Date Night In Dorchester

It's been a while since Andrew and I made the effort to go out somewhere decent for dinner (i.e. something different other than our weekly Bertucci's fix) but we were still feeling a bit lazy, so we picked something within walking distance on Thursday night.

While I had the chance to experience the Ledge soon after we had first moved into our house, this was the first time that Andrew got to eat there (not counting the fact that he had eaten my leftovers from my first meal).

We went with one of our traditional favorites, calamari. I have mixed feelings about Ledge's version of it. It didn't seem to have very much calamari (in the sense that there were numerous tiny bits of calamari with a thick bread coating). However, it almost wasn't a bad thing since the coating was very nice and crunchy. The dipping sauce was definitely meh, Andrew and I both agreed that it tasted like honey water (in flavor and consistency) so we avoided it for the most part. Full disclosure, we did end up cleaning the plate:

I had a hankering for seafood so I went with scallops accompanied by green beans and mashed potatoes. Everything was delicious and perfectly cooked and seasoned, so this was plate #2 that got cleaned completely. Andrew and I always joke at how restaurants give you a miniscule amount of scallops (we had guessed beforehand how much I would get and I had optimistically said at least five) but these were very big and tasty and I ended up slicing each one into four or five bites.

Andrew also went the seafood route, getting one of his favorites, fish and chips. Not much to say on this front except that he liked it and said the fries were surprisingly crispier than one would expect for steak fries. Since I'm not a fan of fries that are this thick and was stuffed from my own meal, I didn't even try filching a fry from his plate:

For dessert, we skipped the Ledge's menu and decided to try the ice cream shop that was on the same block as the restaurant:

What I didn't realize initially was that this was the type of store that does the Coldstone Creamery model - it had pretty plain ice cream flavors and you could pick mix-ins to get smushed up with the ice cream. The ice cream was good but I was disappointed by the lack of fruity mix-ins and missing almonds (most New England ice cream shops seem to avoid almonds). So I just ended up getting a plain scoop of chocolate chip ice cream. It was good, but I think I would've preferred an ice cream menu with more elaborate flavors. Andrew wasn't as picky as me, and really liked his vanilla ice cream with heath bar mix-ins.

We both ended up feeling uncomfortably stuffed for the rest of the night, so lesson learned - we'll skip the appetizer the next time we know we want to have dessert! But it was nice to slowly stroll with our ice cream in hand, enjoying the comfortable weather that seems to only come around at 8:30 pm these days.

Living It Up At The Ledge

One of the perks of living in our new house is the opportunity to explore new neighborhoods and one of the most important attractions - the restaurants!

One of my most frequent dining companions -  and Yelp expert - Jen and I decided to hit up Ledge in Dorchester recently (full disclosure: two weeks ago) and we were pleased by what we found.

Jen graciously poses with our drinks - that's her Reisling to the right and my muscat wine martini (Jen will need to correct me if I'm wrong, as remembering the correct name for drinks is hard two weeks after the fact!) My martini was delicious but definitely way overpriced - at $13, I paid for the novelty but doubt I would order it again at that price:

I simply loved my entree, plain and simple. I got the 10 oz sliced hangar steak, which came with the choice of two sides. I opted for mashed potatoes and maple glazed butternut squash. Everything was executed well and tasted wonderful - Andrew can attest to this as he gobbled up my leftovers the next day (I'm think we'll need to start doing duo reviews where I give my opinion on a dish hot and Andrew gives his opinion on it cold and as a leftover!)

Jen got what she called "grown up chicken tenders" aka the crunchy chicken tenderloins. It was a generous serving and she liked them enough to get a doggie bag to take the rest home. I was too busy diving into my steak to try the chicken but I did manage to snag some fries and they were pretty good for steak fries (which I usually avoid since they are too thick and mealy for my taste):

For dessert, creme brulee. Again, simple dish done well. No complaints from me although who wouldn't ask for bigger servings? :)

Jen got another classic - Carrot Cake. This was actually the second slice served to her. We had a waiter in training who was shadowing a veteran waiter at our table. Just as he reached our table with desserts, and placed mine down, he managed to drop Jen's first slice of cake down, somehow getting it smear across the front of his clothing while it splattered at our feet. We were both just clear of the splatter zone, so it was more that we felt bad for the guy. I am happy to report that the second slice arrived without incident, and Jen was pleased by the fact that it was a corner slice which meant more frosting (although I must admit to being surprised by the fact that it came in sheet cake form, rather than the traditional slice from a round cake):

My overall assessment of Ledge? Great food, avoid the overpriced mixers for the beer and wine, and dessert is fine if you're in the mood, but it also may be better to grab dessert from somewhere else. I also have to put in a plug for the live music they had (it was a Friday night) - Jen kept remarking that the singer sounded just like the Pogues.