Okay, I’ll admit it.  To me South Boston is a bit of a fantastical distant land.  I’ve heard of that particular ‘hood and certainly seen it portrayed in the movies but the reality of Southie didn’t quite seem approachable.  The problem is that in my real life, real world existence, I had a growing list of restaurants that I have been wanting to try and for whatever reason (the reason is clearly that I think that you can’t get there from here) I always earmarked Southie as “too far”.   Recently, partially because I have been ogling the food from Lincoln Tavern for ages now, and partially because I was invited to check out their Test Kitchen Brunch, which takes place on Fridays.  I plugged in the address and hopped in my car.  Once the gps loaded up, I was kicking myself for being such a fool.  South Boston is 5 miles from Cambridge and not any harder to get to than East Boston, the South End, the other side of Cambridge (actually that’s harder).  Now I can get my Lincoln Tavern fix any time I want and also go check out some of those other spots too.

Lincoln Tavern is an impressive space.  A great spot for a family or work gathering.  As I mentioned, it is pretty easy to get to from just about anywhere (our brunch crew came from North, South, East and West).  Parking was pretty easy with metered spots on the road and a metered lot nearby.  Lincoln Tavern is open for lunch, brunch, dinner and the Brunch Test Kitchen (Fridays 10 a.m. To 3 p.m.)  Why not start the weekend on Friday morning? Not that you need any incentive, but I think a work outing to Lincoln Tavern for brunch could be the most productive thing going on in the office all week (especially with all these snow days).  If you’re around for Spring Break, a family Brunch at Lincoln Tavern will make everyone happy.  It’s hip for the parents, casual and spacious for the kids, and the menu is diverse enough to please everyone.

On Fridays, the chef plays and new creations make it on the test kitchen menu.  Favourites make their way to the regular brunch menu, like the fruity pebbles pancakes with a cereal milk crème Anglaise.  Some of the latest test kitchen creations include: a sugar coated tart with goat cheese and honey, a shaved wagyu beef and scrambled egg toast with my favourite Humboldt Fog cheese on rye toast, red velvet pancakes, and a bacon and cheese risotto.

The flufflernutter parfait is topped with caramelized bananas and has a peanut butter mousse.

These hot pockets were a popular starter. Try one and share it with friends. Definitely worth a taste.

A cookie on top, bananas and peanut butter mousse. Each test kitchen treat is well thought out, for playfulness, and overall taste and texture.

The breakfast pizza was delicious. The sausage was too spicy for some, but I loved it.

This was the other breakfast pizza option topped with eggs and smoked salmon.

Smoked salmon pizza. I love that they put everything bagel spices all around the crust.

Even the fruit salad is impressive. A great thing to dig into as a respite from all the rich goodies we were tasting.

This is Lincoln Tavern’s Breakfast pot pie. It was full of potatoes, topped with an egg and sausage and gravy inside.

Pizza at Lincoln Tavern in South Boston is delicious. Whether you come for brunch, test kitchen brunch, or dinner.

Butternut squash pancakes with toffee caramel, toasted walnuts and whipped sour cream. The caramel was perfect to pull it all together.

The autumn salmon quinoa bowl was full of colours and delicious vegetables, nuts and of course a perfectly cooked piece of salmon.

Short rib melt and fries from Lincoln Tavern’s test kitchen brunch open for all every Friday.

I was a bit skeptical about getting shrimp and grits on a skewer, but these grits were perfectly soft and delicious inside.

Can’t choose between the bucket of bubbles with a choice of several juices (oj, peach nectar, apple cider, and more) or the bloody mary? Stay a while and get both.