Hungry? This mother has you covered!

Many of you have perhps heard of 'The Hungry Mother', a southern stronghold in Cambridge.  I have been to many different restaurants in Boston and Cambridge combined and yet this is the first time I have experienced such an excellent undertaking of southern flare...which is no easy feat!

The Hungry Mother resides at 233 Cardinal Medeiros Ave and looks just like any other apartment building in the area. It has an understated sign dangling above the door and even once inside you think you have mistakenly stepped into someone's kitchen.

I immediately recognised the attention to detail when I noticed the southern style and swagger adopted by the staff. Don't get me wrong though, everything was exectued with such subtlety, nothing was over the top or pretentious feeling.  Glasses of water were served in various jam jars, all the bar tools and ingredients were set out or preserved in unique and odd shaped containers...it was really as though you were in a home of southern comfort!

Although the cocktail menu looked incredibly tantalizing and Ned, the bar tender was shaking away behind his station, my friend and I opted for white wine and went straight onto our food order. We decided to get a few dishes and share...which is generally my style of ordering food.

We started with their salad special which was smoked trout, apple, candied pecan, slaw and grapefruit mixed with greens and a buttermilk dressing...(ummm ya, it was as good as it sounds).

We also ordered their country ham biscuits which came as shown above with a generous helping of their spiced jelly.  I loved the bite-sized biscuits and the ham was really tasty although I would have preferred thicker slices. The jelly really took the limelight and I proceeded to spread the remainder onto the homemade bread they serve throughout the meal.

Out of the main dishes we opted for the pecan catfish presented on a bed of vegetable rice and arugula.  It was divine, perfectly cooked and lightly coated in a crumbled pecan mixture that was both sweet and salty.  The sauce was so delicious I had to ask for another slice of bread to sop it all up.

I could not resist a side order of their grits either, made with nothing but the best ingredients and covered with bacon and cheddar cheese - totally traditional and just the way they were meant to be served.  My friend was dually impressed...someone who had turned his nose up to grits before this experience.

We finished every last bite of food and did not have much room or time for dessert...So we got the check and I cannot tell you how pleased I was to see that the hospitality continued right until the very end with little fudgey amuse-bouches. A nice way to round out a solid, southern meal.

It is worth a trip out to Cambridge anyday, this restaurant is yet another attribute of the area.

http://www.hungrymothercambridge.com/