night out, night in

Went to dinner with Glen and some cohorts at the Cambridge Brewing Company last night, after work. The beer, as usual, was the highlight of the consumables – I had a glass of Scotch Ale in a teardrop glass, which suited me to a T. A little sweet, a little malty, and with that funny little prune-hook that Fin du Monde has, too. Tasty.Dinner, sadly, was a little less engaging. I got grilled polenta with a fricassee of mushrooms and spinach, which turned out to be a plate full of barely cooked vegetables and a brilliant orange wedge of polenta, all with a little balsamic vinegar on them. Meh. Glen’s five-spice duck medallions over fettucine came out overcooked and poorly presented, too. Figuring we’d give them another chance, Glen and I risked splitting some bread pudding for dessert; it tasted too much like beer to be good even once we got the ice cream they’d forgotten to put on the plate.

So, as has been true for most of the years I’ve eaten at the CBC: their reach exceeds their grasp, foodwise. The menu looks promising, and then they don’t quite get there. The company proved quite good, though, with Glen and Tim E and I talking about technology (big surprise there) Tim’s fatherhood, and whether or not one should risk eating local food when travelling. (Glen and I agree that being a good traveler requires taking some risks; again, no big surprise here.)

Then we drove home and sat on the couch with our laptops, Glen working and me upgrading my blog to WordPress2 before collapsing into bed by midnight.