Craigie on Main (brunch)

It's probably the most famous and sought-after burger in Boston, and maybe even the nation. (!)

It's got bone marrow and dehydrated miso mixed into the grass-fed meat. The homemade ketchup is laced with nutmeg. And the entire patty is cooked to a precise temperature with a C-vap oven before being seared a la plancha.

It's one heck of a burger.

In fact, there was a time not too long ago when the burger became so popular that it "disappeared" from the regular menu at Craigie on Main. Food and Wine Magazine had just named it one of the best 25 burgers in the U.S. Other media outlets were praising it left and right. Diners poured into Craigie on Main, all hoping to try a bite of that ethereal burger.

It became crazy. Chef Tony Maws just could not keep up with the demand. He sources his meat from two very small farms and he was unwilling to sacrifice quality for the sake of meeting the demand.

So instead, it quietly disappeared from the menu. Diners could still order it at the bar, but there were only a limited amount of burgers available per day.

We had friends that went at 6:00 PM once only to find out the burgers were already gone. It was so discouraging, I decided not to even try to fight the crowds for that elusive burger.

Instead, I took another, possibly lesser known route.

I went during Sunday brunch, the one day it's a guaranteed menu item.

Bryan and I stopped by Craigie on Main for brunch a couple Sundays ago. It had been a few years since I had tried the burger, and I was curious what the brunch version was like.

The burger ($17) itself is just as delicious as I remembered it. The patty is gorgeously juicy and flavorful - all around perfect, really. At brunch you have the option of adding a fried egg on top, which we did. It makes the burger horrendously messy to eat (see top photo, where the egg yolk just oozes all over the place), but it's totally worth it.

Additionally, the fries during brunch look more like thick home fries instead of the shoestring fries that normally come with the burger.

Finally, the brunch burger is a bit smaller in size than the normal bar version, which is totally fine with me. We had no trouble finishing it.

Though the burger is famous and an obvious dish to try, I must say everything we had at Craigie on Main was excellent. The side of Smoked Pork Belly ($8) was juicy, smoky, and beautifully charred.

I absolutely loved the Grass-Fed Beef Cheek, Brisket, and Smoked Beef Tongue Hash ($18), which came with crispy onion strings and a farm fresh fried egg on top. I was extremely impressed with the attention to detail of every single component of this dish. Each small cube of potato seemed to be cut the exact same size. The texture of the waxy potatoes was perfect (perhaps made using sous vide? It was almost eerily perfect), and the melt-in-your-mouth beef was flavorful and super soft. I loved this dish, maybe even more than the burger!

Bryan ordered a Bloody Mary and I seriously think it's the best Bloody Mary I've ever tasted (yes, significantly better than the one Bryan made at East Coast Grill a few weeks back, which was already very good). I just couldn't get over the intense and real tomato flavor in the base, which added so much deep complexity to the drink. Unlike most Bloody Mary drinks, this one did not need to be that salty. The other strong components provided plenty of depth and flavor to the drink.

Overall, Tony Maws did not disappoint at all. He seeks perfection in everything he does, and it really shows.

I can't wait to come back.

Craigie on Main

853 Main St
Cambridge, MA 02139

East Coast Grill (brunch)

Back when I was in college, there was a restaurant called Jae's Cafe in Inman Square that served Japanese inspired dishes, sushi, and the like. It had a sign right outside its door that said, "Eat at Jae's, Live Forever."

Next door to Jae's was an old sign from Dixie's BBQ (now part of East Coast Grill), which said, "Eat BBQ here, die happy."

Since then, Jae's Cafe (which used to have multiple locations in Chestnut Hill, Cambridge, etc) has shrunken down to a single location in Boston. The "healthy" sign is no longer in Cambridge.

East Coast Grill changed its focus to seafood in 1996. Though the "die happy" sign is still on the wall,  the window reflects perhaps a motto truer to their current focus: "East Oysters, Love Longer."

There was a time when we visited East Coast Grill all the time. How could you not? Their barbecue is excellent, they dabble in all sorts of interesting flavors (especially more exotic hot peppers!), and they even have a cool vegetarian platter that's really good.

Maybe it was the difficulty of parking in Inman Square, or perhaps the fact that you could never just show up and get in since it's so popular. It somehow fell off our radar for the last couple years (I know, terrible, can you believe it?).

Just a couple weeks ago Bryan and I got out of church early because of a special earlier worship service they were doing for the Christmas holiday. We showed up at East Coast Grill just a hair past their opening time of 11AM and easily got seated without a wait.

Of course, within half an hour, the place was packed. Thanksfully, by that time, we were well into enjoying some really fun, creative, and downright delicious brunch.

One of the most fun things to get at East Coast Grill is the "make your own Bloody Mary." They give you a TALL glass filled with ice, vodka, and a little spiced salt around the rim. A small costs $9, a large costs $11 (I'm pretty sure that's a large that you see in that pic).

Then you get to go to the "bar" and add whatever you want. The choices are dazzling and seemingly endless. Check it out - from left to right: Ghost Chile Jam, "Inner Beauty" Hot Sauce (Scotch Bonnet Chile and fruit puree), Smoked Chipotle Puree (smoked jalapenos in adobo sauce) . . .

Sambal Olek (Southeast Asian raw chili paste), Chile-Garlic Puree, Banana Guava Ketchup, East Coast Grill BBQ Sauce  . . .

Plus all sorts of pickles and hot peppers.

Add whatever you want to your glass filled with vodka. You are the bartender. Of course they give you a huge pitcher of tomato juice, which acts as your starting base.

Voila! I loved the Bloody Mary that Bryan made. It was packed with flavors and tons of heat from the various chilies and other ingredients that he added.

We enjoyed the Monterey Jack Grits which came with crispy smoked bacon and toasted hazelnuts.
Sweet Chili Glazed Smoked Pineapples ($2) came gorgeously seared and definitely had a slight kick, though the sweetness of the pineapple was much more pronounced than the spiciness.

Banana Rellena ($6) is one unique dish, comprised of a smoked pork stuffed banana topped with a generous helping of Inner Beauty Hot Sauce. Made from scotch bonnet, this sauce is really, really spicy. The sweetness of the banana is a welcomed relief to the intense heat of the rest of the dish. It's very good, but you definitely need to have heat tolerance. I could only eat a little before needing a break. Bryan loved it.

Two "Wicked Hot Links" ($4) were most definitely spicy and very good. They also sell normal sausage links if you don't like heat. Please ignore the weird neon green reflections. There was a green light above me that cast a funny reflection in all my photos. Rest assured the food is not psychedelic!

Special Breakfast platter of the day ($10) consisted of 3 eggs (scrambled), roasted sweet potatoes & red peppers, a sweet Italian sausage link, grilled toast, and garlic-sauteed kale.

I absolutely loved the kale, which was seasoned really well and had a hefty garlic flavor to it. The grilled bread was lovely, having an intense smoky flavor that I just can't recreate in the toaster oven. Everything else was solid as well.

Overall, we really enjoyed our meal. We especially liked trying so many different kinds of hot sauces and chili peppers. Even with that huge Bloody Mary, our entire meal cost only around $40, which we thought was extremely reasonably considering how much extra food we ended up taking home.

It's quite clear why there's always a wait here. East Cost Grill has fantastic food at very reasonable prices. It's rare that I get to come here, but I'm thrilled I had a chance to enjoy a fantastic brunch here.

If you're really into spicy foods, you should try their "Hell Night", a night when only "wicked hot food" is served. You'll most likely get to try the "Pasta from Hell", made from the super hot Inner Beauty hot sauce. Rumor has it that you have to sign a waiver in order to participate - the food is that hot.

Even if you're not into such spicy food, everything at East Coast Grill is executed well. We've never had a bad meal there, and more often than not, I come away pleasantly surprised at the interesting and unusual combinations of flavors that come out of that kitchen.

East Coast Grill
1271 Cambridge St
Cambridge, MA 02139