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I am a Honey Bee

All about my adventures with cooking, crafts, and travel

dining out

Monday Munchies: Brutole Restaurant- Danvers, MA

As part of my Monday Munchies series, I will feature a different eatery for a review on the first and third Monday of every month. Hope you enjoy!

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We recently went to Brutole Restaurant in Danvers, MA and had such a fantastic time. The service was spot on and the food was fantastic and really enjoyable. I am so thankful for the groupon that we had as it introduced us to a great place that is a short drive away from our new home.

As soon as we sat down our waiter placed this basket of bread in front of us. Then he placed a mound of grated cheese on a saucer and then drowned it on oil. Thankfully I have a bit of restraint, or I would have eaten 3 basket fulls of this bread with this dipping oil. Carb coma bliss.

We had a hard time picking out our appetizer. We eventually decided on the Mediterranean Spinach and Artichoke Dip that is served with Brutole tortilla chips ($10). This appetizer was served very hot so that cheese was melted perfectly. We felt that the dominate flavors were spinach and feta and that artichoke was missing from the dip. This did not make it bad it just was not as advertised. I think that if this was put under a broiler we would have loved it even more. We had half of this wrapped up to-go and it was still really great the next night.

For my entree I had the Lobster Mac & Cheese appetizer. As soon as I read it I knew I had to have it. I have no resistance against large chunks of lobster meat tossed together with a mascarpone cheese lobster velute and elbow macaroni. Plus on top of that there was a drizzle of truffle oil. It was the perfect pick for just $15.

I loved this as it was really loaded with large chunks of lobster and it was the perfect portion that did not leave me stuffed at the end and feeling ill from over indulging on rich food.

Price picked the fettucini pasta dish that had large gulf shrimp, tomatoes, basil, and baby spinach ($29). A very generous serving was placed in front of him and I was jealous. There were 8 large gulf shrimp nestled under that pasta. Eight large shrimp! I feel that if I get any dish with seafood that the seafood is that after thought and there are 3-4. Very impressive. Price also had half of this wrapped up with some extra bread and it enjoyed it for lunch the next day. 

 

We split the creme brulee ($10) for dessert. It was a generous portion so it was perfect for 2 people. The custard was rich and creamy and had a nice thick layer of caramelized sugar on top. Perfect crack when our spoons broke through.

 

Brutole is not visible from Rt. 1 so I don’t think many people know about it or consider it as Rt. 1 is jam packed with restaurants. I think that it also doesn’t help them that several lights on the exterior are out. I think that if they liven up the exterior then people would feel more welcomed to come inside to see a great space and to enjoy a great meal.

We know that we will be back to enjoy that fantastic food and try one of their great sounding cocktails. I think we’ll grab a seat at the bar and try one of their grilled pizzas and a cocktail next time. That cocktail list has my name all of it!

Brutole Restaurant

65 Newbury Street

Danvers, MA 01923

(978) 777-6633

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{Product Review} Foodler- Online Delivery Service

Let’s be honest here.

By the end of most weeks I don’t want to cook, I just want to get some beer or wine, some take out, and lounge around. I’m so burnt out from the week that the thought of making anything more than boxed mac and cheese is out of the question. Falling asleep on the sofa around 9 is not even all that unrealistic. (How is Price still with me after 7 years?!?)

So the point of all of that is how I’ve been relying on Foodler recently. Foodler is an online food delivery service that connects you to restaurant menus for quick ordering. Foodler is a national company that has a growing network in such cities as Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Miami, New York, Orlando, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Washington. Plus is has a quick search for campuses so if you are a college student this would be perfect for you as well.

Once you pick your location you will see that the options are divided into several cateegories for sorting. First, Foodler sorts by what is available right now for delivery and what is not currently opened but is accepting orders for a later scheduled delivery. In addition to that you can sort by Cost, Rating, Distance, and Delivery Fee. Plus you can sort by cuisine to make your search efficient.

A cool thing about Foodler is that is keeps a record of all your orders making repeat ordering very easy. You can see what you order previously with the little green arrow next to the item.

We typically schedule our delivery since I will feel the crash around Friday mid morning so at lunch I will pick some things and then have Pricer finish the rest of the order. I love knowing that we will have delivery arriving shortly after getting home. Or you can plan ahead an order for a few days in advance or weeks.

My favorite things about Foodler is that they five out Frequent Foodler Points. These are points that you earn with each order. 3pts per dollar!

What do you do with these points? Well you can save them up to redeem them for Foodlerbucks or other great things such as Amazon gift cards.

One thing I think is lacking from the site is that it provides you sorting options for several different criteria, however estimated delivery time is not one of them. As I said before, we typically schedule our delivery so this is not a specific thing that inhibits me but I could see that this would be hard to deal with on a busy Friday night. Only when you have selected your items and are about to check out is when you get the ETA.

Also, the first time that I ordered my order arrived incorrectly. I think this was based upon how Foodler relays the order to the restaurant, based upon the print out I received with my order. We were ordering Chinese and after selecting the entree it asked us if we would like to add rice to the order. We did, so we added that option. Well no rice came because the print out that the restaurant received was just the entree, however the price was adjusted to reflect the addition of rice, which I doubt most people would notice. I did notify Foodler about this so maybe this have been update, I just have avoided bundling items since then.

Whether you are like me, so burnt out and in need of take out or having people over to watch a movie, Foodler is a great online food delivery service option. The next time you feel like ordering in give Foodler a try!

*I received a $15 Foodler credit to try the Foodler service and write a honest review. These opinions are entirely my own and are not influenced by my compensation