Dining Out: Twelve Hours

Every Thursday night I have dinner with one of my best friends from college. We've been doing this since we graduated in May 2006, so we're coming up on 10 years of our weekly tradition. Lately we've been a roll with trying new restaurants - Branch Line, Shangri-La, Comedor, Juniper and this past week, Twelve Hours in Brighton. 

I read about Twelve Hours on Eater and since it's just two blocks from her apartment, checking it out seemed like a no brainer. The restaurant is located just one block up from the center of Oak Square, on the corner of Washington Street and Oak Square Ave. 

When you open the front door, you'll notice a chalkboard with signs of spring (you know how I love a chalkboard). 

I am not sure what I was envisioning, but the interior was fancier than I expected! I am obsessed with these light fixtures.

The space has floor-to-ceiling windows that face the street. Above those front tables is the coolest design made from colored wood. Every few pieces there's a square that is stamped with the Twelve Hours logo. 

When we walked in, the woman behind the counter encouraged us to read the welcome sign. 

Knowing we needed to order right away rather than once we were seated, we rushed to make our selections. Twelve Hours has something called the Happy Hour Dinner Set which is available every night from 6:00pm - 9:30pm. For $15 dollars you get a house salad, your choice of appetizer and your choose of entree. I mean, how could we not? 

We each made our selections and then were encouraged to choose a seat anywhere we liked in the restaurant.

When we sat down I noticed our table had been branded with the logo too. 

The first items to arrive were our house salads, which included lettuce, tomato, red onion, carrots, pineapple and the house dressing. 

All the veggies were super fresh and had great crunch. The pineapple had a nice sweetness. The house dressing tasted like Russian dressing with a citrus twist. 

For her appetizer, my dinner date went with the edamame. The bowl arrived and the pods were so hot they were visibly steaming. 

After nibbling through a few she said, "I don't know, these just don't really have any seasoning or flavor to them."

My appetizer arrived a few seconds later, the green Bermuda triangle. These are fried Chinese chive cakes, served with a ginger dipping sauce. 

I am a scallion pancake loyalist, but I am really glad I tried something new and ordered these. They were extra crispy on the outside, soft on the inside and tasted best when dunked in the ginger sauce. 

For the entree round, we each ordered the street noodle soup. Her version came packed with ground pork, chicken, shrimp and a boiled egg. 

The vegetarian version has fried tofu and a mountain of vegetables - red peppers, green peppers, mushrooms, broccoli and carrots.

Both renditions have the most delicious Thai-style hot and sour soup broth, bean sprouts and are topped with ground peanuts and fried wonton pieces. The broth has awesome heat and is crazy addicting. We were both slurping it up! 

The street noodle soup comes in a gigantic portion. Two people can share it or you can eat half and take the other half home for lunch the next day. 

For the grand finale, I ordered the iced taro tea. I have been obsessed with taro frozen yogurt for years and I freaked out with excitement when I saw this drink on the menu. 

I took one sip and my eyes rolled into the back of my head. It tasted like liquid taro frozen yogurt. I am telling you, this is my new crack. I would drive all the way to Brighton just to order this and turn around and go back. I told my BFF that every time she comes to my house now she needs to bring the iced taro tea as her toll for crossing the Brighton/Watertown town line. 

I can't say enough about Twelve Hours. The food is fantastic, the restaurant is adorable and that iced taro tea is my new life blood. You honestly can't beat the $15 dollar Happy Hour Set. To make things even easier, there is free street parking out front and on all the surrounding streets. They are also doing free delivery if you live in Brighton. 

The food is so good that my friend went back the very next night to take her fiancé! I am already dreaming of the next time I'll be savoring that broth.