February was a busy month with lots of new posts. This month will be a little bit less, but I am heading to DC at the end of the month so that should bring plenty of new restaurants. We do however have two big dinners with Mardi Gras and St. Patrick’s Day. Laissez les bons temps rouler, Slàinte!
March 2
It’s been a long time since I had a buffalo chicken sub from Ma Magoo’s.
March 4
Happy Mardi Gras! As is tradition, I hosted a gumbo party. As always, we had gumbo, hurricanes, sazeracs, and king cake. This year I also made blackened catfish po boy sliders and served them with some New Orleans voodoo chips that I bought at the store. Catfish was amazing.
March 6
Today we finished off the rest of the gumbo with some leftover cornbread from Wilson Farm. It was maybe even better the second time around.
March 7
Tonight was the first Friday of Lent and Ken’s is having a Friday special, a haddock sandwich served with fries and coleslaw. I only wish they gave you more coleslaw because the sandwich was good.
March 8
We are celebrating Kelly’s birthday this weekend so we went to The Druid. I tried their fish chowder for the first time. I don’t know if I can rate it along with the clam chowder, but it does have clams in it so maybe…
March 11
I had a little extra time today so I went to The Muffin House for lunch. It was my second time there and I tried the Thanksgiving Wrap which I liked a little less than the Chicken Pesto Melt. I also had a vanilla iced chai latte which was good, but maybe a little too sweet for me. On my way home I bought a bottle of gin, Captain’s Orchard – no. 107.
March 12
I opened the new gin tonight. I had a Martinez Cocktail while I cooked dinner. I made steak, brussels, and rolls. I’m working on perfecting my oven brussels sprouts. The sauce was good but they were a little too soft for me. I cooked at 350° for thirty minutes. Next I’m going to try 400° for just twenty.
March 14
I made a second attempt at cacio e pepe, this time without the help of Rose’s Luxury. The flavor was good, but the pasta was over cooked. I will try again. After dinner, I went to see Alton Brown at the Wang Theatre in Boston. It was a fun show. I ended the night with a visit to the Omni Seaport to try a new gin that they made in partnership with Short Path. Well, I almost ended the night that way. On my way back home I stopped at Boston Pizza Kitchen and had an amazing slice of buffalo chicken pizza.
March 16
We had St. Patrick’s Day a day early. Sunday is a better day for it than Monday. I made corned beef and cabbage with carrots and mashed potatoes. Sadly the corned beef was a little tough, but it did have good flavor. We also had two Irish Cheeses, Oscar Wilde Cheddar and Coolea. We also opened our bottle of Glendalough Rose Gin and made a few cocktails.
March 18
Last night I had a corned beef sandwich and tonight I had corned beef has to finish off the leftover beef. Topped with a fried egg, it was good.
March 19
I went to Pu Pu’s for lunch. I hadn’t been there in a while but I’m trying to find a couple more dishes I like beyond pork and green beans. Today I tried the chicken curry. The sauce was good and the chicken was very tender even though it was white meat.
March 20
I’m working on perfecting my brussels sprouts – 350° for 30 minutes didn’t work. Tonight I tried 450° for 20 minutes and that was too hot. My next try will be 400° for 20 minutes. Along with the brussels, I had duck breast and left over mashed potatoes.
March 21
We went to Karma for dinner tonight and got Crab Rangoon for the first time in a long time. It was delicious. We also got sushi. It was our fist time trying Madia at Karma and we liked it so much we got a second order. We were having too much fun to go home so after that we went to Via Lago in Lexington for dessert. We tried their bread pudding, which we enjoyed almost as much as their cocktails!
March 22
We are getting near the end of the month without a new roast beef, so we headed back to Tewksbury to try out Anthony’s. I tried the Big Beef as well as the steak and cheese egg roll. This place is worth coming back to. Despite the long drive, there might be a full on review in the near future.
March 23
My wife said she was in the mood for tacos, so we took her to Bandoleros. She didn’t get tacos but she liked her dinner, especially the churros we got for dessert. I had a chimichanga. It was probably the first time I had one in thirty years.
March 26
I played around tonight and made a very good dinner. An absolutely beautiful strip steak on top of mashed potatoes, then topped with balsamic spinach and a beef fat fried egg. It still wasn’t better than that duck though.
March 28
We have flown to DC for the weekend to see the the cherry blossom festival. We got in tonight and had a late dinner at Reveler’s Hour, the sister restaurant of Tail Up Goat. I loved the cacio e pepe arancini and tried two new gins from the area, McClintock Forager Gin and Catoctin Creek Gin.
March 29
For the fist time in a long time, I was back at Astro Donuts today. Many, many years ago it became a DC favorite, but we didn’t stop by on our last visit. Today we did and I got the special cherry blossom donut. Absolutely delicious.
For dinner we went to Oyamel a Michelin Bib Gourmand by Chef Jose Andres. My favorite part of the meal was the Petalo De Rosa Margarita, a special for the Cherry Blossom Festival. The Frijoles Refritos con Queso and the Tamal Verde were also fantastic. I also tried a new gin, Las Californias Nativo.
March 30
We ate well today. We visited both a bib gourmand and a Michelin Star restaurant. But since I fully share those experiences, today’s photo is of a Guatemalan torta that I had at Corado’s, a place my wife stumbled across while I was standing in line to get my breakfast tacos. I don’t even know what this dish is called, but it had a meat sauce, beets, green beans, peas and a hard boiled egg on top. I only got a few bites, my wife at most of it, but I did wash it down with a nice margarita. (breakfast on vacation)
Before I got to the Guatemalan food, I got in line for breakfast tacos at La Tejana. The line was about twenty minutes long but worth it for very good tacos. It didn’t hurt that we sat outside and enjoyed the above mentioned margarita while we ate them.
For dinner, we went to Bresca. It was beautiful and had amazing food and beverages. They used an antique duck press to make a tableside sauce. I also tried a new gin (The Sassenach) and an old one (Tom Cat) that wasn’t on my list. But even more fun than that was an imported chartreuse. After dinner, we went and got Thomas some ice cream which I somehow still had room to enjoy.
March 31
I had the worst french fry of my life today. Seriously, I’ve never tasted any fry so ruined. It was undercooked, flavorless, and had a weird coating. The chicken was better but not by much. Never get the fries at the Zoodeli at the DC Zoo. Never. Never. Never. I made up for it with a Ben’s Chili half smoke at DCA before flying home.
Best of the month
3. Steak and Cheese Egg Roll – Anthony’s
2. Blackened Catfish
1. Cherry Blossom Donut – Astro Donuts
hungrytommy links:
Ma Magoo’s – quick bite
gumbo – recipe
Ken’s NY Deli – quick bite
The Druid – quick bite
Captain’s Orchard – gin collection (new)
Rose’s Luxury – Michelin
Glendalough Rose Gin – gin collection (new)
Pu Pu Restaurant – quick bite (new)
Karma – quick bite
Anthony’s – roast beef (new)
Bandoleros – quick bite
Tail up Goat – Michelin Star
Oyamel – Bib Gourmand (new)
La Tejana – Bib Gourmand (new)
Bresca – Michelin Star (new)
Washington, DC 2025 – travel (new)
2025 Gin
Return to the Roundups
Concord Culinary Lyceum 
Leave a comment