Good Eats: Saus

Saus is a little Belgian restaurant in the strip of bars between Faneuil and Haymarket. They are known for their waffles and fries but they take their name from the smorgasbord of sauces they have available.

We were the first people there (it opens at Noon on Sundays) but it filled up quickly. By the time we had finished the rest of the tables were full with customers. We were there with another couple so we were able to try multiple sauces. We ordered a large fry with the vampire slayer dipping sauce (garlic-y) and they ordered theirs with the cheddar & duvel ale (Belgian beer) sauce. Then we got a waffle with caramel sauce and they got one with lemon sauce.

The fries were absolutely fantastic. I actually preferred the cheese/ale sauce but even without dipping them the fries were top notch. However, the waffle was way too sweet for me. It was definitely more dessert-y than what we Americans eat as a breakfast food. Brig downed it with no trouble though. (Of course she did.)

For an entrée, I ordered a frikandel sandwich which they described as a hamburger/sausage type deal. I got the double cheddar version (another awesome sauce) and it was the greatest new thing I’ve tried in a long time. Remember our trip to Jacob Wirth when I tried knockwurst for the first time and found I liked it? (Insert blog link; wait, I didn't write one because Brig beat me to it and she didn't mention the food at all.) This frikandel blows it away as far as a new taste that I enjoy.

If that somehow doesn’t catch your interest they have other sandwiches like a chicken wrap and faux falafel (no chickpeas). I want to go back to get another frikandel and try a new sauce. There are so many choices you will never run out of options… or excuses to stop going. Let’s eat our way through the menu!

Movie Review: Ted

Last night, Brigid and I saw Ted, a movie we starred in. OK, a movie we were extras in. You can’t see us but we were there at the Hatch Shell as part of the crowd at the Norah Jones concert. Pretty cool, huh?

The movie was absolutely hilarious and made even better by the fact that it was filmed locally and we could point out places we knew. It made it more realistic which you’d think would be difficult for a movie about a teddy bear that comes to life, but even that was well done. Young Mark Wahlberg’s parents lost their shit and thought it was possessed and then it gained national attention and went on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.

Mark Wahlberg was really good at playing one of those “man-childs” who is 35 years old but completely irresponsible about his life. Seth MacFarlane’s Ted was as foul-mouthed and ridiculous (alcohol, drugs, hookers) as I had hoped. Even Mila Kunis got to play more than just “the girlfriend” and had a great scene cleaning up a “mess” on the floor. (Or maybe the floor was on the “mess”?)

Take your friends, take a date, just go see it.

Plumbing, Winning and Parenting

This was a pretty interesting week from a handyman perspective. We had a plumber come to our house because one of our sink basins wasn’t draining/our garbage disposal wasn’t working/our dishwasher wasn’t draining. He managed to fix the sink and disposal but didn’t even touch the dishwasher. Apparently, that’s not Roto Rooter’s business. So Brig tried calling GE to get a technician out but they only work M-F 8-5 apparently. So we said “Eff that” and got our hands dirty (and wet) but drained (and cleaned) that dishwasher ourselves. So we still can’t use it but it’s not a pressing issue anymore.

Saturday morning we were up watching Wimbledon and I got the urge to play tennis. Brig consented and we headed over to the new courts we discovered last week. They are actually nice courts and in good shape. I’m not going to say who won our match but I will say it was the greatest comeback of all time and Brig didn’t talk to me all afternoon. (Did I say too much?)

Sunday we went up to see our friends Jason and Kristen and their new baby Samantha! She was so small (less than 7 pounds) but so cute. She didn’t make a fuss at all until I held her :-( It was my first baby-holding experience. It didn’t feel natural lol. Anyway, they did her room in a safari theme and it was the coolest ever. The monkey toy I brought her fit in perfectly.

After catching up for a couple hours we decided to go shoot some hoops. Jason informed me that the basket was a little off and boy was he right. It’s a little lower than regulation and it’s really loose. We were throwing down some dunks and afraid to put any weight on it. It was a little cockeyed too so you couldn’t really shoot from the baseline. But it was perfect for showing off to your girlfriend (Brig was impressed with my aerial acrobatics).

We headed for ice cream at a great place called Mad Maggie’s. I got a frappe which actually wasn’t that bad (I prefer milkshakes). While we were eating Kristen was telling us birth stories and they were half-hilarious, half-horrifying. But a month later and everyone is doing well.

Fun on the 4th

Yesterday we went up to NH for a cookout with my family. We had soooo much food. Burgers, dogs, linguica, chicken kabobs, corn on the cob, pasta salad and potato salad. Dessert included watermelon, key lime pie, whoopee pies and a strawberry cake. Brig & I made mini hot dog rollups for an hors d’oeuvres along with tortilla chips and a mango salsa my mom made.

After lunch, Brig, my sister and I went to the park down the street to play some baseball. We grabbed a couple gloves, a bat and a ball and had ourselves a makeshift batting practice. It was a lot of fun but it was hitting 90 out there so we didn’t stay long.

The two of us stayed late because we wanted to play with sparklers and had to wait until it got dark. Brig had never used them before and realized what she was missing all these years. My sister also had some poppers that we were throwing but not all of them would pop so the girls sent me through the minefield to pop them because I was wearing shoes and they only had flip-flops. We even got to see some fireworks that were being set off at the park across the street.

Even more distracting were all the fireworks we could see from the highway as we were driving home. At first I thought it was lightning because all you could see was the night sky lighting up but then as we got closer to towns we saw the actual fireworks. I just wanted to stop and watch but I had to concentrate on the road. We made it back into Boston by 10:30 and saw people lining up in certain areas to watch the big time fireworks. We took a pass because we were pretty tuckered out but all in all it was a great day.

Good Eats: Popeye's & The Tap

You know how sometimes you just get the feeling that you’re not going to like a place? We went to The Tap on Friday, and even though we knew nothing about the place beforehand, we actively skipped over it on our initial walk-by. If you’re familiar with the Faneuil Hall area at all then you’re probably aware of the Union St. strip of bars: The Bell in Hand, Purple Shamrock, etc. Well, we wanted to try somewhere new. So we walked over to Blackstone Grill but there was a musician playing very loudly and we wanted to be able to talk. So we walked over to Hennessy’s which is one bar over from Blackstone Grill. What’s the one bar in between? The Tap. Somehow, without even vocalizing it, we didn’t consider it as an option and just kept walking to Hennessy’s. Anyway, we walked in and they also had a way too loud musician playing. So, we decided to head into The Tap (where there was no music whatsoever).

We got a table right by the window and were nicely secluded. The first sign of trouble was our 13 year old waitress. Legit, she had braces. The second sign of trouble was our food. We ordered something called tap tots as well as their nachos. The tap tots sounded promising -- “Homemade tater tots stuffed with bacon and cheese” -- but they weren’t as good as the description. Then, the nachos came out and there was one layer of cheese over the top row of chips and that was it. Everyone knows nachos are like an iceberg... the majority is beneath the surface; so to ignore them like that is a real no-no. I will never go back there.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, we had our first taste of Popeye’s on Saturday. Brig’s friends from Syracuse had been posting on Facebook about the new Popeye’s that had opened up there, so, she wanted to try the one that had recently opened in our neighborhood. It was very clean and bright and the staff was nice and helpful. I got a chicken sandwich (it comes with lettuce, pickles and mayo but I went sans pickles) and it was fantastic. I liked it better than KFC. My only complaint is I didn’t care for the mashed potatoes as much. Next time I’ll try the Cajun fries.