This week's adventure was to the Publick House on Beacon Street in Brookline. No real complaints, but I was a bit disappointed after all the good reviews I had read online before my first experience there last night.
I was surprised at how crowded it was for a Wednesday evening. It was also extremely loud, making it difficult to chat with my friends. The bartender at the snooty bar was very helpful, assisting me with selecting a new beer to try. I went with Saxo, which was delicious. I still don't quite understand the two bar thing - I guess one is regular and the other is more upscale? We just went over to the upscale side to escape some of the madness in the other area.
Our waitress was decent, although I found her response to our comment that it was really busy a little odd. She said, "well, I know it looks busy, but this night is not going well for us. Everyone's just sitting there and we can't turn the tables over". Fair enough, but was that a hint? We had just sat down and I already felt like I was getting booted out. A bright spot was that I realized they had my FAVORITE beer, Affligem. It's relatively hard to find around here so I was pretty excited.
The food was yummy, and I'll be eating leftover mac and cheese for days because the portion was so big! One disappointment was our Monk Frites...you could tell they were supposed to be delicious, but we clearly got the end of the bag. Not one frite more than two inches long, I swear. Made it hard to enjoy the dipping sauces (I recommend both the garlic mayo and the ale mustard). Overall, I'd definitely go back. There are a lot more kinds of beer to try, as well as a few dishes that were hard to say no to.
Next week we are planning a more low-key adventure. I really enjoy trying new beverages, especially rare beer, etc., but I would like to go to a place where ordering a Bud Light is not sacrilegious.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Littlest Bar Boston
My apologies for the tardiness of this post. This is my first entry using my new MacBook, and the transition at the end of the week/this weekend has delayed some of my "to dos".
Here's the review of the Littlest Bar:
Overall, this was a pretty good experience. While not nearly as "little" as the former location (which I never experienced first-hand), this bar is still fairly small, but that's a plus not a criticism. It felt cozy, although the seats by the windows were somewhat chilly and the heat intermittent. No Stella here, which was disappointing, but the bartender was great and let me sample a few beers to decide what I wanted instead. I chose a Belgian-style ale from Canada and it was delicious. At 8%, though, I only had one.
The big surprise for me was how delicious the food was. I had the fish and chips, and my friend had the beef stew, served on top of mashed potatoes. Yummy! The service was not spectacular, but sufficient. I would come back here, but am not really in a huge rush to do so. Next week I think we're headed to Publick House in Brookline. I'll keep you posted!
Here's the review of the Littlest Bar:
Overall, this was a pretty good experience. While not nearly as "little" as the former location (which I never experienced first-hand), this bar is still fairly small, but that's a plus not a criticism. It felt cozy, although the seats by the windows were somewhat chilly and the heat intermittent. No Stella here, which was disappointing, but the bartender was great and let me sample a few beers to decide what I wanted instead. I chose a Belgian-style ale from Canada and it was delicious. At 8%, though, I only had one.
The big surprise for me was how delicious the food was. I had the fish and chips, and my friend had the beef stew, served on top of mashed potatoes. Yummy! The service was not spectacular, but sufficient. I would come back here, but am not really in a huge rush to do so. Next week I think we're headed to Publick House in Brookline. I'll keep you posted!
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Wednesday Tradition
One of my friends and I recently started a tradition of going out every Wednesday after work to catch up and have a couple drinks. Last week we decided we would start going to different places (Cornwall's is our "home base"), so this week we are headed to The Littlest Bar. I'll have a full review tonight or tomorrow, along with our list of places to check out. Comments are welcome and appreciated!
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Winter
I went to California a few weeks ago to visit a friend and take a break from the winter. Turns out it was quite a fortuitous plan, because it ended up being one of the coldest weekends this winter in New England! There was a 95 degree temperature difference between when I left Boston in the AM (-15 degrees) and arrived in Long Beach (80 glorious, sunny degrees).
By this point in the winter, most people in New England are tired of the weather, myself included, and start wondering why we subject ourselves to such an undesirable climate. I've been hearing a lot of "I hate winter" comments from friends and strangers, and at first I thought I agreed, but then I had a revelation. I don't hate winter at all, as a matter of fact I enjoy it. What I hate is how people deal with it.
Granted, Bostonians are exactly known for their kindness, but it gets even worse in the winter. Why do we have to be so rude to each other? The winter is tough enough to deal with without all the nastiness. For example, when the sidewalk is not treated after a storm and there is only a path wide enough for one person to get through, have a little consideration for your fellow pedestrian. Just because you are on your cell phone doesn't give you the right of way. And you would be much less likely to fall on the snow or ice if you weren't wearing your stilleto boots. And it is not ok to shovel your car out of a parking spot by putting all the snow into someone else's. And you wouldn't be that cold if you were wearing a real winter jacket and gloves, hat, scarft, etc. instead of a little cardigan so you look "cool" going out. You look cool all right, and stupid! I may look a little funny in my hat with the ear flaps, but I am warm and in a great mood, which is more than I can say for you.
By this point in the winter, most people in New England are tired of the weather, myself included, and start wondering why we subject ourselves to such an undesirable climate. I've been hearing a lot of "I hate winter" comments from friends and strangers, and at first I thought I agreed, but then I had a revelation. I don't hate winter at all, as a matter of fact I enjoy it. What I hate is how people deal with it.
Granted, Bostonians are exactly known for their kindness, but it gets even worse in the winter. Why do we have to be so rude to each other? The winter is tough enough to deal with without all the nastiness. For example, when the sidewalk is not treated after a storm and there is only a path wide enough for one person to get through, have a little consideration for your fellow pedestrian. Just because you are on your cell phone doesn't give you the right of way. And you would be much less likely to fall on the snow or ice if you weren't wearing your stilleto boots. And it is not ok to shovel your car out of a parking spot by putting all the snow into someone else's. And you wouldn't be that cold if you were wearing a real winter jacket and gloves, hat, scarft, etc. instead of a little cardigan so you look "cool" going out. You look cool all right, and stupid! I may look a little funny in my hat with the ear flaps, but I am warm and in a great mood, which is more than I can say for you.
Peapod
I have been a Peapod customer since September and have been extremely satisfied with the entire experience. I have even recommended it to my friends, one of the most important forms of loyalty measured by companies. The website is great, allowing you to make lists, save orders, select delievery times, make changes, etc. The drivers have always been on time and really nice guys. It's been like magic - order online whenever you feel like it, select a delivery time and presto! you have groceries!
Unfortunately, Peapod has disappointed me tremendously over the last couple of weeks. It all started with a delivery I was supposed to receive on a Wednesday night between 6-8. I received a phone call from Peapod to let me know the driver was running about an hour late. When I inquired about what to do if I was not going to be available, my question was met with silence. The Peapod person on the phone told me I could call the customer service line and reschedule my delivery, not something she could do for me at that point. (confusing to me, because wasn't she supposed to be customer service?) She gave me the number and I told her I might call customer service depending on if I could rearrange my plans in order to be home at the new delivery time.
Around 9:45pm, there was still no sign of my groceries. I was hungry, and probably pretty cranky, I'll admit. I called the customer service number, and was informed that the "lovely" woman I had spoken to previously, the one that told me she couldn't make any changes to my delivery, had in fact CANCELLED MY DELIVERY! I was slightly irritated, to put it mildly. I asked the (much nicer) woman how we could resolve this and what they would do to make it up to me. She said they were unable to offer free delivery per se, which to me just doesn't make any sense, but she would email me a coupon. I said fine, assuming the coupon would be for $9.95 (the delivery fee) or more, given the situation. To my surprise, when I opened my email the next morning, the coupon was only for $6.95! Seriously...
I selected a new delivery time and upon checking out discovered that I had to choose between using my new coupon (which stated it MUST be used on my next order) and the coupon I had just received for referring a friend to Peapod (which was for $10). I used the $6.95 coupon, assuming I will place another order in the future and eventually get to use both, but I was NOT happy about it. My delivery finally arrived (late, of course - I scheduled a 7-9am delivery for today and it arrived at 9:15) and while I'm not hungry any more, I'm definitely still upset.
Is this any way to treat your customers? Especially those who order regularly and refer their friends to your company?
Unfortunately, Peapod has disappointed me tremendously over the last couple of weeks. It all started with a delivery I was supposed to receive on a Wednesday night between 6-8. I received a phone call from Peapod to let me know the driver was running about an hour late. When I inquired about what to do if I was not going to be available, my question was met with silence. The Peapod person on the phone told me I could call the customer service line and reschedule my delivery, not something she could do for me at that point. (confusing to me, because wasn't she supposed to be customer service?) She gave me the number and I told her I might call customer service depending on if I could rearrange my plans in order to be home at the new delivery time.
Around 9:45pm, there was still no sign of my groceries. I was hungry, and probably pretty cranky, I'll admit. I called the customer service number, and was informed that the "lovely" woman I had spoken to previously, the one that told me she couldn't make any changes to my delivery, had in fact CANCELLED MY DELIVERY! I was slightly irritated, to put it mildly. I asked the (much nicer) woman how we could resolve this and what they would do to make it up to me. She said they were unable to offer free delivery per se, which to me just doesn't make any sense, but she would email me a coupon. I said fine, assuming the coupon would be for $9.95 (the delivery fee) or more, given the situation. To my surprise, when I opened my email the next morning, the coupon was only for $6.95! Seriously...
I selected a new delivery time and upon checking out discovered that I had to choose between using my new coupon (which stated it MUST be used on my next order) and the coupon I had just received for referring a friend to Peapod (which was for $10). I used the $6.95 coupon, assuming I will place another order in the future and eventually get to use both, but I was NOT happy about it. My delivery finally arrived (late, of course - I scheduled a 7-9am delivery for today and it arrived at 9:15) and while I'm not hungry any more, I'm definitely still upset.
Is this any way to treat your customers? Especially those who order regularly and refer their friends to your company?
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