All roads lead to Hingham Center's Square Cafe

I made my way up to RRR's in Massachusetts on Friday afternoon. After much debate on whether to dine at Caffe Tosca for their fantastic pizza or The Square Cafe for their fantastic drinks, The Square Cafe in Hingham Center won.

We started our early meal with a pomegranate martini for RRR and an X-Rated martini for me. The pomegranate martini lived up to my sister's hype - it was big, smooth and had just enough juice; a perfect mix. The X-Rated was a blood orange martini and apparently X-Rated is an actual brand with blood orange juice mixed right in with the vodka - the bartender added a bit of Grey Goose vodka to make it super smooth with a nice kick! Who knew? I'm looking for this on my next trip to the liquor store!

We shared a beet salad which was a mix of red & yellow beets, candied pecans, and bleu cheese. The salad was good but there weren't a lot of pecans and cheese compared to RRR's prior visit but the beets were delicious.

We continued our meal with the Square Burger with smoked (Applewood?) bacon and Gruyere cheese and French Fries. We both loved this dish especially with the crispy shallots but were not sure if it was due to the quality of the beef and cheese or our lack of burgers for comparison. The baby potatoes were a nice touch and a good departure from the usual side of fries.

Finally, we split an order of crabcakes, a personal favorite of mine. The crabcakes were very good, not too many bread crumbs to overpower the lump crabmeat and a delicate mustard sauce - a perfect accompaniment.

We also enjoyed some delightful wine on our visit; a Cote du Rhone for RRR and an outstanding Fourteen Hands Merlot from Washington State for me. Thanks to the film "Sideways" I've stayed away from merlot but this one has won back my heart.

What a way to kick off Christmas in New England!