Myers + Chang

Food is romantic and not necessarily in the lovey dovey sense.  If you strip away the obvious aphrodisiacs, you’re still left with universally delicious food.  Put a nice medium rare Porterhouse in front of two entirely different people and they can share and enjoy something special.  Maybe a closet romantic myself, I somehow feel that sharing a meal is intimate.  It is as if you’re sharing a part of who you are with your dining mates.  If I eat with you by choice, know that I love you.

In other instances, there is the real romance.  Owners Joanne Chang and Christopher Myers met years back while working at Rialto (another great restaurant I will be visiting in 2012).  Their friendship bloomed into love (over food no less!) and in fall of 2007, they shared their baby with the world, Myers + Chang.  For this reason and my unwavering love for Flour Bakery, I was swooned into trying this place.

Asian fusion food set forth in a new and trendy way is something of a rarity in Boston.  Er, I should say affordable Asian fusion food.  O Ya, which is out of this world amazing, will put quite the dent in your wallet.  We have a small Chinatown, which has some really wonderful food.  If you’re willing to put your life on the line for parking, I suggest giving weekend dim sum a try!

My dinner mates at Myers + Chang were Aurora and Cynthia, two former coworkers.  I started working full time at Big 4 Company back in September of 2008.  It was then that I met these wonderful women. Bonded by the newness of being an “adult” and the hardships of public accounting, we formed a very easy friendship.

It’s been a few years since then and I’ve seen both Cynthia and Aurora move onto to bigger adventures.  Sometimes I envy them, thinking of all the possibilities out there just waiting for me.  In the meantime, not seeing them as often at work now means having an excuse to grab a few good drinks and gorge on food like the fatties we Aurora and I are.

My beautiful Aurora // My beautiful drink

We arrived at Myers + Chang two weeks ago, the Friday before I departed on my tropical vacation.  The outside of M+C is a shared space with a bus stop.  Nice and gritty, as the South End can sometimes be.  That fun tidbit aside, the front is a trendy representation of what is inside.

M+C was hopping on Friday.  The ambiance is a loud hum of good Friday drink conversation.  Food comes out as it is ready and everything is shared family style.  The portions are fairly small, but I can’t complain.  It gave us more options to try.

Green papaya slaw with chilis garnished with peanuts and lime. This was typical Thai fair. I love crunchy papaya slaw. It packed a good amount of heat and was hard to stop eating.

Shiitake and Chinese greens dumplings. Gorgeous, thick crunchy dumpling skin with a dense green filling. We ordered these because Cynthia is a vegetarian. We all enjoyed these, but next time I may try the lemony shrimp variety.

Surf+turf black pepper Shanghai noodles with shrimp, steak, peanuts, cilantro, and lime. My favorite!

Organic sweet red miso glazed carrots. Sweet, savory beta carotene. Come to mama.

Spicy silky tofu with peppered pork, scallions, and kimichi. Spicy, meaty, fermented and satisfying. I love a good tofu dish and this ladies and gentlemen, was it.

What’s girls’ night dinner without dessert? Last on our plates was the banana creme caramel with black and white sesame brittle.  The banana and the creamy creme caramel were a nice pair.  The flavor of the sesame reminded me of those crunchy sesame candies when I was a child.  Good crunch and contrast to the rest of the dessert.

The night was full of girl gossip, laughs, and was overall a nice introduction to the love child of Joanne and Christopher.  I’m looking forward to coming back to try the rest of the menu (without breaking bank I might add).

Myers + Chang
1145 Washington St
Boston, MA 02118
(617) 542-5200