Back in the 303

So the other day I found myself back in the 303...the 303 Cafe that is. A little diamond in the rough in East Boston, the 303 Cafe offers a delicious (and very affordable) array of Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner. My roommates had discovered the place while scoping out the neighborhood for potential places for us to live this summer, and although we ended up in Cambridge, the 303 is still a quick ride on the 'T'. The remote location increases the appeal of the cafe. East Boston, being somewhat surrounded by water, is not a place where one would normally stroll around. That being said, the cafe has somehow made enough of a name for itself to attract customers from all over the city. Enough about the location, though, let's talk food. After a very difficult decision, I decided upon the Crab Cakes and Eggs, a Benedict of sorts. Two crab cakes atop a toasted English muffin topped with perfectly poached eggs and blanketed in just the right amount of hollandaise. The crab cakes were, according to my taste buds at least, made fresh with local crab and very minimal filler, meaning the cake was mostly crab with just enough bread crumbs/ mayo/ egg etc. to hold it together. You could tell by the flavor of the meat itself and the consistency of the cake. While the cakes could have stood alone as a meal, I do agree that everything is better under hollandaise. I am a huge eggs Benedict connoisseur and almost always order it on a brunch menu, especially if the restaurant varies from the original Benedict- for example, crab cakes instead of ham. But I always claim a restaurant's eggs Benedict is only as good as its hollandaise. And in the case of the 303 Cafe, they definitely passed my evaluation. The hollandaise was scored an A+ for consistency- not too runny, not to thick and the taste was nothing to complain about. Not too eggy, and just a hint of lemon. Just how I like it. The eggs, too, were poached just so the yolk was runny and the whites were not, which tied the dish together perfectly. Now I'm starting to make myself hungry...Needless to say (again) the 303 Cafe was a fabulous little restaurant in all respects. Remote location, cozy and pleasant atmosphere, and most importantly, superior food. (Did I mention their french toast is covered in Nutella and whipped cream! And they have beer on tap you cannot find anywhere else) I will definitely be returning, again and again, back to the 303, so stay tuned for more lavish descriptions of my favorite thing to talk about- food.

As if my day wasn't complete already, my brunch just had to be followed by an afternoon of football and beer. After the 303, we headed down to a little area by the water (Seaport I think it's called) and took in the afternoon at the Atlantic Beer Garden. The three story beer drinker/football watcher paradise was filled with Patriots fans on this lovely Sunday afternoon. Me being completely averse to all things Patriot (the football team, at least) I opted for soaking in the late summer sun on the top roof deck with a Blue Moon and a few friends. The place cleared out quick after the Patriots game ended (in a loss, if I may add) which opened up some inside tables for me to watch my Broncos. The entry level of the bar had twenty-something high definition televisions all showing football. And here I thought I already found nirvana in Boston (refer to ice cream blog above). And to complete my day, the Broncos were victorious.
I think I'll end on that note...CIAO