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Pasta with Blue Crab from Brew City

Pasta with Blue crab from Brew City on Shrewsbury Street in Worcester, MA

Pasta with Blue crab from Brew City on Shrewsbury Street in Worcester, MA

Feeling in the mood for something different from pub type fare—burgers, pastas, sandwiches, pizzas and entrees—I reviewed the extensive menu at Brew City and narrowed my selection to a few less traditional items, ultimately opting for the pasta with blue crab.

Yes, I was opting for pasta with blue crab at a brew pub, but when the waitress revealed it was her favorite dish it confirmed my decision. The dish was described as a lump of blue crab with a lemon butter sauce, spinach, tossed with a bucatini pasta, and it arrived as described. The bucatini pasta was perfectly cooked and was a pasta a little thicker then a spaghetti type pasta but hollow; it was perfectly sautéed with a lemon butter sauce with fresh spinach and a decent amount of small pieces of lump crab meat.

Overall, I was quite content with my dinner choice. The restaurant has the standard brew pub style and feel to it, the service was good and the variety of menu choices was appealing. To the credit of Brew City they seemed to have a wide variety of choices on the menu, yet provide good quality selections whether you were ordering simple pub food, burgers, seafood or any of their other options. Top of their wide selection of entrees with a flight of beers from their vast selection of beers and you have a winner.

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Chicken Francaise

Chicken Francais from O'Connor's on West Boylston Street in Worcester, MA

Chicken Francais from O'Connor's on West Boylston Street in Worcester, MA

O’Connor’s sits on Rt 12, almost on the border of West Boylston, at the outskirts of the city. While it’s not part of the downtown scene, it’s well worth the visit for a really good meal and a great selection of beer. The restaurant is very large with a large seating capacity, but it can still fill up easily.

We opened our dinner with the Shillelagh Sticks, which is corned beef rolled in a puff pastry dusted with spices. The corned beef is ground, seasoned and almost creamy while the flaky puff pastry offers a great contrast to the meat filling. Corned beef can be on the salty side, but these little gems are cooked perfectly and delicious. Overall, one of my favorite appetizers anywhere in Worcester.

Next up was a cup of a Creamy Onion Soup, which was a special soup of the day. This was cream based but not too rich and loaded with well cooked onions and croutons. The flavor packed into this little soup was amazing and the flavors quite complex. I found myself wishing I had a full bowl instead of just a cup.

For dinner, I had the O’Connor’s Chicken Francaise. This consists of 3 chicken tenderloins, coated in an egg and parmesan batter and drizzled with a lemon butter sauce. The tenderloins were each fairly good sized and were served with sauteed baby carrots and a mixed vegetable medley. The chicken was cooked to perfection, being both juicy and tender enough to cut with my fork. The batter was pretty light and not overpowering, but was very flavorful and added a really nice layer of flavor with just a hint of lemon. The vegetables were cooked perfectly as well, slightly al dente and seasoned nicely with fresh herbs. Overall a fantastic meal and one I would certainly order again.