Beth "jus' sayin'" M.'s Profile

Clover has fast become the sweetheart of the food truck phenomenon on MIT's campus...and with good reason.  This small vegetarian operation in their white unmarked truck offer some of the tastiest food in the Kendall/MIT area.  For the huge crowd that amasses at lunch time they get you in and out with charm and efficiency - you don't feel rushed, and honestly you kind of feel like they care about you and your sandwich.

I stop by a few times a week for their amazing coffee - they don't deal in large pots and quick pours.  The friendly adorable staff scoops you your own personal grounds, places them in your own personal filter, and pours your very own hot water over them into your own cup.  It takes a little longer but is so worth it.  The coffee they feature is always awesome and the staff is totally knowledgeable about the flavor nuances of each one.  Quality.

I've never had any of their breakfast goods, but their popovers try to seduce me every time...someday they'll win.  

Lunch at Clover is fantastic - the chickpea fritter sandwich is stuffed with hummus, cukes, carrots, pickles, cabbage, pickled onions and what I think might be a tahini sauce...and lightly fried chickpea fritters of course.  SO GOOD.  The rosemary fries are fabulous too, as well as their assorted beverages like basil or brown sugar lemonade, hibiscus iced tea...you get the idea.  Everything is made to order and made with care...and made with awesomeness.

And the prices are very good for the amount of food you get.  $5 for a fresh, healthy, amazing sandwich always sounds good to me...and $2 for my own personal cup of magical coffee.  Yes. Clover. Geniuses.

I've been going to The Yoga Nook for three weeks now, and I've thoroughly enjoyed my experience here so far! I'm thrilled to have a beautiful yoga studio so close to my home in Kingston - living up in Boston I used to have tons of yoga studios to choose from but since moving south 3 years ago, it's been hard to find one that's convenient and has what I'm looking for, to keep up a consistent practice.

The Yoga Nook has *exactly* what I'm looking for - great, affordable classes taught by excellent, caring instructors in a beautiful, spotless, toasty warm studio. They specialize mostly in power yoga, but at a variety of different levels so if you don't want to "flow" as quickly, there are slower classes to focus more on posture and stretching. Both types of class are great - the two instructors I've encountered, Lynn and Andrea, are amazing.

The only thing I'd change about The Yoga Nook is that I'd love to see more classes offered on weekdays at 7:00pm or later. As a commuter it's impossible for me to make the 6:00pm classes and I'd love to have more classes to choose from on weeknights! Otherwise The Yoga Nook is my new yoga home and I'm so thankful!

I really really want to like Drink.  I've been 4 or 5 times now, and had varying experiences, all the way from completely mind-blowingly awesome to super disappointing.  It's that kind of inconsistency that makes me grumpy.

Let me preface this by saying that I love the concept, and the whole feel of Drink.  All glowy and clandestine, situated in a basement on Congress street...just walking in (when you actually can and don't have to wait in a crazy line) makes you feel like you're in on something awesome and secret...a beautifully glam speakeasy, if you will.

And the fact that they have no set drink menu, and the talented barkeep will make you whatever you're in the mood for, is a cool concept as well.  Then you can remember your special drink and ask for it again, and like some kind of cocktail insider.  Whenever I go in a group the inevitable "Have you had the Green Fairy Gimlet?  Have you had the Blind Tiger?  The Tennessee Sweetheart?" conversation arises.  All of those drinks are fake btw, but you get the idea.

On my best nights here I've had awesome new drinks introduced to me, great engaging service and left with a smile on my face, scrambling to find my wits and balance.  On my "eh" nights I've had drinks like the Seelbach or Negroni suggested to me, which I could have at any of 50 restaurants across Boston, without waiting in line and being packed in like a sardine.  Maybe I'm expecting too much but whatever.  Someone constantly referred to as a mixologist should give me more interesting suggestions than that.

My latest experience here was pretty disappointing.  We got right in, which was nice, and I was all excited to have an English Channel, which I had enjoyed immensely on my last visit - champagne and Pimm's Cup with a float of yellow chartreuse and a twist of lemon.  A drink practically designed for me.  When I ordered the bartender was right on, yes, knew what I wanted.  What I got instead was basically a glass of yellow chartreuse, with small amounts of the other ingredients present, but...my entire party turned their noses up at it as they passed it around, advising me not to drink the whole thing unless I was aiming to black out.  And I quite enjoy chartreuse as a component and even sometimes alone (a trace amount in a snifter)...but this was over the top.

I totally own that part of my disappointment might have been remedied by just asking for a new drink, but I've gotten such a snotty attitude from some of the bartenders there that I wasn't in the mood to even suggest that they made my drink wrong.  So I only drank half.  Boo.  

Anyway, I definitely wouldn't discourage you from trying Drink.  Obviously a lot of people love it.  Having lots of bartenders working there, and an infinite amount of customers and special drinks that are being designed for them is likely a gigantic challenge.  That recipe has just unfortunately resulted in some disappointing inconsistency for me.