Regal Beagle

Although it's been a long and snowy weekend, Jen was able to drag my lazy butt out of the house yesterday to try out a new place we had both been eyeing in Brookline - the Regal Beagle, a "neighborhood joint" located in Coolidge Corner.

I'm pretty sure it's only been open for a few months but it's clearly already a Brookline favorite, as the place was packed when we walked in around 7 p.m. (granted, it was a Saturday night). When we were quoted a 45 minute wait, the hostess recommended hanging at the bar to try snagging some of the tables that are in the back which are free game for anyone when they are available. What she neglected to mention was how uncomfortably packed it was - Regal Beagle is very long and narrow in shape and the bar is tucked in the back right next to the kitchen. Rather than being squished along with everyone else that was waiting for a table, Jen had the bright idea to check out the Gap next door. We spent the next 30 minutes comfortably browsing and taking advantage of their 40% off sale items sale (yay!) and by the time we walked back into the Regal Beagle, our table was ready!

Here's a shot of the view from our table, which was directly in front of the bar section - I don't if you can see exactly how cramped it was back there!



Regal Beagle's apparently known for its fun drinks - Jen opted for "The Girl Next Door" on the left, and I opted for their cava special on the right, which had cava (obviously), elderflower liqueur and an edible hibiscus - it was very good and pretty:



My meal was simply amazing - I got their Scallop dish (with a pistachio brittle crust), butternut squash risotto and dried cherry glaze:



Jen went for the Regal Burger on a brioche bun, and from snitching some of the bread and butter pickles as well as the fries, both were delicious - Jen gave two thumbs up to the burger:


Here's a close up of the hibiscus flower at the bottom of my drink - you better believe that I ate it and it actually tasted pretty good, almost like a slice of peach that's been soaked in sangria, both in taste and texture:

For dessert, Jen and I split the white chocolate bread pudding which supposedly came with bananas (didn't taste them at all), raspberries, vanilla ice cream and toffee sauce. For me, this is where the meal faltered a little - the flavors didn't stand out at all and all I could get was a general sense of "sweet." Not bad, but I think it was telling that Jen and I both put our spoons down before the bowl was cleared.

Overall, I was impressed by the food and the drinks (plus the good service) so I definitely plan on coming back with Andrew at some point.