Mr. Crepe, Davis Square, Somerville

My birthday occured a few days before I changed jobs, and we almost scrapped doing anything to celebrate on the day of my birthday because we were worried about spending money.  However, Eric got ahold of a menu for a crepe place I had long been dying to try, and as the prices were exceedingly reasonable I met him up in Davis Square after work, and we gave it a shot. 

We read from a list of savory and sweet crepes, and decided to share the Super Fennel Crepe, which had fennel, tomatoes, mozarella and spinach, and an unnamed crepe with fresh spinach, portabello mushrooms, and basil with a cheese I could choose. (I chose feta.)  I hadn't had a crepe in about five years, and these did not disappoint.  The crepe batter was light and fluffy, and the inner contents were pleasingly crunchy and steam cooked.  The feta was a little salty, but that was my fault, as I chose it.

My only complaint is that Mr. Crepe's tea ordering procedure is a little hard to figure out.  I ordered a cup of tea with my meal, and I was asked to choose the type of tea I would like out of a collection of jars on the counter.   I selected my tea (Jasmine) and then... just stood there while the girl working the counter dealt with several other customers.  I finally put the tea cannister down on the counter in front of the register, and was eventually served a cup of tea, but there seems to have been a lot of unneeded uncertainty involved in this transaction.

Mike's Food and Spirits, Davis Square, Somerville

I hurried into the restaurant at five o'clock, trying to catch my breath from my hustle across two intersections.  I was greeted by the counterlady screaming "I've had enough of your crap!" at the barman.

Okay.  No one was in the restaurant, so this was awkward only for me.  And them.

They saw me come in, snapped to attention, smiled apologetically at me, and asked me for my order.  I asked for a pint of Sam (for me) and a Coke (for the boyfriend who would be arriving shortly).  I heaved a sigh of relief as college students started to stream into the place -- I had been worried about not being on time to get a good table, a perennial issue at a place like Mike's -- but I was able to grab the beer and Coke and snag a booth.

I scanned the menu and the specials, and also spared the occasional glance at the news and the periodic flurries of violent argument coming from the bar.  (The argument would continue for the rest of my time there.  I won't mention it any more, but if during the description of the ravioli you imagine eating that while hearing someone half way across the room yell "that's absolutely RIDICULOUS!" you'll get an idea of what the meal was like.)

Eric came in and we pondered what menu selection would give us the best range of food to try, and settled on splitting garlic bread, bruschetta, and the Broccoli and Cheddar Ravioli with Pesto Sauce.  The garlic bread was intended as a stomach filler / take home treat, was satisfyingly toasted and pleasantly buttery and garlicy, and is currently sitting in our fridge awaiting the vegetable soup I'm serving for Sunday dinner tomorrow.  The bruschetta was also very good, the pesto was fresh, the tomatoes were the best you can get this time of year, and the mozzarella on top was delightfully gooey.

The Broccoli and Cheddar Ravioli were very good.  They tasted like they had had a little Gorgonzola thrown in for good measure, but that might have been my imagination, or the pesto sauce -- which was not true pesto sauce, but a pesto/Alfredo mix that paired up nicely with the cheddar broccoli mixture in the ravioli.  The pasta was al dente and definitely fresh.  $11.95 is a little steep for six ravioli, but they tasted homemade and thus labor intensive and so I won't argue on prices.   If you're on a budget and would like to eat an entire meal, I'd go with their sub sandwich section, or their grill, which is moderately priced and offers the usual range of vegetarian choices (Eggplant Parmigiana, Grilled Veggie, etc.)