I saw a Tiramisu B&J flavor at, of all places, the Somerville Target on Somerville Ave. I didn't look further into the freezer, but perhaps they will carry other Italian dessert flavors?

Bluefin in Porter Exchange can do the trick for inexpensive, decent sushi. They have several combo deals which lower the prices, including a broad selection of 5 maki rolls for $28.00 etc.

There was only one other mention early in the thread, but I am consistently happy with Passage to India in Porter Square as well. They have all the stand-bys, sometimes interesting specials and are very consistent. The spicing level also seems accurately adjusted to what a diner requests...

I second all these Otto emotions: regarding ambiance, sauce, quality of ingredient and surprising tastiness, yet lightness of crust.

I took out two slices--cranberry/butteernut/ricotta and spinach/chicken/asiago. (Needed to ask for the run-down of types of slices of course.) It was nice that the chicken seemed to have come from a real, roasted bird as opposed to some pre-formed "cutlet" type pieces. The butternut squash slice really benefited from better warming in home toaster oven and got more flavorful, as the squash portion was dollops of a relatively spicy squash puree, which wouldn't have tasted fully flavored cold or at room temp.

Only two personal quibbles are:
1: Agree that a pinch of salt could help everything
2: Some of the more creative slices, to my tastes, seem best as a $3.00 slice as the tastes might get kind of "out there" for a whole pizza.

The Cambodian side of the menu is stronger and also tends to have more interesting specials. I recommend any catfish preparation (they often do a carmelized, stone-pot catfish, akin to Vietnamese prep) the curry aux legumes or the poulet citronelle. Both the latter are bascailly curry dishes, but there are overall, enough fresh herbs and veggies to make them interesting IMHO.

Capone Foods (Union Square, Somerville or North Cambridge) and Dave's Fresh Pasta (Davis Square) may also be options. Not totally aure about bolognese, but definitely many other fresh sauces made in-house.

Pasta portions were definitely entree-size. My DC and and I split everything down the middle + 1 glass of wine each and we were quite satisfied.

I'm curious if they still do the pizzas as the late-night menu, but I forgot to ask.

A dining companion and I checked out Sagra last Thursday night for dinner. Sagra got some early board attention when it opened 2-3? years ago (esp. for the Neapolitan pizzas and selection of antipasti) when it opened, but seemed to re-invent itself a couple of times, never arriving on exactly what it wanted to be. Simple, fresh Italian? Boston sports bar? Davis Square lounge?

In the end, the menu and the concept seems directly re-tooled for June 2009 recessionary dining times and my DC and I found everything straightforward, fresh and very reasonably priced.

Although the website has pizzas listed, they don't seem to be on the dinner menu anymore and the secondi piatti are more New American/meat and fish centric than Italian, but all was well executed.

We split:
Croquettes: ($6.00)--Triangular, fried fritters enriched with egg, cheese and tiny bits of pepperoncini. These were actualyl a bit bland and rich, a bit like a tender, bready mozzrella stick and I would have preferred more discernable pepperoncini for a bit of bite. However, for the price, the were clearly freshly fried and the advertized filling if caciocavallo cheese was tender and very milky-fresh
Steak Tips: ($14.00)--These were very well done, cooked medium exactly as requested and surprisingly showing off tangy, deep red wine marinade. Served with simple, chunky, slightly garlicky mashed potato and just barely wilted baby argula
Rigatoni w/ Sausage ($13.00)--Perfectly al dente extra thick rigatoni in a light sauce of garlic and olive oil. The combo of fresh tomato, roasted red peppers, rapini and sweet sausage was almost a "salsa" over the dish which added to flavor and surprising lightness.

So, a very easy, simple, fresh weeknite meal. I would def. go back for the pastas and the reaasonable prices are made more so by the fact that they currently accept Restaurant.com certificates.

Hello--
I'm planning a vacation in Seattle and Portland (3 days in each city) in mid-August. Being intimately familiar with the Boston/Cambridge, MA restaurant scene (and chowhound board!), I've had some good luck getting great deals at a handful of "known commodity" places that accept Restaurant.com certificates.

Restaurant.com isn't known for having the most chowish places among its restaurant subscribers, but can anyone recommend worthy places in Seattle and Portland proper that are on their list?

It's a great way to save a bit on food and also put tourist dollars toward other activities.

Thanks in advance!
Sugar04

Have sighted them at Alewife Discount Liquors (not sure if I am getting the name right, although I go fairly frequently) next to the Alewife/Fresh Pond Whole Foods.

I have reservations tomorrow night and now have a pretty good sense of the menu due to all these detailed posts. Thanks 'hounds! The restaurant has also officially posted the Cambridge menu on the site. Is the $32.00 prix fixe in effect for Wed. nights? I think I read that somewhere--maybe Daily Candy.

Not major info, but DiMio was closed for renovations all of July. Brown paper is still up on the walls and paper signage now says Stone Hearth Pizza.

I assume this is another branch of the Belmont outpost. I've been to Stone Hearth in Belmont ages ago, but I remember it as a similar experience to DiMio.

This sounds interesting at G@C. Is it an unadvertised special?, as I did not see anything on their website. Is it the entire menu or a special section for Sunday nites.

Unfortunately, that could make sense, (even though I also think it sounds $$) as the original poster cited a 1/2 chicken dinner costing $8.99. And obviously the fries and side salad weren't a great value add...

Hmmm, thanks for the updates from later diners, who have tried more on the menu. I had something fairly simple, while very hungry, so my review may have overstated the possibilities... It WAS slightly disorganized when I was there last week too, although I thought that could be temporary opening jitters. Ah well. It seems that it's hard for the edge of Porter/Harvard to gain and retain few, if any, destination dining spots.

1670 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA
617.876.0311

No problem. Yes, too early to tell how really good this place is (as I had a simple item when I was starving--so maybe was not as discerning as I might be on another occation) but I think the fact that it is already packed shows how this neighborhood hasn't had anything new and in a different international food group open in a while.

Had been waiting for this little Middle Eastern joint to open up for the past few months, along the Mass Ave. stretch heading from Harvard to Porter. The walls were papered for quite a long while, so I had hopes of it being casual, but decidedly sit-down. Instead, it's bright, clean, modern, with blonde wood tables, high-stools, simple pendant lighting, but overall much more of a take-out joint with everything under $10.00. (Also don't love the "punny" name...).

The menu has all the usual suspects--falafel, baba, hummous wraps, shwarma and kofta plates. Apps. include grape leaves, a couple of soups and varied Middle Eastern salad plates. One interesting offering seems to be the "ouzi" plates--described as a "feast of meat, rice, nuts and vegetables." These are avail. with baked lamb, roasted chicken, spicy baked fish and "samkeh harra?"

I stopped in for a late, light lunch and just ordered the litmus test of a falafel wrap. ($4.75) Very simple, but very fresh and flavorful. Chewy, thin, wrapper pita, three freshly-fried falafel balls, a light coating of of tahini, fresh tomato and romaine. The falafel had a pleasantly pronounced cinnamon overtone that was a little sweet but still savory. As I was pretty hungry, it did hit the spot and seemed quite tasty.

Although not something to go out of anyone's way for, seems like this is at least a Middle Eastern sandwich/light plates offering rounding out some of the usual Mexican, Thai, pizza, pub grub choices in this 'hood.

Thank you again Chowhound for revealing this cozy place! Went last night in the bitter cold and the welcome was warm and genuinely friendly while very professional. My dining companion and I were in grazing mode and we split:
--Grilled calamari/mushroom/lemon appetizer
--Pappardelle w/ house sausage and mushrooms
--Margherita pizza
--Strawberry cake with vanilla whipped cream and fresh strawberries

I was struck by how light and FRESH everything was, with the key tastes being the exact ingredients of the dishes. The calamari esp. was lightly charred to perfect, melt in mouth tenderness, and very prettily presented. The pizza was crisp and flavorful and I really tasted an extra fresh tang + creaminess from the imported bufula mozzarella. The owner was visting tables and he's especially proud of his brother sending him the bufula from Naples 2x per week.

Prices were very reasonable for the level of service and coziness. It felt a bit like being in Italy and we could linger as long as needed. (11pm close time is nice in this part of Cambridge, too.)
I'll be back!
--

I have two Francophile friends with small children, to whom I'd like to recommend La Voile. In addition to the numerous accolades mentioned in several threads, do the restaurant's charms extend to welcoming two well-behaved 4 year olds?

Is it certain that this place isn't a reiteration of Benjapon's? They seemed to be into making things cute-sy while serving pointless food.

I went to Benjapon's a grand total of one time--Penang red curry had exactly one vegetable--slices of dry, bitter, old eggplant and chicken larb seemed to be nothing but red onion larb. Cheap but yuk, yuk yuk. (That's why it was cheap.)

It is Angela's Cafe, according to Luis' business card. Yes, then he may be attempting a beer/wine license. In any case, they had a special red wine sangria last night, of which they were offering as complimentary, small "aperitifs" in small plastic cups . (Since, without the license, you can't charge anything, as I understand it.) It was a nice gesture, as are all their touches. My friend enjoyed several samples and we tipped accordingly. :).

Was intrigued by an earlier post (on a chipotle sweet potato recipe) on substituing low fat or skim evaporated milk for higher fat cream/butter.

Anyone have any really interesting recipes with this ingredient? Soups, pasta sauces, curries? Other?

Would be interested in savory recipes first as opposed to sweet.

Graciously organized by Allstonian, 12 hounds converged on YoMa for a Burmese feast earlier this week. The descriptions below support all the fresh/unusual/interesting/great combination of flavors reviews posted here before, which were what inspired the Chowdown in the first place.

A very good value overall, as we paid $12.00 each for a good grazing sample of lots of the menu. The flavors were powerful and unusual, so next time, I would actually go back for a smaller sampling of dishes to really focus on the individual elements.

Some photos to follow of the varied dishes soon, when other diners chime in!
Descriptions taken straight from the menu followed by brief commentary.

A4 — Burmese Samusar ($4.95)
(Fried crispy pastry filled with potato, shallot, cabbage, and spice powder)
Fried-up potato goodness. Very similar to an Indian samosa, but smaller, lighter, more subtle potato filling and less greasy than those can tend to be. Esp. since softball sized samosas can be all too ubiquitous.

A5 – JetThonJaw ($5.75)
(Pancake style tempura fried shredded shallot and batter mixed)
These were a table favorite. Spicy, crispy fried-up goodness. A sort of Burmese latke? Shallots really added a nice and unusual punch.

All the below salads were delicious and very fresh. I could definitely enjoy an entire plate of these as as a hot Summer evening meal. I preferred the non-meat version overall. The melding of flavors was unusual and refreshing before we moved on to some of the main plates.

T5 — ThaYetTheeThot (Green mango salad) ($6.25)
(Shredded fresh sour mango mixed with shredded cabbage, fresh shallot, grounded dried shrimp, roasted chili flake, grounded peanut, and cilantro)

T7 — WatTharThot(Roasted Pork salad) ($7.25)
(Roasted pork mixed with lemon grass, lime, shredded cabbage, cucumber, tomato, fresh shallot, roasted chili flake, garlic, and cilantro, and crispy grounded sweet rice)

T8 — AaMaeTharThot(Roasted Beef salad) ($7.45)
(Roasted beef mixed with lemon grass, lime, shredded cabbage, cucumber, tomato, fresh shallot, roasted chili flake, garlic, garlic sauce, cilantro, and crispy grounded sweet rice)

B2 — ShwePaYonTheeHin ($9.25)
(Oriental sweet pumpkin cooked with jumbo shrimp, tomato, ginger, shallot, lemongrass, and cilantro)
This was my favorite main dish overall. I'll go back for a full serving. The pumpkin appeared to be a more pedestrian squash or potato, but when tasted revealed pumpkin sweetness that went really nicely with the other elements of the "curry."

B3 — KhaYanTheeNut ($9.25)
(Oriental egg plant cooked with grounded peanut, shallot, garlic, ginger and tomato)
Soft and satisfying, but not toally memorable in terms of spices

B4 — MyitChinHin ($8.95)
(Sliced sour bamboo shoots cooked with tender pork, sweet roasted rice flour, shallot, garlic, ginger, chili, tomato and cilantro)
Interesting, but an acquired taste as the bamboo shoots really delivered a sour kick that, in some opinions, took over the dish.

B7 — Chicken Curry with Potato ($7.95)
(Chicken cooked with tomato, potato, ginger, garlic, shallot, and spice seasoning)
I can't remember if I tasted this...

D1 — ChinPoung Jaw ($4.85)
(Sour roselle leaf stir fried with shallot, garlic, green chili, spicy red chili flake, bamboo shoot, fish sauce, and salted dried shrimp)
One of the most unusual dishes, displaying the most assertive Southeast Asian elements--lots of fish sauce and fermentation. I found this too strong for my palate, but well worth trying as an authentic side-dish.

D3 — MyitJaw ($4.85)
(Bamboo shoot stir fried with Burmese baked bean, shallot, garlic, turmeric powder, and crispy shallot on top)
Don't think that I tried this

Y2 — OhnNoteKhotSwe ($6.75)
(Coconut chicken soup in wheat flour noodle, served with shredded fresh shallot, and crispy fried rice noodle on top)
This was very rich and to my taste, displayed a pretty direct combination of Indian/Thai cuisine. The coconut element tasted like a combination of Thai coconut curry mingled w/ the richness of an Indian coconut chutney. The richness was tempered by an underlying chili flavor. Liked the texture of the noodles. Soft, but still with a little satisfying bit.

Y4 — MeeShay ($7.65)
(Slow roasted pork stew with spicy soy bean sauce, Udon style rice noodle, pickle green mustard, bean sprout, cilantro, and scallion)
Don't think that I tried this

Y5 — SiJetKhotSwe ($7.65)
(Steam wheat flour egg noodle with roasted pork, crunchy shallot, garlic sauce, and scallion served with spicy coleslaw)
Don't think I tried this.

They also have a really nice salmon or red snapper filet in Veracruzana sauce, which in Jose's interpretation is peppers, onions, tomatoes, plenty of fresh cilantro, all bathed in verde sauce. I usually get that and it makes me feel less guilty about eating entire baskets of chips while waiting for the food. I agree with all posters that it's a solid and non-disappointing place overall!

At East Coast Grill, you'll be right next to some of the most praised ice cream in the area--Christina's on Cambridge Street. Many, many flavors, all with with a more gourment bent. Think kulfi, mint, orange-chocolate, etc.

Oh one more thing--it's calles Falzone's.

I peeked in at lunchtime today. It's a little sub shop, seemingly trying to go a little bit more gourmet. Everything under $10, except an 18" pie. Pizzas, a few pasta dishes (i.e. w/ pesto, w/ white cream sauce, w/ sundried tomatoes and olives), sandwiches (i.e. Italian, Italian tuna, the usual cold cuts, etc.)and salads. All the sandwiches use Iggy's bread. They have "signature" small round pizzas, cheese ($3.50) or toppings ($4.00). Porter Square Books' cafe around the corner was featuring the small round w/ topping for $3.50, so I saved my 50 cents and got it there. Chewy flatbreadish crust (fairly unsalted, but I am fine with that) topped with a mix of mozz/asiago and a sparing amount of carmelized onions, eggplant and roasted red pepper. Simple and fairly satisfying for the price. Will try a pasta dish next maybe. It is still more of a sub shop w/ an Italian bent, so maybe wouldn't go out of the way for it.

I tried a chicken lunch special (boneless chicken cooked with spinach, aloo baingan--potatoes and eggplant stewed to a yummy softness with tomatos, onion, ginger, cumin and just the lightest bit of oil + two very fresh tasting rotis) last week based on all the recommendations here. (As I am trying to practice portion control, I made ~ 3 meals out of it, which was very nice for the price.)

Another selling point is that PushP. is such a nice man! He seems like a really great neighbor to the stores next door to him, and told a couple of people ahead of me in line who were short a dollar or two, to just come back and pay in a couple of days.

Glad to hear that he is also open on weekends. Will check it out again. Again, something I never would have known about if not for Chowhound!

Yes, I am found out. ;). Liquor was exactly 1/2 the tab in this case.

It was one of those things where we should have just ordered a bottle of wine at the beginning, but instead ordered 3 glasses of wine each--which were all $8.00 each.