Scruffy The Cat's Profile
Fresh montreal bagels
Just remember that I believe it's a cash-only market. Or at least it was the last time I went there.
Chow-worthy in Nonantum?
I had a "panini" the other day at Maria di Napoli. Super friendly people, but sadly, the sandwich was meh. Cottony commercial bread, sad tomatoes, and some harsh vinegar with some mozzarella. It was lunch, but definitely not worth having a second time.
Where can I find crumpets?
They are in nearly every supermarket around here, next to the English muffins. Stop and Shop, Star, Trader Joe's, etc..
Where to buy homemade pita
Also Indian groceries have the right kind of pita. Kontos makes both pita and naan and sells it in nearly the same package. They're fairly interchangable. Lately Whole Foods and Trader Joe's sells naan that's not the right shape, but the right texture/flavor for gyros.
Old C. Tsar's/Ariadne Site: Any new resto there now?
Lam's is actually more Vietnamese with a couple of Thai dishes thrown in. It is very quiet, always has a nice round table for 8 available, a full bar, and is reasonably priced. They won't try to move you along or give you a hard time if you want to sit and talk. The food is very accessible so even my very conventional in-laws can find something that suits them.
For finer dining I might go somewhere else but if the main purpose is the gathering with good food which will please everyone, I'd choose Lam's. I 've never been impressed with Karoun and Kouzina, while the food is great, definitely has no room for a table for 8 and is a loud space.
Amarin of Thailand in Newton Corner also is quiet and can accomodate 8 with ease.
Lumiere is quiet and delicious and can accomodate 8 but the bill will be spendy.
Does anyone serve steamed cheeseburgers anymore?
Where's the "like" button? It would be awesome.
Overhaul of Union Bar and Grill
Hope so! The one on the website is the one that made me grrr. For what it's worth, I really do hope they fix the things that aggravate me. It's a convenient location and I really liked it when they first opened.
Does anyone know where to buy pearl sugar?
Cardullo's in Harvard Square has 2 kinds. i bought some this past week.
Overhaul of Union Bar and Grill
Yes- Fine dining. But they clearly have been trying for "neighborhood joint" for years and $40 isn't my idea of "hey, let's get a burger at the neighborhood joint." Gaslight has a ton of options in the $29-$39 range. Myers & Chang, too. If they acted like they were fine dining, I wouldn't blink. But that, combined with the pretentious service is really off-putting.
Overhaul of Union Bar and Grill
I see they haven't changed their ridiculously overpriced wine list. For a neighborhood joint they really don't have many (any??) accessible bottles for a casual weeknight dinner. I expect prices like those at a higher-end destination.
Overall, I think they are due for some changes. The pretentious service and that wine list drive me bonkers.
Marzipan stollen
LOL, I _did_ tell you the best stollen I can find! ;-) The best stollen I have tasted as of this moment is the Burdick's stollen. It is not a marzipan stollen with the tunnel o' marzipan, but it is the best overall and still almond-y. I am still searching for the perfect panetone.
And yes, I have tasted the WF versions and found them lacking. Haven't gotten to Formaggio for a taste test of these 2 products yet. Maybe next week.
Marzipan stollen
I have tried the stollens at Marshall's and every year I am disappointed. They're fine in the way that ANY stollen is better than no stollen at all, but I find them dry and chemically-tasting.
I have a similar obsession with pannetone.
Marzipan stollen
That is true, but I do believe there may be almond flour or something in the ingredients because it does have an almondy goodness to it even though it doesn't have the magical marzipan surprise in the middle. The reason I like it so much is that the bread part is not dry and cardboard-y like almost all the other marzipan stollens I have had. I'm a bit mad for stollen and tend to buy them wherever I see them in the name of "just trying to see if it's any good".
Marzipan stollen
They often have some at Marty's Liquors in Newton. Though not technically a marzipan stollen, my favorite local stollen comes from Burdick's. It puts all the others to shame.
Where can I get farm store free-range fresh dressed chickens south of Boston?
If you're close to Rhode Island, the Pawtucket Winter Farmer's Market should have some poultry farmers & chickens.
http://www.farmfresh.org/food/farmersmarkets_details.php?market=29#vendors
Need Newton/Framingham rec
We have started meeting my in-laws at Sel de la Terre. They're very non-adventurous eaters and prefer "American" food, but the menu at SDLT or at least the one at the mall is really not overly challenging and they liked it. They especially oohed and ahhed at the quinoa. ;-)
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Sel de la Terre
774 Boylston St., Boston, MA 02199
Need Newton/Framingham rec
I'd go to Paddy's or O'Hara's before the Biltmore or the Local. The Biltmore is really not good in my opinion and the Local has an unpleasant attitude.
Sel De La Terre is in the Natick Mall and also has very solid food which will please a variety of palates.
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The Biltmore
1205 Chestnut St, Newton Upper Falls, MA 02464
Sel De La Terre
1245 Worcester Street, Natick, MA 01760
Fresh or Fresh Frozen Octopus ?
Depends on how big you want it. There are some frozen at the Newton WF which look pretty appealing. They're not tough adult sized but not the too-small babies either. 2 to a package. I make Greek octopus fairly regularly and I'd happily make these.
I'd be wary of "fresh" since I don't think they come from local waters and I can't imagine they travel over distance well. Besides, what you find most places as "fresh" is actually thawed, like 9lives said.
Max and Leo's. Real pizza just off exit 17, Newton.
Thanks. I have always found that area really intimidating. I'd suggest they put parking info on their website for other people who also don't know where to park, but I sent them an email asking about an ingredient (allergen) last week and haven't heard back so I don't know how well they do with online communication.
Max and Leo's. Real pizza just off exit 17, Newton.
Where can you park for this place? I'm too intimidated by crossing Washington Street and the creepy parking garage at the Crowne Plaza and there are never spots in front.
Fiorella's post-renovation (slightly longish)
I completely agree. When we started going there, maybe 8 years ago or so, we could just walk in and get a table. We all were happy at the very decent red-sauce Italian, but knew that it wasn't fine dining. Just a neighborhood joint with a good veal parm. An easy and reasonably priced night out with waitresses who didn't give us a hard time about having little kids with us. But now? Way too big a pain for the quality of the experience. I'm quite happy with the takeout from the Fiorella's express now. It does the job on those nights when I'm just too tired to cook.
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Fiorella's
187 North St, Newtonville, MA 02460
Fiorella's post-renovation (slightly longish)
Can't cope with the wait and the valet any more for an "easy" family dinner. We just get takeout from Fiorella's Express in Brighton if we want it quickly. The veal parm is just as good and they have my favorite goat cheese and candied walnut salad with lemon vinaigrette. If I'm just dying for the wood-burning oven we'll get takeout from the Newton location but it's hugely irritating to have to valet for that. Didn't see a spot just for takeout orders.
We still think the food is good but the crowds make sitting in the actual restaurant just too much.
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Fiorella's
187 North St, Newtonville, MA 02460
Gift ideas for European Friends
this is interesting. I almost brought maple syrup to the UK this year but when I got there and found it in my local supermarket I was glad that I didn't haul it over.
Gift ideas for European Friends
When I brought gifts to my Euro friends this summer, I brought Taza chocolates and a whole bunch of dried New Mexican chilis and interesting salsas. While it's not all that hard to find many international ingredients in the bigger cities, somehow the Tex-Mex stuff is hard to find and is very popular. I hear that hot sauce is in high demand. Too bad you can't buy Inner Beauty off the shelf any more- that would be an awesome gift.
tourist here!! where, oh where....
Thanks so much for the writeup. It's great to hear how our city sounds through a visitor's eyes. And very glad you had a nice time!
B&G Oysters - Are you kidding me!?
Ok, I don't have a lot of comments but wanted to say that "homeopathic amount of basil" was hilarious.
To make this on-topic, I will say that I was at B&G a couple of months ago and was extremely underwhelmed. I did like the fried oyster app, but had the lobster BLT for lunch and it was really meh. Almost tasted off but not enough to complain about. Service was meh- again, not enough to complain about, but nothing really positive either- a teeny bit smug. Bill was pretty high- $100 or so, if I recall.
I am not hurrying back. There are other places that offer good oysters.
options for a quiet, low-key, late-night Continental/British/French/Italian meal (after 10:30 pm), within a 10 minute taxi of Green Park....
I liked Les Deux Salons though it wasn't nearly as low key as Caldesi. It was very loud and bustling. Then again, we went at 8 vs 10:30. The food was excellent, however.
options for a quiet, low-key, late-night Continental/British/French/Italian meal (after 10:30 pm), within a 10 minute taxi of Green Park....
How about Caffé Caldesi on Marylebone Lane? It's low-key, pleasant Tuscan food and they are open until 11.
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Caffé Caldesi
118 Marylebone Ln, Paddington, England W1U 2, GB
Duke of Wellington vs. Great Queen Street
I don't think those reviews are really fair. The reviews are anywhere from one year to 3 years old and do we really know who "Foodie" or "Paul" is? Maybe they have an axe to grind. I will say that I was there last week and my food was delicious. Everything was full of flavor as one would want in August, so it hadn't travelled long or far for sure. I found the flavors to be clean and let the freshness of the ingredients shine through. The combinations were simple enough- no wild head-to-tail stuff, rather good ingredients, simply prepared. See a sample menu here: http://www.thedukew1.co.uk/menus/diningroom.pdf
It was not inexpensive, but what is? I was there exactly a year ago and it was delicious as well. Service both times was very good- friendly and approachable, but attentive.
I had a delicious quail and my husband had lamb which he loved. I didn't try his lamb but the quail was crisp on the outside and savory but moist on the inside. Both teenage boys had steak and fries and the quality of the meat was outstanding. The greens on the side were lightly dressed and super fresh- one was a mixed spring greens, and the other was watercress with a lemon vinaigrette. Everyone's dessert looked good but my sticky toffee pudding was outstanding. Perfect balance of sweet with a hint of caramelly saltiness. I would have gotten it anyway but the server said it was her favorite, too.
Downstairs in the pub area it looked close and hot and too busy. We had originally booked there but were happy to move to the lovely dining room upstairs. Be warned there is a short flight of very narrow and steep stairs.
I am very picky about my meals when we were on vacation and it says something that I have wanted to return to the Duke. If we return to the area next year we will go again- for a lot of reasons but mostly because I need to have that sticky toffee pudding again.
If I had to ding them on something it's the reservation process. Both last year and this year we reserved by email and both times ended up with a little confusion. Last year we wanted the Pub menu but they ended up seating us upstairs (a better option for us actually) and this year I had also forgotten the crush in the Pub and reserved downstairs and they us at the last table near the door- too tight a fit. But they happily put us upstairs and my teenage boys were still able to get items off the grill menu and everyone was extremely pleasant about it so I had no problems ultimately. Next year though I'm just reserving upstairs.
Duke of Wellington vs. Great Queen Street
I haven't been to Great Queen Street but have been to the Duke of Wellington (first floor) twice and enjoyed it thoroughly both times.
That being said, from your hotel you could just walk up to the Baker Street station and hop on from there to go to Great Queen Street. It's only 3 or so minutes longer walk, but in the opposite direction and one more change but not too bad. For reference, when we visit, we stay in an apartment around the corner from your hotel on New Cavendish Street.
Or else you can hop in a cab- we didn't find them terribly expensive when we were visiting last week. That's figuring 4 people in a cab.
