Happy New Year!!!!

         Happy New Year Everyone!!!!  That's right.....the Ladies who brunch are back in action and taking the new year by storm....literally.....Boston got blasted this week by a huge snow storm, but Laura and I weren't going to let some snow get in our way.  It was time to start up our weekly brunch tradition and get Sundaylicious up and running again.  Since it is gross, messy, and nasty out due to the storm (and Laura's car is still covered in 15 inches of snow), we opted to stay close and go to a new place in Harvard Sq. called The Beat Hotel, http://www.beathotel.com/.  The Beat Hotel is a brasserie, a bar, and a live music venue....and just AWESOME!!!

        The Beat Hotel is in the old Tannery spot under The Gap, which sounds weird, and we didn't know what to expect....but once you open the door and walk through, you are submerged into a different world.  A world of groovy wall paintings, and beaded chandeliers, and live Jazz.  It felt like we walked into a bohemian, under water garden.  It sparkles, like when the sun shines on the ocean and the light glimmers around underneath the surface, and the beaded chandeliers look like jelly fish that have come out to play.  The paintings are super trippy, making each wall beautiful and unique.  It was mesmerizing, and we immediately fell in love with the place.  The live jazz just adds depth to the ambiance, making this a brunch spot to remember.

          The menu has so many amazing things to offer, from the groovy Sun-Ra bowl to the jumbo shrimp bowl, all palettes will find something to their liking here.  We started with Sophia's homemade yogurt bowl which came with fresh strawberries and granola.  The yogurt was Greek, and while it tasted great, there was too much of it.  Once you got through the top layer of granola and berries, you could not eat it anymore...which felt wasteful.  We also got the grilled blueberry coffee cake, which came with honey butter.  This was served warm, and was delicious.  However it was a bit dry, and the piece itself was cut a little thick.  It could have used some sort of sauce, or maybe even some honey drizzled on top.  The honey butter was a nice touch though.  We also got Mimosa's which were very yummy, however a bit pricey for their size (coming in at $12.50 each).  For our main course I got the Veggie Omelet which came with broccoli, spinach, and feta cheese....and it was super delicious!!  It came with frites and a side salad.  Laura got the Duck Confit Hash, which also came with frites and a side salad.  It was very good, but Laura pointed out that everything was a little too salty....even the salad (weird right?).  While we both appreciate salt, this was a tad too much.  I have to say that I would always prefer too much salt to too little salt myself...but it did come across as a bit aggressive.  We thought overall everything was very tasty, but nothing was perfection.

     

   

         Overall, we give the Beat Hotel a 10 out of 10 eggs for atmosphere, and a 9 out of 10 eggs for food.  The place is super cool and unique, and has so many different vibes to it.  From the painted white brick walls to the beaded curtains hanging in front of the ladies room, this place has so much to look at.  Add the live music, and you could just chill there for hours...it is that cozy and warm inside.  The food had a couple of things that made us dock an egg off (from the thick yogurt to the extra salt), but overall it was really good.  Laura won out with the dish of the day with her Duck hash...but everything we had was tasty.   We will definitely be going back to the Beat Hotel...for dinner, for drinks, for music...you name it!!!  This was a great place to bring in the new year, and a new year of Sundaylicious!!!  Happy brunching!!!