Get Fluff on This - Local 149, Chalkboard tables & Fried Fluffernutters

Local 149
149 P Street
South Boston, MA

Pulling up to Local is a site to behold.  The exterior is one that really impressed.  I definitely had a, "Wow, this place is nice." moment when arriving.  Walking in you see a large bar with seats all around.  To the right, the seats are high top.  To the left, the bar meets the elevated dining room so the seats are low to the ground and but you're sitting as high as the people across your way.  It's such a cool feature.  Everything else inside is impressive.  The artwork, the lighting fixtures, the booths and Chalkboard top tables...Yes, complete with a dish of chalk.  Fantastic detail.  You'll like the setting immediately here.  It's a lot different than the old Farragut House, which used to reside in this spot.

Everyone has their Thirsty Thursday spot.  No matter what age or lifestyle you're living, everyone calls it Thirsty Thursday.  Local 149 was packed to the gills last night.  And I don't think it was the Bruin's playoff game that dragged these patrons out.  The game was on every TV, but people seemed like they were there for the beer and the food and the chatter.

YES, the chatter.  I am just now getting my hearing back and talking in my indoor voice.  Whew!  It's worth mentioning that Local is really loud.  You're going to notice it right away, so might as well take the bull by the horns.  The music isn't too loud and the TVs aren't blaring.  It's simply the wide opened floor plan that allows your voice to pull a Till' Tuesday and carry...Speaking of which, the music you could hear was kick ass.  Church, the Cure, Blondie, The Smiths.  I've never heard the Smith's "Ask" on at ... anywhere.  I've never heard that song anywhere except in my car.  Great music.

I know you want me to get around to the main event, the Fluffernutter.  But we've got to slow it down, 'buds. 

While we were drinking our draft Pretty Things out of snifters & supposed to be looking over the menu, we decided it would be more fun to do arts 'n crafts on the table.  We, being me and my date, Ash.  Bubble letters, flowers, comics, graffiti.  We tagged that table up before we even put in our order.  I am a huge fan of Chalkboard tables.  I might have to redo the top of my kitchen table...

We decided to share a cheese plate. the Seaweed and Salt fries and 2 salads before our dessert.  I mean, it was after 9pm, so we weren't looking to pack away heavy entrees like the Braised Short Ribs or the Chicken & Waffles.

Ash's Salt 'n Peppa art

We opted to start with the Champlaign cheese plate, which was delish.  The portion of cheese presented was small, but it went a long way because it was so creamy and spreadable.  It was much like a goat cheese.  Tangy and addicting.  I actually wish I had some right now.  Order this.

Next we had the Taco Salad and the Beet Salad.  The taco salad was not your run of the mill tortilla shell with ground beef and diced tomatoes.  This was a beautifully purple cabbage shell stuffed with lettuce, duck ragu bologonese, avocado and Frito's.  A bit of high end with some guilty pleasure snacks as garnish.  So inventive.

The beet salad was very aromatic.  The moment it was put down in front of us, I couldn't help but grimace.  What was the smell?  It was familiar and strong.  Truffle oil.  To the extreme.  The salad of diced red and yellow beets, garnished with pork cracklings and candied beet florets was bathing in truffle oil.  Now I love me some truffle oil.  Hooo-wee!  It was eye watering.  But really delicious.  The prettiest part of the salad?  The beautiful, tiny fried quail eggs.  Beets and fried eggs is a winning combination.  I felt really fancy eating these salads.  They were definitely both kicked up to 11.

The fries were good, too.  I didn't catch the Seaweed element.  I've eaten seaweed plenty of times.  They were really just salted fries that were cooked perfectly.  So, really, I guess I can't complain.  They tasted good...but again, I didn't get the seaweed factor.

For our next act, we ordered a round of Leather Lips (great craft beers on tap) and the Fried Fluffernutter.  And then we may have also ordered some Prosecco.  Thirsty. 

We were totally amped for the arrival of our fried dessert.  We couldn't wait to dig in.  And when it came out of the kitchen, I swear it saw glowing. 

The Fried Fluffernutter was a peanutbutter, banana and fluff sandwich that was fried, covered in powered sugar and a Raspberry Foam.  Sounded just crazy enough to work...but it didn't.  Not for us.  We found the peanutbutter to make your mouth very dry and foam was really sour and off putting.  The edges of the sandwich, where most of the fluff was hiding, was the best part.  Other than that, it was really dry and disappointing.

That being said, Southie really has a great new spot on P Street.  The beer selection is amazing.  Seriously. Don't go in there and order a Mich Ultra (like I normally would.).  Order the Pretty Thing's St. Boltoph Brown.  That was my fav of the night.  And true, the dessert wasn't what we'd hoped, the food is definitely worth checking out.  Go, enjoy the faire, the art, the atmosphere.  Just avoid anything fluff and maybe bring some ear plugs.

Fat Cat? Fat AWESOME!

Location: Fat Cat in Quincy

Meal: Din Din

I dined with these cats: L and SJ

Cost: $70.00 for 2 apps, 3 meals and 3 cocktails

Meeee-ow, did we eat well tonight! And so did half of Quincy, let me tell you. Was the entire town there on a Tuesday night? I think so! You'd have thought it was the weekend. When SJ and I walked up, there was a crowd outside standing around, there was a line for the hostess stand...every table was slammed. But there was room at the bar, so we mosied on over to wait for L and have a cocktail.

Well, the night almost took a drastic turn at the bar, as I almost clawed out the eyes of a tom cat, trying to deny me a seat at the bar. This is not reflection on the establishment itself. You can't screen your customers...but if it were possible, the radar for douchbag would have been off the charts for that particular patron. Luckily, I'm awesome at doing what I want and I got my seat. And then I proceeded to order the Red Wine Sangria...sad...Wish I hadn't. It tasted like cinnamon juice. But I drank the entire thing.

Sometime between the douche patron almost losing his eyes and the sangria debacle, L showed up and we were seated. We kats immediately batted around the cocktail menu like a ball of yarn. I got an Alley Cat, which basically tasted like a Cosmo. And that is a good thing, so I was pleased. L got a Margarita, which is only served on the rocks, just like she hoped. SJ got the Hello Kitty because it was a pineapple drink...We all purred with delight. Good drinks.

To start we ordered the Fried Dill Pickle slices (thanks for the suggestion Christine Mc!) and the Hand Cut Fries in the Garlic & Parsley seasoning with BBQ Sauce. The Pickles were fun! Not as crispy as I expected. Different, for sure. The dipping sauce was amazing. It was a mixture of Cajun spices, mayo and sour cream. It was so good that I dipped the fries in it, too. The Fries, themselves, were meowlicious. Prrrrrrrr! I want to eat them everyday. They were covered in chopped, raw garlic that made my socks curl. And I wasn't even wearing socks!!!

For dinner, L got the Pulled Pork sandwich with a side of Mac and Cheese. It looked and tasted phenomenal, covered with Onion Strings. SJ and I shared a Ceaser Salad and the Mac N Cheese with Hot Dogs. And let me tell you, there was a lot of bark in every bite! If I had a voice, I would have been singing "Thank you Jesus" at the top of my lungs. First of all this dish was the size of a plasma television - there was so much pasta that SJ and I could not finish it. We had enough left to split the leftovers evenly, which was enough to each be eating for a week! In addition to the cheese and hot doggy goodness, I liked the garnish of the tomato slices, as well. It brought a nice fresh flavor to the meal.

After dinner we had no room for dessert...although we should have made room, considering we were celebrating SJ's bday...sorry SJ, guess we pussied out on that one. But we love you, we love Fat Cat and we loved the bread...have I mentioned the bread yet??? Um...yum. Crusty bread AND corn bread. Love combos.

Final Verdict: Fat Cat receives 9 lives from this feline. Despite the douchy guy at the bar, it was an extremely Delicious and exciting Tuesday.