A Little Bit About a Lot of Things

So you’re probably familiar with Beat Brasserie in Harvard Square – they have a great brunch and live music Thursday – Sunday nights. But what you might not know is that in June they started serving lunch on the weekdays from 11am-3pm. If the weather is nice, you can grab a seat on the patio, or you can sit inside – I love the decor here.

Just look at those chandeliers!

We started off with the crab cake deviled eggs. These are not your grandmother’s deviled eggs!

We also had the buffalo cauliflower with blue cheese yogurt dipping sauce ($11) which was just the right amount of spicy.

You won’t find this on their regular menu, it was a special the day we were there – but it was too good not to share. A brat on a pretzel bun with sauerkraut and dijon mustard served with a side of house made potato salad and a second kind of sauerkraut. Perfect for a fall day!

Beat Brasserie is known for their bowls, natural grain and salad bowls, with your choice of toppings. We went with the bowl azteca ($14.50) adobo spiced quinoa, tomatillo salsa, corn, squash, green beans, avocado and baby spinach. You can add a protein on, we chose the slow cooked pork shoulder (+$3) but you have a choice of artichoke falafel, roasted free range chicken, seared all natural shrimp, seared salmon, grilled skirt steak of seared za’atar spiced ahi tuna.

I wasn’t so sure about the artichoke falafel, but our waiter said that they were delicious, and we HAD to try them. Great recommendation on his part.The flavor was very subtle and really, the artichoke was put in the food processor, so it just added some moisture to the falafel.

How can you pass up a burger that sounds this good? “Prime natural beef hamburger ($18) with port wine aioli, crispy fried onions, and served with a side of fries”. We added on some cheddar and bacon for $1 each more. The bun was buttery and delicious and the burger had all the right  textures and flavors. The fries were crispy and sprinkled with just the right amount of salt.

Desserts are my thing. I love a good apple crisp and this one did not disappoint – served warm in a cast iron skillet, topped with vanilla ice cream and a nice oat crust, I gobbled up the majority of this even though we were ‘sharing’.

Generally I don’t waste my time with anything chocolate at a restaurant, let alone a mousse, but this one was excellent – I may have even liked it better than the apple crisp. It was light as air and the perfect texture so that it melted the second it hit your tongue. It was just the right amount of sweetness and you never wanted it to end.

Disclaimer: I was invited to Beat Brasserie to try their new lunch menu. My meal was provided complimentary. All opinions are my own.

Beat Brasserie

13 Brattle Street, Cambridge, MA

http://www.beatbrasserie.com

Tags: burger, casual dining, dinner, harvard square, live music, lunch, restaurant