BarLola: Tapas, Spirits and Crate & Barrel

BarLola
www.barlola.com
160 Commonwealth Ave
Boston, MA

Tapas on the corner of Darthmouth St & Comm Ave - Outdoor seating available.

Hey 'buds!  Monday.  Woof.  While you're back to the daily grind of the monotonous 9-5, take a few minutes for yourself.  That's what Boston Revue is here for.

And if you need to find a place in the city to have your next mid-sized function or gathering, BarLola can help!

A respectable group of around 20 women gathered there this weekend to honor our pal, and bride-to-be, D.  Inside BarLola we were set up in a semi private room behind the bar with banquette seating and cozy pillows.  The walls and ceilings are exposed brick with lots of wrought iron decor and vintage art.  Very charming.

Taking the walk through BarLola, the bar area was filled with sports fans, while the outdoor seating, set below street level, was at capacity as well. 

Back in the private room, we had a really nice stream of music, set at the perfect volume and plenty of seating and little tables to enjoy our Tapas and Sangria.  There was also a large table setup for gifts!  Crate & Barrel would definitely be pleased by the representation! 

Banquette seating and 1 round table with add'l chairs.

The bridesmaids provided the guests with a variety of hot and cold Tapas from the menu, along with Red and White Sangria.  You can't go wrong with variety!

We snacked on Tomato & Mozzarella, Manchego y Serranno, Calamares Fritos, Pinchos de Vieras y Uvas Negras, as well as many others.

Both of my favorites were of the seafood variety.  The Calamari was served perfectly crispy along with a zesty guacamole, almost vinaigrette, dipping sauce.  I kept going back for this.  The other winner for me was the Pinchos de Vieras, scallops skewers.  Scallops and roasted grapes.  What a delicious combo.  It was impeccable.

For a more extensive glance at the menu, be sure to check out the link posted at the top.  And if you ever pop in to BarLola, be sure to try one the Red Sangria w/ the Calamari and Scallops.  Your 'buds will be thankful.

Congrats to our friend D and her main squeeze!

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.

A Mini Martini Sampler Vs. Sangria

Vs.

http://www.joesamerican.com/ http://www.skylinemarinabay.com/



A Spontaneous Battle of Booze
Locations: Skyline @ Marina Bay - Outdoors / Joe's American Bar & Grill - Indoors
Climate: 80s, sunny, beautiful / Drizzly rain
Partner in Crime: Iesha, drummer/singer of The Bricks

On one of the first days that felt like summer this entire...uh, summer, I experienced an afternoon of spontaneity that cannot be topped.


I started off my day at the beach, totally stunned at how hot it got and thankful that there wasn't a red flag up signally oceanic bacteria on the lifeguard stand. When this got old I gave Iesha a call, who suggested we hang out...Cocktails seemed like the natural choice. It was the weekend, afterall.


First bar: Skyline at Marina Bay. I felt so fancy. The only other time I'd ever been to Marina Bay was for a rehearsal dinner. So imagine my excitement at the thought of eating outdoors, in my bathing suit and flip flops! No sooner were we seated did we notice the gals next to us had a Mini Martini Sampler: 4 Mini Martinis on a tray in 4 different flavors. Again, it just seemed natural that we order it, as well! And we did.


The 4 flavors were: Blue Eyed Blonde, Pomegranite, Melon and Grapefruit. I initially had high hopes for the Grapefruit, but sadly it tasted like burning acid being poured down my throat. Not that I didn't finish it. The Pomegranite and Melon were oddly similar and had bitter after tastes. The Blue Eyed Blonde, however, was as pleasing to the 'buds (tastebuds) as it was the eye. It was blue and yellow and delicious. In the end, Iesha and I ended up ordering a full size Blue Eyed Blonde each. Or was it 2 more each? Hard to say.


Later we moved on to do some shopping. The mall just happened to have a Joe's American Bar & Grill, whose Sangria came highly regarded by Iesha. I'd heard her mention it in the past and we decided that there was no time like the present. There was plenty of room at the bar for us to mosey up and hunker down.

I was expecting the bartender to take 2 glasses of ice and walk over to a premade pitcher of Sangria and pour. Instead the bartender took two large high ball glasses of ice and walked right over to the booze and began to create each cocktail from scratch. And after taking one sip, you'd never tell that someone hadn't slaved all day over the wine allowing fruits and flavors to ferment. No. This shit was whipped up in no time and sucked down in no time, might I add. Delicious. We even got the recipe from the bartender, who enjoyed talking to us, which I always enjoy. Enjoyable.


So ultimately the challenge boils down to this: An outdoor setting with 3 bad martinis, and one that was exceptional versus an indoor chain restaurant with fun staff and delicious sangria that tasted like biting into a plum and an apple simultaneously.


Winner: Joe's Sangria. This concoction gets 3 Cheers from me! I highly suggest it, but cannot share the recipe. You'll have to go there and get your own chatty bartender. Hey, we put in good work to get this info.