Thursday, April 15, 2010

Brazzille in Framingham, MA

When I think Brazilian food, I think of men carrying meat on swords and going from table to table, a la Midwest Grille in Cambridge. While my meal at Brazzille was full of meat, it was at a more reasonable price than Midwest Grille, though I'd argue not quite as tasty.

Parking in the area isn't the greatest, as it's right on 126, but on a Wednesday night, we didn't have a problem. The restaurant was pretty dead, as we were one of three restaurants the whole night, but they were running a post-work special of 10 cent wings to try to boost business. More on the wings later.

I started by ordering a frozen mango juice, which is probably one of my favorite beverages ever. I almost threw up from the first sip. Someone had used SALT instead of SUGAR to make my drink! It tasted like ocean water with a kick of tropical fruit. I brought it to the attention of our waiter, and he quickly remedied it and brought me a new, much more refreshing one. He explained to me that someone had put salt in the sugar jar. How nice.

For appetizers, we tried ten wings, and an order of the Brazilian sausage with chicken and yucca fries. When asked if we wanted the wings spicy or mild, we went for mild. Unbeknownst to us, that meant that there was no sauce on them. I wish we had tried some spicy, but the mild sauceless wings were perfectly crispy and juicy. I will definitely return for 10 cent wing night.

The Brazilian sausage was weirdly deep fried, but tasted good nonetheless. The chicken was deep fried as well, with an awesome garlic kick and the skin still on. Loved it. The yucca fries tasted like pretty much any other yucca fries I've had.

For entrees, I had the shrimp. My meal came with hearts of palm salad, potato salad, chicken salad and rice. The shrimp were beautifully cooked, with a tangy chunky tomato sauce on top. The hearts of palm salad couldn't really be called a salad, as it was just diced hearts of palm with a cured meat. The potato salad was full of potatoes, carrots, peas, corn and raisins, but I did find it had a bit too much mayonnaise. If it pulled back slightly on the mayo, it would've been supreme. The chicken salad was ironically dry, and could've used a little mayo. The rice was well cooked, but I found it oversalted.

For dessert, we had the passion fruit mousse. It was heavenly. I expected it to be a bit thicker, but the mousse was light and fluffy, and much tangier than I had expected. With a dollop of whipped cream on top, it may have been the best part of the meal.

Overall, I did find the food a bit over-salted for my tastes. But the portions are huge (I had lunch the next day, plus a little extra), the service was friendly, and the prices were right. For 2 apps, 2 entrees, a dessert, and two drinks, our bill was around $45 with tax. I can't wait to go back for more 10 cent wings.

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Apologies... Oga's!

So, I've been a very, very bad blogger. But I can explain!

I recently began writing for TableCritic.com. It's a site designed to promote restaurants in a review-like format. So most of my time has been spent there.

But it doesn't mean I haven't been eating at restaurants! Oh yes, I have. And the reviews will start coming again, I promise. Starting with Oga's in Framingham!

Since I've moved out here, I've noticed that Oga's is always packed every single time I drove down Route 9. It's not exactly the ideal location, in a plaza with a Blockbuster (I have no idea how those stores stay open and operating) and some cell phone carrier, so I had always been skeptical. I finally decided to give a shot, and boy, was it worth it.

The room is surprisingly beautiful, with dividers and a beautiful sushi bar. The tables were full with a lot of happy people, which is always a good sign.

The fluke ceviche with ponzu was just amazing. With thin slices of fluke garnished with shiitake mushrooms and what I think was chervil, the grapefruit-y juice turned the fluke into this wonderfully tender yet firm ceviche. I could've eaten two more plates. The raw tuna/raw salmon spring roll was delicious as well, with a black bean and garlic sauce dip.

We ordered a two person sushi boat, and ate every single bite. The fish quality is very high, and well cut. While a little on the pricey side, I would absolutely return to Oga's for a special occasion or date night out.