Good Eats: Mooo....

Last week, one of our team members who works out of state came up to Boston for a couple days. For lunch, we ended up going to a restaurant called Mooo…. (yes, that’s ‘moo’ with an extra ‘o’ and 4 dots).

They are a steak shop (duh) and my manager highly recommended their burger. That’s my go-to anyway so I was pretty excited for the unveiling. The presentation was top notch as the burger was big and the fries came in a mini black pot (better than I’m describing it). I ordered my burger medium but it was definitely redder than I usually like. However, it didn’t have the usual bloody taste of something that red and it was quickly forgotten about. Even though it was juicier than I was expecting, it didn’t puddle up my plate and the burger was all-around great.

If you checked out the website link up above and saw the fanciness then you can guess how expensive it was. Although none of us ordered it, they did have a lunch deal of a 3 course meal (salad, choice of steak/chicken/fish entrée, dessert) for only $25 which seems like a great way to go if you can nap all afternoon instead of having to work. This place gets my recommendation.

Movie Review: This is 40

The sorta-sequel to Knocked Up was sorta-not that good. It reunites Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann and focuses on their family, including Mann and director Judd Apatow's real life kids. There's no Seth Rogen or Katherine Heigl, although Jason Segel makes an appearance.

The movie had funny parts but mostly was about family fighting and bickering. Brig had a great comment that this film was more like Apatow's Funny People than it was Knocked Up or The 40 Year Old Virgin. He's not looking to be hilarious as much as he is realistic. And that pretty much ruins it. Who wants to see that on the big screen? People live that every day, they don't need more of it. Movies are supposed to be entertaining; an escape from their normal lives. This movie is not... it's more of the same.

Again, the movie could be funny and was whenever Megan Fox (surprising) and Chris O'Dowd (of course) were on the screen but it really wasn't enough to save it.

Good Eats: Five Horses Tavern

This is a relatively new bar (only 1 year old!) in Davis Square that we recently visited. It had a "casual cool" vibe and the clientele was mostly collegiate and the dress code was apparently flannel.

There was a 15 minute wait to be seated so we went to the bar and got waited on by a very nice, extremely informed bartender (bartenderess?). She gave us samples of beers to try and was quick with a recommendation. She was really good at -- and clearly enjoyed -- her job.

Once we were seated, we had a waitress who I wouldn't describe as attentive but was able to answer questions we had about the menu. I got the tavern burger (good), Geary's Pale Ale (very good) and Ipswich IPA (not the best). All in all this is definitely somewhere I would return.

Hall of Fame

I'm not here to complain that nobody got into Cooperstown this year. I'm not here to rant about steroids or PEDs and players paying the price for their sins. I'm here to talk about who should be in the Hall of Fame. I have read too many articles the past two days going over the same topics so let's just cut to the chase of players who I think are worthy.

I'll start with the players who were on the ballot for the first time:

Barry Bonds - MLB's all time HR leader... he's IN
Roger Clemens - 7 Cy Young awards... he's IN
Mike Piazza - the greatest hitting catcher of all time... he's IN
Craig Biggio - 3000 hits, knew how to take a HBP, played 3 different positions... he's IN
Curt Schilling - Bloody Sock. That's all that needs to be said... he's IN
Sammy Sosa - 600 HRs, threw his back out sneezing... he's OUT

Now, the layovers:

Dale Murphy - final year on ballot: great for a period of time but faded too fast... he's OUT (and he is actually out)
Jack Morris - next year is final year on ballot: 3.90 ERA. Nothing else can sway me... he's OUT
Jeff Bagwell - one of the top 1B of his generation... he's IN
Tim Raines - second greatest leadoff hitter ever... he's IN
Lee Smith - has a bunch of saves but was never dominant... he's OUT
Edgar Martinez - the greatest DH ever... he's IN
Alan Trammel - sabermetrics work in his favor... he's IN
Larry Walker - if he hadn't played in Colorado he'd have a chance... he's OUT
Fred McGriff - Hall of Very Good maybe... he's OUT
Mark McGwire - better than Sosa but he also didn't do anything but hit homers... he's OUT
Don Mattingly - boring production. There's a place for that but not the HOF... he's OUT
Rafael Palmeiro - merit alone I think he's done enough... he's IN

So that's my HOF ballot. I already know which ones I like that probably have no shot of making it but here's to hoping.

A Massive Good Eats

Since I returned to this blog on November 29 after a 2+ month layoff I promised I would catch you up on what happened during my furlough. So far, I have checked nearly everything off my list except one: a massive Good Eats. Let's do it bullet style.

The Oceanaire (Financial District) - Went here for a work lunch. Pricey, all seafood, well designed interior.

Dempsey's (Everett) - I'd been wanting to try this place since I moved and it didn't disappoint. Great brunch spot.

Boston Market (Medford) - Might have gone once as a kid but otherwise had no familiarity with it. Good chicken but this location seemed a little odd.

Elevation Burger (PA) - We were pretty much starving after an epic basketball game but I think these burgers would have been good even in a normal lunchtime setting.

Philly Soft Pretzel Company (PA) - I'm not a pretzel aficionado but Brig is and she liked them here. Also, they were on an episode of Undercover Boss (hat tip to Sawheels for this tidbit).

El Burrito (PA) - A little hole in the wall Mexican joint but my burrito was much better than expected. And they sell Mexican Coke!

Continental Bakery (Everett) - Another spot in my neighborhood. Avoid Mike's and Modern and come on out to Continental! Not just pastries either, they bake a mean loaf of bread.

The Red Hat (Scollay Square) - I got a Groupon for this place because it's right near my office. The food was underwhelming and Brig thought the beer had a weird taste too.

Sports Grille Boston (North Station) - Went here before a Celts game and it was obviously packed. Every table had it's own TV which is pretty balla.

Anthem (Faneuil Hall) - Went here for another work lunch. It was fine but probably wouldn't feel the need to go back.

Four Burgers (Boston Common) - Big time disappointment. Ordering a burger here is harder than it should be and the fries are worthless.

The Tip Tap Room (Scollay Square) - A new spot that just opened up by my office. Had a great time here.

The Painted Burro (Davis Square) - Recommended by a friend of ours who also eats out a lot. My tostada was fantastic.

*As Brig pointed out in the comments I completely forgot the coup-de-grace. There is a Brazilian steakhouse in our 'hood appropriately named Braza. It is terrible. Bad service, bad seating, bad heating (they had a space heater out in the open) and bad food. The only thing that made it worthwhile was that I had a Groupon so it cost $0 because our waitress couldn't even bother to bring us the beers we ordered. FAIL