The Fat Cat Restaurant (Quincy, MA) and Patron's Mexican Kitchen (Allston, Boston, MA)

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*****

Two of my best friends from college got married this weekend, and we had the bachelor party for the groom Thursday.  We went for laid back, going to the F1 Boston kart racing track in Quincy, which was a blast, followed that with lunch, then went climbing at Central Rock Gym in Watertown, and finally drinks and some food in Boston at Patron's Mexican Kitchen.  Both F1 Boston and Central Rock were a blast, though I highly recommend you have some cold water on hand for the kart racing, as it is pretty easy to get overheated in there.

Lunch was at The Fat Cat Restaurant in Quincy, a superb little pub with some of the best bone-in chicken wings I have ever had.  I went for a Philly Cheesesteak, which was well made, on pretty standard bread, but with roasted peppers, caramelized onions, smoked shiitake mushrooms, and both cheddar and mozzarella cheeses.  The steak was perfect, still juicy and delicious, and the vegetables were spectacular.  It also came with hand cut french fries, which were really good and insanely crisp, but which I did not end up having much of because I was so full from the sandwich and a few wings.

Those wings were really the key to the meal; we ordered 50 for the table, as three people were having them for their primary meal, and one other person and I were just having a couple each.  The wings are big, but not gigantic, cooked perfectly so the skin was crispy and crunchy, but the meat did not seem overcooked or dry.  The exterior held the sauces well, so it did not just slough off and leave just a small amount on the wing or drumstick, but instead coated them completely and evenly.  Those sauces were the best part, and we picked three:  XXX, Cajun, and Qcity.  The XXX is a buffalo style, made with house-infused habanero vodka; it had far, far more flavor than any other sauce of an equivalent heat level that I have ever had, including the Mango Habanero from Buffalo Wild Wings, a personal favorite.  The Cajun comes as either a sauce or a dry rub, and we went dry; it was good, a little spicy, but nothing super incredible.  Qcity was my top choice, and it was also probably the simplest; essentially, it was just honey and pepper, and it was just absolutely awesome, with intense honey flavor without being overly sweet.

For dessert, I had bread pudding, which was served in a giant ramekin.  Essentially just big pieces of bread with a slightly sweet sauce, but so, so much more in flavor.  It also had a giant mound of delicious homemade whipped cream, which was closer to clotted cream than the stuff that comes in a can, both in flavor and texture.  By this point, I was so stuffed that I could not finish the bread pudding, which was very disappointing considering how incredibly good it was.

Fat Cat had a couple good options on draught, including Belhaven Scottish Ale, which I love, and Berkshire Brewing Company's Steel Rail Extra Pale Ale.  They also have a handful of interesting looking cocktails and alcoholic coffee drinks.  They do their own infusing, including the aforementioned habanero vodka.  Since Dan, the groom, is obsessed with insanely spicy things (the table gifts at the wedding were bottles of various hot sauces) we got him a shot, and the waitress (an awesome Irish lady) added a second on the house to congratulate him on getting married.  We each tried a tiny bit, and as soon as I took a very tiny sip, I felt an incredible burning sensation in my mouth and began to hiccup instantly, a phenomenon that has never occurred before.  I think Dan enjoyed the vodka, but if not, it was at the very least a very cool concept and it makes one hell of a wing sauce.

All in all, this was a really good meal, and pretty reasonably priced at under $130 for 50 wings, my sandwich (only $7, which was insane considering how much food there was and its quality), an order of fish and chips, four desserts, plus about a dozen drinks between the five of us.  I highly recommend it.
*****

Not so long ago, Allston's Sunset Grill and Tap was topped by Big City, one of the greatest beer bars in the northeast, with about 130 taps, good food, and great ambiance.  Sadly, it is now Patron's Mexican Kitchen, a mediocre bar with a couple mediocre pool tables and seriously lacking staff.  Our waiter was acceptable at best, but the manager was a major asshole, making rude and snide comments about a couple members of our party to some employees who were playing pool next to us.  We ordered wings again (they were also served the following night at the rehearsal dinner, and ordered at Amherst Brewing Company when we went out after that...Dan really likes wings), which were decent, but nothing special.  I ordered nachos, and instead of nachos, we received the $7 bowl of multicolored chips; absolutely pathetic.  The beer list has been cut tremendously, to only a couple dozen options on draught and a similar number in bottles.  I do not know what the reason for this is, as downstairs still offers over 130 taps and 380 bottle varieties.  All in all, this is no longer worth going to; just have drinks and food down at Sunset Grill and Tap.  That said, we had a good time, but only because it was a great group of people.

Kali B's Wings and Things (Turners Falls, Montague, MA)

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*****

In this area, all things wing related are judged against The Hangar Pub and Grill and their food arm, Wings Over, the rapidly growing franchise that originated in Amherst serving my fellow UMass alums.  Famed for their boneless wings and dozens of sauces, it was a staple for us as college students and has remained so since graduating several years ago (albeit with some loss of quality of late, in my opinion).  As such, anytime someone mentions that they had wings, the inevitable question is, "how did they compare to the Hangar?"

So, when Kali B's Wings and Things opened a restaurant in the former home of Ristorante DiPaolo in downtown Turners Falls, of course, everyone asked just that question.  And incredibly, the resounding response was "they're better."  That is high praise, and of course, it made me want to try the restaurant immediately; naturally, life got in the way of that, but I finally had the opportunity to try it the other day, dropping in for some wings and beer with my friend Jay.

The first thing I will say is, please, do not be put off by its location.  Turners Falls is, to say the least, a broken village, but it will never get better without places like Kali B's; plus, with its private parking lot, you do not have to leave your car parked on the street or walk a ways down Avenue A to get to it (though I forgot about the lot, and did just that).  Once you get near the restaurant, all you smell is the delicious odor of fried food.  Inside, it is a nice set up, with a few seats at the bar, some small high tops (no more than two people can comfortably sit and eat at them, I would say), and a few booths in the main room, then several more tables and two large, comfortable looking semi-circular booths for larger parties.  It is all very well lit, with some televisions in the main room that were tuned to the Red Sox post-game show, and while it does not have a dive-bar feel, it also is absolutely not going to be confused with being hoity-toity; I would say it is a perfect place for a family to have food or to go later in the evening for a drink and a snack, and everything in between.  Clearly the owner/s did their hiring with the same basic criteria as the owner of The Hangar; young, pretty, and friendly, while also being competent...good mix for a sports bar type place.

Now, the important part; the food!  Boneless wings are ordered by weight essentially, so Jay and I grabbed the "Over 1 lb" size, at a very reasonable $12 (same price as The Hangar; noticing a pattern here?), with their "hot" buffalo and honey mustard sauces, along with a large side of fried pickles.  The wings were spectacular, giant white meat chunks of well cooked meat with a crispy breading that tasted delicious.  While the buffalo sauce doused the three wings it was on, the honey mustard was less evenly coated, so there were parts of the chicken pieces that were not covered; I actually do not mind this, especially with a slightly sweet sauce like honey mustard, but it may not be everyone's favorite method.  The sauces themselves were very good, with the buffalo sauce just a little spicy (neither Jay or I could figure out what their mild must be like, since this seemed very mild to both of us), but really flavorful, much better than most similar sauces that are all heat.  This seemed very traditional, primarily just butter and a hot sauce like Frank's Red Hot, and it was delicious, among my favorite I've ever had.  The honey mustard was fine, though it is a flavor that I think is a little played out, probably because I ate so much of it as an undergrad.

The fried pickles were huge, both the portion and the individual pieces, with thick slices of dill pickle coated in rather a large amount of batter.  I really liked them, but I immediately regretted ordering the large, and we left nearly half of them uneaten as we were both stuffed and Jay didn't love them.  The batter was relatively crunchy, they stayed very hot as the heat was trapped by the fried coating, and the pickles were sharp and crisp inside.  I think a small order between two or three people would be fine, but the large was enough for at least four to six people.

So, it comes back to the question everyone must ask in this area:  "how do the wings compare to The Hangar's?"  Quite frankly, they do not.  They are different, and not in a negative or a positive way; they are just different.  I think to just grab a beer and some wings, I prefer Kali B's, but it will never replace The Hangar as the place where we gather to welcome back our friends when they return from Afghanistan, bid them farewell as they depart to start a new life (or just a summer) elsewhere, or congratulate them on a new job.  It is just plain different.  But, it is also highly recommended, and I hope it is just one of many new successful businesses in downtown Turners Falls.

Night Kitchen (Montague Center, Montague, MA) and Berkshire Brewing Company River Ale

****This Restaurant Has Closed****

The Night Kitchen, currently the Town of Montague's only upscale restaurant following the closing of Turners Falls' Ristorante DiPaolo, was a mixed bag for me.  I went with family to celebrate my step-grandmother's 80th birthday, and there were some great moments, and some things that really fell short for me.  They do get extra credit for naming themselves after the Maurice Sendak book In the Night Kitchen; Sendak was one of my favorites as a child, and though I don't specifically recall reading that book, Where the Wild Things Are will forever be on top of my list of great children's books.

As far as ambiance, the restaurant does well; it is located on the bank of a small, as best I can tell unnamed river that runs along Greenfield Rd in Montague Center, and is nicely decorated in a rustic sort of way.  It is not too dark, though the lights definitely dimmed from when I arrived at 7:00pm to when we all departed at 9:00pm, to just on the edge of where I would have thought they were too dark.  The kitchen is visible from the majority of the dining room, something which some people like, though quite honestly, unless I am eating sushi I don't really care about. 

Parsnip, Leek and Potato Soup with arugula oil and smoke paprika

The meal started with some appetizers, including the Parsnip, Potato and Leek Soup for me, and the table sharing the Grilled Flatbread with Green Olives and Broiled Parmesan Polenta.  The soup, served with an "arugula oil & smoked paprika," was nice looking, and the bright green oil was laid out attractively on top of a porridgy looking bowl of moderately creamy, slightly grainy soup.  The graininess is not actually a negative for me, as I feel that it adds some texture to the soup, but I can imagine that other people may not have as positive a reaction to that.  The soup tasted fine, a solid average offering with a strong parsnip flavor, but I did not really taste the leeks at all, which was disappointing, since they are among my favorite vegetables, and the potato was a background note at best.  I've made better myself, but since they don't offer any other soups at this time, it's not a terrible option, though I tend to object to ordering things that I can make as well or better than a restaurant. 

The polenta was flat out disappointing, served in a tiny cast iron "skillet" with garlic mushrooms and mozzarella.  The polenta itself was flavorless, thick and with a cement-like consistency.  I've made better, my mother has made better, and any Italian who ate it would probably take it as a personal insult.  All in all, one of the worst items I have ever had in a fine-dining establishment; stay away.  The flatbread, on the other hand, was spectacular.  With white Spanish anchovies and some gruyere melted on top, it was salty and savory, as well as a tiny bit sweet from some caramelized onions.  This was a great, simple, but elegant appetizer that any restaurant would be proud of, and I am still kind of regretting not grabbing another piece of it.

Entrées were also a mixed result, as I loved my dish, but my step-dad and his mother felt that theirs were served a little cooler than they should be.  In fact, my step-grandmother sent her dish, the Seared Duck Breast, back to be re-warmed.  When it returned, she very much enjoyed it.  My step-dad's Grilled Bistro Steak, which he ordered medium, was on the medium-rare side of that, which was fine with me when I tasted it, and I thought it was both well cooked and tasted great.  My mother had the Grilled Pork Rib Chop, a bone in chop stuffed with black mission figs; it was decent, better than I expected (though I must admit that I expect poor results anytime someone orders a pork chop at a restaurant, as they typically overcook them horribly; it's why I enjoy the pork chops at Hope and Olive so much), but still not as juicy as I'd have liked, though it certainly tasted good. 

My entrée was solid, a Potato Crusted Arctic Char, served with an orange and radish slaw and

Potato Crusted Arctic Char with orange radish slaw and horseradish crème

horseradish crème, with lentils and kale on the side.  The lentils were not particularly interesting, though they were nicely cooked, with just a little al dente bite to them.  The kale was also perfectly cooked, so the leaves were still bright and crisp, with a vinegar-y sauce that had some sweetness to it; it was absolutely delicious, the kind of side that goes well with almost anything, and is a pretty decent argument for those crazy "Eat More Kale" people.  The fish was very good, though not as good as the kale; it was cooked decently well, but not perfect, and the potato crust slipped off it pretty easily while cutting into it.  The fish itself was a little overly flaky (slightly overcooked, but not horribly), and the crust had some nice flavor to it.  All in all, I would label this as a fine, but not wonderful, dish, and next time I would go with the steak or possibly Braised Chicken with Fennel and Capers.

Salted Caramel Pudding

The highlight of the night was, by far, the dessert.  I have expressed several times my dislike for super sweet desserts, but there were three options that drew my eye:  the Warm Maple Almond Bundt Cake with a strawberry rhubarb compote; the Rum Soaked Pineapple Upside Down Cake; and the Salted Caramel Pudding with candied walnuts.  I asked the waiter who came over to take our order what he suggested, and he said the pudding, so that's what I went with.  It was one of the best desserts I have ever had in my entire life, a thick, heavy, sweet and salty pudding with large walnut chunks and some whipped cream on top.  The caramel/salt combination is about as good as it gets, but this was done much, much better than normal, so that the salt was clearly evident in every bite without ever overwhelming the caramel, but also providing enough of a savory note that even when all the components were eaten together the caramel, candied walnuts and whipped cream did not have too much sweetness.  I hate walnuts, and I loved them in this dish; they were perfectly done, just on the edge of becoming soft so that they did not shatter when bitten into, but avoiding that soggy feeling that many candied nuts get.  The whipped cream was even above average, clearly homemade.  I cannot recommend this highly enough.

Service was...interesting.  Our waitress was friendly enough, but a little blah; she did not seem to have any kind of actual personality.  Now, I'm not saying I want wait staff to be super effervescent, but my lord, be more than a soft spoken automaton!  Timidity is a poor trait in a service industry, and I hope it was just that she was new, but she could not even muster much more than a "they're both really good" when I asked if she recommended the Char versus the Trout.  The waiter who took our dessert order was much, much better, a strong personality without overdoing it.  The waitress that my step-grandmother spoke to when she sent back her entrée was similarly good, apologizing profusely and immediately taking the dish back to be re-done, but never seemed to be overwhelmed by anything.  She may have been a manager of some sort, because I don't believe I ever saw her actually taking orders from anyone.

All in all, this was a fine meal, one that was better than anything else you could find in Montague, but not really equal to the food you would find at Hope and Olive or at several places in Northampton, Brattleboro or even Sunderland.  I would go back for two reasons:  one, the deck outside is perfect for a summer date; and two, for that salted caramel.  The prices are not unreasonable, but for the same money, I think you can do better.

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With my dinner I had a glass of the Berkshire Brewing Company River Ale, a mediocre, at best, beer that I will never have again.  I am a fan of BBC, with the Lost Sailor IPA, Drayman's Porter, and Steel Rail Pale Ale all personal favorites of mine, but this was just a poor beer.  Their website says it has a "slight" sweetness, but it's really more of a whack you over the head amount of sweet.  It is a high alcohol beer at 7%, and its saving grace is that it does not taste like it has that much booze; that said, I cannot in good conscience recommend this, as it is simply a more expensive, darker version of Bud Light Platinum.  Stay away, and try one of the other three I listed instead.

******

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Hope and Olive (Greenfield, MA)

Hope and Olive is probably Greenfield's best "normal" restaurant (the previously reviewed Manna House is the best overall, but it's not a normal restaurant), but it has not lived up to the wonder that was its predecessor, Shelburne Falls' sublime A Bottle of Bread.  I'd have taken A Bottle of Bread over just about any other restaurant in Western Massachusetts, and their small menu was packed with both flavor and technique.  Following the tragic fire that took that gem away from us, the owners moved their operation to the corner of Hope and Olive Streets in Greenfield, a far, far larger space than the Shelburne Falls location, and changed the name and menu.  The latter change was not well received, but I can't blame the owners for trying something new in a new location.  For the first couple years, this was a decent place to go, but nothing even remotely special; however, in the last two years, Hope and Olive has become a great place to go.  There is a smaller menu than before, similar in size to the days of A Bottle of Bread, and because of this the kitchen staff can focus on doing a few things very well, instead of many things decently.  There is also a solid drink menu.

The last two times I have been to Hope and Olive, my mother and I have split the Shrimp and Grits appetizer.  Now, I will be up front with you; I love shrimp and grits.  Seriously, I would take shrimp and grits over almost anything else food related if it's made properly.  Hope and Olive does a pretty good job for a restaurant north of the Mason-Dixon line; the shrimp were perfectly cooked both times, and the grits were smooth and creamy the first time, just like they should be.  The second time, they were...well...gritty.  I'm okay with this, but it's not really how it's supposed to be.  The flavors aren't southern, but that's okay too; Mediterranean is acceptable when shrimp are involved.  My mother has also had a couple of the salads and enjoyed them immensely, both as appetizers and as a meal.

For an entree, I cannot recommend the Apple Cider Braised Pork Chop more strongly; it's tough to make me happy with pork chops in a restaurant, because they tend to be overcooked and dry to satisfy the people who are afraid of under (aka properly) cooked pork.  The pork is succulent in this case, however, and bears a strong apple flavor without being overly sweet.  The Brussels sprouts on the side are also very good (and you'll recall from my review of The Corner Room that I'm not typically a fan of them).  I've also had the beef burger, and this was also properly cooked; it's not as good as from Brick Wall Burger, but it's well made and the bun is fantastic.  The real star of this place, however, is a side; the french fries are amazing.  Absolutely incredible, crispy with just the right amount of salt.

You also really have to be impressed by the drink menu at this place; if you're a wine fan, they have what appear to be a selection of both very good (albeit expensive for Franklin County) and moderately priced wines.  For me, the beer list is far more important; at this moment, they have twelve beers on tap, from both local (Berkshire Brewing Company, Ginger Libation Real Ginger Brew) and non-local (Brooklyn Brewery, Brewery Ommegang, and Rogue Ales, among others) breweries.  They have housemade lemonade for you non-drinkers (or you bourbon drinkers, there's always Kentucky Lemonade, a mix of Maker's Mark and lemonade), and a pretty decent looking cocktail list.

This is a vegetarian friendly restaurant, as well; possibly even vegan friendly, though I don't often associate with such people, so I've never asked.

******

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Brick Wall Burger (Greenfield, MA)

Brick Wall Burger is in an awful location; not physically so, because 286 Main St. in Greenfield is actually a great theoretical location for a restaurant, in the middle of downtown, but because this must be a cursed spot.  Not less than five different restaurants have been in this location in the last decade or so, some of which were actually very good, and all have failed somehow.  I'm praying that Brick Wall won't follow this trend, because not only is it something that Greenfield badly needed (a good burger joint), but it's actually up there with the best burger options in the area.  The key to this place is that they get fresh meat, locally as much as possible, and grind it themselves.  This means they don't feel the need to conform to this idiotic concept that ground meat must be cooked until there's no juice left in the poor patty; after all, the cow got killed already, no need to kill it again, and if you know that the grinder is clean, you don't need to cook the meat to death just to "be sure" that it won't have any health issues.  As a person who likes his burgers rare, this was a pleasant surprise the first time I went, as was the fact that the servers I've had have never once attempted to argue this order with me, and in fact one agreed it was the best way to eat a burger.  Along those same lines, the servers have been almost universally good, though one was cloyingly sweet; that annoys me, but I know a lot of people wouldn't mind it.

The meat is not only cooked to order, but is legitimately flavorful; this is the result, I'd guess, from buying from local farmers as much as possible, thus staying away from the mass produced beef that populates most burger joints.  I saw a review online that accused them of over-salting both the burgers and fries, but that hasn't been my experience at all; it could be an isolated incident, or it could be that this reviewer is sensitive to salt.  Either way, you can be the judge, but I wouldn't let that kind of criticism frighten you off.  The toppings they offer range from the standard (lettuce, tomato, grilled onions and peppers) to the less mundane (avocado, roasted habanero pepper, and wasabi, for example) and have been very good each time I've been, though there was a huge variation in the spice of the habanero from the first time I had the "Firebrick Burger" to the second.  You can build your own burger, picking from ground beef, ground chicken, ground pork, ground corned beef (a cool concept, but not one that interests me, to be honest), vegetarian/gluten free black bean, or portobello mushroom.  I don't see it on their website now, but they used to offer a Kobe burger and a lamb burger as well, though both were pretty expensive.  Additionally, you can pick from their "Custom Burger Works," which include some very original concepts, such as the aforementioned "Firebrick Burger," which includes habanero, avocado slices, pepperjack cheese and a chili garlic sauce that is mild but delicious.  I haven't tried them yet, but the "Bull in the Bramble" (raspberry dipping sauce and romaine lettuce) and "Burger Mosto Cotto" (grape wine reduction, tomato, fresh mozzarella, and arugula) are really interesting concepts, and I look forward to trying them soon.

A good french fry can make or break a burger joint, and Brick Wall's do not disappoint.  They are double fried, which is, in my opinion, the only proper way to cook a french fry, and while I'm not sure what kind of oil they're using, it does impart a nice flavor to the potatoes, which are nice and crispy on the outside and light inside.  The sweet potato fries are good, though as with all sweet potato fries, they suffer in the crispness category; if you're looking for crisp, though, why are you getting sweet potato fries?  Be aware, however, the homemade ketchup served with the fries is a little odd; my friends are pretty sure the reason is cloves, and I'll trust them on that, because it's a flavor I'm not very familiar with and just plain don't really like.  It doesn't ruin the fries by any means, but it doesn't enhance them either, which a good ketchup should.

Also served with your burger is a side of cole slaw, either regular or spicy.  Both are serviceable, but nothing to write home about, though I should give them credit for not using a bunch of mayonnaise to flavor the slaw; rather, it is vinegar heavy, which I like but which bothers others.  I like the spicy when I'm not getting the "Firebrick Burger," but if I am going spicy on the burger I have to get the regular, or it's a little overkill.

Beer (including the local favorite Berkshire Brewing Company) and Greenfield's own Bart's Homemade Ice Cream are offered, and both are perfect accompaniments to a good burger.  Try the Steel Rail E.P.A. for a solid, refreshing option to go with your burger, followed by Maple Walnut Ice Cream.

Update 5/9/12

******

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