Did you know Lolita on Munjoy Hill serves lunch? I didn't consider it as a lunch spot, but more for a special occasion dinner or a nice place to sit at the bar and catch up with a friend. But why not catch up with a friend over lunch? As the weather warms, their tables on the sunny side of Congress Street seem more and more appealing.
I stopped in for lunch with Original Roomie A. earlier this week, and learned Lolita offers several daily $10 lunch specials. Side note: A. and I are practicing our "ladies who lunch" routine. We enjoyed the bento box lunch special at Miyake ($18!!) with some sparkling rose last month. This time we shared plates and loved the speciality cocktail: Hendrick's gin, Darjeeling tea syrup, St. Germain, lemon, and sparkling wine. Hello.
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| Harissa sardine pot with sourdough |
Another misconception of mine as it relates to Lolita is that it's fairly meat-heavy and rich. The last time I was in there, it was late fall, and I ordered a lot of rich meat dishes. But the menu has a lot of lighter dishes, yes, accented with meat, but with plenty of fresh vegetables too - especially in spring. Think chilled English pea soup, a spring salad, or Moroccan chickpeas.
I, however, couldn't resist ordering meat and cheese: the Spanish sardines with harissa pot, the steak tartare and the burrata with lemon zest and Aleppo oil (3 for $10).
One of the $10 lunch specials was an open-faced sandwich with a speck, arugula, and smoked tomato aioli on grilled sourdough bread. It's like Lolita in a sandwich: sliced Italian meat and a smoky flavor from their wood-fired grill. The sandwich came with a side of seared Shishito peppers, and I did encounter a few delightfully spicy ones.
The other lunch specials were a rabbit stew with tomato, onion, and fennel, or a picnic board, where you selected one item from each of the meat and cheese selections, and it comes accompanied by spreads, pickles, and bread.
