Brothers – Coolidge Corner

It’s the last brunch of 2017, so Yue and I decided to treat ourselves a little. Normally for breakfast on the weekends, I’ll scramble some eggs and make toast, but it was the last day of the year, and that called for something a little more than our usual fare (we were also out of eggs).

Brothers is in Coolidge Corner, not far from my front door. The brunch fare is solid, and pretty much what you would expect. There are pancakes, challah french toast, eggs benedict, omlettes, and various sandwiches and lunch specials. The specials are inventive and change fairly often, and they do dinner service as well, though I’ve never been in for anything later than brunch. I should probably change that, but that’s a different story for a different day.

Today I ordered one of their breakfast specials, french toast with caramelized blueberries and bananas. I hardly ever have french toast anymore, and the fruit made it just sweet enough to add some color and texture without being overpowering. Yue was in the mood for something a little more salty, so she ordered the fish and chips. I’ll admit that I’m not a huge fan of fish, so I can’t comment on the taste, but it looked good enough.

The atmosphere is laid back and casual, but the food is hearty and filling. For a cold day in midwinter like this, it’s just the right thing to give you the boost you need to face the chill (and make some resolutions for the year ahead).

Brothers is pretty popular within the neighborhood, especially on the weekends. People leaving the temple a few doors down who don’t want to deal with the hustle and bustle of nearby Zatfigs can find a quieter place to eat some hearty breakfast fare here. For all that, it doesn’t seem to have a lot of appeal outside of Coolidge Corner, but if you’re getting hunger pangs while doing your grocery shopping at Trader Joe’s or perusing the stacks at Brookline Booksmith, it’s worth coming in for a bite.

-Connor

Mala – Allston

For our first real food post, we decided to write up one of our favorite neighborhood spots, Mala. Mala is a Szechuan-style Chinese joint in Allston near the corner of Harvard and Brighton Ave. Fair warning, Mala doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to spicy food, but if this Irish-American writer can manage to acquire the taste, anyone can.

Though Mala has plenty of Szechuan-style entrees, what sets it apart from the numerous other Chinese restaurants that crowd Allston Village is the Mala bowl, which is our usual order. You can order one or two kinds of meat (or a vegetarian substitute like tofu or eggplant), and then add four to six vegetable options, like mushrooms, taro, potatoes, various noodles, or seaweed (though this writer cannot in good conscience recommend the latter). It all gets tossed together and garnished with a healthy dose of spicy red peppers. Our favorite options are to get it with beef, enoki mushrooms, taro, sweet potato noodles and tofu puffs.

Mala also has various barbecued things for appetizers, like skewers of meat, seafood, or vegetables. Our go-tos are the grilled lamb and shiitake mushrooms, both of which taste great with cumin powder.

Mala is located conveniently near the Green Line’s B branch, as much as anything can be called convenient about the B line. That being said, it does tend to draw a lot of BU students, but the wait is never that long, and the food is definitely worth it. They also offer a 10% discount if you pay in cash, so if saving money is your thing, swing by the ATM before you go.

Check it out if you’re in the neighborhood!

-Connor

Introductions

We’re Connor and Yue, and we are starting this blog to chronicle and document our date nights and culinary adventures. We’re both based out of Boston, and have discovered plenty of great dishes around the city, and would like to share our experiences with you all.

We try to keep a balanced diet of Eastern and Western foods, though where and what we wind up eating usually boils down to where and when we get hungry. There are plenty of hidden gems in Boston, and while we’ve uncovered plenty of them, we’re looking forward to discovering more of them and sharing them with you.

Our Instagram account for the blog is linked in the sidebar, but it’s still under construction right now. If you would like to follow either of our personal accounts, we are at @h_yueyue_h and @c__sheridan. Yue’s account is mostly focused on food and lifestyle pictures, while Connor does nature and architecture photography.

As far as this blog goes, Yue is the food photographer, and Connor will handle the write-ups.

-Connor and Yue