🍛✨ Keep calm and curry on

It’s Wednesday, Boston.

🛋️ Tired of your usual WFH routine? Shy Bird’s new Fenway location has an epic deal for remote workers: $17.95 gets you bottomless coffee, breakfast or lunch, AND free wifi, all in a super vibey space. Your couch won’t miss you.

👀 What’s on tap today:

• St. Paddy’s parade crackdown

• The mayoral ballot is getting longer

• America runs on Boston Rob

Up first…

B-SIDE CERTIFIED

Indian fusion comes to Brookline

B-Side Certified goes to Brookline! For this month’s edition, you sent us to Ssaanjh, a new Indian-fusion spot steps away from Saint Mary’s Street on the C line. 

Here’s what we thought:

FIRST IMPRESSION

🤝 Our night started with a random act of kindness. We didn’t make a reservation (rookie move), and it was packed. But after about 15 minutes waiting outside, the host gave us a call, kindly told us we looked cold (we were), and snuck us in. As for the space, the heavy curtains and big, cushiony chairs make it feel upscale, but light wood tones and gold accents add a modern, more relaxed touch. 

FOOD & DRINK

🍹 The cocktails were good … ideas. The cocktail list gets points for being unique, but our drinks didn’t stick the landing. The chai flavor in the $12 chai martini was too subtle, making it taste like a lightly infused, chai-flavored vodka. Meanwhile, the $11 desi mojito fusion was an unpleasant surprise. The ingredient list of white rum and cranberry juice paired with its pink, fizzy appearance led us to expect something fruity, but the prominent flavors were salt and lime. Weird.

🍛 The $13 Amritsari samosa chaat righted the ship. Not only was it delicious, but it got major points for presentation. The samosas were smothered in yogurt and chickpeas, and topped with pomegranate seeds, sev, and ribbons of veggies. The pastry was rich and buttery, and the filling was a delightful combination of warm spices, nicely offset by the yogurt and pomegranate. 

🥘 And the entrees kept the good vibes rolling. We split the shahi murgh korma (chicken in a mild creamy sauce, $19) and the masala bhindi (okra with onions and tomatoes, $22), plus garlic naan ($5) and mango and pepper chutney ($3) for dunking and dipping. Both dishes were solid: The shahi murgh korma tasted like tikka masala’s cousin, but creamier and nuttier, with a kick of heat. The masala bhindi’s okra had a delightful bouncy texture with a flavor punch of curry.

🌱 Dessert ended the night on a sweet note. True to form, the $11 Ssaanjh dessert pot looked like a little plant, served in a pot with mint and edible flowers. We’d describe it as an elevated lava cake with gooey pockets of ice cream. 

VALUE

🤑 With tip, we paid $116.54 for two drinks, an app, two entrees, and a dessert, which isn’t too shabby in this economy. In terms of value and vibe, we’d slot this somewhere between “add it to your weekly rotation” and “special date night spot.”

💭 Final thoughts: Between the standout presentation, unique dishes, and helpful service, Ssaanjh impressed us. We can’t help but assume there are some true knockouts on its menu — we just didn’t order them. So, to help you on your trip, we crowdsourced for some recs: Kale and sakarkandi chaat, pani puri, chicken tikka masala, and jaipuri lal maas.

✅ The verdict: B-Side Certified. 

CITY

Quick & dirty headlines

🍀 This year’s St. Paddy’s Day parade will be an NTZ: A no-tomfoolery zone. After last year’s … debacle, organizers are cracking down on excessive drinking and rowdiness. Most notably, the parade will start at 11:30 a.m., an hour and a half earlier than usual, and a task force has been working to reinforce Boston’s “zero tolerance” policy with local businesses and schools. Tomfoolery hater and City Councilor Ed Flynn has been leading the charge as the parade’s general chairman, threatening to move the event if things don’t improve.

🗳️ Mayor Michelle Wu and Josh Kraft have some company on the ballot. Word on the street: This year’s mayoral race could see up to three new contenders. Community activist and multi-time city council candidate Domingos DaRosa has officially filed paperwork to run as an Independent, with top priorities including the BPS system and the opioid crisis. Meanwhile, big-time developer Tom O’Brien is reportedly considering a run (which could spell trouble for Josh Kraft), as is perennial council candidate Althea Garrison. Either way, any candidate would need 3,000 signatures to appear on the ballot.

🧑🏾‍🎓 It’s not a great time to be a DEI major. As President Donald Trump threatens to cut federal funding for schools with DEI initiatives, local students pursuing degrees in DEI are in a tough spot. Since these programs are few and far between, students who are interested tend to seek out schools like Waltham’s Bentley University specifically for these programs. Now, those students are waiting to hear whether the programs will be cancelled, with some adding backup majors or minors while they wait to hear their fate.

🌷 Spring has sprung at Bow Market. And like daffodils, a bunch of new offerings are about to bloom. First up: Buzz + Thrive Gardens has kicked off its three month pop-up at the market. Expect an assortment of beautiful, locally grown plants and flowers like these cuties. Next, Việt Citron has opened its doors with fresh, authentic Vietnamese eats on deck, including its famous crackling crispy pork belly. And finally, macaron shop maca is expanding to include bubble tea and waffle sundaes, which we can expect in June. Yum!

QUICK QUESTION!

🍀 What are your thoughts on St. Paddy’s parade tomfoolery?

GIVEAWAY

Together with Boston Weddings

Enter to win TWO tickets to Boston Weddings’ Bubbly Brunch on March 30. To enter, just refer a friend and have them accept your invite by the end of the day on March 12. If you have already referred a friend to B-Side (and they’ve accepted), you're eligible! Full details below*

21+. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Limit one entry per person. See Official Rules & an additional entry option here.

ONE LAST THING

America runs on Boston Rob

Dunkin’ has done a lot of iconic collabs recently: The Dunkings, Sabrina Carpenter, Native … but in our opinion, it reached the peak of the mountain with a new reel featuring the one and only Boston Rob. 

If you’ve been watching “The Traitors” this season (BIG recommend, BTW), you’ll know the reel is a reunion of sorts for Boston Rob and “Summer House” star Ciara Miller. Basically, the pair are ordering at Dunkin’ and Miller almost gets a chai latte before Rob pulls her aside and convinces her to vote for — we mean, order — a Dunkalatte instead. 

As Traitors fans, Dunkalatte fans, and Boston Rob stans, absolutely no notes!

— Written by Gia Orsino and Emily Schario

🍩 Thanks for reading! Now we need an official Boston Rob drink. 

🍺 The results are in: 43% of B-Siders say they like Guinness — and many more pushed back on our assumption that drinking bread is a negative: “How is drinking bread a bad thing?”

💃 Keep up with us @BostonBSide on IG, TikTok, and Twitter. Send comments and suggestions to [email protected] or [email protected].