when i first came to Boston i was eighteen, newly arrived from Manila, on holiday with relatives from New York, who had friends, who had three handsome college boys... who took me out (heehee, i felt like the belle of the ball!) walking and riding the trains and to the no name restaurant.
...a-couple-of-decades-plus later i return for lunch with my little family of Bostonians....who'd have thought!
they serve traditional New England fare, mostly deep fried seafood. lobster rolls (lobster salad on hotdog buns), broiled seafood, steaks, french fries, simple pies.
i ordered my favorite, deep fried whole clams which i've loved since i was 18.
the children all ordered fried scrod and french fries ("fish n' chips") with fresh crunchy coleslaw and tangy zesty tartar sauce (they all giggled because they all love spongebob and in his world tartar sauce is a bad bad word).
no frills no nonsense no name restaurant
paper plates, placemats, cups and a pitcher of cold ice water plonked down by sometimes surly servers (lucky we got the affable one, but you never know)... it's in the heart of the touristic area and easily accessible by public transportation. plenty of parking too.
no name restaurant, Boston Fish Pier, Atlantic Avenue. (you can watch airplanes landing and launching from Logan Int'l Airport from a nice windy corner of the pier, and we heard Keane playing at the Bank of America soundstage next door).
for dinner i made the birthday boy er guy his favorite noodles, ramen, but this time from scratch.
the toppings: cha-shu. i rolled up a pork shoulder and sauteed it in scallions, ginger, sake, sugar and soy, then simmered with enough water to cover for about 1 hour and 15 minutes.
assorted Japanese style fish cakes, nori, hard boiled eggs, cha-shu, sliced bamboo shoots (could not find the required memna--sweet simmered dried bamboo shoots), scallions, and chuka soba noodles.
the broth formula is from Hiroko Shimbo's "The Japanese Kitchen" a recipe guaranteed to give Tampopo-like success (chicken bones, pork hocks, ginger, scallions, garlic, onion, konbu)..the broth is clear and tasty and satisfying.
birthday noodles for the birthday boy: tokyo style ramen
our little emperor went to a party hosted by our Finnish-American friends and demanded ahem requested the same cake for his daddy's birthday, the traditional berry cream cake that is served at most birthdays and celebrations.
so it is strawberry again, since it's the season for the juiciest and sweetest berries from California. pretty soon we will be able to pick our own in the fields of Massachusetts. hopefully the wet and wild spring didn't ruin them.
i just used a genoise (French sponge) cake split horizontally then filled with sliced hulled berries (macerated in sugar) and sweetened whipped cream (confectioners' sugar and vanilla). easy and lighthearted. just like daddy...
