A Father's Day Suprise

For Father’s day, I was looking for a unique experience to share with my dad.  He’s always had an interest in trains and I had wanted to check out Entertrainment Junction for a few years now.  Well when I saw a Groupon deal for a pack of four tickets to the establishment, I knew it was the right time to explore! 

We had a wonderful experience! We went the Saturday afternoon before Father’s Day and spent around 2-3 hours there.  Our experience started with the train display.  The detailed history and landscape was amazing. One could spend hours taking it all in.  There was also a playground and train ride for kids in this area.

After the train display we walked through the gift shop and hobby shop before venturing to the Amaze-n funhouse.  This was probably my favorite part! There were about 5 different interactive rooms.  The rooms included a mirror, black hole, optical illusions, slanted floors, maze, and more. There were so many details to see that I went through a couple rooms more than once to take it all in.

All in all we all had a great time and enjoyed exploring Entertrainment Junction.  I hear they decorate the place for Christmas and there were a few Thomas the Tank Engine themed birthday parties going on as well.  Before we left my dad was already thinking of other people he could bring to check out the train display.

Another Frozen Yogurt Place

Bad Frog Frozen Yogurt is another mix your own frozen yogurt place.  As the customer, you select a frozen yogurt flavor and pull the lever to fill your cup with your desired portion and then pick from tons of different toppings and syrups before weighing your creation on the scale.
Although this frozen yogurt place has a simliar concept as the chain Yogurt Mountain, I like this one better due to the fact that both times I've visited, it's been calm and peaceful.  I love the brightly colored spoons and walls.  I would prefer there be more seating but they have made the most of their small space.
If you're around Brown Street or any of their other locations, it's worth checking them out.

Fusian...sushi

I've wanted to try Fusian for months and finally got around to it tonight.  I loved the atmosphere and the food was great.
The eatery is very focused on the environment with eco-materials and recyclable materials .  The decor was modern and hip and fit perfectly on Brown Street.
The customer gets to customize their sushi at the counter, selecting the type of roll, mean, veggies, sauces, spices, etc.  Like the counter of your local sub or burrito place, the customer gets to watch the sushi artist create the roll and slice it.
I ordered a seaweed wrap, tuna (which had a little spice/seasoning), cucumber, avocado, cream cheese, sweet soy sauce, and sesame seeds.  I also ordered a side of edamame which was wonderfully warm and salted.  The water container even had sliced cucumbers in it!

I believe there are currently two locations but I could definately see this concept spreading into a national chain.  What a great place.  I'll definately be back!

Butter Cafe

Butter Cafe was another local restaurant I heard about through an offer on the Groupon website. 

The décor in Butter Café is fun.  The walls as you would expect, are painted the color of creamy butter, the menu is full of healthy, good sounding choices, and the drinks were served out of mason jars.  Parking was a little challenging and there was construction going on out front at the entrance which was a little bit difficult to navigate. 

The food was served reasonably quickly and the fresh strawberry lemonade I ordered was refreshing.  I ordered the skinny B**** frittata which had a wonderful sounding description in the menu.  It tasted rather bland though for all the ingredients it included.  My friend ordered blueberry pancakes.  She loved how the blueberries were big and fresh but said they tasted a little dry.

I heard about the Butter Café through a Groupon coupon and enjoyed trying it out but I don’t think it will be on my list of favorite restaurants to visit.  I'd be willing to give them another try though.

Old Hickory BBQ

I was disappointed in my attempt at trying Old Hickory BBQ although I loved the “hole in the wall” local charm. 
I tried the Pulled Pork BBQ sandwich which came with French fries and a drink.  The price was very reasonable and the portion size was generous but the BBQ sauce on the meat tasted bland. 

With a name like Old Hickory I was expecting a hickory smoked taste but was disappointed.  My friend had the same conclusion.  With the other BBQ places around town, I don’t think I’ll be back to Old Hickory.

Saya's

I’m just getting into trying different kinds of sushi and was told about Saya’s from a friend.  Saya’s is a small hole in the wall location with great Japanese and Korean food. 

I met three friends for lunch and didn’t have to wait long to be seated.  The food came out pretty quickly and tasted great.  For the quality and amount of food the price was pretty reasonable.

It was a little difficult to understand the servers when I asked about some menu items and I ended up ordering something different than I was planning as a result.  My lobster roll came out delicious though so it was still a good experience.  I tried some items from the box lunch deals my friends ordered and found it very tasty as well.

After eating there I mentioned to several friends that I eaten there for lunch and they all raved about how much like it as well.  They even went as far as to say that it was the best sushi in the area and that they try to eat there at least once a month.

Next time I’m craving some sushi I know where to go!

Express...Boston Italian

This small cafeteria style Italian restaurant  in the “little Italy” area of Boston was perfect for our group. 

I split the lobster ravioli with a friend and it was soooo good.  (This picture was my 1/2 portion!) It was so tasty we wiped our plates clean with the bread that was included.  I also tried a few bites of the alfredo, mozzarella calzone, and chicken and broccoli fettucini from the plates of other people in our group.  Everything was delicious and pretty reasonably priced for the quality of food, service, size and location.

The location had a local, quant ambience and was packed tightly with tables and chairs and plenty of customers.  Because of the corner location and plenty of windows and lighting I never felt stuffy though.