Wednesday, September 3, 2008

The Bleacher Bar, Boston

Summer is sadly coming to a close here in Boston, and while I love the fall, and the winter for that matter, I also have a great love for summertime in this city, and all that goes along with it. As I have mentioned several times already here, I love our Boston Red Sox, and heading to Fenway is one of my all time favorite summer activities. That warm night air, a cold beer, and the excitement of our beloved home town team battling for a title...its all just thrilling. I have been incredibly fortunate this year to make it to quite a few games thus far, last nights blow out of the Baltimore Orioles being the latest. There are a ton of great bars in the area, some very near and dear to my heart for pre and post game socializing, but there is a new one in their midst that I am quickly falling in love with. The Bleacher Bar opened earlier this season and boasts a view that no other "outside" bad can compete with. Built under Fenway stadium, a section of their back wall looks out on the field, at field level. I have been in a couple of times now, and each time am amazed by the view. Standing there, looking out on our own "field of dreams", its a majestic sight- whether there is a game going on or not!

Last night one of my girl friends and I decided to grab a bite there pre-game to add a little variety to our Fenway dinner fare. I was surprised at how limited the menu is, though that isn't necessarily a bad thing. I walked in anticipating "pub" food- burgers, the requisite salad or two, pizzas etc. The menu concentrates, almost wholly on sandwiches. They boast 7 different varieties of a club sandwich, and then have offerings of hot sandwiches and cold sandwiches, all with a variety of different types of meats. Boston is not known for its brisket and pastrami, so it is exciting to see those types of meats being used in sandwiches.

Being raised by a former New Yorker by way of New Jersey, I grew up with a taste for a good Pastrami sandwich on rye- heavy on the mustard. It was an immediate decision to order it last night, and when the waitress clarified- "we serve that with mustard is that ok?" I'm sure I didn't hide my disbelief that someone might actually order this awesome combination of salt and fat and spicy mustard WITHOUT the mustard. There is just something about the flavors of the sandwich that go so perfectly together, that the thought of ruining that with- I cant even imagine what- Mayo??- is just blasphemy in my book. I assured her that mustard was just fine by me. The sandwich, served in record time for us game bound ladies, was exactly as I had pictured it. A stack of pastrami, sandwiched between two pieces of light rye bread which just adds a delicious sour tangy flavor to the meal, and spread with spicy mustard was exactly what I wanted, and was served with a cute little bag of potato chips, and a whole pickle. To be a little picky- the pastrami could have been a bit hotter temperature wise, and for my taste, I would have appreciated a bit more mustard, though this was easily remedied as they had provided a bottle on the table. Overall though- it was a tasty sandwich, with nicely flavored potato chips, all washed down with a beer before running to our seats for the first inning- it all added up to an awesome evening.

Sometimes there are just great ideas out there, and while the food at Bleacher Bar may not be particularly inventive, or even complex, it serves its purpose well, AND the space provides more atmosphere than you could ever want. Bleacher Bar is now ranking as my favorite Fenway hang out.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Good review, Boston needed a god hot pastrami sandwich. I heard that the deli across from Trader Joe's in Brookline has the best NY pastrami, need to try that one day too.

Unoversal Hub sent me.

Boston Food Diary said...

Thanks Steve! Michaels Deli in Brookline is I think what you are referring to- and they do have an excellent pastrami sandwich! It is really hard to find a good one here in Boston- I relish the ones that are good.

Thanks for reading!

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