East Coast Grill in Cambridge MA Hell Night Restaurant Review
Posted by Juliette Kopecky on Fri, Oct 29, 2010 @ 11:35 AM
My friend Joe is far more daring than me. He recently went to Hell Night at the East Coast Grill in Cambridge, MA and gave me a detailed rundown of the event. For those of you not familiar with Hell Night, it's an event where the make the absolute spiciest dishes in hopes of wrecking havoc on your digestive system. Here's Hell Night in Joe's words:
Went to Hell Night last night, here is the rundown of what we ordered, along with a fairly long recount, though it wouldn't be any longer than if I were to tell you about it in person, words just look longer.
Beers
Tidewater Cole Slaw
Cornbread
Udang Rica Rica & Gado Gado (Indonesian Sweet n’ Sour Grilled Shrimp & Vegetable Salad (4 Bombs)
Wings with Aromatic Herbs, Nuoc Cham & Ghost Chile Pepper Jam (7 Bombs)
Pasta From Hell with Sausage Bolognese & Naga Bhut Jolikia (9 Bombs)
(There's even a disclaimer on the menu stating "Please Take Us Seriously When We Say DO NOT Order This Dish")
A quick review of the food: We saved the pasta for last, which is the hottest thing they have. The sides were to help with the pain. The shrimp was good - what I would call very spicy for normal fare at a restaurant. The wings were also pretty hot, hotter than the shrimp.
I learned a couple of things about spice last night, things that perhaps I just never took time to realize before.
1. First is that spice has a cumulative effect almost more than a hard strike effect. The wings were spicy, but the spice was not at all prohibitive to eating a wing. It wasn't until I had about 3 of them that I noticed I was starting to burn, badly. I threw down some of the slaw and cornbread, and then I had to step outside for some air; in about five or six minutes it subsided. When I returned we ordered the pasta, which the waiter was really urging us not to do, and we had to sign fake waivers, blah blah blah. Anyway, this stuff looked like a bunch of molten peppers sautéed and mixed together and served over pasta. Really not spice so much as pure fire. Nat, my friend I was with, was shit scared at this point. I didn't know what to expect, but I wasn't scared at all.
2. That's when I learned my second lesson of the night: There is spicy hot, and then there is white hot. We both took the first bite of the pasta and it didn't taste like anything except for what I call white hot. I've tasted it a few times in my life, where my mom has given me peppers to taste and you don't taste anything but you feel your taste buds just go from normal to 100 degrees. I took a big bite, realized it wasn't causing a gag reflex or a straight pain sensation or anything, and then immediately took another. I wanted to get as much of it down as I could early, because I knew I wouldn't be able to eat much and there were some people looking on, manhood, etc. At the third bite it hit me, kind of like pumping back shots of hard alcohol, you don't notice at first. These kinds of peppers hit your stomach hard, and I could feel them ravaging it.
3. I guess that is a 3rd lesson: Don't swallow peppers to attempt to bypass your taste buds. I sprinted outside for relief, I was 3 beers deep as well, so at this point really woozy, and took a short walk, wondering if I had to throw up. I saw someone else's puke on the ground. I think one more bite and I would have vomited. I slowly came back to normal in a few minutes, went in, had ANOTHER bite to prove a point to myself. It was horrible, and then I just calmed down.
A woman named Rita (she was in in her late forties who talked like she was 23 yrs old) was nearby and started asking us about it. She then started bragging about how the heat of the drink she had (we were at the bar) didn't touch her, and that she lived in san Antonio for awhile. She then asked to taste the pasta, which she did by scooping a little with a mixed drink straw, basically having the smallest taste possible. Her ego got checked so hard. She didn't recover from it for like 10 minutes, wiping herself with napkins and icing her lips. Also she said she does the morning drive on 92.5 the River from 6-9am and said she would be talking about it.
Anyway, the ensuing indigestion I had that night was the worst I’ve ever had, and I had to eat a full meal along with a few swigs of Pepto before bedtime to put out the fire.