Sweet Chili, Chacarero's, Starbucks Challenge

Before I totally forget about this, I'm posting some pictures of Boston from last week. I stayed with A in Arlington, and we caught up with another friend, R, over some (surprise surprise) Thai food near A's house. The restaurant is called Sweet Chili. I've been here before in college...

Unfortunately, the waiter misunderstood A's body language and served her the Pad Thai instead of the Drunken Noodle that she wanted. (A case in which, ironically, pointing at the item backfires on you.) It turned out that the Pad Thai was quite tasty, as I ended up discovering (I ordered it). I don't think A would've minded eating it, even if she had had it the last time she came here. We all ordered off the lunch special, which included an egg roll and a spicy triangle along with your main dish ($6.95).

Sweet Chili also sells udon and bibimbap, but common sense told me to steer clear of the non-Thai offerings. Simply put, you don't order Korean or Japanese food at a Thai restaurant - you get the well-known Thai items.

Beef.

R ordered a beef dish...the name I can't remember. In the name of adventure, she decided to try the Singha beer, which is locally produced. Singha beer is the oldest and most popular Thai beer in Thailand. It's a relatively smooth pale lager, though it doesn't really stand out in any way.

Singha beer.

I liked the glass it was poured in.

Testing the beer.

This is not an iPhone ad.

Drunken Noodles and Thai Iced Tea.

I had a picture of my scrumptious Pad Thai but it didn't come out right. All the ingredients were fresh and crispy, from the bean sprouts to the fat rice noodles. I ate it all!

Next morning (Sunday), M took D and I out to Chacarero's, located in Downtown Boston. We arrived early at 10:45 a.m. and found the windows dark and the doors locked. Luckily, a friendly chef opened it for business in 15 minutes.

"It's worth the wait," said M.

According to the restaurant's website, a chacerero is a traditional Chilean sandwich. M recommended the small Chicken & Beef Combo. For $7.50, you get a hefty amount of soft, grilled meat with your tomatoes, Muenster cheese, steamed green beans and avocado spread. It's all contained in homemade bread. I don't know why I didn't think of inventing this myself! The avocado really ties together the bulky sandwich and gives it a moist flavor. I only wished I'd tried the hot sauce! Sans hot sauce, it was rather plain and a tad bland. Satisfying nonetheless.

Chacarero's also offers empanadas, sweet oven fried potatoes (I heard those are divine) and a selection of omelets.

While in Boston, I took the Starbucks Challenge. Starbucks insists that, given a blind taste test, you won't be able to tell the difference between its regular brew and its new instant coffee.

Well....I squashed that pretty soon.

In fact, I didn't even need to taste the coffee. I just took a whiff of each one and determined which was which after all of two seconds.

And I was right.

Who's the biggest coffee addict??!