’t overpower the coffee flavor, and the grande was large enough to make it all the way home from Providence to Worcester (though, I sipped it kind of slowly, I’ll admit.) Price: about $9 for the two coffees.

(by the way, I think $4 is RIDICULOUS for an iced coffee, but I'll indulge if the occasion is right.)

Mmm Pudding

Today I had a chocolate pudding from the work cafeteria. For a mere 90 cents, I got a nice big cup of puddin' with a dollop of whipped cream on top. It it the spot, right about when I was getting sleepy at my desk.

This brings me to another pudding I had recently. It was Jell-o pudding snack cups from the refrigerated section of the grocery store. It was really pretty awful. Not creamy at all, kind of metallic tasting, and not low-fat. If it was low-fat, I'd be okay with it, because at least I would have saved some calories on bad flavor. But this was definitely not worth the calories. I think the Hunt's ones are good. But def not the Jell-o. Bleah.

O'Connor's

Saturday night, there were 2 of us for dinner, and we didn't do call-ahead seating for O'Connor's. The wait was about 30 minutes, which wasn't bad, considering the parking lot was almost full. At O'Connor's, there's no better place to wait than the bar. They have a great selection of beers on tap (Guinness, Wachusett, Harpoon, Bass, and revolving microbrews). I chose the Opa Opa IPA. Pretty tasty. Not as hoppy as Harpoon but good. My Dining Companion (DC for short) had the Guinness and said it was very good.

We were seated in practically the last table in the place - meaning, it was like, waaayyy in the back, around two corners, and in the corner. Not a bad table at all, really.

For dinner, I had the Tortellini and Chicken. Delicious breaded chicken sliced and placed atop a large bowl of tortellini swimming in a parmesan cream sauce, with peas and bacon. Really good. Before, I had a salad, which was also great. Fresh lettuce, good Italian dressing (I think it was a red wine vinaigrette). I might have ordered the soup instead of the salad but the choices were Broccoli and Cheese, Cream of Mushroom, and Clam Chowder. Why do restaurants do that? Put all cream soups on the same day? How about a broth soup, people?

DC ordered the Tom Brady, which is an 8oz filet with blue cheese on top, all on top of mashed potatoes and sauteed onions. I tried the filet and it was really flavorful. The blue cheese added just enough zest, and it was cooked exactly as ordered.

No room for dessert.

Two tips for the ladies:

1) Don't match your dining companion drink for drink if you don't want to forget your leftovers in the car.

2) Leave breadcrumbs when going to the bathroom. You might get lost going back to your seat.

Awkward Coffee Experience

I'm not a coffee snob. Quite the opposite. At work, there's coffee to buy (Seattle's Best but not really the best, in my opinion - too bitter) and there's coffee for free. I like good coffee, but I don't want to pay for it every day. I'd rather buy shoes than coffee. The free coffee is some no-name brand, and every day there's regular, decaf, and two flavored ones. The flavored ones are always gross, like mint chocolate or acid-stomach Irish Creme. In the summer, there's free iced coffee, but they stop making it around September. So, what I do is, fill a big cup with ice, pour some plain free coffee in the cup, add more ice, and top it off with skim. What I get is a big cup of watery iced coffee. Not delicious, but it gets me through the morning, I don't get really jittery from excess caffeine, and I avoid the coffee-withdrawal headache I'd get if I skipped it.

On the days I'm really late to work, I'll often stop at the Bean Counter on Highland Street. My theory is, if you're late, you're late. What's 5 more minutes? I either get an iced coffee, with milk (they don't have skim, so I have real milk), or a hot coffee, something with some flavor. The iced coffee at the Bean is good enough to drink black, and I always like the hot coffees as well. Recently, I started getting lattes, and you really can't go wrong with a latte. They're better at Starbucks than at Dunkin Donuts, and are also good at Bean and the new place in Holden, Sweets and Java.

To get to the point, usually I'm in the Bean Counter in the morning, and I'm in and out pretty quickly. It's always pretty busy, with people in line and sitting at tables. The other night, I met a friend for a coffee around 6 pm. It was Thursday (I know this because I had to get home for a new episode of The Office), and the first room (the one where you enter) was pretty empty. Just one person at the front table. We decided to sit in the second room, which I guess you could call the back, even though it's just as close to the street at the first room. Anyway, there was just one other party at first, and they were pretty quiet. Then a few more tables became filled up, with people either reading, on a laptop, or writing a paper or something. It was still really quiet, even with all these people. Except, of course, for me and my friend. We were catching up, and were talking at a normal volume, not loud or anything, but after a while, we felt like we should start - not quite whispering - but - talking more softly. There wasn't any music playing where we were. I think there was a radio on behind the counter but it seemed to be for the people working there, not for the customers. The lights were blazing bright, the walls were painted a light beige, and the tables were white formica-topped. There were paintings on the walls, but they were really small, and got lost on the sand-colored wall.

Basically, the atmosphere sucked. The coffee was good, but I wouldn't go there again for a sit-down coffee. This isn't the first time I've felt this vibe, and if it hasn't changed in two years, it's probably not going to. My suggestion: warm up the wall color, add some non-fluorescent lighting, some tablecloths or something, and definitely a little background music.

The Flatbread Company Falls Flat

A group of 9 visited the Flatbread Company in Bedford, Mass. last week for a lunch. The food was simple and okay but the setup and functioning of the place was disgusting and annoying. More to follow . . . with pix.

I want to wash out my mouth with soap. It would taste better.

Recently, Price Chopper jumped on the organic foods bandwagon and introduced a brand called Wild Oats. They even had two coupons in their sale flyer recently, so I clipped them and went happily to the Chopper to pickup some discounted organic eats.

One coupon was $1 off any Wild Oats brand item. I opted for this delicious looking Orange Tangerine natural soda. It was a nice orange color, decent packaging, and usually natural sodas are pretty tasty. Not this one. This nastiness tasted like old musty orange drink. Drink, not juice. It was gross, and a total waste of money on my part and effort on theirs. What a disappointment.

If you're looking for a natural soda, I'd say, try Hansen's. For orange soda, Polar Orange Dry is my pick any day. Regular, not diet.

Update!
I emailed Wild Oats with my complaint:

Dear Wild Oats,

I recently purchased Wild Oats Natural Orange Tangerine Italian Soda, and
was completely dissatisfied. The product tasted old, and didn\'t really
taste like tangerine at all. I only had one glass and discarded more than
half the bottle. I paid $.99 for it (priced at 1.99 - 1.00 off coupon.)
The cap says: Prod:052606, best by 082607. It is not out of date.

So...not sure if it's a bad batch, but the bottle says Satisfaction
Guaranteed and I am not satisfied.

Here's the reply (which came just three hours later):

Thank you for contacting Wild Oats with your comments. I am sorry to hear
about your poor experience with our soda. I would like to offer you a coupon
to replace this item. If you are interested, please reply with your address
and I will get one in the mail for you right away.

Thanks, Mom, for making the suggestion to contact them!

Good Ice Cream

Ben and Jerry's on Newbury Street


Overall, a good experience here. The line was practically out the door when we got there, but it moved quickly and in no time, we were embarking on a sugar rush.

I paired the Phish Food (surf and turf edition, with both chocolate cows and fish) with Strawberry Cheesecake on a sugar cone. Both delicious. The SC tasted a lot like cheesecake, and the Phish Food was, as always, great. Chocolate ice cream, caramel swirl, chocolate fish. It was a beautiful day for a snack and we were even able to get a table outside in the sun.

My nephew got the Black Raspberry frozen yogurt. He's a Black Rasp connoisseur - gets it everywhere he goes. He seemed quite pleased with it and ate the entire thing before I'd even finished my first scoop. I noticed that there were real raspberry chunks swirled in. Impressive.

My brother got the new flavor, Creme Brulee. Custard ice cream with swirled caramelized sugar. The caramelized sugar was crunchy, not smooth or soft like caramel. He said it was good.

One final note: You know it's expensive. You could buy a pint for less than you pay for a small cone (2 scoops) but I don't think there's a 7 Eleven on Newbury Street.

Miracle of Science

Saturday night
Miracle of Science Bar and Grille
321 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge

Out for a few beers with a brother and a friend on Saturday night. Where to go in Boston when you're driving, don't want to pay for parking, want good beer on tap (you know, not clear beer like Bud light), and maybe a little snack? We tried the Miracle of Science. The parking was easy, just around the corner. We got there around 10 and were able to get a table with 1 chair and a bench, so room for 3.

It was pretty busy - great people watching at this bar.

The food menu is listed on a chalkboard, in a periodic table of elements. Element "Hb" was for a hamburger.

I shared a chicken quesadilla with my brother. It was delicious, reasonably priced ($4.95, I think), and large. They had 5 beers on tap, including Guiness, Ipswich Ale (I had it, it was good), Bass (also good), and HopDevil IPA.

I'd definitely go back here if I was looking for a casual dinner and good beer, with atmosphere.