Loco Tapas (South Easton, MA)

The book club girls and I had the calamari on Loco Tapas' tapas caliente menu last night. Menu description says: "fried calamari with lemon allioli." The calamari was very delicate, lightly battered. The lemon alioli was very lemony -- a great compliment to the calamari -- and very refreshing. 3.5/5.

Trinity Brewhouse (Providence)

We returned to the Trinity Brewhouse last Friday night, killing time until our (late) reservation at Gracie's. As is the norm, there were substitutions on the beer list. We had the Rhode Island IPA and the porter (I can't recall the exact name). The IPA was light and hoppy and had that distinctive grapefruity quality that I love in some IPAs. The porter, however, was disappointing. It was very stoutlike and a bit bland, with none of the bitterness I love in porters.

We also had the calamari (of course). The menu describes it as "deep fried squid with a spicy jalapeno vinaigrette." I don't actually recall the vinaigrette being vinaigrette-like, more like an aioli. I give it a 3.5/5!