Hungry Mother of Cambridge open!
Stopped by Hungry Mother of Cambridge (http://www.hungrymothercambridge.com/) last night for its opening night. We live around the corner and have been avidly watching all the renovation, waiting for something new to open in this space. We stopped by after the Mr. had class so we were just in for drinks and dessert. We were very excited to see their wine list, as this is something notably lacking at this end of Cambridge. The menu looked good, and there is an organic sustainable bent mixed with a southern flair. The bartender said they make everything in house, except the bread and perhaps the ketchup. Upon asking he noted that they buy half a cow regularly from a farm in New York, and the meat is grass-fed. The guy next to us at the bar was raving about the catfish as well. The Mr. and I enjoyed a glass of the Malbec and the Merlot, and we tried the chocolate pot de creme with cardamom which was tasty. I am definitely looking forward to going back and trying a full meal!
midnightmorningglory
Mar 19, 2008 05:13AM
I took a look at the menu yesterday and was very interested. It is so nice to be presented with some really different choices. I have some questions for you.
It sounds as if you dined at the bar. Is it a comfortable dining bar and is the full menu served at the bar?
And then, the question that only seems to matter to me-- what does Hungry Mother sound like? What type of music are they playing? Vocals? Volume level, general noise, can you hold a semi-quiet conversation?
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Indeed, we did sit at the bar. Quite comfortable. Probably 8 seats or so at an L-shaped bar, and two 4 tops in the front of the restaurant. Then you go up a short flight of stairs to get to the rest of the restaurant in back. There is a great nook in back, which it looks like they renovated to put a few small tables in, looks good for intimate dining. Up front in the bar area, the noise level was fine. Mellow mix of music, think jack johnson. At the bar there was some noise from what I assume was the dishwashing station behind the half-wall, but it was fine, just a few loud noises now and again, but never had to shout or talk too loudly. Could perfectly hear the person next to you. Might want to sit at an actual table if you wanted to have a private conversation but that is probably because everyone at the bar was friendly and curious to see who else in the neighborhood was out :) And yes a full menu was available at the bar. Right now the kitchen is open for dinner from 5-10, but they mentioned last night that they are thinking about a late nite menu as the bar is open until 1.
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Thanks MidnightMG! Sounds like a fit for us. I'll put it on my "try it soon" list.
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Is this in the space that used to be the Kendall Cafe?
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Yes.
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Thanks.
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Can't get the dinner menu to come up on their site...
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Depending on which browser you use, make sure pop-up windows are enabled for the site. All menus come up fine for me (using Firefox).
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OT: New laptop and I HATE Vista! I haven't yet downloaded Firefox but will do so now...
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try pressing Ctrl when clicking on menus.
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Not to mention its totally flash based. That's the surest sign of a loser operation.
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Heading over tomorrow night -- report to follow.
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Excited at the thought of being able to munch on peanuts while having drinks. Have not been able to do that since my Moan & Dove days in Amherst. Of course, if there is a good bar in Boston that offers free or cheap roasted in the shell peanuts, please do tell.
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Stopped by last night just before 6pm before meeting up w/DC's for Blue Room RW. Bar was already full. Graciously greeted by owners and waitstaff as I took a look around. Absolutely loved the cozy feel of the place. Menu prices very reasonable. Brought back DC's after dinner and they loved the look & feel of the place too. Bar absolutely packed and several tables in dining room by 8:30. We all will definitely be going there before movies and just in general as some of us work nearby. http://www.hungrymothercambridge.com/...
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Had dinner at the bar on Wednesday. Good stuff. A quality not-expensive bistro-ish wine list, ranging roughly $25-70/bottle. Attractive selection of smaller plates as well as entrees. Had the shrimp & grits, the grass fed steak, some brussels sprouts, sticky bun a la mode, a good red burg, all quite excellent. Will be back for sure.
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How were the brussels sprouts prepared?
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O...K... well, they were very tender and savory, and coated in some kind of oil, so I'd guess that they were sauteed, or maybe braised. A straightforward and very tasty presentation.
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On further reflection, they must have been braised, or possibly steamed and then sauteed. They were very soft all the way through.
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went tonight. and had to report: run don't walk to HM!
An absolutely amazing renovation of the Kendall Cafe/The Swan. Service will work itself out, but we were amazed by the food.
Drinks: awesome beer listing, mostly microbrews (Bear Republic Hop Rod Rye), good price, real pint
Starters: green salad with beets-- lovely
butterbean soup--just divine
Iggy's bread to complement (tho, i'm not sure b/c the wheat seemed dark for Iggy's)
Main:
Pork shoulder $19: phenomenal, DC could not stop raving about how amazing the pork was. he threatened to be back tomorrow.
Catfish with collard greens and cauliflower $16: delicious tender fish over bright green slightly lemony collard greens
Dessert:
pot de creme (chocolate/cardamom): rich and creamy with beautiful cups of coffee and tea.
This place is our new favorite (see how easy that is ;)...good food, fair price for Kendall Sqr.
some interesting notes: they have Brooklyn 1 Belgium in a bottle (very unusual around here); the gnocci was $17, which was funny I thought b/c the catfish was $16, so i expect some pricing adjustments. The main dining room (up those 4 steps) held about 10 tables. The bathrooms were cleverly decorated with pages from cookbooks :)
hooray, great to have HM in the 'hood!
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Wow. A week in, and the place is already solid. Great beer/wine list. I'd be raving about the steak, except the pork shoulder beat everything on the table tonight -- completely superlative, smoked with apple/hickory, served with awesome grits.
And it's only going to get better.
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Went tonight with a friend and had the following:
Peanuts - about 1.5 dozen boiled peanuts with a sprinkling of coarse salt/sea salt, wonderful to pick on, but for $3, it is only fitting as a bridge to an appetizer which is how the waitress framed it. It is decidedly not a good choice for sitting at the bar with beer given the price.
Beef Tongue canape - tender thick slices of tongue with sauce and slight bit of gruyere melted on top. The sauce had an extremely acrid/bitter after-taste, as if there was some uncooked alcohol left in the sauce.
Beet Salad - straightforward, fresh, nothing to see here
Shrimp & Grits - ham & grits were excellent, shrimp(3) seemed to have been cooked to order and then added to the grits before being served, while this made the shrimp very tender, they did not taste like they belonged with the grits
Pork Shoulder - not sure of other experiences but got about a dozen cubes of pork where I was expecting a big chunk (did not bother asking.) About half the cubes were very tender without another handful being on the dry side, but overall, neither I or my DC could say that the pork had an appreciable flavor beyond being porky and meaty. The grits tied everything together well and the lone rib was pretty tasty.
Catfish - tender fish, but not particularly sweet or flavorful, collard greens in the lemon/butter? sauce were excellent.
Sticky Bun - I felt there was something odd to the consistency of the bun, a tad too cake-like perhaps or perhaps that they had microwaved it to warm it up, I'm not all that sure. The taste and the flavor of the bun with the ice cream was delicious however.
Drinks:
#2 - the sorghum syrup seemed to overwhelm the drink with too much sweetness while there was nothing to balance out the bourbon in other similar preparations like a manhattan or sazerac, which are my usual orders. Additionally, peanuts did not seem to lend anything to the drink.
#14 - completely devoid of any character, slight taste of rum but definitely no applejack or lillet
#18 - DC liked this one, you knew the tequila was there but it was rounded out by the sparkling wine
I'm not sure what to make of this visit, it was somewhat disappointing given the house mixed drinks, and the food was OK, hits and misses. I am not sure if my choice of cocktails affected my taste buds which admittedly are not the sharpest to begin with but I did make an effort to rinse down with water as often as I could. I definitely would look forward to coming back and trying the other dishes but would likely stick to just beer on the next go-around. I wish they had grits as a menu item, grits gumbo perhaps.
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A group of us went to Hungry Mother for Easter dinner. We ordered 5 out of the 6 "to tide you over" offerings: Pork Rillettes, Spicy Pimento Cheese, Deviled Eggs w/ bacon, Boiled Virgina Peanuts and a beef tongue canape. I really enjoyed the small bites. The deviled egg came with 3 halves, each with a large bacon sail nestled in to the yolk – very tasty. The boiled peanuts were classic, like you would get in a roadside store down south. My favorite single bite of the whole dinner was the beef tongue. It was tender, and flavorful.
For my main course I had the catfish with collard greens and cauliflower, and a side order of grits w/ tasso ham and cheese. The catfish was cornmeal coated and pan fried, instead of deep frying, so it wasn't greasy at all. I liked the collards a lot, they were not cooked to dead limpness as most are. The cauliflower was good, but it was scattered all over my plate, like a garnish, instead of a side. There were also croûton like bread cubes, which I didn't really understand. The grits were good, with a nice salty edge from the tasso. DC had the braised pork shoulder; it came with one perfect smoky rib. The pork shoulder pieces were a conundrum: it was very tender, yet a little on the dry side. Usually one precludes the other. DC also got cornbread, which also dry. I also sampled the gnocchi, which was light and not at all doughy. Someone did get the chicken, but I did not try it. He proclaimed that the chicken was very good and cleaned his plate.
Dessert was unimpressive. I got a chocolate cardamom pot de creme and although I liked the flavor, the texture was way off. Pot de cremes are supposed be a soft, silky, smooth custard. This was more like a thick chocolate ganache in a ramekin. It was served cold and you needed force to get a spoonful. It was better when it warmed up a little, but come on folks, this is not a pot de creme recipe you have here. DC got the sticky bun, it was small but decent flavor.
The service was very attentive and friendly, and the remodel of the restaurant looks great. I think it's a nice addition to the area.
gltsoi.livejournal.com
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Stopped by Hungry Mother for dinner at the bar. Small, clean space on the first level with 7 or 8 bar seats and a pair of high tops for 4. Kitchen directly in front of you when you walk in, as well as a wall listing all of the people who helped fund the place when they were getting strapped for cash (those pesky restaurants aren't cheap to open, you know).
Menu is in 4 sections, a small bites "to tide you over", apps, mains, sides. Ice water in mason jars. Started with beef tongue canape, fried oysters, and pork rillettes from small bites. Oysters crispy, cornmeal fried with small bit of slaw and lemon. Good start. Beef tongue, meaty, mustard, soaking into bread. Oh yea. Pork was about a sake glass full with toasted baguette, cornichons, and dijon. Simple but tasty. Kitchen is likely helped out by having these little plates, by getting people something to eat that is fairly easy to prepare and not having to wait too long for apps and such. Seemed like a tiny kitchen. Wine list seemed pretty solid with glasses starting at 6 or so and bottles ranging up into the 75 dollar range. Had a half bottle of sauv. blanc for 22. Very solid crisp white.
Next was apps, which I had the BBQ Quail, served with quail egg, aioli of some sorts, and fried green tomatoes. Quail was nicely charred, perfectly cooked, and just overall terrific. Fried green tomatoes, crisp breading, nice with the aioli and some of the quail. Felt like a slob eating the quail with my hands. Who cares.
A glass of chenin blanc for about 7 or 8 bucks and the next course was catfish. Was originally going to get the pork, but catfish at a 'southernish' place sounded right. A slight delay between courses (more later), but alas I had my supper. Fried catfish was moist, well seasoned and served with a charred cauliflower salad with capers, bright collards, and one of my favorite things, very very small crisp croutons. They add a nice bit of crunch to the dish. A pretty good value at 16. Nicely done.
Midway through the catfish I asked the bartender, Ned to recommend another glass of white and he poured me an interesting glass of a German wine, I don't remember which one though (uh oh)...
Pot De Creme with cardomon was very rich, and as noted above very thick, but hey I like it and it tasted pretty damn good. Lemon shortbread with it was very nicely done, light and crisp. Coffee was delicious, from Cafe Nation in Allston.
Upstairs dining room cozy, but not cramped with a separate area to the right with a few tables tucked away. Bathroom has Mastering the art of french cooking by JC as wall paper. Cool touch. Was told that the other bathroom had a virginia housewife cook book in the same manner.
To wrap it up, I had a very solid experience. Great service, moderately priced, cool ambiance (maybe some postal service, jack johnson, and bands of that like playing, but not too loudly, it would be cool to check it out a little later at night, see if they turn it up and make it more of a late night place), solid food, and drink. Another note is that they try to use as much local product as possible (which is very little in march) and recycle and compost 90 percent of their waste. When my main seemed to take a while, one of the owners came over and asked me how my app was, thanked me for coming, asked me how I heard about them (chowhound of course), and later my dessert and coffee was taken care of by the house. Nice touch.
Overall one of the better meals I have eaten in Boston in a long time, and somewhere that is not crazy expensive that makes it hard to frequent. If it is grouped in with say Rendevous, Central Kitchen, PRB, Eastern Standard, and restaurants of that type($15-$25 entrees), then I say they are far ahead in terms of food. I can't wait to get back next week to get through more of the menu. The place has love.
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I was also there -- we started with the deviled eggs with the homemade bacon. They were solid -- not Oleana fantastic -- but solid and the bacon is a nice, nice touch. I had the catfish; my dc had the steak. I think I won. The catfish was as Beantown describes. The steak is a "bistro cut" and I'm just a little spoiled by buying and cooking nice cuts from Savenor's. It's hard to impress me at this price point -- but I respect the choice to have it on the menu. We shared a side of grits -- and, not a grits fan when walking in, I was when walking out. We didn't have room for dessert -- and were happy to retreat home to girl scout cookies.
I do think this is Central Kitchen like with a great (although small) bar and attention to decor and cocktails. You get a certain feeling of love and local-ness in the remodeled joint. It is nice to be among people who care about the details -- good music, quality ingredients, and a careful enviro footprint.
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Went on Saturday night, the 22nd.
Unlike avial's, in my No. 2 cocktail, the sorghum syrup was barely noticeable. A strong bourbon manhattan - I did not detect any peanut flavor from the boiled peanut, but I did enjoy eating it.
Fried oysters were very good - celeriac slaw had a nice bite.
Apps of quail and cornbread on the side - both excellent.
Dinner of pork shoulder - very smoky flavor, again unlike avial's experience. The grits were excellent. No dried bits, although was expecting a large piece of meat rather than the chunks of shoulder plus a rib.
GF had the catfish - she seemed to enjoy it very much. I thought it was a little bland, but that was in comparison to my pork.
Pot de creme - very cardamom-y - very thick, but not having any particular knowledge of the form, did not see this as a problem. I trust that gltsoi is on point that this should be lighter.
The upstairs space is a huge improvement over the prior incarnation. Prices are reasonable - (mostly upper teens for entrees)
Any problems I owe to it being their first weekend. Will definitely try it again.
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A friend and I had an excellent dinner here last night. Started with the boiled peanuts. I had no idea what to expect but we got a bowl of peanuts in their shells, hot and wet from boiling, and sprinkled with coarse salt, together with a bowl for the shells. The peanuts were soft (think edamame or chickpeas for texture) and the peanut flavor seemed concentrated. Very interesting. Excellent bread with an excellent pat of butter sprinkled with more coarse salt. We shared the plate of Virginia Wigwam ham, a generous portion served on a wooden board drizzled with EVOO and accompanied by grilled ciabatta, fig compote, marinated picholine olives and pickled peppers. I cannot remember when I have enjoyed anything more. The ham had a lovely but not overpowering smokiness and was as tender as can be. Placing it atop the grilled bread intensified the smokiness perfectly. I would have told you I didn't care much for fig compote or pickled peppers but I would have been wrong -- they were terrific complements to each other and to the ham. The olives too were a great assertive note. (Eating this I actually thought to myself that I wished I had Limster's facility for describing food.) We each had the lovely crispy-coated catfish, accompanied by collards with a nice bite to them (unlike the Blue Ribbon ones which I also love but which have been thoroughly cooked into submission), and wonderful roasted cauliflower with capers and a slightly mustardy grenobloise sauce. (No sign of the previously-mentioned croutons.) Each component was perfect and they worked together beautifully. Service was very pleasant and attentive (water glasses refilled probably 4 or 5 times, more bread offered), including a very warm greeting by the host. And just to top it all off, this was an amazing value, 2 glasses of wine and a club soda bringing the total to $66. The dining room was nearly empty (we were quite early) but starting to fill about 7:45 when we left. My advice: run, don't walk to Hungry Mother of Cambridge. I hope I enjoy my meal at Il Cappriccio, where I am being taken tonight, half as much.
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I couldn't escape the incessant mumblings about this new joint from all the reg peeps so took DC the other night to investigate. Way beyond what I expected for an upstart restaurant like this. Usually try to wait for a new joint to age respectively like fine wine before I put my two cents in but this place has the BUZZ. Stylish and homey, simple menu not overdone or overcomplicated, ill layout on the list, vaguely recognized my server D from runnin' plates of fois @ ES. If this is the future of the Boston scene than praise be to the J man. Dinner went; Peanuts and Oysters (would order every visit), Shrimp and Grits (fresh), Pork Shoulder and Catfish (whatever secrets FRANK was hipping BARRY to have been taken to another level). Service was what you would expect to find at some of the $$$ joints operatin' for many millenia not a two week old southern/french Kendall Square JOINT. Much props to D. Drinks were nice on the list but fell short in execution (maybe a two week crash course at ES or the B SIDE). Overall and ILL night out. Looks like it's gonna be POTBELLIES, HM, and THE BEEHIVE all summer.
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Went back last night, and I'm happy to report a repeat of our first excellent evening there. Beef tongue canape, catfish, pork shoulder, side of collard greens, bottle of Languedoc red, all excellent.
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I sat at the bar, didn't have time to eat, will next time.... Spoke to an owner, they just hired Christian Rojas for their new sous chef (studied under Adam Hallberg from Via Matta). As as side note, I know this is completely ignorant, but what the heck is a DC?
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"DC" Usually stands for "Dining Companion"
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While we're at it, what is DH? I can only think of designated hitter (but I knew DC).
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Dear Husband?
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I've always thought Dear Husband, too.
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Yes it's Dear Husband. When I first started reading here I thought DC meant Dear Chowhound.
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I always thought DH stood dedicated hound.
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Mr. and I tried Hungry Mother off these positive CH reviews. We were really pleased with the restaurant. I started with the chilled fennel soup which was perfect on an 80 degree day. ( Just a side note: the anise/ licorice flavor of the fennel wasn't noticeable. For some that will be a good thing for others you might be disappointed.) For my main dish I had the pork shoulder. The meat was tender and the sauce very balanced. Sometimes sweet sauces like that can be too strong but this was just the right amount of sweetness and smokiness. Mr. had the steak with fingerling potatoes and practically licked his plate clean.
I'll give the other cocktails a whirl but the No.1 was nothing special (Dr. Pepper, Old Overholt Rye, bitters) I love Dr. Pepper and rye and thought this would be a drink for me but the rye kind of kills the weirdness of Dr.Pepper and it just ends up tasting like a too sweet manhattan. Also Dr.P is one of those sodas (like root beer) that goes flat almost instantly so the drink also reminded me of flat Coke.
Anyway, we will certainly return to Hungry Mother. The atmosphere was relaxed and airy. Music was good (Beatles, Spoon) but as others have mentioned not too loud.
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You weren't there last night, were you? There was a big group of hounds checking it out (report forthcoming) and one two-top kept staring at us. Could have been the freakish beauty, but might have been fellow hounds?
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Yes, I was there last night at 6:00. But we had a two top on the former stage on the left if you were facing the windows but in the non-window corner. Mr. had his back to the dining room and was disappointed he could only eavesdrop and not do any staring.
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Sweet houndly coincidence! I really loved the place. The renovation is amazing (having frequented the Kendall Cafe) and the food was super. I especially liked the deviled eggs, they are from Chip-in farm and have a piece of bacon poked into the filling. I've been seeing deviled eggs on a lot of menus lately -- most recently at Highland Kitchen. These were better.
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I love deviled eggs. My mom always made them at every family party and its nice to see them making a come back. Next time I go to the movies at Kendall Sq. I want to pop in here for some post movie beers, snacks, and possibly buttermilk pie which I was too full for last night. Did any CHer's try it yet?
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My mom too. Still does. And she tells me they ALWAYS get snapped right up.
We had the cardamom pots de creme. We also saw Dax's doppelganger at the bar, and Rachel remembered him from Rachel's kitchen. Dax if you are reading, I think you'd like Hungry Mother.
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My doppleganger? Chipper Jones was there?
I am so glad that HM is doing well, along with Rachel.
My mom always does deviled eggs too, and claims the same.
Hound meal sounds awesome.
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As hinted at coyly by yumyum, a group of hounds and FOH's (friends of hounds) descended upon Hungry Mother last night. Overall impression of the food was excellent. Hungry Mother has a small focused menu, with a small bites section, regular appetizer section, and then the full entrée section.
We started with a couple orders of the beef tongue, boiled peanuts, the pimento cheese spread, and deviled eggs. All good. Who doesn’t like a little tongue? It was served baked on bread with a cheese topping and had a nice porky taste to it. The pimento spread had just a little kick.
Most of the table shared many items. The shrimp and grits, apparently a defining “low country” dish according to some, was tasty, almost gumbo-like to me, though not as spicy. The pork shoulder-and-rib entrée satisfactorily supplied the pork element to the dinner. The fried oysters and its remoulade were awesome. The catfish was also fried well and tasty. I LOVED the grilled chicken sausage. Collard greens were good, maybe too good--I'm used to them being more wilted.
A couple of us broke away from the group and shared the chilled fennel soup, already described well in this thread, and the gnocchi, which consisted of nicely firm pasta and had a springy, earthy sauce. Way up there on the gnocchi scale.
I will definitely go back to try the few items on the menu we didn’t have, as well as another round of oysters, tongue, and soup. Or whatever they may change to, assuming the menu changes.
Oh, I also had the No 14 cocktail, consisting primarily of Gosling’s Rum and Cointreau, plus some other stuff. It was good, I’ll get it again. Summery tasting to me.
The rooms are cleverly designed. Our table was a little loud at times.
EDIT: Totally forgot the amazing chocolate pot de creme. The cardemom totally made this dessert work for me and many others.
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Thanks for the writeup alcachofa ... we tried a little bit of everything didn't we?
My favorites were the tongue canape, the clams, the pimiento cheese and the eggs. I guess I just really dug the little bites. I love me some grits and they do a nice job, but I was disappointed by the shrimp they used, those little baby ones. The dish would be a gazillion times better with just 3 or 4 jumbo shrimp instead. I actually prefer my collards cooked to death, but man that pork was good. Oh boy.
Our table WAS loud. I do think the Veritas contributed to that.
Service was mellow and gracious -- my only quibble, and it's minor, was that they were slightly flummoxed by our ordering family-style. This seems like the kind of place to do that -- order everything and share. The waitress was happy to take our order that way, but we ran out of silverware, there weren't any serving spoons, and the side plates were too small for the food. I bet they'll get the hang of it if more people take that approach.
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A few of us will be descending upon them next Tuesday for a, hopefully, family style meal as well. When I went a couple of weeks ago with a DC, no trouble in the bar area splitting up our choices to share.
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I think you'll be fine. I'm sure splitting at the bar wouldn't throw them but we were 8 loud people. If you keep your eye on the cutlery and just ask if they're not on top of it, there shouldn't be a problem. I like that you can order an appetizer portion of grits and shrimp or a large to share with the table. Now if only they were nice big BBQ shrimp instead of the little guys.
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They featured Veritas wines from Virginia which I enjoyed, the Rose was perfect for such a warm evening, and had tempranillo during dinner.
I'd go back especially for the tongue, oysters with the spicy slaw, and choc/cardamom pot de creme. And if there were seats I think it would be fun to sit at the bar; the bartenders are great.
The menu didn't have the Virginia ham that Gretchen had mentioned in previous post, but if it were on the menu I'd definitely get that. I'd also like to try the quail.
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My apologies, I did not mention we had a couple bottles of Verdad (not Veritas) wine. Both the rose and the termpranillo were good for the price (mid/high 30s). ¡Es la verdad!
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