Bostonia Public House - Boston, MA

We took a trip this past weekend to Boston and planned part of our short stay between Friday through Sunday. What we didn't plan on was where to eat at early on Saturday. A lot of times, we'll Yelp the surrounding area and follow our gut with what might sound good and have decent enough reviews. This time, we decided to abandon this approach and just walk around Boston. After all, it was a nice day out and we were sure we could find something that appealed to us. Little did we know that we'd barely walk ten minutes and stumble across the cure to the malady that was our hunger. 

Our brunch spots usually check all the boxes on a short but specific checklist: it needs to have a great ambiance, a decent craft beer list, and of course, food that'll sooth the hungry soul. Bostonia Public House nailed it in each of those three categories for us.

High-top tables by the bar dining area. Very nice set-up.

As soon as you walk in, you come straight into the bar and the bar dining area. From what we could see the place is pretty big. There is a second floor, but we like to keep ourselves by the bar areas whenever possible. The decor is very inviting even though it is a little more upscale. The modern look was a welcome change to a lot of the Irish pubs that are abundant throughout the city. Just to be clear, this isn't an Irish pub, think of this as the kind of place that dances between casual and sophisticated, elegant yet also simple in a heightened way. 

For her, a Bro-Mosa. For him, a Clown Shoes Evil Crawfish. Match made in heaven.

For those of you who are craft beer drinkers, there are plenty of options to have. I enjoyed my brunch beer, Clown Shoes Evil Crawfish. I've had this beer in a bottle but this poured very smoothly out of the tap here at the Public House. They do have a few other options, whether it is on tap or it's in a bottle. In the menu above, they have their cocktail list along with the beer list, which was separate from the brunch menus.

For anyone adventuring into full on brunch mode, there is something called the Bro-Mosa. What is a Bro-Mosa, you might be asking? It has the two classic ingredients of the brunch mimosa kicked up a notch with some Ketel One Oranje. I actually tried it and despite how much I usually don't enjoy anything with vodka, this drink was pretty good, very balanced, and not too over-powering.

These weren't even the two most fully-loaded Bloody Mary's I saw all day in here.

I need to talk a quick second about the Bloody Mary bar that is available during brunch hours. We walked in and had no knowledge of what was happening. There's a full table to the right of the entrance full of all sorts of vegetables and fruits and well... other things. For $17 you can make yourself the Ultimate Bloody Mary and have access to this table. Although we didn't participate, we witnessed quite a few patrons adorn their cocktail with an incredible and endless assortment of goodies. I took a picture from across the bar and tried my best to zoom in as best as I could without losing a decent amount of picture quality. Some of what I caught in this picture isn't too clear, so I'll list it out: cucumbers, celery, olives, lemons, pickles, jalapeño peppers, cherry tomatoes, shrimp, beef sticks, shrimp, baby back ribs, and donuts. Again, this is just from what we witnessed and from what I can tell in the picture. There was tons more stuff that people were just tossing into their Bloody Mary's that probably had no business doing on them, but kudos to these people. I lift my beer glass to you.

The Scrambler Breakfast Sandwich! IT. IS. AWESOME.

So what did I eat? I kept it simple. I went with the Scrambler Breakfast sandwich with the home fries on the side. Pictured above, this thing is so good. It hit the spot on a Saturday morning at 10 AM like you wouldn't believe. The breakfast sandwich has scrambled eggs with cheddar cheese and even though the picture doesn't show it, there IS bacon underneath the eggs and quite the fair amount. The lyonnaise potatoes on the side are so good and the perfect side to the sandwich. It's definitely worth the $12 without even really mentioning the real star of this dish: the bread.

Now anyone who knows me personally, knows that one thing I've never really raved about is bread. I don't really care for it unless it's a spectacular bun. On this sandwich, what seemed like an unassuming toasted bun ended up chewing all the scenery in my mouth. The bread was so good on this sandwich that it stole the spotlight from the bacon. It's a "bun" in shape but it has the flavor quality and almost the texture of a croissant. It is quite simply out of this world, elevating this whole sandwich way beyond the stratosphere.

If only it had been a warmer day, we would have sat out here. It's beautiful!

The only thing that would have made this visit more pleasurable was if the weather was nice enough to sit outside. Alas, it could not be, but the fact that they had live music inside made it all the much better. Even if you do sit outside, Bostonia Public House has speakers so you can enjoy the piano while you dine in this beautiful part of Boston.

The Ultimate Bloody Mary is a must. The service was beyond excellent here. The beer selection is plentiful and the food is pretty damn amazing. The next time I go to Boston and I'm up for a brunch, I know exactly where I am going. Maybe next time I'll be brave enough to launch myself into the untamed jungle that is the Bloody Mary garnish table in order to turn an already extraordinary experience into one a bit more adventurous. If you're in Boston and need some brunch, this is the place to go.