Cheap Eats - Boston.com

Transcription

Copyright
© 2012 by The Boston Globe
All rights reserved under the Pan-American and International Copyright
Conventions. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, in any form or
by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by
any information storage and retrieval system now known or hereafter invented,
without written permission from the publisher.
ISBN 978-0-9837815-8-5
Introduction
There are nights you feel like a splurge. And there are nights you just want fast,
delicious, and, most of all, cheap food. This e-book is for those nights. And that's
what makes the Cheap Eats column in the Boston Globe Food section every
Wednesday so popular. There are plenty of occasions to celebrate with a night on
the town, but for casual dining week in and week out, with groups of friends,
family, or house guests, you want a place where the mood is relaxed, the quality is
high, and the bill is reasonable.
Thankfully, we live in a mecca for cheap dining, partly because of the vast
Greater Boston student population and partly because of our inherent frugality. So
how exactly do we define Cheap Eats? Every item on the menu must be under $20,
with most under $18. That should appeal to anyone out to discover new cuisines.
It's reasonable to hope for a tab of less than $50 for two.
These 40 spots include fine pizza (we won't let you down), Persian dishes,
Dominican specialties, good sushi, an out-of-the-way Chinese take-out, aromatic
Vietnamese pho, Sri Lankan food, Moroccan couscous, succulent Greek kebabs,
Mexican burritos, and more.
Whether you're working your way through college or sitting on top of the
world, there's something in here for you.
Sheryl Julian,
Boston Globe Food Editor
At Dosa Temple in Somerville , vegetarian Indian
CUISine
DOSATEMPLE
447 Somerville Ave., Union Square, Somerville, 617-764-3152. All major credit
cards. Not wheelchair accessible.
Hours Mon-Thu lunch 11:30 a.m-3 p.m.; dinner 5-10 p.m.; Sat-Sun 11:30 a.m.-10
p.m.
Liquor None.
Prices $2.50-$11.95.
What to order Onion rava masala dosai, chilli bhajji, Szechuan noodles, sundal,
malai kofta, lemon rice.
By Catherine Smart, Globe Correspondent
Dosa Temple is a family affair. The original location in Ashland is owned by
Gokul Krishan, who found the perfect location for his Southern Indian restaurant
right down the street from a Hindu temple. He decided to make the menu entirely
vegetarian. Then his cousin, Gopala Krishan, opened a second spot just outside
Union Square in Somerville, and brought the chef, Siva Kumar, with him.
For those accustomed to Northern, and British-influenced, Indian cuisine dishes like creamy tikka masala, butter chicken, and coconut milk curries Southern Indian food is a new adventure. Dosa offers Northern Indian favorites as
well. The extensive vegetarian or vegan menu adds another layer of interest.
We start with sundal ($4.95), perfectly cooked chickpeas that have much more
flavor and creamier texture than their canned counterparts. They're cooked in olive
oil with grated fresh coconut, roasted red onion, black mustard seed, cumin, and
crunchy toasted bits of dal (lentils). The dish is deeply flavorful and satisfying
without being heavy. Chili bhajji ($4.95) is billed as fried banana peppers, but
appear to be crisp jalapenos, and addictive, like poppers without the cream cheese
filling. The accompanying plum sauce is a nice foil for the heat.
As the name suggests, Dosa Temple offers plenty of dosa, those extremely large
crepes available from street vendors in India. These are almost comically large,
jutting off the plate, served with a side of delicious mulligatawny soup for dipping
and slurping. The soup is made with lentils and curry leaves and thickened with
chickpea flour. We try onion rava masala dosai ($10.95), whose batter is thin
enough to be crisp at the edges, sturdy enough to billow in the center. The pancake
is studded with bits of onion and filled with curried potatoes. It's served with a
carrot and cucumber raita, the traditional yogurt mixture, and a cooling, shredded
coconut sauce, flavored with cumin seed. We devour everything but the tomato
chutney, which is surprisingly awful, basically ketchup with a few spices and bits of
onion.
Pizza uthappam ($9.95) is heavy, and bland, with too much cheese. Pav bhajji
($9.95) is much better, a savory, thick mixture of potato, peas, and onions, in garlic
and ginger tomato sauce. It's served with hamburger buns, so you could make
yourself a kind of vegetarian sloppy joe. We sop it up with garlic naan ($2.50),
which arrives blistered (naan is available weekdays after 5 p.m., all day on
weekends).
Malai kofta ($11.95), despite a rather unappetizing description of "cottage
cheese and vegetable balls cooked in almond sauce," is a wonderful dish - small
fried "meatballs," something like richly flavored, smooth falafel in a creamy
saffron-nut sauce. It's indulgent and divine over rice. Plain rice ($2.50) is very plain
indeed, but there's an entire section of the menu devoted to specialty rice dishes.
Lemon rice ($8.95) is sunny yellow from turmeric, with a nice lemon-rind flavor,
flecked with cumin seed, black mustard seed, and more of that delectable crunchy
toasted dal.
Also on Dosa Temple menu is a selection of Indo-Chinese dishes, which began
in Northern areas like Kathmandu, and are popular all over the country. Sichuan
noodles ($10.95) are beautiful, bright red with stir-fried red onion, scallion,
cabbage, sesame oil, and chilies. It's a kind of spicy lo mein.
After dinner, the masala chai ($2) is a richly spiced and creamy brew that comes
in a tiny metal cup. If you can figure out a way to drink it without burning yourself,
it's a lovely way to end the meal.
You can't get tandoori chicken or lamb curry here, but you won't want them.
You can get so much more that you'll like just as well.
In Allston, pizza for breakfast, lunch, and dinner
ECCO PIZZERIA
1147 Commonwealth Ave. (outbound service road), Allston, 617-903-4324,
www.eccopizzeria.com. All major cards, wheelchair accessible.
Prices Pizza $11.50-$27; slices $2.75-$3.50. Salads $5-$11. Sweet pizzas $3. Ice
cream $2.90-$5.50.
Hours Sun-Wed 11:30 a.m.-midnight, Thu-Sat 11:30 a.m.-1 a.m.
Liquor None.
What to order Formaggio (four cheese), patate (grilled potatoes, fontina) uova
(egg pizza), bianca (prosciutto, fontina, arugula), salsiccia (sausage, mushrooms).
By Sheryl Julian, Globe Staff
A table of men enjoying a few laughs suddenly becomes very quiet. Each is
holding a small piece of pizza, nibbling it or just looking at it. We can't resist
asking, "What are you eating?"
"Pizza with cinnamon and sugar," comes the reply, then more silence.
Among the many pies that Ecco Pizzeria offers, which include something for
breakfast and a PB&J pizza for children, are a handful of dessert pies. Cinnamonsugar is one; chocolate-hazelnut is another (this is the sweet pie that silences our
table; more on this later).
Owner Stephen Silverman runs this big, clean, well-lit, friendly corner spot
across from Herb Chambers BMW with delicious thin-crust pies, good salads, and
lots of environmentally conscious systems in place to get to a zero-waste point.
Ecco's whole-grain organic crust is Italian-style, what Silverman calls
"somewhere between Rome and New York, mainly a thin crust, but not cracker
thin, nice cheese blend that's not half-an-inch thick. Not the type of pizza you
would do a foldover like in New York."
That deliciously firm crust - pies were not as well done early on, but are now is layered with fine ingredients. Uova, an egg pizza served at breakfast ($6), is
around at dinner, too, in larger sizes ($14 and $20) and arrives with two soft-cooked
sunny eggs on top, sitting amid crisp bacon. Bianca pizza ($13.50 and $18) is a
sauceless feast of asiago cheese, prosciutto, and baby arugula tossed with dressing.
Formaggio ($11.50 and $15.50) includes shredded and fresh mozzarella, smoked
Gruyere, and Gouda with herb-flecked tomato sauce, a simple but wonderful pie.
Patate ($13 and $18) has layers of grilled golden potatoes, caramelized onions,
and fontina, melted to add a nice aroma to the vegetables. Salsiccia ($16 and $22) is
topped with delicious chicken sausage and sauteed mushrooms.
Greens in salads are especially fresh; dressings are made in house. Romaine in
the Caesar ($6 and $9) is topped with shaved Parmesan. Grilled chicken ($2 and $3
extra) is removed from the fire at just the right moment, so it's nicely cooked, but
the pale meat has almost no grilled flavor. A salad called pera ($7 and $10) mixes
arugula, pears, gorgonzola, and a refreshing citrusy vinaigrette.
For bambini who come to Ecco Pizzeria, there's a sweet little 6-inch PB&J
pizza ($3), the peanut butter spread on a crisp round, decorated with circles of jelly.
Silverman says kids love it. So do adults!
Silverman owned Icky Sticky & Goo, bulk candy stores in shopping malls,
which he sold. He and his wife, Barbara Sisson, a pediatrician, have two school-age
boys. They come in and critique the pies, says their dad. "They're turning into pizza
snobs. They don't want to eat day-old pizza.''
We pass up the cinnamon-sugar pizza, called cannella ($3), that knocked out the
gentlemen and instead order cioccolata ($3), chocolate-hazelnut spread with darkand-white chocolate chips, which sounds irresistible, along with a scoop of doublevanilla, from Boulder Ice Cream ($2.90 and $5.50).
And then we too are quiet.
Menu categories are all in Italian, though Silverman says he doesn't speak any
of the language, except to say, "Have a good evening."
That's all he needs to know.
At Bloomingdale·s, shop till you drop, then dine
well
FORTY CARROTS
225 Boylston St., Chestnut Hill, 617-630-6640. All major credit cards. Wheelchair
accessible.
Prices Appetizers $5. Entrees $10-$16. Desserts $5-$7.
Hours Mon-Sat 10 a.rn.-8 p.m., Sun noon-S p.m.
Liquor Beer and wine.
What to order Chesapeake crab-cake sandwich, Astoria spinach pie, chicken
noodle soup
By Ike DeLorenzo, Globe Correspondent
Forty Carrots is not a typical spot. The parking lot is filled with well-cared-for
high-end cars, like Mercedes and Lexus. Diners wear Chanel and Louis Vuitton.
The restaurant is inside The Mall at Chestnut Hill, adjacent to and owned by
Bloomingdale's.
The china, including the futuristic Villeroy & Bach propeller-twirl soup bowls,
is white. The rest of the space is a study in neon color. The restaurant decor
includes variegated mini-stripes in chroma green, tangerine, violet, lime, and yellow
on walls, menus, even the neckties of the servers. The effect is either Museum of
Modern Art or Ikea on acid.
The restaurant is part of a small chain in operation for 30 years. Nine
Bloomingdale's locations, from California to Dubai, have a Forty Carrots location.
Part of the intent is to keep well-heeled diners at the store- and inside the mall- and
away from competing upscale eateries. On one weekday, while Chestnut Hill's
Forty Carrots was packed for lunch (with a line out the door), the nearby off-mall
French bistro Aquitaine Chestnut Hill was not.
Lunchtime rush is anything but. At noon, the space fills with women who linger
over colorful salads, beautifully plated sandwiches, and a variety of classics like a
hearty, healthy Astoria spinach pie ($13), served with Greek salad; "high-protein"
meatless lasagna ($13), layered with vegetables and ricotta, a bit mushy but still
satisfying; and grilled portobello mushroom melts ($12), made with low-fat Alpine
lace cheese. Many diners are regulars, settling in for a low-carb confab, and a break
from shopping. The crowd begins to abate at around 3 p.m.
This food at Forty Carrots is meant to be healthy. It's often excellent, too.
Chesapeake crab-cake sandwich ($16) is lightly fried, and sensibly seasoned to
showcase quality seafood. Brioche-like rolls for all sandwiches are toasted, fluffy,
and tasty. Each arrives with a large portion of mixed garden salad and an
incongruously high-fat dressing in a ramekin on the side.
Slow-cooked soups are exceptional. Forty Carrots serves chicken noodle soup
($5) with a rich, flavorful broth, just-firm vegetables, and tender cubes of chicken.
It comes with oddly hyper-crisp sesame flatbread. As part of the general carbminimization of all dishes here, noodles are few but sufficient.
A surprising failure: the Forty Carrots carrot cake ($6). It's an oversize slab, dry
and grainy, with a white frosting that is too thin and far too sweet. For most
regulars, dessert here after a light meal is frozen yogurt ($5-$7). Four flavors are
prepared daily; all are fat-free (except plain, which is low-fat). Chocolate, coffee,
and vanilla varieties have a hollow, icy flavor - possibly inherent in the zero-fat
recipe. Women in the dining room do seem to generally enjoy all the flavors. Some
stop in just for a take-away bowl.
Staff from chef to server, to the perky and perhaps overzealous PR personnel in
Chestnut Hill and New York who monitor all communications, shows a level of
pride and attention to detail that some fine dining eateries would be lucky to match.
When the competent food doesn't thrill, service and environment do.
This Forty Carrots location has been open for three years and has the feel of a
private club. "Ninety percent of our customers are women," confides my waiter, a
young man who seems happy with the ratio. "Most of the other 10 percent are
dragged in by their girlfriends," he adds. A small bar is in the back where, he offers,
men could come in voluntarily and enjoy any of several imported beers ($7).
It's a nice gesture, but the men here are in the kitchen, and the best-selling
beverage is tea. Blends ($3) are by Tavalon, they're aspirational: "Calming," "AntiAging," "Energizing," "Slimming," and "Balancing."
Not unlike the food.
New Paramount, in South Boston, hits the spot
THE PARAMOUNT
667 East Broadway, South Boston, 617-269-9999, www.paramountboston.com. All
major credit cards. Wheelchair accessible.
Prices Appetizers $6-$11. Entrees $10-$22. Desserts $7-$8.
Hours Mon-Thu 7 a.m.-10 p.m., Fri 7 a.m.-11 p.m., Sat 8 a.m.-11 p.m., Sun 8
a.m.-10 p.m. (closed 4:30-5 p.m.)
What to order Pulled pork tacos, teriyaki glazed salmon, chicken Marsala, fallen
chocolate cake, banana bread pudding.
By Bella English, Globe Staff
Nothing breeds success like success. That's what the owners of the Paramount,
which opened recently in South Boston, are counting on. For 15 years, the original
namesake on Beacon Hill has done a booming business in a demanding model: It
serves three meals a day, seven days a week.
The new Paramount in South Boston has the same hours, the same layout, the
same executive chef - Gabe Cheung - and most of the same dishes. This location,
too, has quickly become a popular neighborhood spot.
It's a bowling-alley of a place, long and slender, with tables on one side, an
open kitchen and small bar on the other. Prints of old South Boston hang on
exposed-brick walls. It's casual, tables decorated with votives at dinner. Our
waitress brings a plate of focaccia and a dish of basil hummus, which is rich and
tasty. A razor-thin, frozen slice of cucumber floats in each water glass.
We order the special appetizers, duck confit tacos ($12) and mushroom ravioli
($5). Ravioli comes as one large, tender stuffed pasta, filled with mushrooms
cooked in brown butter, with thyme and fresh basil, sprinkled with Romano cheese.
Tacos are a colorful tableau with grilled scallions, a smear of chickpea puree, and a
cranberry prosecco coulis that adds a sweet note. We love the pulled pork tacos
($10), sweet and smoky and stuffed with a black bean salsa and a drizzle of
cilantro-lime aioli. Happily, these three corn tortillas hold together well, no falling
apart onto the plate.
There's a section on the menu dubbed "Paramount Classics," which are
customer favorites. Teriyaki glazed salmon ($19) is in this category and
outstanding. Pan-roasted to a perfect silky texture, with a sprinkling of macadamia
nuts, the salmon is perched on a bed of stir-fried vegetable lo mein featuring
mushrooms, broccoli, carrots, and peppers.
Another classic is chicken Marsala ($16), which comes with mashed potatoes
that have a beautiful texture; green beans are bright and cooked just right. The
chicken is in a creamy, sweet sauce with lots of sauteed crimini mushrooms, but
there's a tad too much of it.
Fallen chocolate cake ($8) is velvety and rich, with dabs of raspberry and
mango puree, a dollop of whipped cream, and a few fresh strawberries. Also
excellent is banana bread pudding ($7), a large slab, both firm and moist, with
slices of the yellow fruit, vanilla ice cream, and a drizzle of caramel sauce. Both are
a lovely end to a fine meal.
Persian cuisine in all its glory at Sabzi in
Arlington
SABZI PERSIAN CHELOW KABAB
352A Massachusetts Ave., Arlington, 781-753-0150, www.sabzikabab.com. Most
Prices Appetizers $3-$6.25. Entrees $10.25-$16.75. Dessert $4.
Hours Tue-Sun 5-10 p.m.
Liquor Wine and beer.
What to order Kashk-ebademjan (eggplant spread), mast-a khiar (yogurt and
cucumber dip), kabab-e kubideh (ground beef kebab), kabab-e jujeh (Cornish hen
kebab), sabzi kabab (marinated vegetables).
You have to know how the rice is prepared - and rice comes with every entree in order to fully appreciate the complexity of dishes at Sabzi Persian Chelow
Kabab. Co-owner Mehran Khosrowdad, who was born in Tehran, rinses and soaks
basmati rice in salted water until the grains turn brilliant white, then cooks it until
it's almost done. At that point, the rice is strained and steamed for 15 minutes.
When you get the rice, the first thing you notice is its topping of bright golden
grains. These have been mixed with saffron and hot water, and put inside the
steaming pot of plain rice, so the saffron perfumes the whole pot.
And that's just one ingredient.
Beside it on the plate you might see plump, golden pieces of juicy Cornish hen
in a dish called kabab-e jujeh, the meat still on the bone ($12.25), marinated in
yogurt, lime juice, and saffron; red cabbage pickle; and a roasted tomato (alas, not a
great fruit this time of year).
Khosrowdad owns Sabzi with Cyrus Kehyari, who lives in New York. Sabzi
means fresh herbs or greenery, says Khosrowdad. The food is a combination of
dishes from Khosrowdad's grandmother, mother, and aunts. "In Persian cuisine,
the same dish is made different ways in different regions,'' he says.
There are seven appetizers, eight entrees, and one dessert here. Yogurt is
homemade, and mast-o khiar, in which it's mixed with cucumbers ($4.75), shows
off the thick, barely acidic, delicious yogurt.
Kashk-e bademjan, a dark, roasted and sauteed eggplant spread ($6.25), is
deeply flavorful. Kashk is translated as whey, but rather than being the byproduct of
cheesemaking, it's actually made with a soured ingredient such as yogurt, and left
to ferment. Khosrowdad mixes the eggplant with kashk and then uses more kashk,
which is bright white, to garnish the top. One night my dining companion orders the
eggplant as an entree (add $4.50), which comes with rice, tomato, and pickles. She
looks very content on the other side of the table.
This and the yogurt dishes are dips for bread, but the thin pita is stale on our
visits. On the phone later, Khosrowdad assures me that they are heating it now to
avoid that.
Ash-e reshteh, a thick noodle soup with spinach and beans ($4. 75) is a hearty
little bowl. Torshi, which are pickled vegetables ($3) are very acidic.
Among the entrees, the juicy, bony pieces of Cornish hen might be the best
choice, and like all the dishes, they're made to order. Sabzi kabab ($11.25) is all
vegetables - zucchini, portobello, red onion, tomatoes, and peppers - each nicely
cooked. You can get this skewer with kubideh, which is ground beef, in the
combination plate called Kermani ($15.25; two kubideh are $10.25). Mix and
match other kebabs. Persepolis ($15.25) combines ground beef and boneless
chicken skewers; Soltani ($16. 75) is one ground beef and one steak skewer. Each is
juicy, lightly charred, and beautiful on the plate.
The room, which has 19 seats, has a rustic look, with sand-colored walls
decorated with family photographs, paintings by Khosrowdad's mother, and scenes
from Iran. Service is informal, the same glasses used for water are for wine, and the
only dessert is something Khosrowdad calls "finger baklava," small pieces of crisp
walnut, pistachio, and almond pastries ($4 for 4) to pick up in your hand.
One night, we order a pot of Persian tea. The tags from two tea bags dangle out
of the top of the pot, the water is lukewarm, and the price is $8. Khosrowdad says
they're learning as they go. Better bread and brewed tea would make this little spot
just about perfect. (Note: After the review ran, tea was offered in a pot for $4.)
Dominican flavors rule Dorchester's Tropical
Island
TROPICAL ISLAND RESTAURANT AND BAR
148 Bowdoin St., Dorchester, 617-265-0310. Cash only. Wheelchair accessible.
Prices Appetizers $1.50-$3.50. Entrees $4.82-$17.50. Desserts $3-$4.
Hours Mon-Sat 9 a.m.-9 p.m.
What to order Chivo guisado (stewed goat), whole fish with coconut escabeche,
roast chicken dinner.
There is no bar at Dorchester's Tropical Island Restaurant and Bar. Customers
are told, with a motion to the soft drink cooler, that no alcohol is served at all. The
food is described as "Spanish," but that's also not quite true. If the color scheme
(peach, lime, purple, and plaids) doesn't give it away, the mofongo balls will. The
unstated tropical influence here is the Dominican Republic. The men are big, the
servings are huge, and it takes a while to figure out what is going on.
Consulting the detailed menu will only draw a smile and an eye roll from Rosa
Brito, the young manager. "It's better just to ask me what we have," she explains,
"You can also look over here." Brito is talking about the mini-steam table at the
register, today featuring polio guisado, spiced stewed chicken ($4.82); sauteed red
onion; caramelized plantains ($3); and carne guisado, spiced stewed meat ($4.82).
Another dozen dishes are available from the kitchen.
Brito, who is from Santiago in the Dominican Republic, was once a regular
customer. She suggested to the owner that she take over as manager, waitress, and
occasionally, chef. She redesigned the space, hired her god-sister to help out, and
introduced some dishes. Her whole fried fish with coconut escabeche, which isn't
on the menu ($17.50), is a 11/2 pound red snapper pan-fried in an inch of hot corn
oil until golden on each side, then smothered with a sauce of green and red peppers,
tomatoes, coconut milk, red onion ("red has more flavor than white"), a bit of sopita
(concentrated chicken bouillon), and a dash of vinegar. The dish has a marvelous
balance of crisp and creamy, sweet and acid, and the fish is, on most occasions,
expertly fried.
Many dishes at Tropical Island are the work of master chef Juana Chavez and
her quirky apprentice, Augustin "Benu" Lopez. Stewed meats - chicken, beef, and
goat - are braised in a complex sauce of finely chopped (and eventually liquefied)
vegetables, garlic, and spices. The chicken is tender and flavorful, the inexpensive
cuts of beef mercifully tenderized, and tasty. Goat deserves its own paragraph.
Goat is served in most of Boston's Caribbean restaurants. There are any number
of Jamaican, Haitian, and Dominican preparations most Bostonians have never
tried. Tropical Island is a good place to start, not for reasons of adventure, but
because goat is a genuinely tasty meat when prepared correctly. In Chavez's stewed
goat, chivo guisado ($4.82), called "cabrito guisado" by the restaurant's many Cape
Verdian fans, the meat is rendered mild and tender, like roast lamb with a rich,
beef-like color. The braising liquid is spiced to elevate- not cover- its flavor.
Mofongo is a traditional Dominican dish of fried plantain, mashed and rolled
into a serving the size (and often weight) of a bocce ball. It is one of the reasons
Dominican eateries from Lowell to Boston have names like "Strong Belly."
Tropical Island's somehow lighter mofongo ($6) contains lots of crisp-fried pork
belly bits, making an improvement even better. In any form, it's a manly dish. The
barber who works next door reportedly comes to impress Brito by doing the
impossible: eating two mofongo balls, smothered in garlic sauce, at one sitting.
Not all the dishes work. I found the oddly popular spaghetti ($3) to be
hopelessly overcooked with too-sweet tomato sauce. So-called "curry" (goat or
chicken, $7.49 each) contains no curry leaf or coriander, or, in fact, any flavor we
would normally associate with the word curry. I found the dish bland, but it can sell
out midway through dinner.
Prices can be as attractive as the best dishes. One night I'm given an off-menu
combo of excellent roast chicken with sauteed red onion, caramelized plantains,
yellow rice with black beans, and a mango-orange juice. Like so much here, the
unexpected is a pleasant surprise. The check comes to $7.80, after tax.
Good sushi in Union Square
EBISUSHI
290 Somerville Ave., Union Square, Somerville, 617-764-5556,
www.ebisushi.com. All major credit cards. Not wheelchair accessible.
Prices Appetizers $4-$12.
Entrees $7.50-$18.50. Sushi $1.50-$10.50.
Hours Tue-Fri lunch 11:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m., dinner 5-10 p.m. Sat lunch 11:30
a.m.-10:30 p.m., Sun 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m.
Liquor None.
What to order Agedashi tofu, 12-piece sushi combo, yaki udon, sushi and saba
lunch set, avocado salad, Japanese pancake.
After the well-liked Wuchon House closed in Union Square, Somerville, locals
wondered what would fill the large space. What emerged in June is Ebi Sushi (ebi
means shrimp), a friendly, moderately priced sushi restaurant serving fresh fish and
good Japanese cooking.
The owners are not your typical sushi restaurateurs. Guatemalan-born Jose and
Adolfo Garcia (Jose is Adolfo's nephew) insist this is authentic Japanese cuisine.
Certainly their high quality fish sets Ebi apart from many other spots. Jose spent
seven years learning his craft as a sushi chef at Blue Fin Sushi in Porter Square.
Business partner Adolfo was in the same kitchen for nearly 12 years. After Blue Fin
changed owners, the two took a brave leap in a down economy to open Ebi.
The space is much brighter than its former incarnation, with freshly painted
walls and a brand new kitchen. Jose Garcia says they have been working hard to get
a liquor license (never an easy task). He knows clientele want sake and Sapporo
beer with sushi.
On the expansive menu is a sushi section that contains ubiquitous favorites like
spicy-crunchy tuna ($7), which is always fresh. Avocado salad ($7) features all the
elements of a California roll - crabstick, tobiko, and the creamy green fruit - in
spicy mayo over a garden salad with bits of tofu and a Japanese soy sauce dressing.
The creamy-crunchy combination is winning and more satisfying than its California
roll cousin.
A 12-piece sushi combo at Ebi ($20) is a great deal, with your choice of any six
nigiri pieces plus one specialty roll. On one visit, the eel has an unpleasant, muddy
taste, but salmon, tuna, and yellowtail are happily devoured along with a house roll
($10.50 if ordered separately), a crispy shrimp tempura roll with cucumber and
tobiko topped with avocado, spicy mayo, and eel sauce. Sushi and saba lunch sets
($12) are a fantastic bargain (offered midday only). You get a sushi roll, choice of
udon or saba noodle soup, gyoza, tempura, salad, and tofu with bonito flakes in a
delightful little bento box. Lots of flavorful bites and more than enough food.
For non-sushi fans, the kitchen turns out plenty of good food. Agedashi tofu
($5.50) combines addictive, fried pieces of soft tofu in a rich dashi broth with
grated daikon radish. It's an umami bomb. Or try fried oysters ($8) or pan-fried
pork gyoza ($5), which are juicy dumplings.
Ebi's tempura is done well. The mixed appetizer ($7.99) contains tender-crisp
broccoli, bell peppers, soft sweet potato, and large shrimp, all fried nicely and
offered with a salty-sweet dipping sauce. Shrimp tempura udon ($9) is also a good
choice if you like slurpable noodles and savory broth. Spicy chicken curry ($10.99)
comes on a sizzling platter with a puzzling garnish of a single gigantic cooked
carrot, a small baked potato, and buttered spaghetti. The meat itself is spicy and
juicy. Yaki udon with chicken ($9.99) is delicious, with chewy udon noodles, stirfried veggies, pickled ginger, and moist chicken in a soy-based sauce.
Japanese pancake ($8) is a messy, tasty hodgepodge of cabbage, grated yam,
and pickled ginger cooked into a crisp-bottom round, topped with a thick, sweet
barbecue sauce, spicy mayo, and bonito flakes. This is serious comfort food, not
suitable for light eaters who might be here for sashimi and seaweed salad.
Union Square finally has a sushi restaurant, with a brisk takeout business and a
group of happy regulars perched at the sushi bar. When the Garcias get that liquor
license, it will turn Ebi into the bustling hangout they're hoping for.
Father and son in a lucky little Roslindale bistro
SEVEN STAR STREET BISTRO
153 Belgrade Ave., Roslindale, 617-325-8686, www.sevenstarstreetbistro.com. All
major credit cards. Entrance wheelchair accessible, no restroom.
Prices Small bites $4-$16. Wok dishes $7-$13. Rice and noodles $1-$8.
Hours Wed-Sat 5-10 p.m., Sun 5-9 p.m.
Liquor None.
What to order Peking ravioli, baby back ribs, crab rangoon, hot and sour soup,
Sichuan spiced beef, Taiwan-style pork chop with fried egg over rice, rna po tofu,
fried rice with pork.
By Sheryl Julian, globe staff
It's a winning story if ever there was one: The son, raised in his father's Chinese
restaurant in Newton, goes to culinary school in San Francisco, works in California
when he graduates, then decides to return home to be closer to his family and learn
his dad's trade. One day, the father and son are in a tiny Roslindale Chinese takeout
to help the struggling owner when she announces that her business is for sale.
That's how Christopher Lin, 30, became a restaurant owner. "We both looked
at each other and decided to do it," says the son, whose father, Joseph, 76, owned
Seven Star Mandarin House in Newton Centre with his family for over two
decades. "It's the first time we've cooked together," says Christopher.
But winning stories are like luck: They're nothing without skill. And the duo of
luck and skill makes people like Lin unstoppable.
At Seven Star Street Bistro, he offers modern versions of the Taiwanese street
food he learned when he and his dad toured the father's homeland (his mother is a
New Englander). You'll find extraordinary orange-soy glazed baby back ribs ($8$16), scallion pancakes with sliced beef inside ($8), slender, crisp vegetarian spring
rolls with cabbage and carrots ($6), fried crab rangoon in triangular shapes, the
creamy filling wonderful with the crisp wrappers ($7), and the best hot and sour
soup I've ever sipped ($4 and $7), a taste that is actually hot, sweet, and sour, with
gingery spoonfuls of tofu, mushrooms, and cabbage. "It's my father's signature
dish,'' says Lin.
The chef buys meat from T.F. Kinnealey & Co. (owners of John Dewar & Co.;
the butcher had a location, now closed, across from Lin's father's restaurant). That
quality shows in deliciously spicy and tender meat in Sichuan spiced beef ($9), with
bell peppers, water chestnuts, and peanuts. Taiwan-style pork chop, one of Lin's
street food riffs ($10), contains a medley of fun textures with a chewy chop, fried
egg and its runny yolk, and slices of pickled radish, all on a bed of fried rice. Spicy
green beans ($8) are bright, very crisp, lightly charred, and cooked with addictive
salty pork bits. Faintly hot and very creamy is rna po tofu ($8) flecked with peas
and peppers. And fried rice ($7), with pork and bits of egg, is an exemplary dish.
Seven Star's dining room is so small, you might think you're in the entrance.
There are eight seats, where you can dine in (no restroom), and a theater curtain to
keep out the cold (it doesn't do much good).
Lin kept the name Seven Star to honor his father and because seven is a lucky
number in Chinese culture. This is largely a takeout operation, every item made to
order, four other cooks working with the father-son team to keep up. Still, you
phone in an order and it will go into the queue and you might be picking it up in an
hour or more. Counter workers are friendly (one woman is Christopher's fiance).
"All the guests who came to my father's restaurant were considered friends," he
says. "All the people who come in here matter to us."
The son returned to Boston, he says, because he wanted the opportunity to learn
from his father while he had the chance. "My father and I cook together every
night. Yeah, it's pretty cool."
Lebanese specialties in JP earn A's for
authenticity
CAFE BEIRUT
654 Centre St., Jamaica Plain, 617-522-7264, www.cafebeirutjp.com. All major
cards (except American Express). Wheelchair accessible.
Prices Soups, salads, savory pies, sides 99 cents-$9.99. Roll-ups, platters $5.49$15.99. Desserts 99 cents-$3.99.
Hours Mon-Sat 11 a.m.-9:30p.m., Sun till 9 p.m.
Liquor None.
What to order Moujadara, lentil soup, fool moudammas, halloumi roll-up, lamb
kebab platter (rice), lamb kafta roll-up, rice pudding.
Moujadara is a Lebanese specialty of lentils with rice. It's a dish made so many
different ways in its country of origin that you can imagine old women in villages
discussing how they cook theirs. At Cafe Beirut in Jamaica Plain, the grains simmer
with onions, and when it comes to the table, the dish is topped with more
caramelized onions and served with a cucumber-yogurt "salad" (really a sauce).
This moujadara ($5.99 and $7.99) probably has half a dozen ingredients and it
manages to taste complex and interesting. It's just one side dish on an extensive
Lebanese menu here.
The 20-seat Cafe Beirut, formerly Sami's Falafel, is under new management.
It's still owned by Sami Saba, son of Ghazi Saba, who started the Sami' s truck in
the Longwood Medical Area in 1979. Now Sami Saba has a new business partner
and chef, Ali Hachem. Hachem, who worked at many upscale spots in Lebanon, is
turning out authentic dishes that have a cooked-ali-day quality but come out of the
kitchen swiftly.
The falafel here (one for $1.25; three for $3.49; six for $6.99), made with fava
beans and chickpeas, are exceptionally crisp and flavorful. You can get them in a
roll-up (almost everything comes this way), but then you would miss the halloumi
roll-up ($5.49). Halloumi holds its shape when heated roll-ups are pressed until hot
and crisp on the outside. It has substance in the pita and becomes a little saucy as
the cheese mingles with mint, olives, tomatoes, and cucumbers.
All meats are halal. Tender pieces of lamb on a platter with rice pilaf the
traditional one mixed with crushed, sauteed vermicelli and homemade pickles
($13.99) are cut from the leg. Succulent kafta, which is ground meat made from
beef or lamb (order lamb), comes on a platter ($11.99), in a roll-up ($5.99), or in
patties simmered with potatoes ($10.99), a homely dish with wonderful flavors.
This food deserves better tableware. You order at a counter (Saba is a savvy
restaurateur with a long memory; he can tell you on the second visit what you
ordered on the first). When your food is ready, it is plated on Styrofoam; some
things come on those flimsy white paper plates with the scalloped edges that soak
through with a drop of oil. Napkins from a dispenser are too thin. Plastic tableware
makes it hard to cut food to share.
So your table will look like an indoor picnic. Keep dispensing those napkins.
Spicy yellow lentil soup ($4.49) comes with pita chips you can scatter on top.
Lamejun ($3.49) , a flatbread with a very thin garnish of ground beef and lamb,
made in-house, is a puffy round that's not crisp like some lamejun, but very
pleasing.
Cafe Beirut's fool moudammas ($3.49 and $6.99) is a delicious thick puree of
chickpeas and favas, with lots of onions and olive oil. Saba tells me that in many
homes, fool moudammas is part of breakfast with olives, cucumbers, tomatoes,
labneh, the Lebanese yogurt, and bread. Sign me up.
The chef is also making finger-shaped baklava (99 cents), regular baklava
($2.49), both filled with cashews and walnuts, other flaky phyllo pastries, a milky
rice pudding ($3.99) flavored with rose water, and more.
Something about this food seems like it was made by village women. That such
thoughtful slow cooking can come so well prepared and so fast makes me forgive
the paper plates and napkin dispenser.
In Newton Corner, pizza so good , you'll exclaim,
"Well done"
MAX AND LEO'S ARTISAN PIZZA
325 Washington St., Newton Corner, 617-244-7200, www.maxandleos.com. All
Prices Pizza $10.95-$14.95. Wings $10.50. Salads $8-$8.50. No desserts.
Hours Tue-Thu 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m., Fri-Sat 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m., Sun. noon-8 p.m.
What to order Arugula salad, spinach salad, lemon-rosemary and hot habanera
wings, Margarita pizza, Paradigm pizza, Maximilian pizza.
A warning: The dining room at Max and Leo's Artisan Pizza is as big as a
minute. There are eight bar stools and two tables, yielding a grand total of 16 seats.
And the very cozy, friendly spot in Newton Corner, with the warmth of a handsome
coal-fired oven and its diffused heat, makes diners want to stay.
You have to decide if this pizza is for you. The top of the menu reads: "All Our
Pizzas are cooked WELL DONE." By that, identical twins Maximilian "Max"
Candidus and Pantaleon "Leo" Candidus really mean blistered, with plenty of
charred spots. The crust is thin and so incredibly crisp you can almost hear a crackle
when you bite into it. If pizza can be described as exquisite, this is exquisite pizza.
Thin crust pies have their fans, so the brothers weren't afraid to open a few
doors down from a Pizzeria Uno and around the corner from a Bertucci's. "I wasn't
that concerned because I lived here all my life and I thought our product was
different," says Max Candidus. When customers complain that a pizza crust has
some blackened edges and isn't soft, the owners might direct them to one of the
neighboring establishments.
The twins, 43, were raised in Newton and have been running a mobile pizza
catering trailer, with an identical coal-fired oven, for two years, from spring to fall.
The idea was to perfect the pizza before they opened a restaurant, says Max
Candidus. They spent a year creating pizzas and getting the oven temperature right.
It takes two minutes to cook a pizza, but the brothers prefer to leave the rounds in
the oven for 3 114 to 4 minutes (that's the "well done" part). The oven fires to 900
degrees. The partners have also been in the automobile business for 18 years and
own a car dealership in Hudson, N.H., where they specialize in wholesale
transactions between dealers.
Pizzas come 14 inches ($10.95-$14.95) and 9 1/2 inches ($6.50-$8.99), the
smaller ones served as a limited menu, only during lunch on some days. In addition,
there are two salads and two wings (what wings!).
Nibble on snappy baby arugula salad ($8) with shaved Parmesan and roasted
corn while you wait for pizza. The other bowl of greens - baby spinach with glazed
pecans, bacon, and goat cheese ($8.50) - is heartier, but nicely sweet and salty.
San Marzano tomato sauce covers the Margarita pizza ($10.95) with mozzarella
and a dusting of Parmesan. This is a beautiful, perfect pie, and you could stop right
there and have dined well, but what would be the point?
Paradigm ($14.95) might seem like overload, with its tomato sauce, sausage,
pepperoni, meatball, bacon, and mozzarella topping, but the meaty ingredients are
added in tiny amounts, so you get them all, but you can still waddle off your stool.
The pie is named for the restaurant's plumber, who loves this combo. Maximilian
($14.95) is sweet with roasted eggplant, salsa, and mozzarella, topped with arugula
and balsamic vinegar (Max named that one for himself). L 'Enza ($14.95), with
tomato sauce, sausage, mushrooms, and mozzarella, is named for the owners'
childhood friend, Enza Sambataro, formerly known as Mrs. Kevin Youkilis.
Chicken wings ($10.50) emerge from the oven moist and saturated with their
flavors. In the case of lemon-rosemary, that means a deep herb flavor and a large
spoonful of caramelized onions, very dark with crisp edges and fine shreds of
lemon rind. Honey hot habanera are pleasantly spicy, without the harsh aftertaste
you often get with hot wings because these are softened with wildflower honey and
roasted peppers.
It's unusual that a new spot can feel like it's already a neighborhood fixture, but
Max and Leo's does.
Sizzling Japanese food in Brookline with a side
of theatrics
OSAKA
14 Green St., Brookline, 617-732-0088, www.osakarestaurantgroup.com. Most
major cards. Wheelchair accessible.
Prices Appetizers $2.25-$9.95. Entrees $9.95-$28.95. Special rolls $8.95-$15.95.
No desserts.
Hours Mon-Thu 11:30 a.m.-11 p.m., Fri-Sat 11:30 a.m.-midnight, Sun noon-11
p.m.
Liquor Full bar.
What to order Hibachi chicken dinner, hibachi N.Y. strip steak dinner, dynamite
roll, tuna sushi.
The service at most restaurants is more demure. By mid-meal, a young man
seated at Osaka's waist-high, steel-top teppanyaki counter looks a bit terrified. The
chef, Chinese and in kitchen whites, is yelling at him from the bar. "Open your
mouth, Brendan! Come on!" Out comes the squirt bottle, and an arc of alcoholic
sake jets into Brendan's mouth. Fellow diners count along: "One! Two! Three!"
Brendan makes it to 13 before the sake drools onto his shirt. The chef relents,
gesturing and declaiming: "More sake, more honey!" Over the course of the
evening, many other words will be contorted to rhyme with sake.
Antics like these are not uncommon in US teppanyaki bars, sometimes called
"hibachi restaurants." The restaurant genre, and its physical theatrics, were
developed by the unpredictable Olympic wrestler and restaurateur Rocky Aoki at
his Benihana chain in the 1960s. Aoki had three children by three women at the
same time, and once (in 1961) broke my father's nose at a college wrestling
practice. Osaka in Brookline is faithful to the model - the chef's banter is rated R,
and the cooking antics could break your nose.
Knives are juggled, eggs are split in mid-air, cubes of food are propelled from
the chef's spatula toward -but seldom into- diners' open mouths. (Just try to catch
one when you're 10 feet away and drunk on sake squirts.) It's great theater and the
clientele can wind up out-shouting the chefs.
You'd expect such a sizzle-reel to fizzle on the plate. Surprise. When it finally
arrives, the food is the real star of the show.
All the hibachi dinners follow the same script. When it's time to cook, the squirt
bottles return, this time to douse the hot cooking surface until an alarming cloud of
flame explodes. While diners regain their composure, white rice and chopped
vegetables sizzle in butter, black pepper, and equal squirts of teriyaki and soy
sauces. The result, scooped directly onto your plate with the spatula, is an
incomparably fresh fried rice that seems designed to accompany dry Japanese beer
(Asahi, Kirin, and Sapporo are all available). Next is the moment you have
ostensibly been waiting for: Scrabble piece-sized quality vegetables ($13.95),
chicken ($18.95), New York strip steak ($22.95), or even select lobster tails
($28.95) hit the grill and sizzle just-so in the same seasonings as the rice. Servings
are large enough for a couple to share, perhaps with an appetizer or two.
The shape of the vegetables, meat, or fish is intentional, in dice thick enough to
be hearty, thin enough to maximize tenderness. The grill's heat is calibrated to sear
and brown the morsels at the same moment they cook through.
Somewhere in the back of the building, out of the limelight, a hard-working
kitchen crew fills out the menu with good quality non-hibachi dishes. The sushi
shines, and a quirky assortment of pan-Asian plates are available. Osaka, Chineseowned and mostly Chinese-staffed, also has extravagantly plated versions of
traditional faux-Polynesian staples like pineapple fried rice ($15.95, served in the
pineapple) and flaming seafood ($24.95) that are delightfully light, tasty - and
kitschy. Their cocktail cousins, including mai-tais and scorpion bowls, are on the
drinks menu and in the restaurant's sleek post-collegiate bar-cum-night club, hidden
in the building's basement.
The teppanyaki bar is only half the story at Osaka - and half the seating. At the
other side of the divided floor, a demurely lit 90-seat dining room, all gold, black,
and walnut, is a quiet and perhaps more romantic place to dine.
Osaka's "special rolls" ($8.95 to $15.95 for 8 pieces) exceed any reasonable
expectation you could have for sushi at a multi-function restaurant. Classics like
dynamite roll, a mixture of salmon, asparagus, crab, tempura, and spicy sauce
($11.95) highlight fresh quality fish in precision presentations. Fusion rolls
demonstrate similar skills, perhaps with too-creative sauces (sweet cream, black
truffle salsa, "Amarillo sauce") and an odd fondness for asparagus. Traditional a la
carte sushi, served on white or brown rice, have consistently fresh, clean tastes,
from the familiar (maguro/tuna, $6) to the exotic (hokkigai/red clam, $4). Wellcurated wine and fine sake lists add class to this phase of the meal.
The best pairing at Osaka remains the first offered: fine dining with flying
zucchini cubes, or force-fed sake. Social lubricant with culinary dazzle. After that,
anything can happen.
Sumptuous Sichuan in Tewksbury
TOP GARDEN
1921 Main St. Tewksbury, 978-858-3889, www.topgardenrestaurant.net. All major
credit cards. Wheelchair accessible.
Prices Appetizers $1.95-$8.95. Entrees $4.25-$39.95 (most under $14).
Hours Mon-Thu 1:30 a.m.-10 p.m., Fri-Sat 11:30 a.m.-11 p.m., Sun noon-10 p.m.
Liquor None.
What to order Roast beef, tongue, and tripe with chili-peanut vinaigrette, dan dan
noodles, peppery fried lobster, dry-hot chicken, tea-smoked duck.
Top Garden is a small, unassuming restaurant across the street from the
Tewksbury Country Club. If you don't live in the area, you probably wouldn't
know it exists. Owner Kevin Chu bought the place and though he says business is
fine, we have the place to ourselves on three visits. The space is clean, with cloth
napkins in bright Easter egg pink, a TV playing the news, and not much else.
It's a trek for a group of Somervillians who could just as easily head to
Chinatown, just 3 miles down the road. In Tewksbury, of course, the parking
situation is infinitely less stressful. With the first tingly taste of the oily, spicy, and
absolutely addictive chili-peanut vinaigrette, we know we've made the right
decision.
The sauce is ubiquitous at Top Garden and tops three of our favorite cold
Sichuan dishes. This section of the menu is a bit misleading, as many of the dishes
are actually served warm. First we try roast beef, tongue, and tripe ($7.95), which is
indeed cold, and quite delicious. My dining companions are a little timid about this
dish until they dip in their chopsticks. By the end, we are all diving into the bowl of
tender, thinly sliced beef parts until it is practically licked clean.
Dan dan noodles ($5.95) are round rice noodles topped with ground pork and
more of that delicious chili-peanut vinaigrette, this time served warm. On another
visit, we try Sichuan pork wantons, delicate little dumplings, each containing a
succulent porky meatball and tiny shrimp - and more vinaigrette. This is a
remarkable spicy dressing, and though all three dishes are standouts, they are also a
vehicle for this delicious sauce, and half the reason we love them.
You can order Americanized Chinese fare too, but we stick to the chef
specialties. Alas, there are not many vegetable options on that part of the menu, so
we dine on meat-centric meals. Tea-smoked duck ($13.95) is a generous portion of
bone-in meat, with delightfully crispy skin and juicy, smoky flesh. You have to eat
around the bones, but go ahead and get your hands dirty. Sichuan dry-fried shrimp
($14.95) are crispy and come with a scattering of chopped sauteed peppers and
onions. The table is split on whether the coating is too heavy, but in happy
agreement over the mildly spicy flavor of the tender shrimp.
Top Garden's house dry-hot chicken ($9.95) is one of the more fiery dishes,
with lots of savory flavor and mouth-numbing Sichuan peppers, stir-fried with tiny
pieces of crispy chicken. Sichuan-style tofu with minced pork ($7.95) is less spicy
than expected and comforting, with soft tofu and leeks in a mild chili sauce that's
good over white rice ($1.25 to $2.50). Speaking of comfort, Sichuan beef noodle
soup ($7.25), mild with tender beef tendon and rice noodles in a delicate broth, is
the perfect antidote for a winter cold.
On the back page of the menu you'll find one of the best deals around: twin
lobsters ($26.95) or three ($39.95), hacked up and stir-fried one of several ways,
including Cantonese-style or with ginger and scallion. We choose a peppery fried
version, which results in a huge platter of succulent, flavorful crustaceans, with a
thin fried coating that locks in the juices. Gnawing on the spicy, crunchy pieces
feels hedonistic, and is less labor intensive than cracking it open yourself. It's hard
to mess with steamed lobsters and drawn butter, but all of us (all lifelong New
Englanders) agree this Chinese lobster is the best we've tried.
We pile into the car with full bellies, slightly numb mouths, and a tinge of
regret. To satisfy another craving of this delicious Sichuan food, we have to head
back to Tewksbury. Here's hoping it doesn't happen during rush hour.
Jam-band music and jam-packed sandwiches in
East Boston
DOUGH
20 Maverick St., East Boston, 617-567-8787, www.doughpizza.com. All major
credit cards. Restrooms not wheelchair accessible.
Prices Appetizers and salads $2.50-$8.50. Pizzas, sandwiches, entrees $5.55$14.95. Desserts $2.
Hours Mon-Fri 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Sat 1-9 p.m.
Liquor None.
What to order The Vermonter, the Gobbler, the Chicken Wing pizza.
By Glenn Yoder, Globe Staff
Dough in East Boston takes its laid-back vibe seriously. Psychedelic posters of
the band Phish cover much of the wall space. The SiriusXM station Jam On
provides a fitting soundtrack. With only three tables and countertop window
seating, it's more of a takeout than dine-in spot, but you can order from the counter
and, well, chill. And on a quiet weeknight, we immediately feel like we own the
joint.
"You guys ordered a lot of good food, so this is going to come out tapas-style,"
announces co-owner Kevin Curley, delivering roasted garlic bread ($2.95 and
$4.95), fries ($2.50 and $4. 75), and beer-battered onion rings ($2.95 and $4.95)
with a spicy concoction he calls "boom boom sauce."
Fries and onion rings are good, but don't taste homemade. The boom boom
sauce helps. Garlic bread with caramelized onions and mozzarella is fantastic.
Curley, 34, and Michael Sanchez, 37, opened Dough outside Maverick Square
in 2006 after meeting in Vermont during college. "These Eastie customers are
tough," Curley tells me later on the phone. "With pizza and sandwiches, they don't
really mess around." The place likely has survived because it lives up to those high
standards.
The main courses at Dough take a while, but we don't mind the wait. Then two
enormous sandwiches quickly win fans. The Vermonter ($7.95) is a signature meal
featuring turkey, gouda, bacon, apple, red onion, and sun-dried tomato mayo on
multigrain bread, all baked in the oven. The Gobbler ($7.50) is one of the best
Thanksgiving-style feasts on bread we've had, with thin-sliced turkey and stuffing,
slathered with a delicious cranberry mayo, also on multigrain.
Cajun chicken cheese steak sandwich ($7.50) receives a mixed reaction. "I wish
I kept that boom boom sauce to put on my sub," says one dining companion,
pushing away the pairing of shredded blackened chicken, roasted red peppers, and
provolone on a spucky roll. Another likes the cheese steak as is. The first diner
reconsiders. "Maybe because it wasn't greasy as I expected."
Raves also go to a curried chicken salad sandwich ($7.50), layered with grilled
chicken salad, curry, mayo, red onion, celery, almonds, and grapes on a braided
roll. The combination of sweet grapes and crunchy nuts and celery give it a punch.
Chicken wing pizza ($9.95 and $14.95) with grilled chicken, blue cheese,
mozzarella, and hot sauce, is delectable but lacks the kick we expect from wings.
Pesta pizza ($9.95 and $14.95) has loads of taste spread between pesto, sun-dried
tomatoes, and mushrooms, but the flavors compete with no clear victor. Orchard
pizza ($9.95 and $14.95) is varied, as the names implies, with grilled chicken,
bacon, caramelized onions, apple chunks, and mozzarella. The odd mix of flavors
works, especially with apple.
Neither meatball calzone ($9.95) nor pasta polio ($10.95) measures up. The
grilled chicken in the pasta, which also has prosciutto and broccoli in alfredo sauce,
is perfectly cooked and delicious, but broccoli too heavily influences the dish.
Meatball calzone leaves us wishing we'd ordered the buffalo chicken version. The
dough is fantastic, making it great for dipping, if nothing else, but the meat tastes
off.
One night a man with long, curly hair, a pink shirt, and khakis tucked into his
socks orders a pizza and begins a juggling act. Restaurant patrons warmly applaud
when he pulls off a feat. He's a neighborhood regular, and Sanchez eggs him on.
A triple-chocolate cookie ($2) is packed with Reese's peanut butter, chocolate
chunks, and dark chocolate. I ask if it's homemade - a foolish question at a place
named Dough. "Oh, you bet it is," Curley says.
A young couple walks in as we're leaving one night, and they're serenaded
from the kitchen by Sanchez, loudly singing to Dave Mason's 1977 hit "We Just
Disagree." The customers hardly react. They simply settle into a table and go with
the flow.
A moving experience with sushi at Wasabi in the
Natick Mall
WASABI
Natick Mall, 1245 Worcester St., Natick, 508-720-0326. All major credit cards.
Wheelchair accessible.
Prices Appetizers $3.50-$5. Entrees $3-$10. Desserts $3-$3.50.
Hours Mon-Sat 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Sun noon-6 p.m.
Liquor Beer, wine, and sake.
May we suggest Tobiko sushi, salmon nigiri, tuna nigiri, shrimp tempura roll.
It takes a while to make sense of what's going on at Wasabi. Most of the
standard restaurant conventions - ordering, pricing, courses, menus - have been
turned upside-down in a space with no walls and few right angles. Snaking through
the dining area, a divided stainless steel conveyor belt curves like a surreal bidirectional river. Along its banks, diners in plush booths are encouraged to grab
brightly patterned plates of sushi that float along on 300 elevated white discs.
There's seating for 100 here, in a bright expanse in the upscale Natick Mall. A
grove of faux-willow trees rustle in a ventilator breeze, while shoppers stroll by
with curious glances at the robo-restaurant.
The Natick location is the company's third and largest. Soon to come: South
Shore Plaza in Braintree, and five new outposts in Los Angeles. None will match
Natick in size.
The fish served at Wasabi is, in general, as fresh and flavorful as you can find at
any lower-cost sushi bar. The variable becomes the skill of the sushi chef, and at
Wasabi, it is indeed variable.
On some nights, sushi is correctly cut with respect to the grain of the fish, and
maki rolls are pleasantly precise. With luck you will arrive on such a night. At other
times, maki rolls are comically misshapen; sashimi chopped to a grisly fare-theewell. The skills of the chef-on-duty seem to vary dramatically.
Through it all, the simplest salmon ($3.50) and tuna ($4) nigiri -just a slab of
fish on a pad of rice - are consistently excellent. These three fish are shipped fresh
to the restaurant. Other varieties arrive flash-frozen, but these can also shine in
simple preparations. Among them, escolar (called "white tuna" here, $4) and
Japanese yellowtail ($4).
The five varieties of melamine plates you can grab off the conveyor are colorcoded according to price, from $2.50 to $5. When you're done, stack the plates, and
pay at the end. In Japan, such kaiten-zushi restaurants are often regarded as tacky,
even unseemly. Abroad we can have fun. In California, elaborate boats bring the
plates to you in a water-filled canal. In Australia scale trains chug by. In England,
it's little double-decker buses.
Wasabi's tobiko sushi (flying fish roe, rice, and nori seaweed, $5) features a
generous swath of tiny ruby-red roe spheres that pop in your mouth, on a pad of rice
encircled with a sheet of green nori. The taste is savory, saline, and quite mild. It's a
lot of fun to eat and pretty on the plate. Probably why kids (and there are many
here) go for it.
The restaurant also makes nontraditional complex rolls. Most are too ambitious,
hiding quality fish in a miasma of crunch, spice, and distraction. A signature spicy
red mayo makes an appearance in many, as, say, lava atop the "eel sauce"
California volcano ($4) or glue in an otherwise wonderful shrimp tempura roll ($5).
As the rolls get more complex, more skill is required in the kitchen.
Yes, sushi cognoscenti might deride the malformed rolls, or the fact that the rice
is not proper sushi rice - traditionally vinegared, seasoned, and sticky. But
intentionally or not, Wasabi is an effective evangelist for the simple fish itself. It's a
powerful and delicious lesson for children (and some adults) whose fish typically
comes as sticks.
The machinery at Wasabi is in high gear at the Christmas season. Saturdays,
some 4,000 plates fly off the belt. The show is half the fun.
Thai-Vietnamese gem near Symphony hits high
notes
PHOBASIL
177A Massachusetts Ave., Boston, 617-262-5377. All major cards. Not wheelchair
accessible.
Prices Appetizers $3.95-$8.95. Entrees $7.95-$14.95.
Hours Sun-Thu 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m.; Fri-Sat 11:30 a.m.-10:30 p.m.
What to order Beef cinnamon curry, fish basil, com ga.
Inexpensive restaurants in the Symphony area don't need to try very hard. That
section of Massachusetts Avenue is a fault line, where the massive appetites of
Northeastern students collide with a daytime throng of Berklee students. At night,
wary suits and dresses who make a beeline for Symphony Hall have already dined
to the tony east.
Out of view, across from $2.68 pizza slices and the gutted shell of a mini strip
mall, the Thai-Vietnamese fusion restaurant Pho Basil treats its clientele - in jeans,
sweat pants, and hoodies - like kings. The dining room is sparkling white; floral
arrangements adorn the walls. The service brings to mind magazine ads for
exclusive Asian airlines: attentive, warm, anticipatory even. It's an utterly
unexpected upgrade for the coach-class price.
Nearly all the cheap eateries in the neighborhood are packed. But the energy
here is different. You see diners really enjoying themselves. The menu is full of
well-prepared Thai and Vietnamese dishes, as well as some fusions of the two from the exotic, to the authentic, to the familiar.
Thai chef Wasun Lerddeekunlam, of the South End's now-defunct hautVietnamese hot spot Pho Republique, is head chef at Pho Basil. In many dishes, and
in the ambience even, you feel some of the magic of the late, beloved Republique.
Wild boar ($10.95) is served here as a saute with mushrooms, fried basil leaves,
eggplant, and haricots verts in a spicy white wine chili sauce. The boar- essentially
a high-quality pork - is tender, textured, and mild, seasoned and cooked with
subtlety and finesse.
Beef cinnamon curry ($10.95) at Pho Basil is an astonishing dish. Spicy, tender
flank steak is somehow seared so caramelized coconut milk clings to the surface.
Cinnamon sticks sizzle in the wok as well, imparting a second layer of fragrant
spice. The meat is served with firm, fresh vegetables (pea pods, broccoli,
mushrooms, more haricots verts), still nicely crisp, in a green cinnamon curry over
rice. It takes discipline to order other dishes on subsequent visits.
A red "Oh-nooo-Mr.-Bill" face appears next to spicy dishes on the menu. Both
these dishes receive two red faces, the highest listed. But the scale should refer to
the complexity of the spice. Neither is aggressively spicy, both are dazzlingly
complex.
Fish basil ($14.95, and proudly disclosed as fresh tilapia) matches the flavor of
the familiar Chinatown Vietnamese fried-whole fish swimming in crispy basil
leaves, sauteed onion, and sliced ginger. Here it's also cooked quite perfectly. But
this version is a boneless fillet, an unconventional hat trick of sorts that, for some,
could make Massachusetts A venue the preferred destination for this dish. As a
bonus, sliced red chili peppers provide an accidental and explosive blast of heat.
Until you stumble upon them in the dish, you will have no idea why the menu bills
it as two red faces.
And then there's the pho ($6.50 to $9.95) - waitstaff will politely remind you it
is properly pronounced "fuh" - the traditional Vietnamese soup featuring housemade stock, onion, scallion, thin rice noodles, raw bean sprouts, basil leaves, a lime
wedge, and impressively tender meats. Pho Basil offers dozens of traditional and
imaginative variations.
Even the simplest and most typical of Vietnamese plates at Pho Basil, com ga
($7.95), demonstrates an attention to quality. Grilled chicken accompanies sliced
tomato, cucumber, and lettuce, a scoop of jasmine rice, and the restaurant's own
nuoc cham (a traditional mixture of sweet vinegar, fish sauce, lime, and garlic). A
fried egg ($2 extra) is a popular addition.
It would take a year of weekly trips to exhaust the menu of this affordable offcampus spot. Sweat pants or bow ties, all are welcome to try.
In Quincy, fish goes from the case to your plate
BURKE'S SEAFOOD
61 Billings Road, Quincy, 617-328-9765, www.burkesseafood.com. Wheelchair
accessible. All major credit cards.
Prices Appetizers $2.49-$6.49. Sandwiches $6.99-$15.99. Entrees $8.99-$18.99.
Hours Tue-Wed 11 a.m.-6:30p.m., Thu-Sat 11 a.rn.-8 p.m.
What to order Crab cakes, stuffed quahogs, lobster roll, fried scallops, fish and
chips, fisherman's platter, broiled salmon.
The fish you eat at Burke's Seafood is in the display case, cut by Richard
Burke, who opened the Quincy place in 1979 and has been behind the counter ever
since. Much of that catch is for cooking at home. Now Burke's uses its own seafood
to make lunch and dinner in a casual, friendly atmosphere. Joining Burke in this
venture is his wife, Margaret, and their son Matt. You know exactly what you're
getting because they remove it from the case in front of you and whisk it to the
kitchen to be cooked.
In fact, you place your order next to the fish display, then head to the adjacent
small dining room with seven tables to wait for your order. If the staff is busy in the
kitchen, you can help yourself to water at a small serving station.
Crab cakes ($5.49) are golden mounds and enough to share (I am not sharing),
with generous chunks of crabmeat in a moist filling, slightly crisp on the outside
and barely breaded. They're served with Matt's divine spicy mustard-mayo sauce. I
could have a couple of these for dinner and leave happy. But then I'd miss the
stuffed quahogs ($3.99), Margaret's specialty. Quahogs are the official shellfish of
Rhode Island, which produces a quarter of the country's annual catch. Margaret
fashioned her recipe from those in Rhode Island fish markets. She mixes clams with
her own stuffing, which includes linguica and a splash of hot sauce for a smoky,
spicy flavor. The second time we order them, we're charged only $2.99 because
"the shells are smaller today."
Lobster rolls at Burke's ($15.99) come heavy on the lobster meat- fresh, never
frozen- light on the mayo, served on an overstuffed, toasted hot dog bun. No little
green things, no lettuce. The overflowing lobster falls onto the plate and must be
scooped up with a fork to eat (I am not complaining). On the side, I order ethereally
light onion rings.
You can also get 1 1/4-pound steamed lobster with corn on the cob ($16.99).
The lobster is tender and so fresh you can almost taste the ocean brine.
If it's fried seafood you're looking for, Burke's delivers in a straightforward
style. Scallop dinner ($13.99) is a generous portion of sweet and tender shellfish,
with french fries and cole slaw. Fish and chips ($8.99) is a large, crispy helping of
scrod. Two of us share the enormous fisherman's platter ($17.99), with delicious
haddock, scallops, and clams. Note: Many dishes are available in smaller portions.
Dinners from the broiler are served with rice pilaf or roast potatoes and slaw.
Salmon ($18.99) is a thick slice, perfectly cooked, with very light crumb topping.
On our way out, we grab a couple of frozen entrees, homemade on the premises,
for when, and if, we get hungry again.
In Watertown, Strip-T·s menu gets a delicious
shake-up
STRIP-T'S
93 School St., Watertown, 617-923-4330, www.stripts.com. MC, Visa, AmEx.
Restrooms not wheelchair accessible.
Prices Appetizers, salads, sandwiches $6-$10. Entrees $9-$18. Desserts $1.50-$4.
Hours Lunch Mon-Fri 11:30 a.m.-4 p.m.; dinner 5-10 p.m. Sat lunch 11 a.m.-4
p.m., dinner 5-10 p.m.
What to order Moxie wings, mussels and fries, cioppino, fish 'n' chips, grilled
skirt steak, Strip-T' s burger.
The french fries look hand cut, and when we bite into them, they're crisp and
stunning. "These are homemade!" exclaims someone at our table. In a glorified
sub shop, you're not expecting this. The burger ($12) is powerfully savory, as if this
ground beef is the very definition of umami. Smoked miso on the bun enhances
moist, sausage-y meat. Fries also accompany plump mussels ($16), presented in a
tall footed Polynesian bowl decorated with dancing ladies. These mollusks are
covered with a salted-crab sauce mixed with chilies, lime, and cilantro. The sauce
that falls to the bottom of the bowl bathes the fries in the most wonderful, juicy
seafood tastes. Even wings ($8 and $12) are exceptional, a sauce made from
reduced Moxie turning them succulent.
The chef running the much talked-about dinner menu at Strip-T's in Watertown
is Tim Maslow, son of owner Paul Maslow. Tim Maslow, 27, trained at the French
Culinary Institute and worked for almost six years for star New Yark chef David
Chang, first at Momofuku, then at Momofuku Ssam Bar. Father and son wondered
whether to collaborate, since business at Strip-T's was sagging. As Tim puts it, he
told his father, "We can try to make your business busier, or I can go find another
restaurant.'' Tim joined the staff.
Strip-T's, named for a sirloin strip and Caesar salad sandwich, was established
in 1986 as a lunch place by Paul Maslow and a childhood friend. A corny logo
shows a strip of sirloin dancing inside a bun. Over the years, the place has enjoyed a
steady stream of Arsenal office employees (Strip-T's is walking distance), who
come for dependably good roll-ups, hot and cold sandwiches, soups, and salads.
The shop also does lunchtime catering; Maslow offered an early dinner.
After he started brining turkey breast for lunch, ordered Iggy's breads for all the
sandwiches, brought in local beers from small breweries, and made a brief wine list
with his girlfriend, Jee-Eun Burke, Tim Maslow settled in to concentrate on dinner.
In the 29-seat room beside the take-out at the entrance, painted black benches
have no cushions and brushed aluminum chairs aren't comfortable enough to sit on
for too long. The happy, no-nonsense waitress doesn't always pick up first course
plates before she sets down the second.
On today's menu, the fish stew cioppino ($18) includes salmon and haddock in
a lightly spicy tomato-based broth that's as good a fish dish as you'll find in this
area. Fish 'n' chips ($17) is mahogany colored, a thick piece of haddock in a beer
batter, a wild look to an ordinary dish, with a very crisp coating and tender haddock
inside. Grilled skirt steak ($18) comes on micro greens, the pleasingly chewy beef
marinated and served with a beautiful green chimichurri sauce.
Thick flavorful cookies ($1.50 each) look a little anemic, but taste deliciously of
their ingredients: chocolate chips, oatmeal and raisins, and peanut butter. A
chocolate cake with white frosting ($4) is very sweet, with an Oreo-cookie quality.
As he plans new dishes, Tim Maslow realizes that the clientele is changing too.
"Almost every single dish was not well received," he says. Customers wanted the
old menu back. "A week ago I started bringing in oysters," says the chef. "I was
afraid to buy them." The first night, he sold three dozen. That might not seem like a
lot, but in this little spot, it's a great sign.
"It's harder to change a restaurant than to open one," says Maslow. He has the
talent to do the hard part. And you never know: Former customers may return to
discover they like fish and chips this way, and skirt steak is just as good as steak
tips (of course, skirt is much, much better).
Adventures in Pakistani-Indian comfort food in
Brighton
DARBAR
130 North Beacon St., Brighton, 617-779-8800, www.darbarrestaurant.net.
Wheelchair accessible. All major credit cards.
Prices Appetizers $1.50-$3.99. Entrees $9.99-$32.99 (all but one under $15).
Desserts $3.25-$3.99.
Hours Mon-Fri 11:00 a.m.-11 p.m. Sat-Sun 11 a.m.-11 p.m.
Liquor None
What to order Meat samosas, magaz masala, chicken tikka, kahari gosht, nihari,
aloo mutter, garlic naan
After years of taking trips to New York to find Halal dishes for family
gatherings, Pakistani-born Irfan Khalid decided he could fill the niche here. Darbar
is the result, with Khalid in the kitchen, his brother Gulfam Mian, who owned the
former cafe Habibi in Brighton, running the front of the house, and Khalid's wife,
Rani, a native of India, answering phones, clearing tables, and doing whatever else
keeps the restaurant running smoothly. Pralad Basnet, from Nepal, is the sous chef.
Darbar, says Khalid, might be the first stop for South Asian techies in town looking
for a taste of home.
Darbar isn't the kind of restaurant you just happen upon. It's tucked away in a
rather unappealing corner of Brighton far enough from the lively BU college bars
and pizza spots so it doesn't receive much student foot traffic. Which is a shame,
because the comforting Pakistani and Indian fare at this family restaurant is perfect
for any adventurous diner on a budget.
Magaz masala ($11.99), otherwise known as lamb brains, is a specialty. The
idea of eating brains may be a bit alarming to the timid diner, but the deeply rich,
savory flavor is delicious on fluffy basmati rice ($2.99). Another favorite is kahari
gosht ($12.99), braised goat shanks with barely a trace of gaminess, thanks to
several days in a marinade of yogurt, ginger, and a long list of aromatics. We taste
coriander, cardamom, and cumin, but Khalid will reveal only that "it has all the
spices.'' This treatment leaves the goat so tender and flavorful it could easily be
mistaken for lamb.
Another favorite is nihari, a traditional Pakistani dish of braised beef with
chilies, garlic, ginger, and more of those undisclosed spices. It's quite oily, but the
spoon-tender chunks of spicy meat are delicious wrapped in blistered, buttery naan
($2.50).
Those looking for more traditional fare will be happy with vegetable and meat
samosas, ($3.50 and $3.99), delectable little pastry pockets that pack a savory
punch. Seekh kebab ($2.50), a skewer of ground chicken with bits of red and green
pepper, ginger, and cilantro, is flavorful, with a noticeable hit of cardamom, but a
little dry. It's served with raita, the thin yogurt sauce made with shredded carrot and
cucumber.
Palak paneer ($10.99) has cilantro, spinach, and other greens and is lighter than
creamier versions at other Indian restaurants. It has a generous amount of paneer
cheese but could use more salt. Chicken tikka ($9.95) arrives succulent and spicy.
The boneless thighs are slightly charred on the outside, juicy inside, with lots of
good ginger and garlic flavor. Aloo mutter ($9.99) is another winner, with large
pieces of potato and peas in a garlicky sauce.
Darbar owners are eager to introduce new customers to their cooking. I
overhear Khalid suggest dishes to an enthusiastic young student picking up a large
order, who is back for the second day in a row. The young man tells Khalid which
dishes he likes best and asks him to go easy on the chilies as Khalid heads back to
the kitchen.
Perhaps the third time will be the charm, and the student's friends will come
too.
In Waltham, go for the pho at Thai-Vietnamese
eatery
PHO & SPICE
457 Moody St., Waltham, 781-788-8899, www.phoandspice.com. All major cards.
Prices Appetizers $4.95-$8.95. Soups $3.95-$9.95. Entrees $7.95-$15.95.
Liquor None.
Hours Sun-Thu 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m., Fri-Sat 11:30 a.m.-10:30 p.m.
What to order Goi cuon, pho ga, duck noodle soup, spicy basil pad thai
By Louise Kennedy, Globe correspondent
On the outside, the tiny Moody Street storefront that houses Pho & Spice may
look a little dingy. Step inside, though, and the cheerily bright walls, the friendly
staff and, most of all, the clean aroma of freshly made soup will dispel any
lingering doubts.
And you have plenty of choices- almost too many, it seems at first, with a menu
that ranges throughout Vietnam and Thailand and even, with bibimbap, makes a
brief stop in Korea. Owner Suman Suwan, formerly of Pho & Rice in Somerville, is
Vietnamese, born in Thailand. A few visits make the decisions easier: The Thai
food is decent here, but it's the Vietnamese dishes that make Pho & Spice worth the
trip.
In particular, it's the pho, the rich Vietnamese broth brimming with noodles,
vegetables, and your choice of several meats (or none). There's good reason why
Pho comes first in the name.
For the novice, the pho ga is a fine place to start. In any of its three sizes ($7.95,
$8.50, and $8.95), it's a substantial bowl of silky chicken stock, generously
supplied with supple rice noodles, chunks of chicken, bean sprouts, and the fresh
lime, scallions, cilantro, and basil that give all pho its intoxicating green scent. The
richness of the broth, the chewiness of the noodles, the sharpness of the herbs - each
satisfies in its own way, and each calls to the next in a harmonious play of contrast
and balance.
Better branch out and try the dac biet (same three sizes, same prices), a beef
broth with steak, tendon, and tripe. Don't be frightened - that's just three ways of
saying "delicious meat." There's also tai, the beef broth with just the steak, and bo
vien, with "season meat ball of ground beef." Or the irresistible duck noodle soup
(one size, $8.95), which is, in a word, ducky.
That's a good thing, for us lovers of duck. And so is the delightful inclusion of
duck among the meat options over on the pad Thai side of the menu. At $10.95 for
lunch or $12.95 for dinner, it's slightly pricier than the other options (chicken, pork,
beef, or tofu for $7.95/$10.95, or crispy chicken or seafood for $8.95/$11.95) but it
turns out that crisp bits of duck skin are just what you've always been missing in
the iconic Thai noodle dish. It's best of all in the spicy basil pad Thai, though
regular, country, and crispy-noodle styles are also available.
That's as deep as you need to venture into the Thai offerings, which in general
are less spicy and a little sweeter than the best of this cuisine. But if you tire of pho
(how?), there's still plenty more from Vietnam to explore: toothsome goi cuon
(fresh summer rolls), banh mi (sandwiches), bun (noodle bowls), and rice dishes
galore. It's hard to believe all this fresh, colorful food could emerge from such a
tiny kitchen. But it does.
Sri Lankan specialties in heart of Malden
BIRYANIPARK
105 Broadway, Malden, 781-397-1307. MasterCard, Visa. Not wheelchair
accessible.
Prices Appetizers $2.99-$11.49. Entrees $6.95-$13.99. Desserts $3.99-$4.49
Hours Tue-Sun 11 a.m.-10 p.m.
Liquor None.
What to order Eggplant curry (aloo baingan), samosa chaat, fish larnprais platter
By Ike DeLorenzo, Globe correspondent
My friend Sarah could hardly contain herself. She had already heard from a
doctor who worked in Sri Lanka about Biryani Park. Now she's telling me: "It's all
over the blogs!"
The same is true for my in-the-know South Asian neighbor, who's tweeting it to
his friends, and begging me to go. It's a trek to Malden - on traffic-clogged Route
99 - that I initially resisted. But I soon found that those who appreciate the authentic
cuisine are already making regular trips. One weekday, it's a group of Sri Lankan
guys from Boston University, on another, a family from Acton.
At Biryani Park, owner Premila Mathews has created an otherworldly space out
of what could have been just another large storefront. Bold, wide stripes of color
rule the airy 20-seat dining room, and even the exterior of the building. The
restaurant has a clean, floral, and lightly spiced aroma: It might be the kitchen, the
various Sri Lankan hot peppers out for sale, or, somehow, the Indian Ocean itself.
"It doesn't feel like we're in Boston," suggests one of my tablemates. Others
chime in with comparisons to Tahiti, South India, and beachside San Diego. But
those who know tell me it is pure Sri Lanka. The space, so effortlessly bright,
unique, and fragrant, stands in proud and mocking contrast to those twin sentinels
of American culture across the street: Valvoline and McDonald's.
Sri Lankan cuisine has a canon all its own. String hoppers ($11.99 to $13.99),
thin noodles house-made from milled red rice, are coiled in small nests to be dipped
in accompanying dishes of hothi (sauteed onion, tomato, fresh curry leaf, tumeric,
and rice flour) and sambal (shredded coconut and roasted rice flour). The hearty
noodles, properly eaten with your hands, provide a textured contrast to the thoughtprovoking and utterly delicious sauces.
Two other traditional staples come with hothi and sambal. Pittu ($11.99), tasty
steamed cylinders of roasted-and-crumbled rice flour with coconut, are cooked in
an ancient contraption involving hollowed out bamboo. And dosas ($7.99 to
$12.99), a crepe of sorts made from urid dhal (an Asian black bean) and rice flour,
is flavored with fenugreek leaves.
Heartier meals abound at Biryani Park. So-called "devilled grills" of chicken,
goat, beef, lamb, or various seafoods ($11.99-$13.99) are an aromatic mix of Sri
Lankan spices and lots of what the restaurant calls "capsicum": roasted hot red chili
peppers. The goat is tender and tasty.
Too often, curry means sparse bits swimming in gloppy sauce. The traditional
dry curries at Biryani Park are like a sophisticated cousin: Concentrated flavor
clings to tender meat, forkful after tidy forkful. The technique applied to eggplant is
sublime - a dish you will remember, and long for, days after. The samosa chaat
($7.49) innovates as well. A bowl of gently broken samosas (deep fried potato and
vegetable crescents) solves the super-heated-center and crumbling-apart problems
of the typical Indian version, where they' are served whole on a plate. Biryani
Park's user-friendly version is garnished with savory chutney. With 24-hours
notice, varied sampler platters called lamprais are prepared for groups.
Mathews left her job as an executive at the accounting firm Deloitte & Touche
to open the restaurant in June. She invited "all the old Sri Lankan ladies in Boston"
to consult with head chef Veera Muthu on the best preparations of traditional
dishes. Prior to his arrival in Boston, Muthu honed his skills at the Marriott in
Hyderabad, India's IT outsourcing capital, and then as a chef (he admitted
reluctantly) for Carnival Cruise Lines. General manager Kanupriya Goel was
working as an architect. The three bring a level of sophistication to the service, and
menu, that is quite unexpected at a place that also sells Crunk grape energy drink.
Swept up in an economic downturn, the team at Biryani Park have reacted with
a brilliant turn of innovation: Combine who they are with what they know. It's a
homespun restaurant with low cost structure and world-class taste. As you
approach, when you see the McDonald's on the right, take a hard left. And see how
they do it.
Vegetarian diner food in Central Square reaches
for the stars
VEGGIE GALAXY
450 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, 617-497-1513,
www.veggiegalaxy.comhttp://www.veggiegalaxy.com. All major cards. Wheelchair
accessible.
Prices Breakfast $4.50-$9.25. Lunch $5.75-$9.95. Dinner $8.95-$11.95. Dessert
$2-$7.50.
Hours Mon-Thu 7 a.m.-3 p.m., dinner 5-10 p.m., Fri 7 a.m.-11 p.m., Sat 9 a.m.-11
p.m., Sun 9 a.m.-10 p.m.
What to order Open-faced seitan sandwich, baked mac, sweet potato mash, grilled
cheese sandwich, cream of tomato soup, Kendall Square burger, Boston cream pie.
By Jialu Chen, Globe correspondent
You would expect Adam Penn, 49, the owner of two vegetarian restaurants Veggie Planet in Harvard Square and the new, diner-style Veggie Galaxy in Central
Square - to be pretty passionate about vegetarianism. But he says something else is
even more important. "I feel like the vegetarian-vegan aspect of it is just secondary.
Really it's about great food."
It's precisely this attitude that makes his restaurants so appealing. Who wants to
miss the meat they could have eaten? At Veggie Galaxy, meat is like a longforgotten summer fling.
Dinner entrees are served after 5 p.m., but they steal the spotlight and our
hearts. My boyfriend is a little grumpy at the thought of a vegetarian restaurant, but
his face lights up in surprise and pleasure when he bites into the open-faced seitan
sandwich ($10.95). The seitan (wheat gluten) is thinly sliced and grilled so that its
texture resembles gyro, placed atop rainbow chard, caramelized onions, and two
slices of toasted bread, and slathered with red wine gravy and baked beans. With a
hearty, meaty flavor, it is quite the man sandwich.
I fall for baked mac ($8.95). Creamy ricotta and cheddar sauce envelop soft
macaroni; the top has a layer of light and crispy panko. You can add roasted
eggplant, leek, and peas ($2 each), well worth it. We both love the side of sweet
potato mash ($3), which is thick and pleasantly mushy, with a hint of cinnamon.
Sandwiches, burgers, soups and salads are offered at lunch and dinner. The
grilled cheese ($6.95, on rye, sourdough, or wheat) with Vermont cheddar and
slices of tomato goes perfectly with its longtime mate, tomato soup ($2.95 and
$4.50), each spoonful sweet, vinegary, peppery, and creamy. French fries ($3) are a
disappointment. They look beautiful with a sprinkle of parsley and a dollop of
homemade ketchup but are consistently not crisp.
Of the four burger selections, each named after a square in Cambridge, the
Kendall Square ($9.50) is the best. Roasted red pepper puree, roasted garlic mayo, a
choice of chipotle black bean patty or mushroom chickpea patty, and two enormous
beer-battered onion rings more than an inch thick, make the burger an adventure to
eat. The black bean patty doesn't come close to tasting like ground beef, but it is
satisfyingly savory and filling. You can also create your own burger from a
selection of 24 toppings ($9.25 for three, 50 cents for each additional), including
corn apple salsa, Brussels sprouts, and seitan chorizo.
Like at any good diner, Veggie Galaxy serves breakfast all day, and all the
staples are here: eggs ($4.50 for one with toast and home fries, $5.95 for two),
French toast ($6.25), pancakes ($6.75), omelets ($8.50-$9.25 with toast and home
fries, or build your own starting at $8.50, same options as burger toppings), and
even eggs Benedict ($8.25). Also offered are a few accommodations for vegans:
tofu eggs (50 cents extra each), tofu omelet (50 cents extra), soy butter, and housemade vegan cheese.
Veggie Galaxy's pastry chef, Lesli Turock, is neither vegetarian nor vegan, but
likes the challenge of whipping up desserts that are. Dissatisfied with traditional
vegan substitutes, she invented her own. Try her Boston cream pie ($5.25) which
has a frosty, thick center.
Sitting in Veggie Galaxy feels like being in a healthier, greener Johnny Rockets
- a long serving counter, red vinyl stools, and deep booths. "I love diners," says
Penn. "When I think of diners, I think of places where everybody can feel welcome
and where everybody is welcome."
In Woburn, Thai dishes with a homegrown touch
LANNA THAI
901c Main St., Woburn, 781- 932-0394, www.lannathaidiner.com. All major cards.
Not wheelchair accessible.
Prices Appetizers $3.50-$11.95. Entrees $9.95-$15.95. Desserts $2.95-$5.95
Hours Mon-Thu 11 a.m.-9:30p.m., Fri-Sat 11 a.m-10 p.m.
Liquor None.
What to order Yum nua (grilled beef), chicken noodle curry, Lanna Thai string
beans, spicy noodle soup, mango sticky rice.
Lanna Thai is housed in a 1952 lunch car, complete with vinyl bar stools and
faded lace curtains. On the bar is a pile of massive zucchini with a sign informing
us they are from Max's garden and selling for 50 cents apiece. Owner Agachai
"Max" Katong has a formidable green thumb. In cargo shorts and a polo shirt he
saunters around his tiny restaurant, running the front of the house, cracking jokes.
When asked, he explains dishes in detail, including which ones feature fresh
veggies from his own garden.
The food here is quite terrific, beginning with yum nua ($10.95), an appetizer of
thinly sliced grilled beef, which comes with bell peppers, chilies, and onions, over a
salad of cucumber, cabbage, tomato, and iceberg lettuce and topped with mint and a
spicy chili-lemongrass dressing. Flecks of toasted and ground uncooked sticky rice
offer a unique and crunchy garnish. The dish hits every taste bud - a superb
combination of salty and sweet, spicy and cool, crispy and warm. Yum koong
($11.95) is the shrimp version of the same dish. Mango shake ($2.95), just sweet
ripe mango, ice, and milk, is the perfect pairing for these delicious hot dishes.
Lanna Thai bags ($6.95) are fetching fried phyllo bundles, all crunchy, filled
with ground chicken, cabbage, and carrots. They come with a sweet and sour
dipping sauce. It's tasty enough, but a bit bland after yum nua and yum koong.
Chicken prik pow ($10.95) is a dish of stir-fried ground chicken with onions,
green beans, pineapple, and summer squash (from Katong's garden), served with
lettuce cups to scoop up the mixture. We dip the packets into a spicy-sweet sauce
that's served over a flame, like fondue. It's a little cumbersome to eat but nicely
sweet and hot. Duck chao chee ($15.95), a Thai menu classic, comes with a
somewhat underseasoned bird in a mild kaffir lime, coconut curry sauce, with snow
peas, and broccoli that are nicely crisp-tender.
Lanna Thai string beans ($12.95), a specialty of the house, comes topped with
chicken and a spicy chili sauce, with galangal, lime leaf, and to our surprise,
ketchup. The sauce has an addictive sweet heat but doesn't stick to the beans, so we
soak it up with the sticky rice Katong brings to the table and teaches us to eat with
our hands.
Spicy noodle soup ($9.95) tastes like good Vietnamese pho - a clear flavorful
broth with hints of chili and lime, garnished with tender chicken, rice noodles, Thai
basil, scallions, and peanuts.
And then there's the ubiquitous Pad Thai ($9.95), made quite well here. At
Lanna, when you ask for spicy, it actually comes that way. These rice noodles are
delightfully chewy, garnished with egg, peanuts, chicken, bean sprouts, and flecks
of crushed red chilies. Chicken noodle curry ($12.95) contains carrots, baby corn,
broccoli, and egg noodles with white meat chicken in a rich, yellow curry coconut
broth. This flavorful and deeply satisfying bowl is topped with kaffir lime leaves
and sliced scallions.
Mango sticky rice ($5.95) is made with black grains that are chewy and sticky,
and delightful with the sweet, silky mango. This delicate dessert is only available
during peak mango season, which explains why the table next to us orders multiple
rounds. A perfectly good excuse, so we follow their lead.
Get a plateful , and an earful, in Brookline
BOTTEGA DI CAPRI
41 Harvard St., Brookline Village, Brookline, 617-738-5333. Most major credit
cards. Not wheelchair accessible.
Prices Appetizers $9-$11.95 (some serve two). Entrees $6.95-$10.45. Desserts
$3.99.
Hours Mon-Sat 10 a.rn.-9 p.m., Sun 10 a.rn.-6 p.m.
Liquor None.
What to order pumpkin tortellini with butter and sage, penne amatriciana, ravioli
with pesto Rosa.
BY IKE DELORENZO, GLOBE CORRESPONDENT
As recently as several years ago, I hoped to find a homespun restaurant like
Bottega di Capri on every corner. Why not? There are plenty of Italian-Americans
here, and New Englanders are, at least by reputation, a frugal lot. You'd expect a
demand for good workaday Italian pasta plates - at workaday prices - in every
neighborhood.
The grandly named Bottega di Capri (the "boutique of Capri") close to the
Brookline Village T stop, claims to be the best hidden secret outside of the
glamorous Italian resort of Capri. Instead of waiters, the 18-seat restaurant has Ivan
Conill, a young emcee of sorts at the counter. Conill, 21, is an affable Argentine of
Italian descent who now hails from Newton and bears more than a passing
resemblance to comedian Jonah Hill. He has plenty of unrestrained advice for
everyone - especially the regulars - on life, sports, politics, and, at length, the dishes
on the menu.
Bottega is owned by Carlos and Gustavo Perez, who came to Boston from
Colombia in the late 1990s with no previous culinary experience. Here the brothers
found work, and learned Italian cooking from the previous Tuscan owner. They
bought the restaurant in 2008 after 10 years of apprenticeship, keeping the same
suppliers, menu, and, as regulars can attest, standards of quality.
Pesta Rosa is an early Perez creation designed to suit the tastes of the many
Arab customers in the neighborhood. Spicy arrabiata sauce is made with basil,
garlic, and other spices, then fortified with a bit of cream. It's much lighter than you
might expect, and a delight, I thought, even with delicate imported tortellini
($8.95). These are filled with pumpkin ("zucca"), which in Italy are blotchy,
malformed green-orange vegetables whose savory taste puts our sweet sugar
pumpkins to shame.
Conill tried to dissuade me from ordering pesto Rosa sauce on the tortellini.
"Oh please. Get that sauce on penne or something. The pumpkin tortellini are best
with butter and sage." When I can't find this dish on the menu, Conill throws up his
hands. "We don't need to put it on the menu. Everyone already knows to order it
that way." If he weren't smiling so broadly, you might think he's upset.
To make the dish, whole sage leaves are fried almost crisp in "three squares"
of salted butter, the cooked tortellini enter the hot pan for a quick stir, and the
contents are promptly plated. "It's simple - and perfect," says Carlos Perez. The
dish is as aromatic as it sounds. The herb adds a bit of finesse to the firm, buttery
pasta, and elevates the pumpkin's flavor.
Bottega di Capri offers 21 sauces with any of eight pastas. Math like that
usually adds up to not-very-good. But it works: from amatriciana (pancetta in spicy
tomato sauce, $6.95) to vongole (red or white clam sauce, $6.95).
The basics here are solid - good red sauce, good technique, and quick plating.
These strengths serve Bottega well as a foundation for the most successful dishes
(there are many). Yes, on occasion the kitchen uses tomatoes that are canned,
gnocchi that are packaged, peas that are frozen (here they have to; fresh ones aren't
in season).
The chefs make none of the pastas in-house, but all of the sauces. And the
prices are unbeatable. Fine Italian staples (prosciutto, olive oil, pignoli, pastas,
Parmesan and gorgonzola cheeses) keep quality good and consistent. And the
policy of preferring fresh ingredients, or skillfully using packaged substitutes, will
hold up all winter.
After their Tuscan tutelage, the brothers took other liberties with tradition. They
now add chicken ($2.99) or shrimp ($3.99) to any of the pastas on request. Italian
purists may scoff, but Americans want protein on the plate.
Of course, add them at your own risk. You'll need to convince the man at the
counter that it's a good idea.
In Malden, savory flavors from Morocco
MOROCCAN HOSPITALITY RESTAURANT
188 Salem St., Malden, 781-605-0520. All major cards. Restrooms not wheelchair
accessible.
Prices Soups, salads, sandwiches $1.49-$6.99. Entrees $8.99-$14.99. Desserts
charged by the pound.
Hours Mon-Sat 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m.
Liquor None.
What to order Harira (soup), roasted peppers, roast chicken, lamb with prunes,
lamb couscous (Fridays only).
BY SHERYL JULIAN, GLOBE STAFF
We're in a big rush. It's a Friday night during Ramadan- couscous night- and
the crowds will descend on Moroccan Hospitality Restaurant for Iftar, the meal to
break the sunup-to-sundown fast. We're looking for couscous, of course, and also
for harira, the multi-grained saffron-based soup that's so nourishing you could live
on it.
Alas, hardly any customers are in the little storefront. Only one man with a
handlebar mustache is sitting near the window. He is obviously enjoying the soup
(if it's possible to smile while you slurp hot liquid, that's what he's doing). Beside
it, a tagine, tucked under the traditional conical top, is hiding something aromatic.
When our own soup arrives, we're too busy smiling and slurping to see what
our neighbor is dining on. This harira ($1.49 and $3.49) is simmered with bits of
lamb, lentils, chickpeas, rice, ginger, fresh cilantro, and saffron. As more customers
come in, many for takeout, we watch co-owner Nouzha Ghalley ladle out many
bowls. She makes the meat version only during Ramadan, she tells me later on the
phone, and a vegetarian version the rest of the year.
Ghalley owns Moroccan Hospitality with her sister, Amina Ghalley McTursh.
The sisters ran a small restaurant in Rabat, Morocco. Their mother, Fatima El
Haddad, 75, is also cooking here, along with some other women.
This is labor intensive cooking. One night, we ask for something besides fries
with a sandwich and Ghalley sends out beautiful, velvety, roasted bell peppers
bathed in olive oil. She roasts them on a flame, just several at a time.
And the couscous ($13.99), which comes in a tagine: The grains are feathery,
each one tender, but separate, deliciously moist, but not saucy. Lamb, rutabaga,
potatoes, carrots, and chickpeas sit on top. We did not eat better couscous in
Morocco (other couscous dishes are $9.99 to $11.99).
Chicken is roasted with preserved lemons ($11.99), and the lemons mixed with
onions, saffron, and turmeric forms a crust on the skin. The stunning dish arrives
with handfuls of very crisp, slender fries on top. A melting lamb shank with prunes
($13.99) is cooked in a deliciously nutty sauce, which comes studded with almonds.
Pastilla ($14.99), a big, incredibly flaky little pie sprinkled with cinnamon and
sugar, is filled with chicken and almonds.
Dinner comes with two homemade breads, one golden slices from a semolina
loaf, the other heartier slices of a whole-wheat loaf (whole loaves to go are $1.50
each).
We fall hard for sfous (also called selloh, $14.99 a pound), which is a powdery
ground mixture of toasted flour, sesame seeds, aniseed, honey, walnuts, almonds,
and cinnamon, mixed with butter, and eaten with a spoon. When the cooks add
more honey to the powder, it turns moist like a pudding and tastes exactly like
halva.
A group of men come in one night for Iftar and waiting on their table is a plate
of plump dates and some hard-cooked eggs. A thoughtful touch.
This is a barebones outfit. It looks like the owners turned around the large white
plastic menu board over the counter so the clear side shows. Some unlit decorative
Moroccan lamps hang from the ceiling. In this former pizzeria, white cotton
curtains block the view into the kitchen. Most patrons help themselves to cutlery
and paper towels serve as napkins. Brown felt-back plastic cloths cover tables.
Don't come for the aesthetics.
An adorable 6-year-old boy is a constant presence, dashing in and out of the
kitchen. One night his mother, who is cooking, takes him out of the restaurant and
they return with a brown bag. She sits him at a corner table and out comes a large
slice of pizza.
Extraordinary tagines are an arm's reach away. He wants pizza. Only in
America.
Back to delicious basics at Dorchester's Savin
Bar
SAVIN BAR + KITCHEN
112 Savin Hill Ave., Dorchester, 617-288-7500, www.savinbarandkitchen.com. All
Prices Small plates $6-$10. Large plates $14-$20.
Hours Mon-Thu 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m.; Fri-Sat 11:30 a.m.-11 p.m.; Sun 11 a.m.-9
p.m.
Liquor Full bar.
What to order Fried calamari, Cajun popcorn shrimp, clams casino, chicken
tostadas, mac and cheese with fried chicken, miso seared salmon, beer can chicken.
BY BELLA ENGLISH, GLOBE STAFF
When the popular C. F. Donovan's Pub in Dorchester closed, neighbors in
Savin Hill mourned. It was a beloved watering hole with good bar food. Then Savin
Bar + Kitchen moved in. The new owners opened up the dining area and the kitchen
and added large windows. For the bar, they brought in reclaimed oak from a mill in
Vermont; and there are pretty new light fixtures. The feel is light and airy, more
South End than Dorchester.
But the locals didn't love the fancy new food, so the restaurant responded by
changing the menu and hiring a new chef, John Norton, from 14 Union in
Plymouth. "We listened to the neighbors," says general manager John Murray,
who grew up in Savin Hill. "They were screaming at us for more affordable,
regular food, like a nice steak, fish, a nice chicken dish, mac and cheese.'' Owners
Ken Osherow and Driscoll Docanto both live in Dorchester; Osherow owns
McKenna's, a bustling cafe across the street from Savin Bar + Kitchen, open for
breakfast and lunch.
When we sit down at Savin Bar + Kitchen, a warm basket of bread arrives,
served with cinnamon-sugar butter. It's an odd thing, more suited for a breakfast
biscuit, perhaps, but after the first bite, we aren't complaining.
The menu ranges from sandwiches - including a Cuban ($12) to die for - to
small and large plates, salads, and sides. The small plates concept still may sound
South End, but in truth they're generous appetizers to share. Try the fried calamari
($9), which the calamari snob at our table declares perfect. Lightly breaded, they
are golden and tender, easily cut with a fork. They're served with a coarse romesco
sauce. Cajun popcorn shrimp ($10) are also light, no heavy batter hiding the
flavorful shrimp.
Pork tostadas ($8 for two) are a meal in itself. The tortillas are grilled and
loaded with meat, drizzled with a mango hot sauce; a grilled corn salad comes on
the side.
Savin Bar + Kitchen is just a few blocks from Dorchester Bay, so it offers a
"beach menu" of fresh steamers, clams, shrimp, and scallops. Nightly specials
include one on Red Sox Fridays: For 5 bucks, you get a ballpark frank, fries, and a
pint of Narragansett. Notes Murray: "At Fenway, it will cost you $9 just for the
beer." The tequila bar offers 39 kinds, and on Fridays, there's a margarita special
with some Mexican dishes, too.
The general menu includes three mac and cheese variations. Beer can chicken
($18) is a generous portion of a tender lemony bird, with perfectly mashed potatoes
and broccolini. Here's to listening to customers.
Tempting combinations at Greek spot in Natick
THE GRILLIN' GREEK
3 Union St., Natick, 508-655-4711, www.thegrillingreek.com. All major cards. Not
wheelchair accessible.
Prices Appetizers $2.50-$9.50. Entrees $5.25-$10.95. Desserts $1.50-$3.25.
Hours Daily 10:30 a.m.-8:30p.m.
What to order Lil Bo Peep's Lost Sheep Salad, White Princess of Cheese pizza,
spinach and feta Greekadilla, chocolate drizzled baklava flute.
BY LOUISE KENNEDY, GLOBE CORRESPONDENT
The seductive genius of The Grillin' Greek shows up even in a menu item that
isn't grilled at all. It's called a chocolate drizzled baklava flute ($3.25 for two), and
it's just what it sounds like: flaky baklava that's been curled into a tube before
baking, then squiggled with just enough dark chocolate to counterpoint the honeyed
sweetness.
Baklava and chocolate? Irresistible.
But it's not just the desserts in this tiny, mostly take-out, year-old establishment
that evince a dangerous flair for irresistible combinations. White pizza with
artichoke hearts and feta? Thin slices of lamb and a great Greek salad with
homemade dressing? A "Greekadilla" that marries the gooey delight of a
quesadilla with the classic zing of spinach-and-feta pie? Yes, yes, and yes. And,
yes, more please.
That pizza, aptly if cutely dubbed the White Princess of Cheese ($9.95 to
$19.50, depending on size), also features chicken, mushrooms, and plenty of garlic
- a pungency it shares with several other white pizzas here, along with a pleasingly
blistered crust that's thinner than you would expect for Greek style. All these are
listed in the "house pizza" section, as is a Red Meat Rage ($9.95 to $18.75) that
seems to feature everything but yak. (OK: shaved steak, bacon, sausage, ground
beef, and pepperoni.) That one pleased the resident teenager so completely that we
never had to resort to the "traditional pizza'' sector. But, yeah, you can get
pineapple if you want it, and if you've lived in Boston long enough to consider a
pineapple pizza traditional.
Don't stick with pizza when you can get a Lil Bo Peep's Lost Sheep ($8.75), the
aforementioned salad with lamb. It's an omnivore's dream: Crisp greens, olives,
feta, a light and tangy dressing that's a family secret, and on top of all that, thin
slices of the same savory lamb that goes into a tender, homemade pita for a fine
gyro. In cooler weather, we'll go back for the lamb stew, the Greek-style steak tips,
or the lamb with rice pilaf. For now this salad or another winner, the salata
Kalamata, Greek salad with extra olives and lemony stuffed grape leaves ($7. 75), is
all we need for supper.
The Grillin' Greek is barely a restaurant, with just one table inside and another
out back. It's perfect for takeout - or delivery if you live nearby. On one visit, we
were happy to yield the table to a gaggle of teenage girls sharing a large plate of
golden Greek potatoes, with plenty of yogurt-based tzatziki for dipping. Clever
girls: They already know it's the food and the company, not the size or status, that
makes the meal.
Simple Mexican in the South End, hold the
sauces
ELCENTRO
472 Shawmut Ave., South End, Boston, 617-262-5708. Most major credit cards.
Not wheelchair accessible.
Prices Appetizers $6-$18. Entrees $12-$22. Desserts $7.
Hours Man-Wed 5-10 p.m., Thu-Sun 5-11 p.m.
What to order Shrimp al chipotle, flour tortillas, carne asada al carbon.
BY IKE DELORENZO, GLOBE CORRESPONDENT
It's an unusual arrangement. Robi Islam, the owner of the South End restaurant
Siraj Cafe, closed his doors, only to reopen later as a Mexican restaurant called El
Centro. In the interim, the interior was entirely renovated, with the result that it
oddly resembles the popular South American restaurant Orinoco just across the
street. (The new tiled ceiling, for instance, is almost an exact match.) Portraits of
the immortal actor Pedro Infante and a pensive Frida Kahlo now overlook the
transformed space, from places on the wall where Buddha and Ganesh once
reigned.
Islam's new business partner, Allan Rodriguez, owns the construction company
that did the renovation. Rodriguez also helped find a new staff, nearly all of whom
are from Sonora, Mexico. Dishes of that region are, as you might expect, the focus
of the new menu. Both men are there nearly every night, and the interplay between
them, their untested Spanish-speaking employees, and the high-maintenance
clientele could be just what NBC needs for an 8 p.m. time slot.
At El Centro's unannounced soft opening, prices were high ($18 for one stuffed
pepper), and the food was merely passable. Six weeks later, both problems are
being addressed. You will now spend only double what you might in a good
Mexican place in East Boston. "The ingredients we use are the best available,"
explains Islam, "and this is the South End." In this part of Boston, El Centro enjoys
a monopoly on the genre.
The good news is that quality has become consistent, and some dishes
exceptionally good. Pricing appears to be a work in progress: chips and salsa are $5,
but if you make a face, they come for free. Practice your best look of shock before
you head over.
A favorite among dinner mates, various neighboring diners, and the waitstaff is
the shrimp in chipotle sauce ($16). Rodriguez simmers dried chopped chipotles in
homemade chicken stock with onion and garlic, then fortifies the reduction with
Mexican cream. Separately, fresh shrimp is flash-sauteed, then mixed with the
warm sauce. It's as good as it sounds. The pastel-orange dish has a broad spiciness
that would not be out of place in, say, Thailand. But the dish is pure and traditional
Sonora, and perfectly done, with plump shrimp and heat that does not overwhelm
them.
The most impressive item is the simplest: flour tortillas, made in-house using
Rodriguez's father's recipe (flour, vegetable shortening, butter, scant sugar). Here
they are fresh, fragrant, and almost paper-white. The taste is reminiscent of pie
crust. You get a half-dozen or so with certain dishes, and they are used for all the
taco varieties. The meat for the al pastor taco, tender, subtly seasoned shredded
pork loin flavored with pineapple, is perhaps the best accompaniment.
The kitchen would do well to let such fine ingredients shine, but it has a habit of
drenching them in sauces. Take the caramelos tacos ($5): delicious barbecued beef
and melted Oaxacan cheese arrive in the beloved tortillas, only to be smothered by
guacamole and thin sour cream. Fish tacos ($5) and various versions of
chimichanga ($15) suffer a similar fate. Corn on the cob ($7) is nicely grilled and
still crunchy, but rolled in too much queso fresco. Churros ($7), the traditional
extruded fried-dough dessert, is dusted with sugar, then inexplicably doused with
caramel-chocolate sauce, rendering it hyper-sweet.
Such zeal is part of the charm of the restaurant; the waitstaff is more than eager,
the management more than attentive. But even they can overdo it. Everyone is
wearing El Centro logo-emblazoned uniforms that are more Panda Express than
neighborhood eatery. Red shirts for staff, black for managers. Unfortunate for both.
At some point, and perhaps with some encouragement from customers, El
Centro will find that it's already doing what it does best: simple, authentic dishes
made with good, fresh ingredients. Sauce, if you must, lightly applied or on the
side.
Traditional Vietnamese in Dorchester, hot and
hearty
PHO LE VIETNAMESE CUISINE
1356 Dorchester Ave., Dorchester, 617-506-6294. All major credit cards.
Prices Appetizers $3.95-$8.50. Entrees $5.50-$14.95. Desserts $3-$3.50.
Hours Daily 9 a.m.-10 p.m.
Liquor None.
What to order Roast quail, Vietnamese crepe, vermicelli with grilled shrimp, duck
salad, beef pho with beef eye round and brisket, catfish in clay pot.
There's a moment when it probably looks like we're about to cover the table top
with our pho (pronounced fuh). we're struggling with the broth, beef, and a mass of
rice noodles at the bottom of the bowl, trying to break them up and ladle the
mixture into smaller bowls. our waiter, who has told us his name is edwin (this is
the first vietnamese restaurant where a server has introduced himself) rushes over.
first he instructs us to put the garnishes in the bowl. in go bean sprouts and thai
basil. then he deftly ladles in broth and noodles. not a drop on the table. this is a
traditional, hearty pho ($6.95, $7.50, $7.95) with very thinly sliced beef eye round
that cooks in the heat of a fine, intense, clear broth.
Edwin also helps us shape bahn hoi, which are essentially roll-your-own fresh
rolls. They begin with rice paper dipped into hot water, then filled with pieces of
deliciously caramelized chicken, compact bundles of vermicelli noodles sprinkled
with peanuts, shisho leaves, mint, Thai basil, carrot, and daikon. No dipping sauce.
Edwin thinks it will be too pungent for us. Bring the dipping sauce! It's just right
with that unmistakable aroma of fish sauce, this one slightly sweetened.
Pho Le Vietnamese Cuisine is the latest venture of Duyen Le, who opened the
Pho Pasteur chain, and changed the Brighton and Cambridge locations to Le's
Restaurant. The fourth, in Chinatown, is owned by someone else. At every table in
this Vietnamese neighborhood you see large groups and lots of children. One night
the room doesn't fill until 8:30, when families pour in, many with babies in tow.
The space was formerly occupied by Pho Hoa, before that establishment moved
practically next door (Le had been the landlord).
The menu is large. Among the highlights are roast quail with a sticky barbecue
quality on a bed of watercress with red peppers and onions; Vietnamese crepe
($8.95), a stunning yellow half-moon filled with shrimp, pork, and loads of sprouts;
vermicelli with grilled shrimp ($7.95), shredded vegetables, and fish sauce; and
roast duck salad on shredded cabbages with a sweet and hot dressing you can't get
enough of, and very crisp prawn crackers that you heap the salad onto.
A chicken pho with vegetables ($6.95, $7.50, $7.95) has a watery broth that
doesn't resemble its gutsier beef cousins. Stir-fried yellow noodles with broccoli,
carrots, and red peppers ($7.95) is dull. Chinese broccoli with beef ($10.95) has
chewy meat, though the broccoli is divine.
Catfish roasted in a clay pot, with caramel sauce ($12.95-$14.95), is placed in
the center of the table. You use chopsticks to pull out pieces of the succulent fish
and you'll work hard to rid them of bones. This dish shows what the kitchen can do
and what this clientele is looking for. If you're having trouble, holler for Edwin.
In Arlington, a Mexican bistro with flair- and no
burritos
A CITRON MEXICAN BISTRO
473 Massachusetts Ave., Arlington, 781-777-2839, www.acitronrestaurant.com. All
major credit cards accepted. Wheelchair accessible.
Prices Appetizers $6-$10. Salads $7.25-$8.25. Entrees $15.95-$24.95.
Hours Mon-Thu 5-10 p.m.; Fri-Sat 5 -11 p.m.; Sun 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. and 5-10
p.m.
Liquor Full bar.
What to order Sopes surtidos, crepas de rajas poblanas, camarones en mole de
tamarindo, polio relleno en mole verde, cajeta ice cream.
By Kathleen Burge, Globe Staff
Not a single burrito or taco or chimichanga appears on the menu at Acitr6n
Mexican Bistro. Purists will balk because the chef (who is from Mexico City)
sometimes inserts a very un-Mexican fish, like cod, into a Mexican dish. Or he adds
an unusual ingredient- tamarind- to a traditional Mexican sauce like mole.
But this restaurant is a creative take on Mexican, with New England ingredients
and a Parisian air to its name. This creative take on Mexican cuisine reminds us
how much the country's food varies by region. In the same location, servers at Rio
Brazilian Barbeque once carried around skewered meat. The place has been
renovated into a small but sophisticated dining room with a small bar beneath
pendant lights.
Our server starts the meal by bringing us homemade corn chips and salsa, and
though the chips are a little soft, the next batch, with the guacamole we order
(pricey at $10) are excellent. Sopes surtido ($7.50), three hand-shaped little corn
disks with raised sides, each holding a different topping, are one of our favorite
appetizers. Potato and Mexican chorizo is the best, though the shredded chicken is
also good. Cactus salad, with mild cotija cheese, is beautiful but bland. Aguacate
relleno de ensalada is perfect for a hot day, but the tiny shrimp are nearly tasteless
and the cilantro sparse.
Crepas de rajas poblanas ($16.95) are thick crepes stuffed with grilled strips of
poblano peppers, corn, yellow squash, and zucchini and topped with a creamy
spinach sauce. The dish is so large that it doesn't come with the two sides awarded
to most entrees, an interesting range of vegetables and rice. Although the crepes are
a bit dense, the vegetables are fresh and tender. Polio relleno en mole verde
($18.95), a Mexican version of stuffed chicken, is from the Yucatan. The chicken
breast is tender and filled with asparagus and huitlacoche, a fungus that grows on
corn and is less appetizingly known as corn smut.
We love camarones en mole de tamarindo ($20.95), a blend of shrimp and a
thick, sweet sauce served over small pieces of cornbread. The tamarind mole is the
highlight of the dish, and although Acitr6n owner Gotu Hule notes proudly that
every dish has a different sauce, we wouldn't mind another chance to try this one
again. One of the sides, elate - a half-ear of corn on the cob rolled in cheese and
spices - is excellent. Hule's wife runs Tango, the Argentinian restaurant across the
street, and Acitr6n's most expensive entree, filete sonorense ($24.95) from
Mexico's northern border, is reminiscent of Tango's beef-heavy menu.
Desserts include four flavors of ice cream, and the best is cajeta ($2.50 for a
scoop), a coffee-colored concoction made from caramelized milk. Not traditional,
maybe, but we don't mind.
Breakfast (and more) to remember in Roslindale
SUGAR BAKING CO. & RESTAURANT
4174 Washington St., Roslindale, 617-327-4174, www.sugarbakingcompany.com.
All major credit cards. Wheelchair accessible.
Prices Breakfast and brunch $5-$14; lunch $5-$11; dinner entrees $7-$12.
Hours Daily 8 a.m.-3 p.m.
Liquor None.
What to order Stuffed French toast, a breakfast sandwich to remember, surf & turf
sliders, lemon ricotta pancakes, grits, almond macaroons, fudge caramel brownies.
Any restaurant with the words "sugar" and "baking" in its name has to be worth
a visit. In this case, Sugar Baking Co. & Restaurant is worth several visits. In the
few months it's been open, the cheerful 45-seat cafe has already gained a wellearned reputation for its wonderful breakfast and weekend brunch. People wait up
to an hour and a half for Sugar's manchego grits ($11 with ham and sunny-side up
eggs) and lemon ricotta pancakes ($9), not to mention the best stuffed French toast
known to mankind.
See for yourself. Go in an off-hour - early or late - and you'll get a table; we
walked right in at 1 p.m. on a Sunday. In good weather, the large accordion-type
windows are open to the street; there is no room for outdoor seating on a busy
sidewalk.
About that French toast ($11): Picture two thick slices of homemade challah,
dipped in milk and egg with a sprinkle of cinnamon. Stuffed between the warm
slices is a slab of brie and some fig confiture. The brie melts into a delicious ooze
and offsets the natural sweetness of the dish, and the figs add a nice fruity note, as
do the blueberries and strawberries that garnish the plate.
On a recent weekend special, surf & turf sliders ($14) are a different and fun
combination: One is a lobster roll, the other braised short rib, each served on a
dinner-size eggy roll, accompanied by french fries.
Our dining companion orders "a breakfast sandwich to remember" ($8) - and it
lives up to its name. Part bakery, part restaurant, Sugar has the advantage of making
all its own bread, from biscuits to baguettes, on the premises. This sandwich comes
on a big, fluffy buttermilk biscuit and includes an egg (any way you want), a chunk
of English farmhouse cheddar, lots of high-quality seared pancetta and a schmear of
fig preserves, similar to that on the French toast, to bind it all. It's an interesting
melange of flavors and textures, the sharpness of the cheddar playing nicely off the
sweetness of the preserves.
Speaking of which, Sugar Baking Co. owner Eric Battite makes his own
strawberry, raspberry, and blueberry preserves several times a week. Battite also
owns the Real Deal restaurant in Jamaica Plain, and another in West Roxbury, next
door to his Sugar Bakery.
His newest place is on the site of a Roslindale landmark, Boschetto Bakery,
which closed in 2009. But the Boschetto sign has been saved and hangs over
Battite's bakery, which is adjacent to the dining area, in the back. Try the ethereal
almond macaroons, among the best I've tasted, and the fudge caramel brownies,
worth every decadent calorie. Cupcake lovers, there are at least a dozen and a half
flavors at any given time, from strawberry milkshake to an "Elvis," with peanut
butter and banana.
Executive chef Johnny Fortin, who owns a diner in West Roxbury, is also a
local and the man behind the menu.
When Sugar first started serving dinner, you could tell its heart isn't in it yet.
Battite seems to be putting his energy into breakfast, brunch, and lunch. If dinner
turns out to have the quality of the rest of the menu, you'll be in luck
Southern comforts in Winthrop are satisfying
with sauce and smoke
BLACKSTRAP BBQ
47A Woodside Ave., Winthrop, 617-207-1783, www.black strapbbq.com.
MasterCard and Visa. Wheelchair accessible.
Prices Appetizers $2.99-$8.99. Plates and sandwiches $6.99-$23.99. Desserts
$2.99-$3.99.
Hours Tue-Thu 11 a.m.-9 p.m.; Fri-Sat 11 a.m.-10 p.m.; Sun 11 a.m.-9 p.m.
Liquor None.
What to order Smoked chicken wings, pork ribs, Carolina-style pork, fried green
tomatoes, buttermilk fried onion rings, chili, baked beans, cornbread pudding,
chocolate pecan square.
GPS will get you anywhere in pursuit of good food, which is how we find
ourselves on a gorgeous night in Winthrop at Blackstrap BBQ. Everything on the
blackboard sounds irresistible, so hungry travelers that we are, we order what seems
like half the menu.
A generous stack of buttermilk fried onion rings ($4.99) arrives right away, and
one bite of these sweet, juicy rings with their nearly crackly crust and we're smiling
as more food starts coming. Will there be enough?
After fried pickles ($3.99) with ranch dressing, crusty on the outside and all
pickly inside, then deliciously, juicy fried green tomatoes with vegetable salad and
remoulade dressing ($7.99), and crisp fries that stay crisp throughout dinner, we're
about to hand out a deep frying award.
Hunks of cornbread ($1.50), tied in waxed paper bags, are dense and sweet,
something like pound cake. "Bad, tastes like cake" says the gentleman to my left.
"Fabulous," says the woman to my right. "Of course it tastes like cake." They don't
have a chance to launch into the North-South sweet vs. unsweetened cornbread
debate because someone sets down a bowl of Grammy Kath's Rip Your Lips Off
Chili ($4.99 and $6.99). Its dark and luscious liquid is sprinkled with cheddar and
onions. The chili, simmered with chunks of pork and beef (no beans or tomatoes), is
pleasingly hot rather than alarmingly so. We all dip in spoons until the cup is
scraped clean. Sticky BBQ chicken wings ($5.99-$16.99) are plump, smoky, and
succulent.
At Blackstrap BBQ's 22-seat spot (primarily take-out), you order at a counter
and food comes in plastic containers, foil-lined paper boats, and plastic baskets.
Napkins are so thin we use dozens and break at least two plastic knives trying to
divvy things up.
Blackstrap is co-owned by Chris Thompson and Jim Economides. Thompson
met Economides's wife, Kate, when she was the events coordinator at East Coast
Grill and Thompson was head chef of the catering unit. Jim and Kate opened All
Star Sandwich Bar with Chris Schlesinger, then the couple took off to start their
own catering venture in 2009, called tasty plates. The restaurant came in October
2010. "One of our passions is barbecue," says Thompson. "Most places in this
community are Italian. We decided they needed a change of pace."
Thompson, who is from Middlebury, Vt., spent a lot of time in Virginia. "A lot
of barbecue," he says. "A lot of church parties." To that end, his Carolina-style pork
($12.99 for a plate with sides; $11.99 for a pint) is a tender, saucy cluster of barely
sweet meat; shredded BBQ chicken ($12.99 plate; $11.99 pint) isn't as rich as the
pork, of course, but deliciously saucy. And now to the highlight of the menu:
Memphis-style dry-rub pork ribs ($2.99 for one bone, $12.99 for half rack; $23.99
for full rack). You get a smoky sauce in which to dip the ribs, which are center cut
and meaty, smoked over cherry and local hardwoods until the pork is intensely
flavorful but still moist.
Almost forgot The Hog ($7.99-$10.99)! It starts with sausage, which is wrapped
in bacon, smoked, then fried to crisp the bacon. Order it with peppers and onions, or
get a Cowboy Hog with baked beans and slaw. There's so much going on here, you
could feed a family of four. The molasses beans are exquisite, the slaw creamy but
not too sweet, the hog a big mess of meat and smoke.
The cooks here know how to add smoke without hammering it into everything.
A sweet potato salad ($2.50 half pint) has a hint of it and a creamy dressing that
perfectly suits it. A few shreds of bacon enhance long-cooked collards ($2.50 half
pint). Dinner ends with a chocolate pecan square ($2.99) and cornbread pudding
with Cruzan Black Strap rum, which the owners abbreviate as "BS rum" ($3.99).
The sweets are a little rough and ready, but just what you want after all this smoky,
sticky, immensely satisfying food.
On the way home, even the robotic voice giving directions on the GPS sounds
as if she's had a good time.
On Newbury Street, enjoy sushi with a viewand new friends
SNAPPY SUSHI
108 Newbury St., Boston, 617-262-4530. MasterCard, Visa, American Express. Not
wheelchair accessible.
Prices Appetizers $3.95-$10.95. Entrees $8.95-$14.95. No desserts.
Hours Sun-Wed 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Tim-Sat 11 a.m.-11 p.m.
What to order Striped bass sushi, rainbow battera, mamemaki roll, Boston lobster
roll.
It seems there's a boom in reasonably priced sushi in Boston. In the past few
months, Brookline's quirky Super Fusion Cuisine expanded to four locations, and a
third Fin's Japanese Sushi + Grill opened in Beacon Hill. Franchise-ready spots
have appeared in Chinatown and Peabody. And location scouts from the highdesign British mega-chain YO! Sushi are reportedly scouring Boston for suitable
locations.
So Snappy Sushi jumped into the fray. Chef-owner Kazu Aotani has operated
good, affordable sushi locations under various names since 2003. Now he's in a
tony corner of Newbury Street for an ambitious expansion: moving his tiny eatery
up the street to a three-tiered space with seating for 76. The lower level offers small
tables and a traditional bar and outdoor seating for 30. An elevated mezzanine
offers a communal table with a charming view of the street.
The communal table, sized for those traveling samurai you might see in an
anime movie, seats 18 very comfortably. A meal here is entertainment. Many at the
table are dining alone, stopping in while shopping or running errands. The
ambiance is easy and friendly. Around lunchtime, polished female luxury shoppers
of a certain age often mix with unshaven college guys over dramatic presentations
of maki, sushi, and the restaurant's own inventions. The food is a conversation
starter.
At Snappy, it's important to figure out the day's best fish before ordering
(another good reason to chat up your new dining companions). The restaurant uses
fresh striped bass (suzuki), salmon (sake), and sea urchin (uni). Striped bass sushi
($1) is perfect: mild and subtle, with an almost crunchy texture and a slight, fresh
pop as you bite down. Many fish are flash frozen, shipped from afar by suppliers
better able to comply with stringent regulations.
Flash frozen fish, quite good if properly handled, thawed, and cut, is the norm
for moderately priced sushi. On one visit, the tuna nigiri (maguro, $2) is excellent.
On another visit, it is off color, chewy, and nearly inedible. Our server agrees to
substitute the delicious striped bass for the unwanted tuna, which turns out to be a
wonderful trade. Rainbow battera ($11.95), a pressed open-face sushi with avocado
and a variety of fish, is marvelous.
The only rice used at Snappy is light brown koshihikari, popular in Japan for its
flavor and texture. Koshihikari rice has a subtle taste that suggests hazelnut and
bread crust, and is firmer than ordinary sushi rice. In most of the rolls, it adds a
welcome complexity and substance. In sushi with delicate fish, such as yellowtail
(hamachi, $4.95), it can overshadow a bit.
Fancy rolls, many of which do not contain raw fish, abound. One is the tasty
Boston lobster roll ($12.95), creamy and fresh, brightened with wasabi. Mamemaki
roll ($9.95) adds citrus (yuzu) flavors to raw tuna, salmon, avocado, cucumber, and
shisho leaf, packaged in a tasty soy wrap called mamenori, instead of the usual
seaweed paper. The seasoned rolls are both delicious and strategic. Sometimes a
zingy sauce evens out the uneven quality of the fish.
The unadorned fish might be wonderful or adequate, so there's some strategy to
ordering well here. First discuss matters with your tablemates. Seasoned rolls are a
better choice one day, open-face sushi the next. But even this or that dish misfires.
A seat outside under a large shade umbrella, or inside, chatting with new friends, is
fine consolation.
A mess of pasta choices at Comella's in
Belmont Center
COMELLA'S
43 Leonard St., Belmont Center, 617-489-7777, www.comellasrestaurants.com.
Visa and MasterCard accepted. Wheelchair accessible.
Prices Pasta $6-$15.99, pizza $5-$14.99.
Hours Mon-Sun 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m.
What to order Garlic bread, sweet potato ravioli.
BY KATHLEEN BURGE, GLOBE STAFF
There was much upset in Belmont Center when the Charlesbank Bookshop
closed its doors and the Leonard Street storefront sat empty. Brown paper swathed
across the windows and a town waited to see what would emerge. Then came
Comella's -
in an area with no shortage of restaurants, including il Casale and
Stone Hearth Pizza.
But the appetite for Italian food seems to be sustaining this new restaurant, the
company's eighth in the area. The small dining room has been packed on most
nights since Comella's began serving its Italian-American comfort menu, heavy on
red sauce and cheese. It's mostly counter service here, but your orders are brought
to the table. The family-owned company includes dad Gene Comella, and sons Matt
and JP, daughter Erin, an uncle, and two cousins.
This restaurant is sleeker than some others in the mini chain, with a small bar six seats and one bar table - and modern black tables. But the dishes are the same:
an astonishingly long menu whose sauce variations create a total of 120 pasta and
ravioli combinations. And that number doesn't include Comella's famous messes,
giant piles of pasta and sauce with a host of added ingredients, from eggplant to
sausage. There are pizzas and sandwiches and salads, soft and buttery garlic bread
(75 cents a slice), and a few Italian desserts.
Comella's, which started in 1988 with a single Wellesley location, is not the
best Italian restaurant in town, but the newcomer's menu is longer and the prices are
generally cheaper, especially considering the mass of food that constitutes a portion.
One colossal bargain is the 16-inch cheese pizza ($5). Food can also be ordered in
larger portions: by the bucket, half bucket, or gargantuan double bucket (serves 20
to 25).
Pastas can be ordered with a variety of sauces - Marinara, pesto, meat, sun-dried
tomato, Alfredo, a simple elixir of oil, butter and garlic, all $1.50 extra; the default
sauce is Marinara, a sweet, thick tomato sauce. We order lobster ravioli ($15.99)
and forget to specify oil, butter, and garlic sauce. The Marinara sauce overpowers
the lobster, though it works better with the mushroom ravioli ($9.99), which is
packed with mushrooms and holds its own. Sweet potato ravioli ($11.99) is so
good, we eat some of it without any sauce, plump half-orbs of dough filled with a
mixture of spicy pistachios.
Comella's pesto (we try it on the homemade fusilli, $8.50) is thick and leafy,
and arrives with an oddly gritty texture. We order pesto on a second visit, and once
again, the texture persists. We do like the soft fusilli, long hollow spindles of pasta.
The messes start with Ma's mess ($6.99), a vegetarian base with pasta, Marinara
sauce, and cheese. The other messes - including versions with eggplant, sausage,
and lasagna - are still bargains, priced up to $15.99. But though this may be
blasphemous at Comella's, which plays up the secret ingredients in its messes, we
like the other pastas better.
Seating arrangements make this location a bit less kid-friendly in a kid-heavy
town. The restaurant doesn't yet take reservations, although that might change.
Tables can be hard to snag. We overhear cashiers explain repeatedly to customers
that they should make sure they have a table before they order.
Tiramisu ($4) is disappointing, a simplified version of the dessert, more custard
and less the complex arrangement of sweet and bitter. Cannoli ($2, $1.25 for minis)
are better, filled with very light cream, the shells crunchy, even the next day.
Storing well is one essential for Comella's food. With portions this size, there will
always be doggie bags.
Build a better burger at 5 Napkin at the
Prudential Center
5 NAPKIN BURGER
105 Huntington Ave., Prudential Center, Boston, 617-375-2277.
www.5napkinburger.com . All major credit cards.
Prices Appetizers and sushi $6.75-$15.95. Burgers, entrees, salads $7.75-$19.50.
Desserts $3.50-$7.
Hours Mon-Thu 11:30 a.m.-11 p.m.; Fri 11:30 a.m-midnight, Sat. 11 a.m.midnight, Sun 11 a.m.-11 p.m.
Liquor Full bar.
What to order Original 5 napkin burger, lamb kofta burger, tuna burger, turkey
burger on a salad, grilled fish tacos, vanilla malted or cookies 'n' creme shake,
espresso brownie sundae.
Five Napkin Burger appeared in the Pru with a roar. Located across from
Brasserie Jo, along a strip of Huntington Avenue that could use a great presymphony burger, the new spot has a smart but self-conscious look of an old
butcher shop. Off-white subway tiles with black grouting line the walls. Several
steel racks curve around the room with meat hooks and single light bulbs hanging
from them. It's a comfortable space with dark wood tables and soft black cushions
on banquettes. The place seats 160 and the music is loud. Five Napkin Burger has
other locations in New Y ark; Miami and Atlanta are coming soon.
The restaurant was started by three partners. Two, Simon Oren and executive
chef Andy D'Amico, own Nice Matin, the wonderful New York eatery on the
Upper East Side. The burger that gives the establishment its name was developed at
Nice Matin, which is a French-style spot. As a result, the original 5 napkin burger
($14.95) is a handsome and delicious patty, made with ground chuck, set on a soft
floury roll with rosemary aioli, carmelized onions, and Gruyere.
A lot of thought has gone into the menu. Ahi tuna burger ($16.95) on brioche
comes with wasabi mayonnaise and tempura fried onions. It's amazing! Turkey
burger on a salad ($14.95) covers the Crayola box with green beans, bell peppers,
endive, tomatoes, red onions, radishes, celery, and a pink mayo-based sauce. Lamb
kofta burger ($14.95) with chopped salad and tahini sauce is a treasure, all the
components of a Middle Eastern kebab. Veggie burger ($11.95) on a multigrain roll
with bread and butter pickles, another delight, shows thoughtfulness all around.
Regular fries ($2. 75) and sweet potato fries ($3. 75) are exemplary. Get either
instead of Tuscan fries ($3. 75), sprinkled liberally with chopped garlic, unless the
person you're going home with ate them, too.
There is sushi here, oddly out of place. A theatrical stack of cornmeal-crusted
onion rings ($6. 75) looks grand, until the rings are gone and we're left with the
empty metal stacking device. Deep-fried pickles and pastrami ($7.50), little rolls of
meat around pickles, taste luscious. Just as sweet are pork taquitos ($8. 75), an array
of savory two-bite morsels.
Pescatarians will find plenty on this menu, including grilled fish tacos ($14. 75)
with avocado, tomato salsa, and sweet and sour onions. The poor fish is lost. Steak
frites ($19.50) is a strip loin, perfectly cooked but lacking flavor.
Glorious desserts include espresso brownie sundae ($7), with a homemade
confection, whipped cream, salted peanuts, and Edy's ice cream. Shakes ($5.50)
come in the classic, conical stainless steel cups they are made in. Get extra glasses
for your mates. Vanilla malted tastes like a '50s diner. Cookies 'n' cream is like
melted but cold ice cream.
Many things about 5 Napkin are wonderful. But friendly service is slightly
inept. Two waiters appear one evening, prompting us to think we're about to be
well taken care of. When we want a couple of things, we have to hail a busboy. He
assures us, without checking, that everything is on the way. And of course it isn't.
After dinner, the garage attendant informs us that our parking fee is $35. When we
ask how on earth it reached that ridiculous amount, she explains that we should
have had our ticket validated. No one - not the hostess who took our reservation,
nor the one who seated us, nor the tag team of waiters - ever mentioned stamping
our ticket.
A thunderously high tariff from the garage can put a damper on a fine night.
Five Napkin needs to dot a few more i's and cross a few more t's to look after the
experience from beginning to end. Beyond the great, classy burgers and marvelous
shakes.
Spicy and true Mexican in Framingham
LACARRETA
270 Cochituate Road, Framingham, 508-424-2535, www.lacarretamex.com. All
major credit cards accepted. Wheelchair accessible.
Prices Appetizers $4.95-$9.95. Lunch specials $7.25-$10. Entrees $12.99-$26.95.
Hours Tue-Thu 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Fri-Sat 11 a.m.-11 p.m., Sun 11 a.m.-10 p.m.
Liquor Full bar.
What to order Enchiladas poblanos, arroz con pollo de Mama, fish tacos, grande
burrito.
By Kathleen Burge, Globe Staff
Before the brick building near the Post Office on Cochituate Road in
Framingham began serving Mexican food, it was one more Bickford's, a towering
sign out front, breakfast served all day. Walking into La Carreta, past another large
sign and a wooden wagon, still feels like entering a chain restaurant. La Carreta has
three New Hampshire restaurants.
So it's a happy surprise to find that this new Mexican spot serves fresh and
original food.
"Hola!" announces a waitress as we enter for lunch. The owners renovated the
restaurant into a warm dining room, with tile floors, earthy colors, deep blue chairs,
and hanging lamps. One end of the restaurant is devoted to a sprawling bar with
big-screen TVs and 83 kinds of tequila. On weekend nights, a mariachi band
serenades diners and drinkers. The restaurant displays a whimsical touch: One day
at lunch, servers congregate around a table of women celebrating a birthday. As one
of them slips a sombrero onto the head of the birthday girl, whose blush can be seen
across the room, the group breaks into a rousing Mexican song.
Once we are seated, our server brings tortilla chips and salsa. The chips are
warm and the salsa is served in a small carafe. The restaurant does not cater to
palates adverse to spice - the salsa has a kick. We order a side of guacamole
($4.95), which has been freshly made but needs salt (the version made tableside
costs $8.95).
La Carreta's enchiladas poblanos ($9.75 for a lunch portion), with homemade
corn tortillas, are one of our favorite entrees. The mole is dark and rich, slightly
sweet, and the dish arrives warm. There's nothing wrong with the Veracruz plate
($9.99), with grilled shrimp, vegetables, tortillas, and rice and beans, but there's
nothing memorable about it, either. A side of rice and beans arrives with some
entrees and we like the slices of onion added to the beans.
Grande burrito ($13.85) lives up to its name, huge and packed with chicken,
rice, and beans. The burrito is covered with salsa and a thin layer of melted cheese;
although the menu describes it as "smothered" in cheese, we are glad it is not.
Arroz con polio de Mama ($15.50) is an interesting twist on the common dish, with
cubes of sauteed chicken mixed in with the rice, peppers, asparagus, and the largest
green pimento-stuffed olives you have ever seen.
Grilled fish tacos ($12.50) are made with strips of grilled mahi mahi and a tart
red cabbage. The chipotle sauce keeps them from being bland.
La Carreta offers a dozen combination plates for lunch - tacos, burritos, chili
rellenos, enchiladas, quesadillas - and even more for dinner. It gives us a chance to
get to know what this new restaurant does best. Many things, we decide.
Comfort food in Back Bay
GEOFFREY'S CAFE
142 Berkeley St., Back Bay, Boston, 617-424-6711, wwwgeoffreyscafebar.com.
MasterCard, Visa, American Express. Not wheelchair accessible.
Prices Appetizers $6.95-$9.95. Entrees $8.95-$14.95. Desserts $6-$8.
What to order Maple-glazed pork chop, burgers, country chicken and biscuits, Key
lime pie.
You might think that the restaurateur behind Geoffrey's Cafe owns a moving
company for all the times he's changed the addresses. In 1991, Geoffrey's opened
in the Back Bay, moved two years later to Tremont Street in the South End, then
almost a decade later to a different Back Bay location. To the dismay of its Boston
regulars, the restaurant moved to Roslindale in 2007. Now Geoffrey's has returned
to Back Bay in the largest space yet (185 seats). It shares an enviable destination
block with the upscale French restaurant Mistral, and the gay mecca Club Cafe.
"We have a 20-year lease here," says chef-owner Michael Aplin. "We are not going
anywhere."
The huge menu is - and always has been - a canon of comfort food: chicken and
dumplings, beef burgundy, meat loaf, lasagna. Aplin and his staff have had 20 years
to perfect them - and it shows. A maple-glazed French-cut pork chop ($14.95)
seems impossibly tender, thick, and juicy, which I decide must mean it has been
brined. It's actually a center cut of pork loin, bone intact, giving the appearance of a
very plump chop. "I love the look," says Aplin. "It's really dramatic."
If there's one thing in abundance at Geoffrey's it's drama. Lighting is
seductively low; decor mid-century bordello. Walls are deep red, with frills in gold.
Fontella Bass and Dusty Springfield join Jimmy Dorsey and Glenn Miller on the
soundtrack.
The bar is classy, with dark wood and lots of detail. Seated there are many
longtime regulars, mostly gay men, with a candor and humor rare in our still
buttoned-down city. Geoffrey's was one of the first openly gay-owned restaurants
in Boston, founded by Aplin and his partner, Geoffrey Seelen, who died in 1995
from what obituaries then called "a short illness."
The lively restaurant is now one of the best values for anyone who wants a good
meal in the otherwise pricey Back Bay. Country chicken and biscuits ($10.95) a.k.a. chicken a la king - is an example of how the chef elevates what might be a
pedestrian dish. A seasoned white sauce is smooth and light; the chicken is flavorful
and tender; peas add color and freshness; biscuits are perfectly baked. There's no
attempt to complicate or even modernize. It's a simple, satisfying dish prepared
very well.
Very good burgers ($7.95) come in various configurations. Fried eggplant
Milanese ($8.95) - my regular gotcha-dish to test over-frying - is light, crisp, and
tender. The plating is often flamboyant. And Geoffrey's does have a habit of
providing inexplicable sauces and sides, as in sweet-and-sour sauce for fried
calamari, sour cream for the liver, mounds of rather ordinary "exotic greens."
Ignore them and enjoy the food.
Desserts are enormous, and meant to be shared, perhaps by three. Key lime pie
($6), baked by Aplin each day, is extraordinary. Tart, sweet, citrusy, fresh,
authentically pale yellow with an admirable crust.
Back at the bar, men of a certain age tell me they have been coming to
Geoffrey's since they felt less welcome elsewhere. And so, the venue for many
dinner dates and partnership ceremonies is now a very frequent host of the
anniversary meal. Comfort food, in every sense of the word.
A quiet, elegant respite at Nordstrom in
Burlington
BLUE STOVE AT NORDSTROM
Burlington
Mall,
75
Middlesex
Turnpike,
Burlington,
781-345-7800,
shop.nordstrom.com. All major credit cards. Wheelchair accessible.
Price Salads $5.95-$7.95. Small plates $5.50-12.50.
Hours Mon-Sat 10 a.rn.-8:30 p.m., Sun 11 a.m.-6 p.m.
Liquor Full bar.
What to order Lemon-scented risotto with seared scallops and French beans,
cilantro lime chicken tacos, sweet potato frites with cilantro lime aioli, clams fideo
with toasted pasta and Spanish chorizo.
By Kathleen Burge, GLOBE STAFF
One of the nicest things you can say about eating at Blue Stove is that you
forget where you are. That would be the second floor of Nordstrom in the
Burlington Mall, up the escalator and past racks of Michael Kors bikinis and
glittery blouses. After all the harsh lights of the department store and the vast sea of
clothing, Blue Stove feels like a soothing cave, with dim lights, soft music, and
wine.
You're in a mall, but the menu is unrelated to mall food. Blue Stove serves a
sophisticated array of small plates, from clams fideo to risotto to tiny chicken tacos.
Whether these eats are cheap depends on how much you order. But the small plates
are moderately priced, most of them under $10. One nice perk not usually seen at
restaurants like this one: Nordstrom puts all nutritional information for all of its
restaurants online.
During weekday lunches, the restaurant is populated mostly by women,
including some with young children. (Blue Stove has a children's menu, with basics
like mac and cheese and chicken fingers.) On the weekend, the restaurant gets
livelier and louder, and more men make an appearance. Although the dining room,
with a bar along one side, is filled with neutral browns and beiges, mushroomshaped lamps with red glass bases and tall shades add an air of whimsy.
Every meal at Blue Stove begins with slices of a baguette, a few olives, and a
plate of excellent olive oil. Warm goat cheese salad with beets and arugula ($6.95)
is a nice mix of golden and red beets, and soft cheese. Diet Coke is delivered in a
carafe. Lemon-scented risotto with seared scallops and French beans ($11.50) is
one of our favorite dishes, with perfectly cooked rice, tangy with lemon. Cilantro
lime chicken tacos ($7.95) are adorable miniature tacos with a nice balance of
crunch and salt and tang. These small dishes are so perfectly assembled that you
picture a back room of tiny-fingered kitchen staff. Sweet potato frites with cilantro
lime aioli ($5.50) are addictively crunchy, and even better dipped into the aioli.
Ahi tuna stack with ponzu and crisp wantons ($9.25) arrives beautifully
assembled into a circular tower, but the fish has been so oversalted that we can
barely taste other flavors. Lump crab cakes with remoulade ($12.50) are also
uninspiring, dominated by egg and bread crumbs. Seared wild mushrooms and
grilled asparagus ($7.50) taste as if they were in season locally, no small feat in
New England in March.
The blinds are drawn at Blue Stove, blocking out the parking lot and dirty
remnants of snow. The dressing rooms are forgotten. This is a respite, if only for an
hour, and then it's back out into the mall to do some serious shopping.
Lucy, an Ethiopian gem hidden near Symphony
LUCY ETHIOPIAN CAFE AND RESTAURANT
334 Massachusetts Ave., Boston, 617-536-0415. MasterCard, Visa, American
Express. Wheelchair accessible.
Prices Appetizers $5.99. Entrees $8.99-$10.95. Desserts $3.99.
Hours Mon-Fri 11 a.m.-9:30p.m.; Sat 9:30 a.m.-10 p.m.; Sun 9:30 a.m.-9 p.m.
What to order Zilzil tibs, che'che bsa, Addis combo, Ethiopian coffee service.
There's a white 1970s-style strip mall above the Green Line's Symphony
Station. Hidden amid its tax prep and tanning centers is Lucy, a restaurant named
after the world's oldest celebrity: the Australopithecus woman who lived more than
3 million years ago and was unearthed by archeologists in Ethiopia in the 1970s.
Boston's Lucy is almost as hard to find (look upward to the building's mezzanine).
Its food is a major discovery.
I have often found food at Ethiopian restaurants to be disappointing, especially
the spongy flatbread known as injera, which can be oddly tart and gray. Since it
accompanies most dishes, bad injera can ruin the meal. At Lucy it was bready,
golden, and firm, with a hint of lemon, and the scent of fresh-baked sourdough
bread. "The injera is moody," explains chef-owner Girmay Cirsto Ziegaye. "It takes
two days to make, and you have to watch carefully or it can overferment." His wife,
Netsanet Woldesenbet, explains that in Ethiopia the injera would be made with 100
percent teff (an indigenous grain). But "it's cold in Boston, so we need to add some
wheat flour so it comes out properly."
This is the kind of care I found in every dish on the short menu. Dinner offers
just six entrees, half of them vegetarian, and a few appetizers.
But let's start with breakfast. Che'che bsa ($7.99) is a moist, crumbled corn
bread of sorts seasoned with a hint of cayenne pepper and drizzled with honey and
cardamom-scented butter. It's served with a mug of coffee, made from beans Lucy
imports from Ethiopia. The coffee is sweet and chocolaty without milk or sugar.
Not that you could get any - Ziegaye politely refused, saying, "Our coffee is best
just as it is." He will allow a sprinkle of salt on your espresso, as is common in
Ethiopia (and, of late, in trendy New York espresso bars).
At dinner, attractive vegetarian combination plates ($8.99) include spiced red
lentils, garlicky split peas, and yellow lentils sauteed with onion, white pepper, and
ginger. One combo features a clever "salad" of precision-cut potato blocks, carrot
shavings, and parsley. Others combine the potato with spinach, seasoned collard
greens, or delicately spiced simmered cabbage.
The star of the meat dishes was the zilzil tibs ($10.95). Small dice of lean sirloin
are seasoned with Ethiopian mitmita ginger, and cinnamon -
a mix of cumin, African chili, cardamom,
and sauteed with onion, garlic, and jalapeno. On one night
the dish was spectacular - devoured in minutes by my table-mates as they pinched it
out of my bowl using the injera bread (forks are not offered). On another night, the
dish was simply good, and I got to eat a bit more of it.
At 6:30 on Friday and Saturday evenings, Lucy offers an Ethiopian coffee
service ($6.50). Over 90 minutes, in the center of the spacious dining room, women
wash, roast, and grind the beans using traditional utensils, then brew the beans in a
clay pot, and pour for the guests. As is customary in Ethiopia, men do not assist in
the service.
The dozens of coffee preparation items are on display in the center of the dining
room all week, leaving room for relatively few tables. I ask Ziegaye, respectfully, if
tradition requires the arrangement to be left out. "No," he laughs. "You can thank
the City of Boston. We're only licensed for 20 diners. And it's a big room."
Definitely good food in Chinatown
THE BEST LITTLE RESTAURANT
13A Hudson St., Chinatown, Boston, 617-338-4988. MasterCard, Visa, American
Express. Not wheelchair accessible.
Prices Appetizers $5.95-$10.95. Entrees $6.50-$18.95. No desserts.
Hours Sun-Thu 11:30 a.m.-9:30p.m.; Fri-Sat 11 a.m.-9:30p.m.
Liquor Beer only.
What to order Jumbo shrimp with walnuts in creamy sauce, stir-fried pea pod
stems, braised fried spare ribs,
Singapore-style rice noodles.
The three Chinese characters that form the name of the Best Little Restaurant in
Chinatown translate to "Definitely good." And the food certainly is. As for the
restaurant interior, let's just say sparsely furnished, half-underground, unrelenting
white. Successive aluminum doors clatter as guests come in. Waiters are clad in
tuxedos that look to be made of papier-mache. Not a great place for a first date. But
if you can eat upstairs, do. There's so much here to enjoy if you can just
concentrate.
New England has a unique tradition of Chinese cuisine. The dishes in Boston's
small, family-run restaurants are different from those found on the West Coast, and
certainly China. The fiery spice of Sichuan and Hunan cuisines may rule San
Francisco, but Bay State eateries, like this one, are dominated by the milder, more
savory/sweet flavors of Cantonese cuisine. Both are Americanized. There's much
more meat on the plate, vegetables are fewer and firmer, and, of course, Western
ingredients (onion, carrot), replace unfamiliar ones (offal, bitter gourd).
Waiters here politely serve you such familiar menu items without comment. But
if you choose right, you earn a broad smile, and praise (for the dish and for you).
Order jumbo shrimp with walnuts in creamy sauce ($14.95) and you get the pink
crustaceans tossed in a light mayonnaise sauce, with whole candied walnuts, served
on a bed of steamed broccoli and carrots. It sounds odd but looks beautiful, and the
taste is a surprise. There's a spectrum of textures (meaty, firm, creamy, crunchy),
which offer an array of effects on your tongue (salty, sweet, milky, cool, warm) that
are all pleasurable. "It's always been my favorite, since I was a kid," another dining
companion, Phil Lee, tells me between bites. Lee has enjoyed the dish at Chinatown
restaurants over the past 30 years. "Theirs is very good."
Best Little Restaurant is a retirement project for owner Frank Wong, a founder
of the Chinatown dim sum institution China Pearl some 20 years ago. Many dishes
here demonstrate that experience and expertise.
Among my favorites: brilliantly fresh pea shoots sauteed simply in garlic
($13.95); braised-then-deep-fried pork ribs ($11.50), both tender and somehow
light; subtly curried Singapore-style rice noodles with shrimp, scallion, and a
wonderful aroma ($7.95); hon sue bean curd ($9.95), a deeply savory hot pot tofu
seasoned with ground pork and mushrooms (sorry, vegetarians).
With 181 dishes on the menu, and as many stories behind them, it's a good
addition to that short list of Chinatown restaurants where, with some advice from
the wait staff, dinner will definitely be good. Best to get on their good side. You
want their smile of approval when you order well.
Indian fare in Wellesley feels right at home
SINGH'S CAFE
312 Washington St. (Route 16), Wellesley, 781-235-1666, www.singhscafe.com.
All major cards. Wheelchair accessible.
Prices Appetizers $3.95-$10.95. Entrees $10.95-$21.95. Desserts $2.95-$4.95.
Hours Mon-Thu 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m., Fri-Sat noon-10:30 p.m., Sun noon-10 p.m.
Liquor Full bar.
May we suggest Sarson ka saag, lamb rogan josh, appetizer platters, salty lassi.
BY LOUISE KENNEDY, GLOBE CORRESPONDENT
An Indian restaurant in Wellesley is a rare find. A bargain here is an even rarer
find. But a bargain Indian restaurant? Unimaginable - unless you've discovered
Singh's Cafe.
Singh's occupies the ill-fated below-street-level space in a nondescript brick
building on Washington Street that has seen a number of restaurants (most recently
Vela) come and go. But this one feels like a keeper. For one thing, Singh's Cafe
does a bustling take-out and delivery business, making the slightly odd location less
of an impediment. For another, it has a full bar - yet another welcome anomaly in
this town. And then there's the daily attraction of a lunch buffet, with an everchanging menu of items both familiar and unexpected. It's $7.95 weekdays, $11.95
on weekends (try sticking to that budget for any other brunch-time buffet).
Most important, though, is the food. Chef-owner Harpreet Singh produces
consistently fresh textures and cleanly focused flavors, thanks, no doubt, to his
insistence on grinding his own spices every day. The care shows in everything from
a deliciously pure spinach-ness in the Punjabi dish sarson ka saag to the delicate
flecks of spice in the basmati rice. Even such standard condiments as the mango
chutney display an unusual clarity and punch.
Singh also owns the Kebab Factory in Somerville, so it's no surprise that the
selection of kebabs here is extensive and appealing. Singh's non-vegetarian
appetizer platter is an easy way to sample a few, from succulent chicken to fragrant
lamb. But that means you won't have room for the vegetarian platter; you'd better
at least order a couple of vegetable samosas, which are flaky without, just moist and
spicy enough within.
Wash down the apps with Flying Horse, Taj, or another Indian beer, then move
on to the main courses. Punjabi dishes are a specialty and reliably tasty, but we
don't find any weak spots in the other corners of the extensive menu, either. On a
dinner visit, lamb ragan josh, smoothly enrobed in its warm red sauce, is
particularly addictive.
Generous portions and enticing variety barely leave room for dessert, especially
as the friendly waitress brings a creamy, soothing salty lassi to accompany the
Punjabi saag. (That is the second unexpected treat of the evening, after an amusebouche that paired a tender shrimp with a tiny cup of magically complex tomato
soup.)
Still, we can't resist ordering kheer, that milky improvement on standard-issue
rice pudding - for the toddler, we tell ourselves. Never mind that, when the gracious
and unhurried service extends to playing with the baby while we chat over tea, we
can't stop eating every last spoonful ourselves.
vook
Created with Vook
Visit vook.com

Cheap Eats - Boston.com

Transcription

Similar documents

Lunch Menu Sushi Maki

bourbon chicken

Chicken Lo Mein - Printable Kosher Recipes

Putting Peru on the Map

Well-Traveled Wife

de greef magazine spring 2015 EN

LULMay16posterFINAL

large PineaPPleS

Idiot`s Kitchen Recipe – General Tso`s Chicken (Thighs)

View Bethpage`s Take Home Menu