Even the recession can be trendy

(image courtesy of: http://www.feltclubboston.com)

Living in the city isn’t easy on a budget – and believe me, I know this fact firsthand. I’m known to break my budget on a twice-a-day basis. On the upside of the current dreary American economy are food specials. I live in a city that doesn’t allow happy hour (literally, legally, it’s a Blue Book law), but this doesn’t prevent food specials. Thankfully.

While I’ve scoped out several deals in the city (10 cent wings at the Asgard on Mondays, one dollar tacos at La Verdad on Tuesdays), my personal favorite weekly event is Recessionista Wednesdays at Felt on Washington Street. My three childhood best friends, K, C, L and I attended a few weeks in a row and left both times impressed, with full stomachs and wallets. The special $3 menu features appetizers such as garlicky shrimp and entrees like chicken picatta and mini chesse or veggie burgers. Desserts include apple crisp in martini glasses. Surprisingly enough, the menu as a whole was inexpensive with a half-order of lobster risotto costing a mere $8. Drinks range from about $6 to $10, so choose wisely and have only one or two. We all seem to approve of the red or white sangria (and, let’s face it, when isn’t sangria a good choice?).

Best yet, Felt sets a theme to each Recessionista Wednesday. Two weeks ago it was a chocolate theme – complete with chocolate fountain, dessert samples from a local bakery and celebrity trivia. Future themes include the Boston Red Sox, celebrities and country (as in country music). Count me in and remind me to look photo ready.

-M

Ayyame: Not the Arabic food your mama made you

The latest addition to Kuwait’s food scene is Ayyame, an Arabic-fusion restaurant. Ayyame really puts a deft, sophisticated spin on Middle Eastern food with their extensive selection of mezze (meh-ZAY). If you aren't familiar with mezze, think hors d'oeuvres or tapas - lots of small plates to be eaten before a meal (or even as a meal!)

The restaurant's interiors are gorgeous (as you can see in the pictures...lots of floral details are mirrored in the interiors, the menu, the napkins and even the plates.) To get the full Ayyame experience, I would recommend calling ahead and making a reservation (of course, assuming you don’t mind dining in a perpetual shisha/hookah-induced haze)...there is plenty of outdoor seating too. We were seated outside and while it was nice to look over at the marina and enjoy the weather, the breeze inevitably cooled our food down quite a bit and sent many a napkins flying out of our laps and onto the faces of other patrons...whoops!

The service was personable and attentive (if a bit sketchy at one point...but that was the only thing that soured the experience at the end).

The great thing about Ayyame is that it combines good food, good prices and a great atmosphere. We had enormous quantities of food and tons of leftovers for a very reasonable price.

Hitting the bars...

Went to the bar the other night...the Chocolate Bar, that is. Believe me when I say every hour is happy hour!!

Living in a country where alcohol is illegal and nightlife options are severely limited, our fav. pastimes here are a) eating and b) shopping. :) Usually makes for a good time; eat hella lot and then go shopping - cardio to burn off the calories...works out just fine.

Checking out the crowd was super fun...there was a heavily pregnant woman and her husband (I wonder if she was having cravings?)...a group of 5-6 young Arab women chatting about something or the other over obnoxious amounts of dessert (can't blame them) and a group for 3 Kuwaiti guys just chilling together at the table next to us. The guys looked like they were in their early 30s at least and it was an interesting sight. It is quite rare to see a group of single men just chilling and eating dinner (at least in the States) and to see them...esp. at an exclusively dessert-filled place (with pink/brown interiors) was reallly interesting. Good for them, getting their dessert on without giving a damn! :)

S . and I ordered fries (or "chips" as she calls them...so cute, gotta love the Brits), a diet Coke (for her), water (for me) and a milk chocolate truffle cake (the 1st pic for me) and milk chocolate molten cake (2nd for S.)...they are basically the same except in S.'s view, the truffle cake "is more cake-y" and the molten cake is "more chocolate-y"...regardless, they were amazing gooey-chocolate-y little treats. Of course, we started and finished the whole process with fries "to cleanse the palette!"