Tag: Gumbo

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Dark and Stormy

The name Dark and Stormy brings to mind the occasional summer night thunderstorms that New England brings from June through September, not necessarily the delicious drink made from dark rum and ginger beer being offered by Gumbo on Water Street. Being Bermuda’s National Drink, this drink grew in popularity due to the sailors who would frequent Bermuda and bring their alcohol tastes with them to various ports up and down the Eastern Seaboard. For those of you who have not had to chance to sample this great summer cocktail, you are definitely missing out. Even if you are squeamish of rum in general or even ginger beer, let me ease those worries. Ginger beer is slightly different than ginger ale. But to draw a comparison, think of ginger ale and concentrate the taste…the ginger has much more of a bite to it (almost spicy) and it is noticeable. The rum of choice in this cocktail (Gosling’s Black Seal Rum) is a mid-priced rum that has been barrel-aged, and is almost coffee-colored. Gosling’s Black Seal has a sugary character accented by deep char notes of roasted coffee. It also has notes of cola, cinnamon, allspice, and ripe fruit. When you pair the two together, you can expect to enjoy a lazy summer evening and you will most definitely have a new favorite summertime cocktail.

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Shrimp ‘n Grits

The location for Gumbo was in a somewhat busy section of Worcester just down from Kelley Square. Parking can be a bit of a challenge, with street parking available and a small parking lot available with meters. Stepping into Gumbo’s you step down into a lower room, which is slightly lower then the sidewalk outside, its lit reasonably well however you do get the feeling that your in a basement. The decor gave me a feeling of medieval, there was a spectacular stained glass window in the dining room where we were seated which reminded me of something you would find in an old church. A big cozy fireplace surrounded by gray natural and rugged looking rock dominated the room and helped intensify the feeling of stepping back in time to the medieval ages.

Once we were seated, our waitress was prompt and came right over to inquire about beverages. They had a very inventive and creative drink list with fun names that made me want to try something new but I went with my usual Red Sangria, I enjoyed it, and it came in a mason jar, neat.

I opted out of getting an appetizer and instead had a few bites of my husbands Gumbo soup, it was very flavorful with what I considered a large portion of rice with it. Other then being a little heavy on the salt, I liked it. I thought it was a large quantity for an appetizer and I could see where the lighter eater could make a meal out of it with a side salad.

I ordered the Shrimp n Grits; I was in the mood for comfort food. I would recommend this meal, however I am unsure what the standard is for this, as I had never had this before, what I received I enjoyed. The Grits were cooked nicely, had a bite to them as they where flavored with jalapeno’s and cheddar cheese, I thought they were fantastic and I would have eaten them plain without the spicy red Cajun style sauce that came with the shrimp, the sauce however added to the whole new dimension to the meal. -RL