Just to elaborate a bit further, somehow in the recesses of my memory I remember that one of their eggplant dishes actually has basil (though not necessarily black beans) in it.

Shangri-La in Belmont does some of the best eggplant dishes I've ever eaten in my life. The version that is spicy with pork in particular. They also have numerous dishes with basil... bet they'd do this for ya.

http://www.shangrilachinese.com/dinne...

Heck Asian Gourmet in Concord is pretty darned good as well if you are coming from points West,

I just ordered some from a highly rated ebay seller for $7 including shipping.

Hah, this thread got me thinking. As we had a family friend that had a funky brainlike yogurt culture that you moved from batch to batch. I now now it must have been Kefir...

Any luck hunting down Kefir grains in Boston?

I think most of the stuff (unless fried) would travel well. Don't even know the name of the owner, but if you ask, they are always very straightforward.

Anything on the chalkboard is the really good Northern Thai stuff that is their specialty.

If you want Thai North at it's best (IMHO MUCH better than S&I in terms of complexity and overall flavor) you need to be there when the owner is in the kitchen... call first.

Totally agree, though their Pad Thai has always been very good.

I would add Thai North and Dok Bua to the mix. Both VERY respectable options.

Nice tip. Gosh I used to end up in West Palm for work quite a bit and never knew about Napoleon... DRAT, DRAT, DRAT.

When I was in Dusseldorf it was the season for tiny spring potatoes and white asparagus which were on the menu everywhere. YUM.

Great taste bakery often has them in the resto side. Very nicely done. Good Cantonese food in general.

The single order of Schwein Haxe at Braurei Zum is something like 5 pounds...

I still just can't stand dinky sides, dinky anything at a resto that is supposed to serve hearty German / Eastern Euro style food. Just misses the point entirely.

You just took away ALL desire I ever had to try the place. And I love this type of food. Sorry, Wurst, and Schwein Haxe and the like can not be served in nouvelle cuisine portions, particularly at nouvelle cuisine prices.

I've commented on it before, but this place in Dusseldorf is awesome if you ever want the real McCoy:

http://www.brauerei-zum-schiffchen.de/

Hmmmm very good point...

Been going to this place on and off since 1996. Always serviceable, and they have beer. Never a superstar, but the chow was never bad.

Tried to hit Taqueria El Amigo this weekend and it was (just started recently) closed on Sunday.

Se we hit TM instead. Short version is everything tasted tired and stale. The guac had the sour taste of sitting around too long.

I had the Babacoa tacos and the Al Pastor. Both just tasted offish like they had been sitting around too long. DO had the carnitas and the pastor tacos, also just stale-ish.

The chips were oily. The pico de gallo also had that fermenty taste of old salsa.

Never again, too many good options in Waltham, heck, I'd eat at the Margarita's chain before I'd hit TM again.

Sorry to cross this place off the list, the food was just bad.

Gosh I almost ordered that okra dish... I LOVE Okra

I don't think so, lunch, dinner, they always seem pretty busy.

So, so, so true.

I am SURE they would be sensitive to food allergy issues.

Penzey's won't have it. Witches Weeds in Salem MA has all sorts of funky botanicals including chinchona.

They will certainly do takeout.

I'm not even a veggie, but I like veggie food.

Had their Tempeh Ruben sandwich with sauerkraut and it was just spectacular. They gave me half a side salad and half an order of sweet potato fries as my side. Both were delicious.

Think pretty much every meal I've had there has been wonderful.

Guess I just did not feel that any real Moxie flavor came through and did not really add anything to the wings. Just tasted sweet and gooey.

Huh, I was underwhelmed by the Moxie wings myself. Had them last week and can think of a dozen wing preps I prefer, including versions at Buff's, Shangri-La, and Golden Garden.

I think it is all made there, but I think they take some shortcuts...

Straining my belt buckle.

Just ate that for lunch! With rice cake. Wow. Ate the whole darned huge bowl of soup. Fabulous soup! I swear after they braise the pigs for I think they then char it over charcoal. Great stuff.

So having done a more systematic sampling of Verrill's baked goods:

- Pies are generally excellent, including the pecan a personal fave.
- Christmas cookies wonderful
- Chocolate loaf cake with chocolate frosting. A bit steep at $8 for a smallish loaf, but pretty good and not too sweet.
- Cupcakes, some are good, some are waxy/frosted and forgettable. Carrotcake cupcake almost inedible.
- Coconut macaroon with chocolate dip. Waxy chocolate dip tastes like crappy couverture, coconut part is okay.
- Coconut, butterscotch, almond bar tooth achingly sweet, but not bad in a pinch.

Duh, sorry.