Breakfast With Dad: The Most Delicious Breakfast EVER!

In the next installment of Dad and Kara try new breakfast places, we went to the Ugly Mug Diner in Salem, MA. I had seen this place when I went to Salem with my grandfather last week. It was also featured in North Shore Magazine's "Best of the North Shore 2015" for breakfast.  I checked the menu online and immediately knew that I needed to go there! The diner calls themselves a "foodie haven, not a greasy spoon" and it is certainly a foodie haven.

One side of the sign outside of the diner.

Same!

While looking through the menu Dad and I both got large orange juices (freshly squeezed) and espresso drinks. He had a double espresso and I got a cappuccino. My cappuccino came in a, you guessed it, ugly mug! Every table already comes with an ugly mug filled with the creamer cups. My mug was for a motorcycle company and the one on our table had different variations of "mom" written all over it. I saw a Scarecrow (from "The Wizard of Oz") mug that was pretty ugly!

Now onto the good stuff! I made the fantastic choice of getting the "This Ain't No Chicken & Waffles," which is duck confit and candied pecans on top of a waffle with a bourbon maple syrup reduction. This was out of this world delicious! Why don't I have duck more often? And for breakfast!

Dad also got duck, but he got it in "The Hungry Chef" with Brisket Hash, wheat toast and two sunny-side up eggs. He loved it and found it interesting that the hash was made with sweet potatoes instead of regular potatoes. 

Overall definitely a 5 out of 5 and we would come again. The delicious food along with the quirkiness of the restaurant with all of the ugly mugs on every table made the experience unique and fun. We need to take Mom with us next time! (Plus we got 10% discount at Wicked Good Books if we brought our receipt!)

Dad and I then spent some time wandering around Salem and looking at all the witch related stores in the area.

A "Bewitched" statue 

Some storefronts on Essex St. 

I guess that this is the American Ollivanders?

Stickwork, part of the Peabody Essex Museum

This is supposed to be an abstract map of Salem with a Torii (Japanese gateway) to represent Salem's relationship with the Far East.

Dad and I had a great time at the Ugly Mug Diner and walking around Salem. We went into some cool shops. I especially liked Roost & Company where I got a Jane Austen candle! Dad and I agreed that we would want to come back to Salem and try some of the other restaurants. 

See you next time,

Kara

Breakfast With Dad: Country Chef Restaurant, Wilmington MA

Hello! As you guys may know breakfast is my second favorite meal, with brunch being my favorite because I can sleep in and eat breakfast foods! So I love going out to breakfast every other Friday with Dad. We usually try to find a different restaurant or diner each week (although we haven't always stuck to that rule). So far we have tried Agawam Diner in Rowley and Shawsheen Luncheonette in Andover (which we have gone to twice and is apparently an Andover favorite because there is always a line out of the door). 

Yesterday we went to the Country Chef Restaurant in Wilmington. It is a cute little place where a lot of locals were getting their breakfast, which is always a good sign.

Upon arrival we were offered a fruit salad to eat while choosing our entrée. It consisted of pineapple, honeydew, and cantelope. The fruit was yummy and fresh, even though none of those fruits are my favorite.

The menu has egg dishes, pancakes, waffles, French toast, and more. It took me a while to decide but I got there in the end! Dad got the Linguicia special omelette, which had Linguicia sausage, feta cheese, American cheese, spinach, and tomatoes. It was served with home fries and wheat toast. He really liked it and would have it again.

I had the Boston Breakfast, which is two eggs served any style (I chose sunny side up), choice of meat (I chose sausage), home fries, toast and a small juice (I got orange juice). It was yummy but I wished that the home fries were crispier. Next time I really want to try the pancakes with chocolate chips!!

Overall I liked the place. As we were leaving there were a good number of cars pulling in, making it look like the place to get breakfast in Wilmington. I can't wait to try the next place!!

See you next time,

Kara

Mom Came to Visit!

Two weekends ago my mom came to visit me at college. This has been the first time I had seen anyone from my family since August when Mom moved me in. She arrived on Friday in time to attend a meeting about something I will be doing next semester . . . Going on a research trip to Northern Ireland! How amazing is that!? But more about that when it is actually happening.

After the meeting, Mom and I went to lunch at Nando's to have lunch. I have been wanting to go to Nando's since I arrived here. And it was so good!! I got a chicken thigh with mild sauce and portuguese rice and corn on the cob as sides.

That night Mom and I went to Jaleo for dinner with my roommate's parents and grandmother. As always it was amazing, but I didn't take any photos because I was too busy socializing and having a good time. You can read about my past trip to Jaleo in this post. 

Saturday was a full on mother-daughter day. We started the day with brunch at Founding Farmers. I have heard great things about the restaurant from Ashley and my Mom, so I was excited to be finally going there.

The inside was really neat and home-y looking. And while it seated a lot of people, it had the feel of a small restaurant. 

Since we had reservations (which I totally suggest because it can get really busy), we were seated pretty quickly. Our seats were by a window and the smells from the tables around us made my stomach growl. 

Of course I got English Breakfast tea as my morning drink before consulting the menu to decide (with some difficulty) what I wanted to eat. Chicken & waffles? Pancakes? French toast? Eggs? Too many choices!

I ended up getting the steak & eggs with grilled ciabatta and grits. Not my healthiest meal, but a damn good one!

And Mom got the chicken & waffles with two poached eggs. Oh my god. It looked amazing and it tasted as good as it looked!

Photo Cred to Mom!

All in all, it was a very satisfying meal and I need to go again to try those beignets with a trio of sauces. And I'll probably also need to try the banana foster pancakes!

After brunch we went to Tyson's Corner Mall to do some clothes shopping and then to Target to stock up on food and toiletries. For dinner we went to Olazzo in Bethesda for some really great Italian food. I didn't take any photos because the lighting was not that good. 

The next morning Mom and I had a quick breakfast at Le Pain Quotidien before I headed back to campus and Mom left to drive back to Boston. It was great weekend and now I am impatient to go home and see Dad and Emma!

Until next time! Where I will writing about my own meal of chicken & waffles!

Love,

Kara

New York Day Three

Mom and I quit the hotel Sunday morning at around 9:30 and walked up 5^th Ave. We stopped at my favorite British food chain, Pret a Manger, for breakfast. I had a chocolate croissant, banana, orange juice and tea. I love how all the sandwiches are made fresh everyday in store, and that they are not your classic ham and cheese sandwiches.

Mom and I ended up seeing the preparations for the Filipino Pride Parade that was going to happen on Park Ave. It was neat to see the floats drive by and Filipino people in traditional wear. It was also the Israeli Pride Parade that day, but we didn’t see any of those floats.

We walked up 5^th Ave before heading towards Times Square to meet up with friends. Mom and I walked by Rockefeller Center and Radio City Music Hall.

Times Square was insane and I cannot imagine being there around New Years. There were people selling things, people dressed up as characters, tourists taking pictures (Me being one of them).

Mom and I met up with friends and headed to lunch before our show. We went to Vinyl in Hell’s Kitchen where they were serving brunch. The interior was really cool with music videos playing behind the bar, records used for lighting, and Beyoncé mosaics in the bathroom. The menus were inside record covers and I had the Ramones.

I had the “Madame Ham,” which was a take on the French Croque Madame. Instead of a ham and cheese sandwich with béchamel and an egg on top, there was a large slice of bread below a ham and cheesy mixture with a sunny-side up egg on top.

Then it was time to go to Of Mice and Men at the Longacre Theatre on W 48^th Street. While Mom picked up the tickets, I found the stage door. As we were waiting to go in, a dog and owner came out of the stage door. We were told that the dog was the understudy for the show and that she was a big baby. Kind of cool, right?

The show itself was amazing. I have not read the book yet, but I plan to very soon. It starred James Franco, Chris O’Dowd and Leighton Meester. All three of them were magnificent and I would love to see it again. When the intermission came Mom and I were confused because we thought that only 30 minutes had passed and not 90 minutes. It seemed to go very quickly, which is better than wanting to check your watch every 20 minutes.

Right at the end of the show, I left the theatre to go to the stage door to wait for some pictures and autographs. I had a great spot right to the left of the door. First Leighton Meester came out and I got some pictures of her, but I felt bad about putting my camera right in front of her face. I also got her autograph. Next came James Franco where I also got some pictures and his autograph. It was funny to watch the wave of cameras as he moved around the rectangle. As he was signing autographs, a school bus full of teenagers came by and all these girls opened the windows and started squealing and freaking out. That will be a field trip to remember. I waited for another 30 minutes, hoping for Chris O’Dowd to come outside. When someone came out of the stage door, someone asked him where Chris was and he responded that Chris had been gone for ages. A bit of a disappointment, but I’m happy that I got James and Leighton’s autograph!

Mom and I raced back to the hotel for me to pack up and go to my aunt’s apartment because I stayed the night there. After I dropped my stuff at the apartment, the four of us went to Café Ronda on Columbus for Spanish tapas. Mom and I have been to Barcelona, so we have high expectations for Spanish food and Café Ronda did not disappoint. Instead of getting individual meals, we chose a bunch of tapas to share.

Albondigas (lamb meatballs) 

Patatas Bravas

Spinach and ricotto empanada

Tomato Bread 

Grilled Octopus 

Manchego Cheese 

Sautéed Spinach

Grilled steak with pepper sauce

After dinner, Mom headed back to the hotel and I went with my aunt and her husband to their apartment to stay the night. The next day, my aunt took me to a mysterious location for lunch for some catching up.

Thanks for reading! I’ll see you tomorrow with New York Day Four!