Cambridge Bar Crawl: Trina’s Starlite Lounge, Moksa, Brick & Mortar and Park

So our Cambridge bar crawl actually started in Somerville. Fresh from dinner at Oleana, we dropped into Trina’s Starlite Lounge for a quick drink. Actually my friend just wanted a shot of Fernet-Branca but I am a cocktail girl so a cocktail is what I got.

Trina’s is owned by the same group that owns Silvertone in Boston.

And like Silvertone, they also had Dimmi. I wanted to see what they’d come up with and asked for something with Dimmi. I ended up with a Dimmi Negroni except it wasn’t gin and Campari. Instead, Dimmi was subbed for gin and Aperol was subbed for Campari. It was rather perfect.

My cocktail timing was off and my friend was now nursing a beer so our fun bartender gave me a Miller Highlife pony to keep him company. Aw, I always wanted a pony!

Trina’s Starlite Lounge

3 Beacon St., Somerville, MA 02143 — (617) 576-0006

 

On my last day in Boston, I had a major food crawl day starting with dim sum at Empire Garden, a lobster roll (and more!) at Neptune, some lovely dishes at RendezVous and now I was gobbling down string beans at Moksa. I really need about 4 clones (stomachs) to try to do it all.

I had a really great time at Moksa. I felt they were really trying with their cocktails. Although it wasn’t the best drink on the trip, I liked my bartender quite a bit. She really made an effort to re-mix my cocktail more to my liking. I generally don’t send anything back unless I absolutely can’t drink the cocktail (namely because it’s too sweet). I had first politely given it back to her and ordered Rittenhouse rye on the rocks. But she seemed eager to remake the drink and it was better.

I had ordered The Liberator (Oakheart rum, mint, Chartreuse, curacao, bitters) from their cutesy Chinese Zodiac-themed menu. Upon initial taste, it just tasted like juice and simple syrup. I couldn’t taste the Chartreuse. I could figure out if there was even any bitters. And what mint? Fortunately (or maybe not?), she overheard us talking and realized we were serious about our drinks. Okay, so we were talking about Boston Cocktail Summit and Moksa was proudly projecting the dates and the logo on their front window.

Even if she hadn’t overheard us, I still thought it was really cool service.

Moksa

450 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02139 — (617) 661-4900

Over at Brick & Mortar, it was already crowded around 9:30 p.m. on a Sunday night. We squeezed onto some seats at the bar after a few minutes of waiting.

I had heard this is where the famous Misty Kalkofen was but she was not bartending that night. I picked out Meadowlands (Lairds apple brandy, apricot, Becherovka, bitters). It came with a mountain of glorious perfect pebble ice. Visually, I love that kind of stuff but since it was getting increasingly colder as the night wore on, I found myself wishing I had ordered my usual brown, bitter, stirred and up cocktails. Oh well! It was very good, I just didn’t want to hold my glass. I suppose I should be grateful it wasn’t in a copper mug.

My friend had the Streets of Gettysburg (sherry, rye, Benedictine, ristretto, bitters). Oh, here we go. This is what I had more in mind. I probably also needed that shot of coffee in this drink! But life would be boring if I ordered the same thing all the time, right? The next time I’m in Boston, I’ll have to come back when Misty is working and check out nearby Green Street which was mentioned to me as a good cocktail bar. Sadly, we only had time for one a piece before jamming to our final stop.

Brick & Mortar

569 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02139  — (617) 491-0061

 

We ended our Cambridge crawl at Park. At first we were going to sit at the bar but I basically invited all  my friends to Park so we grabbed a table. And were we hungry? No but once the daily meatpie arrived, we couldn’t help but dive right in.

I told the server I was deciding between the Defender (Hayman’s Old Tom gin, Carpano Antica, Creme Yvette, Regan’s orange bitters) or Fireside Poet (Corner Creek bourbon, Creole shrubb, Santa Maria al Monte, Marasche syrup). I let him decide and in the madness, I don’t actually know what he brought me. If I was to really think about it (and mind you, it was a fast-paced and boozy trip), I’m going to say this was the Fireside Poet. I mean, it’s brown right? Yes, even mega cocktailians have their off nights. Whatever it was, it was great. I do however know I definitely also tasted the Tom Terrific (Hayman Old Tom gin, Cherry Herring, Slumbrew IPA, simple syrup, lemon). My friend got that and it was probably a good way to end the night. NOT the shot of Greylock gin I attempted to taste while trying to set up an Uber account to take me to the airport the next morning. But I digress.

Salud!

Park Restaurant and Bar

59 JFK St., Cambridge, MA 02138 — (617) 491-9851

© The Minty  2012