Modern Meze at Sarma: Worth the Trek (Somerville, MA)

Boston isn't all about seafood and Italian food, there are a few special places that add a big diversity to the available food in town. Sarma is one of those few special places and I have to say it's only a type of restaurant I won't be able to find in LA, making Sarma one of my favorite spots in Boston so far.

Located in Somerville, Sarma is the sister restaurant of Oleana in Cambridge, both specializing in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern food, but Sarma focuses on meze /small plates and is more casual.

Go to Sarma with many people, so that you can try a lot of dishes - and trust me, there are a lot you'd want to try. Sarma also changes a big part of their menu regularly, so even if you're a regular, you'd always find something new to try. Here's what I had at Sarma over two different visits:

Lamb kofte sliders, tomato, brown butter, pickles ($10) - one of the must gets!

It may look simple in the photo, but these are seriously some of the best sliders ever. The patty - made with lamb kofte - was really good and the buns had the perfect texture.

Corn cakes, goat cheese, salty date butter, cilantro, pecans ($10)

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Tacolandia and Confessions of a Food Festival Masochist

by guest blogger Cue the Critic

My relationship with food festivals is an interesting one; mainly because I hate to love them.  In the moment, the experience is tiring, a bit stressful, and take the deepest toll on your body and stomach, all while offering you a feeling of fulfillment, excitement, and heavenly delight; that is if you do it correctly.  I attend food festivals with one goal in mind: eat as much as humanly possible within the time allotted.  Tacolandia was not exempt from this food festival showdown: Cue v. Food.

I arrive just prior to 3:00p.m., and my date and I breezed through the queue with unprecedented ease for an event with no VIP hour.

Upon entry I immediately started eating. There was a corn-off-the-cob cup with tortilla chips that reminded me of the elote you would get from a street vendor in the neighborhood.

Elote cup with tortilla chips

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Drinking in a Barrel at Idle Hour (North Hollywood, CA)

I love Los Angeles, but mostly they don't keep a lot of their heritage and cool historic buildings around too much. Thanks to 1933 Group, LA will at least keep one of their awesome barrel-shaped bars, as they have renovated Idle Hour in North Hollywood. The building was declared a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument and 1933 Group purchased it in an auction.

The old Idle Hour was a taproom built in 1941, and 1933 Group has kept that concept, with plenty of beers on tap inside the barrel-shaped main building.

They also have a great outdoor dining area in the back that's perfect for day drinking in the summer.

Behind that area is a replica of the Bulldog Cafe. The original Bulldog Cafe was built in 1925, selling tamales and ice cream (I wish we have something like that now), and they built a replica for the Petersen Automotive Museum in 1991. The adorable Bulldog Cafe is also open for private events, and it's also open to the public when there's no event going on.

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