melon's Profile
Szechuan Peppercorns- Who piles them on?
I love New Shanghai but the last time I was there I got the Chongqing chicken and was a little disappointed. They really piled on the dried chilies and chili flakes, but there weren't a ton of peppercorns and not much flavor. There is another spicy chicken dish on the menu with virtually the same (English) name that has more ma la, fewer chili flakes. I think it's the "Stir Fried Chicken with Spicy Capsicum" or 三 椒 煸 雞
experiences with Sofra catering? other good caterers with Middle Eastern menus?
Thanks everyone, Sofra was a huge hit! We got the chicken with chickpeas / tahini, lamb saganaki, beef kebabs (like kofte) with pistachio. The beef kebabs were the big hit, but the chicken was perfectly moist and tender. We also had the beet tzatziki which people went bonkers over, and the smokey eggplant, which was good but not striking. The lamb meatballs were a little dense, but I liked them. Everything was well-seasoned and beautifully presented. Just one thing: we asked for enough for 50 and they recommended 2 large pans of each main. Our party was 45. We'd made our own apps, sides and salads and another main both for fun and for backup, and STILL we had almost no leftovers. This speaks to how tasty everything was, AND to the appetites of our guests, but my recommendation with Sofra catering is to round up twice.
What to order at Mary Chung's?
I'm so glad you brought this up because I just went for the first time the other night! I was only in for a light bite so I got hot and sour soup and some spicy pickled cabbage. I think my expectations were a little too high for the rather bland and gloppy hot and sour soup, BUT the cabbage pickle was wonderful, dark and tangy and spicy and not like any other cold Chinese slaw-like/pickle preparation I've had. It is a nice, cheap salad-y side to tack on to their heavier dishes. Also loved the old-school atmosphere and staff. Can't wait to try the rest of your recommendations!
experiences with Sofra catering? other good caterers with Middle Eastern menus?
The menu looks good to me, but I haven't eaten at Sofra OR Oleana.
My parents love Middle Eastern food and we're doing a 70th birthday party for them with drop-off (or pick-up) catering. I wanted something a little fancier than hummus and kebabs and I'll probably supplement with some appetizers etc. Thanks for your help!
-----
Sofra
1 Belmont St, Cambridge, MA 02138
Oleana
134 Hampshire St., Cambridge, MA 02139
Recommendations for old school/divey/gritty Boston spots - restaurants and bars (w/ or w/o food)
Steve "The Rifleman" Flemmi used to eat at the Busy Bee in Brookline...
-----
Busy Bee Restaurant
1046 Beacon St, Brookline, MA 02446
Boston Chinatown: Best Chinese restaurant for food, value and service
I have always had great (Szechuan/Sichuan) food at good prices and very friendly, competent service at New Shanghai on Hudson Street. I haven't tried any of the other kinds of American-ish Chinese food they have.
Their online menu is weird but don't let that deter you
http://www.newshanghairestaurant.com/menu.htm
-----
New Shanghai Restaurant
21 Hudson St, Boston, MA 02111
Northern Thai food
I'm sorry to belabor the sausage point, but sai ua is one of my favorite foods.
Let us know if you see sai ua at either Montien or S&I! (or I will if I go first)
The only place I have seen it around here is Boda, in Portland ME!
thai hut!
I just had a surprisingly good meal at Thai Hut! A decent Tom Yum and a more than great Pad Kee Mao! The gorgeous, fresh bird chilies in fish sauce (with minced garlic and a tiny bit of tomato) that the waitress/hostess gleefully and generously supplied when I asked may have been what really made the meal. I tried to save some leftovers but I just ate them when I got home 15 minutes later, that's how much I liked it. With very friendly staff and decent prices, this is going on the regular rotation.
Note: this brief note is for people who walk by Thai Hut (near Inman / Kirkland) every day but never stop in because it looks like your average below average neighborhood takeout. It's not a destination restaurant but I'm sure glad to have it down the street. Plus Rod Dee doesn't deliver to my house.
-----
Thai Hut
93 Beacon St, Somerville, MA 02143
Cheap eats in Boston around tourist locations (Freedom Trail,Aquarium,Science Museum,etc)
I just want to second Courthouse Seafood if you go to the Science Museum on a nice day. It is a 15 minute walk into East Cambridge from the Science Museum. Low on ambience, but the people are nice, the fish is fresh and I always leave happy.
(PS If you are real walkers, you can walk off the Courthouse Seafood by either walking further into Cambridge toward Harvard Square/Harvard Art Museums, or back in and toward the North End/Park Street area for freedom trail, OR you can do your sightseeing from a kayak on the Charles, boat launch near the Science Museum!)
Let's make a list of bars without TVs
Shays actually has a TV at the bar and it is often on. That said, it is at the far end of a long skinny bar area so it's not all that distracting.
Little Q Hot Pot/Chinatown
We had a great meal at Little Q last night. Since there were 5 of us we were able to sample the Mala, the Mongolian, the Original and the Kimchi broths. Mongolian and Mala were the crowd favorites; the other two were fairly forgettable. Mala had a surprising but pleasant sweetness to it; like the cumin lamb at Thailand Cafe. No visible Sichuan peppercorns unfortunately, but bubbling with cumin seeds, dried peppers, and other odd roots and nuts, it still satisfied and invigorated. The mixed vegetable baskets were overflowing with corn, tomatoes, mushrooms, spinach leaves, cabbage and baby bok choy, and the paper thin cuts of meat (lamb, beef and pork) seemed to stay tender no matter how distracted we got from our task, leaving them in several minutes too long. I've done cook-your-own and shabu-shabu before and was never all that thrilled with the genre, but the variety and richness of their broths and generosity of both spirit and serving size at this place had me planning my next trip back.
Kaffir lime leaves?
I just asked about these at Christina's the other day and they said that they had been banned. I don't feel 100% confident about this information because the young man reported that they had been banned "for years" and I see here that they were available at Christina's this past October.
I haven't had much luck finding more information about a ban online, hopefully because it doesn't exist! Has anyone seen any kaffir lime leaves in the Boston area recently?
Thanks!
Opening date for Saus
It is a good idea but I get the feeling that one of these young entrepreneurs spent some of their post B-school time in the East Village, near
http://www.pommesfrites.ws/menu.htm
I'm sure PF isn't the only frites place in the world; the only reason I say that is that when I first moved back from NYC my first thought was, which clever NYC restaurant concept would I steal and present as my own if I had any entrepreneurial spirit?
Blue Room Bummer
Blue Room was in fact a bit of a bummer for us last night. The evening started off well as we sat at the bar and had fabulous drinks under the care of a charming and enthusiastic bartender. In retrospect, it may have been his charm and enthusiasm that unfairly raised our expectations for our meal. Once seated, we ordered a sardine appetizer, the lamb top with fregola sarda (like Israeli couscous, we learned) for him and the hanger steak for me. The room was packed, and everyone on the dining room staff seemed to be really sweating it. I don't usually care that much about service quality unless something is truly irksome, but our server was both over the top unctuous while also managing to be for the most part inattentive. Our sardines, while fresh and perfectly grilled, came with a puttanesca sauce that looked lovely but was missing the sauce’s typical pungency and richness. In general I would say that all of what we ordered wound up being one mysterious factor less than the sum of its parts. My steak was fine (medium rare), but the bed of cabbage and squash that accompanied it was underseasoned and just didn’t hang together somehow. My DC ordered his lamb top medium, but it arrived bloody and blue. The couscous/almond combo was pebbly and a little too al dente, and if the yogurt featured the asofoetida promised by the menu, our taste buds were not subtle enough to discern it. After literally two bites, DC shyly asked our server if they could put the lamb back in for a few minutes. When it was returned to our table the plate was in worse shape than it was when it was sent to the kitchen, a sloppy mess. This may be a question for the General board, but I kind of felt like for $27 the Blue Room could have afforded a do-over for that plate, or at least for the sides. I’m not really sure what the rules are for that.
In the end, we left the restaurant feeling kind of bummed. Full disclosure, I am the kind of CH who is often disappointed by fancy restaurants, not only because I am cheap but because I just generally prefer stronger flavors and I guess what you would call “traditional” cooking. BUT, having had such a lovely time for the first 25 minutes, we both agreed that it might be worth going back to sit at the bar sometime on a quieter night and having an appetizer or two.
-----
The Blue Room
Hampshire and Portland streets, Cambridge, MA 02139
best lamb dish?
It's my bf's birthday this weekend and he LOVES him some lamb. Can anyone recommend a great lamb dish at a $$$ but not $$$$ restaurant in Boston/Cambridge/Somerville?
Thanks all!
'Tis the Season! -- What's the WORST "perfect gift for a food-lover" you've ever received?
A radish roser!
Downtown/Chinatown/Theater District dinner?
New Shanghai is awesome. I have lunch there a few times a month, and can vouch for their numbing (dizzying) hot bamboo shoot (MA LA all caps), flaky leek "case" (pie), dan dan noodles, ma po tofu (with leeks, nice!), "green bean tofu with szechuan style" (which I think is usually called "cold jelly" or something like that - it's actually noodles with no green beans or tofu involved as far as I can tell) and savory, addictive chongqing chicken. I usually take leftovers back to work which I then proceed to eat covertly at my desk 2 hours later. Plus, they're nice.
-----
New Shanghai Restaurant
21 Hudson St, Boston, MA 02111
Mussel focused restaurants
Also, does anyone know if there are any good European-style moules frites to be found in Cambridge or Somerville? ECG and Lord Hobo both have mussels but they have coconut milk / curry twists. I am looking for something a little wine-y and garlic-y.
-----
Lord Hobo
92 Hampshire St, Cambridge, MA 02141
C Market has fresh mangosteens
I think they kind of taste like more citrus-y lychees with a touch of grape. They're nice.
Need a new direction for cauliflower
This is so easy that I feel silly posting it, but a reminder that cauliflower is great in brunch-y type dishes. I keep it all clean and prepped in my fridge so I can throw it into whatever. I just whirred a few florets in the food processor, sauteed them in butter, scrambled with eggs and romano cheese, drizzled with just a little olive oil, s&p, and INHALED.
Best grilled fish
We had a great meal at Elias' this past weekend. Re: rude service, the waitress was gruff at first but by the end of the meal she warmed up and revealed herself to be a natural comedian. Everything is served family style and was fresh and delicious, including steamed beets served with their greens, lemon potatoes, the most garlicky tzatziki I have ever had, and a generous Greek salad. Grilled shrimp, (whole!) flounder, and sea bass steak. Obscene portion sizes, no menus and no rush. I love Taverna Kyclades, but E.C. has a much homier, more neighborhood-y feel and I will be back.
Where to buy sumac in Queens?
The Trade Fair on 37th and Ditmars in Astoria has it; I bet most of the Trade Fairs do.
can I move to Greenpoint?
I haven't been over there in a while, but my pick is
http://www.lomzynianka.com/
Hearty-but-somehow-clean-and-light tasting Polish food, and I believe they are BYOB.
Also, the Black Rabbit is a great bar with a fun cheese plate / wine flight.
Chao Thai
Is the sausage there the loose, herby, citrusy kind of sausage, or is the chorizo-looking, "tighter" one? Sorry I don't know what anything is called. I am trying to find the former sausage and I usually end up with the latter. If not Chao, does anyone know where to find this Northern treat?
shaanxi or shanxi and or uighur or uyghur food in Shanghai?
Anyone know where I can get either? I went to Bejing last year and fell in love with both. Thanks in advance!
Cafe Brazil recommendations
Had absolutely dreadful experience at Cafe Brazil recently. I can't comment on the food, because we ended up leaving as a result of the greedy, pushy, overbearing manager/owner! The rest of the waitstaff was lovely and I feel sorry for them. I won't be back.
Starving Student in NYC
there is an Indian deli on 9th ave around 20th/21st street that has cheap and very good Punjabi food. Stuff like samosa chaat for 4 dollars, entrees for $5, etc. I can personally recommend the samosa chaat but haven't tried their other stuff.
jersey city indian?
I hear lots of good things about South Indian food in Jersey City and I'm meeting my friend for dinner on Friday -- any recent experiences on Newark Ave? I found a couple of mixed reviews about Rasoi but nothing too recent.
(We're on public transit)
Thanks!!
