Boston Happy Hour: Masa

Posted by Katie

What: Masa
Where: 439 Tremont St., South End
When: Everyday 5-7pm and all day Thurday
Honeys Heart: Tres Chile Margarita ($12), Tapas Combo Platter ($5)

I've been wanting to try Masa for awhile now, so when Shannon and I realized that our schedules allowed us to meet for dinner on Friday night, Masa was a no-brainer.

Masa serves Southwestern inspired cuisine but now that I think about it, we didn't even really look at their menu as we already knew that we wanted their tapas combo platter. The platter is usually $10 for 10 tapas but from 5-7pm everyday and all day on Thursday, Masa offers their platter for only $5. Nice!

Top row from left to right:

• shrimp with aioli
• goat cheese-stuffed pepper
• corn salsa on mini tortilla (Masa's online menu is not updated so i'm guessing on some of these...)
• goat cheese and queso chihuahua quesadilla with chile anaheim puree and pasilla chile balsamic glaze
• goat cheese and almond-stuffed date wrapped in bacon

Bottom row:

• spicy corn cake
• grilled chorizo with cranberry chutney salsa
• queso fundido jalapeno empanada
• pulled pork and montery jack springroll with Masa bbq sauce
• shredded chicken taquito with chili ancho aioli

Shannon and I loved the empanada and stuffed date but we could have done without the cold corn tapa and the goat-cheese stuffed pepper. Everything else fell somewhere in the middle which was fine with me because when you've got 10 things to sample, it's not the end of the world if you don't like one or two things.

Of course, it wouldn't be happy hour without a cocktail so I let the waiter talk me into the Tres Chile Margarita ($12). The margarita is made with tequila that has been muddled with anaheim, long hot, and jalapeno peppers and oranges mixed with a little agave nectar and sweet and sour mix. It is definitely spicy but refreshing at the same time. Shannon and I were still a little hungry so we ordered the housemade chips with salsa and guac ($7) which was a better compliment to my margarita than the tapas because the chips and salsa were not spicy at all so the drink jazzed things up a bit.

Overall, Shannon and I had a lot of fun sampling our tapas and at that price we will definitely be back again.

DIY Happy Hour: Corona Margaritas

If we were having a Superbowl party (which we aren't, cuz we don't do football), we would probably make our famous Corona Margaritas. They're really more of a summer thing, but we think the beer aspect makes them a great candidate for Superbowl drinks too.

Oh yeah, and they're incredibly easy to make, so you won't be slaving away in the kitchen when you could be watching commercials...

Here's the recipe for 1 batch. Kel and I can polish a batch off by ourselves, no problem, so plan on making 1 batch for every 2-4 people.

What You'll Need:
- 1 can of lime concentrate
- liter of club soda (or Sprite for a sweeter version)
- tequila (cheap kind is fine, just hide the bottle so your guests don't get the wrong idea)
- bottle of Corona
- ice
- salt and limes for garnish

Step 1: empty lime concentrate into a pitcher

Step 2: fill up the empty concentrate can with club soda, add to pitcher

Step 3: repeat with the tequila

Step 4: pour a bottle of Corona into the mix

Step 5: Stir and pour into cups over ice, garnish

Told you it was easy!

And if you think the combo of beer and tequila sounds gross (I did at first), rest assured that we have never met anyone who has tried these and didn't love them/drink way too many of them. Enjoy!

Portland Happy Hour: Pambiche

Posted by Kelly

What: Pambiche
Where: NE Glisan and 28th
When: Mon-Fri 4-6pm, Fri and Sat 10pm-Midnight
Honeys heart: Empanadas! ($3)

Occasionally I get in a rut and frequent happy hours with the same types of food on their menu like burgers, cheese, mini sandwiches, various fried vegetables, with the occasional unique item, so it was a breath of fresh air to go to happy hour at Pambiche, a Cuban restaurant.

Adam and I met friends, Shannon and Steve, at Pambiche Friday night. One of their favorite happy hours with great food, prices, and distance from their apartment. It seems as though they are becoming regulars while enjoying living in a very wonderful apartment a story above the restaurant in the vibrantly colored building on NE Glisan. At 5:30, with happy hour nearing it's end, it was busy and completely full inside, so we opted to brave the wind and sit under a heat lamp outside.

We ordered Empanadas ($3 each), which Steve quite wonderfully described as hot pockets but way way better. Adam and I shared one beef and one chicken and corn, but Steve and Shannon's spinach and cheese empanada looked pretty wonderful.

Both pairs ordered Croquetas ($3) available with ham, chicken, shrimp, or codfish and potato. Adam and I wanted the shrimp, but they were out so we went with Steve and Shannon's ham suggestion. These were so good, and I definitely want to return for the shrimp croquetas.

Finally Adam and I chose the $2.75 Moros & Cristianos (black beans with rice and spiced pork) and Steve tried something new by accidentaly ordering Cuban red beans and rice ($3). I think he was glad he did though!

We skipped drinks, coffee or dessert though all looked amazing and wrapped up with an $11.50 bill (for Adam and I), not too shabby! I heard a woman speaking quite highly of their white wine sangria, their coffee is Stumptown (already a fav) but apparently incredibly prepared and the dessert case was full of tiny tasty treasures so I think that means I must go back... I am usually not a dessert person but I almost went for one of the beautiful looking desserts in the case.

I believe Pambiche has also been featured in Portland Monthly for their breakfast, which our friends also spoke highly of, so we'll definitely be heading over to the east side for breakfast some weekend morning!

Boston Weekend Rundown: Tory Row, Sweet, Publick House, Deep Ellum

posted by Katie

Tory Row: Harvard Square

• Katie H and I met up after work on Friday to share a pitcher of molson canadian lager($15) and catch up now that we don't have any classes together
• The food smelled delicious so we decided to order dinner. Katie went for the veggie burger with jalapeno aioli, mixed greens and roasted potatoes ($9) and I tried the yukon golden potato leek soup with fried leeks ($7). Delicious!
• With its relaxed but sophisticated vibe, Tory Row is a great place to meet up after work

Sweet: Harvard Sqaure

• Katie had never been to Sweet so we headed across the street to check out their selection of cupcakes
• Such a cute setup and all the choices sounded so tasty.
• We went with the snickerdoodle cupcake: cinnamon-infused cake and frosting rolled in homemade sugar crystals...it was a good choice

Publick House: Washington Square in Brookline

• We weren't quite ready to go home so we met up with our friend Heather at Publick House
• Super-crowded but great beer selection
• We were all happy with what the bartender recommended until we got our bills. Next time we'll know to check prices so we don't end up paying $9 a beer like Katie had too. (In my mind $9 is appropriate only for a cocktail, never for one beer).

Deep Ellum: Allston

• I've been wanting to try Deep Ellum for a while and I finally convinced Shannon to go with me on Saturday (but only after reading her its great yelp reviews and noting that it was one of Drink Boston's top bars)
• I tried The Original Aviation ($9): gin, maraschino, creme de violet, lemon. It was delicious.
• And Shannon went for The Prado ($9): tequila, maraschino, grenadine, lime
• Definitely need to go back and do some more sampling because this place warrants its own post even if they don't have happy hour (no surprise there though).