bakerboyz's Profile
1st Time Visitor to Paris...Need Help
This is all subject to change as we may have to "play things by ear a little" but I have made reservations for Chez Denise for Monday night, L'Ami Jean for Tuesday night, Le Cinq for lunch on Wednesday and our last night dinner at L'Ange 20. Possibly have crepes one afternoon at Breizh Cafe and then baguettes, cheeses, croissants, macaroons...so much to eat and so little time!! Arrive in London next Saturday and Paris on Monday. Thank you for your help. I promise to report back.
Thoughts on Chocolate walking tours
I was looking at several tours but am leaning towards the Paris-Walks Chocolate Tour which is 2 hours long and is only 27 Euros. Does anyone have any experience with this tour or other better options?
Also planning a Paris bike tour with Bike about Tours.
We will in Paris for 4 nights beginning Monday, May 7th and departing on Friday morning. So far I have made reservations at L'Ami Jean for Tuesday night and I am trying to get reservations at L'Ange 20 for Monday night if they are open. Hoping possibly to get to the Breizh Cafe for crepes one afternoon.
Thank you everyone for your help.
Any word on Grass Fed in JP?
Haven't been but was also curious so I went to Yelp and there were about 15 new reviews for Grass Fed. Many were not happy with the size of the burger, that you cannot ask for different cooking temps and the burger comes a la carte so after you order fries with your burger, it comes to about $13-$14 perhaps not so bad for a very good burger but not if it's small. Some of the reviews were excellent however.
Where to meet for drinks & light fare near Needham Center?
I second the Center Cafe. They do have a bar but with only about 4 seats.
Toscano Beacon Hill RW
Went for RW lunch yesterday. Had never been before so did not know what to expect. I thought that the atmosphere was really nice. I loved the way the restaurant was furnished, the separation of the restaurant into smaller rooms and it was such a warm day, the windows were opened to the outside. We were first served warm focaccia with extra virgin olive oil which was very good. My daughter started with the meatballs which I believe were a combination of pork and veal in a light tomato sauce...these were light and tasty. I unfortunately chose the minestrone, which as soon as it was set down I could tell from the color of the vegetables that it was old product and sure enough the vegetables were mushy and tasteless. For entrees, my daughter had a boneless chicken breast with porcini mushrooms in a tomato sauce. She proclaimed the dish to be good not great. Personally, I wouldn't combine the delicate, woodsy flavor of porcinis with a tomato based sauce. I ordered a 8 oz sirloin which was essentially, steak au poivre but with an Italian name. The steak was cooked a perfect medium rare and was nice if not earth shattering. Because of the lovely atmosphere, I so much wanted to love this place but I think the atmosphere was better than the food in the end.
Is Santarpio's the Best Pizza in Boston?
Maybe 10 years ago, just like this post. I haven't been to Max and Leo's yet in Newton Corner but I am dying to try their coal fired oven pizza, pretty much the only coal fired oven this side of New Haven and Brooklyn.
Anyone been to Pronti Bistro?
I went last week after reading good reviews. I only tried a breakfast pronti, it was their specialty Indian breakfast wrap, the "Punjab Nashta, I was not impressed, just a mush of not so great or subtle flavors. I intend to go back and try their Tandoori chicken pronti to give them another chance. My initial impressions are that they may have a difficult time in the location. It's in a difficult and odd spot with little parking; the interior is set up a little like your typical fast-food franchise but they have way too much square footage for what they are doing, in other words, they are probably paying way too much rent for space they don't need. Maybe I just ordered the wrong thing, in fairness I need to try something else.
Restaurants with many a la carte options
Parigi, You are very right, my frustration is that I am stuck with picky eaters but I love them and they are my picky eaters so I will suffer the consequences and dine with them. I love my food but I also love their company. I think I will make reservations at Le Cinq for lunch and L'Ami Jean for lunch or dinner. I will also look at your recommendations. They do like crepes and bread and cheese and wine and croissants and chocolate and I am sure that they might like a croque monsieur so we can also load up on that a bit, too. Thank you.
Restaurants with many a la carte options
I have been frustrated looking for restaurants in that it seems that a lot of the highly recommended restaurants (Spring, Les Papilles, etc) are basically serving a menu of whatever the chef is cooking on a particular day with very few choices. I would be fine with that but my wife and daughter are picky eaters and need a lot of choices in order to find items they like. Are there highly recommended Bistros, Brasseries or other restaurants that give you many choices between beef, chicken, shellfish, etc? I am a little reluctant to come to Paris without reservations and just walking around the streets looking at menus and deciding without knowing anything about a restaurant. It seems that L'Ami Jean does offer a fair amount of choice so that may be one pick for us. Also considering a lunch at Le Cinq.
Degustation - New Chef
I was there this past Sunday night, new chef had day off but it was still excellent, combinations of food and ingredients that I might never imagined would work were wonderful!
Puddin' is great! Tried the new pudding establishment on St. Marks Place--YUM!
Tried chocolate pudding and not impressed.
1st Time Visitor to Paris...Need Help
I will be traveling the 1st week of May to Paris for 4 nights with my wife and daughter. We will be staying at the Renaissance Paris Arc de Triomphe in the 17th. We all like to walk and are in good shape so we don't mind walking. One major issues is that both my wife and daughter are not adventurous eaters so menus with limited or no choices are definitely out. They prefer beef, chicken, mild (white) fishes, some shellfish (scallops, crab, shrimp). I am willing to try anything but I must comply with their tastes. I am looking for moderately priced restaurants or bistrots. Can you help, I am really overwhelmed by all of the potential choices and also because I do not know my way around Paris.
Bubor Cha Cha; what's good?
Haven't been for about 6 months but I have really enjoyed their dim sum.
Suggestions on Authenic Chinese food!
BLR may be BYOB but you may want to call and I am not sure about Peach Farm.
Suggestions on Authenic Chinese food!
I'm with you Luther. I have a Chinese friend who has been living and working right around Chinatown for over 40 years and his favorite restaurant in Chinatown is BLR and his favorite chicken dish in Chinatown is their Empress Salted Chicken. He says that one reason they are so good is that they are very consistent and have had the same cooks forever (back to the days when they were Ho Yuen Ting).
Help with Pizza in Needham
As a follow-up, this fall I took a 1 day pizza making class in the lower east side (Manhattan) from Pizza a Casa and I now make all of my own pizzas and they are far superior to anything I can buy in Needham, although I do have to try the coal fired pizza at the newly opened Max and Leo's in Newton Corner which I hear is outstanding.
Help me choose 1 dinner for 4 of us next Saturday night
Traveling from Boston and staying near St. Marks Place. Criteria: No sushi, Entrees priced no more than $30, LES, East Village, West Village, Noho, Soho, etc; love small plates, Italian, Thai, seafood, etc, somewhere we can get a reservation. Any ideas? I'm drawing a blank.
Lunch/Dinner Recs for Barbados and Grenada
Spending 4 nights in Christ Church, Barbados and 1 night in Saint George's, Grenada. Can anyone recommend both lunch and dinner spots on each? Thank you.
Seven Star Street Bistro
I really wanted to love this place. I was a huge fan of Seven Star in Newton Centre before they closed and when I heard they were reincarnating in Roslindale and that one of the children had attended culinary school and would be adding some Asian fusion I was very excited to try it. This past Saturday I picked up take-out at approximately 6 pm. I ordered 2 appetizers: beef wrapped in scallion pancake with hoisen sauce and Orange Soy Glazed Baby Back Ribs, neither stood out and both were average; the beef wrapped scallion pancake sounded like an interesting fusion twist but was devoid of sauce and dry; the meat on the baby back ribs literally fell off the bone as if the ribs had been boiled and the meat was a little mushy. For entrees, I ordered the Shrimp Blossoms and the Crispy Shrimp and Scallops with Garlic. The Shrimp Blossoms were probably the best dish, lots of extra large shrimp with egg white, carrots and fresh shitake, very fresh, ample portion but a little bland. The Crispy Shrimp and Scallops however were over salted which kind of overwhelmed any other flavor in the dish. Based upon other posts and my own expectations, I would have to say that I was sadly disappointed.
North End or Steakhouse for Birthday Dinner
Combine both: the best steak that I have had in Boston was at Prezza in the North End.
Mr. Swank and I are feuding over our birthday meal. Help save our marriage?
How's this for a suggestion: you start a new tradition or way of choosing where you go each year by each of you choosing a birthday spot every other year...Mr. Swank gets to choose where he wants to go one year, and then Mrs. Swankalicious chooses the next?
Small Plates or Small Bites in North End or near ICA
Heading to the North End area on Thursday night and also going to the ICA. Can anyone recommend a restaurant for small bites, small plates or a good bar menu either in the North End or near the ICA?
A reasonable price restaurant for a 60th birthday.
Price point? Oleana, Cambridge. Best Little Restaurant, Chinatown. Byblos, Norwood. Masona Grill, West Roxbury.
Sweet Cheeks
I read the review online at pigtrip and the food sounds very good but when I saw the photo of the plate of 3 ribs and 1 slice of brisket with a couple sides for $24, I was floored. A little too pricey in my opinion for a small plate of bbq.
Sonoma Itinerary Recommendations (for next weekend!)
Personally, I would do Benziger over Imagery; Imagery was opened by one of the Benziger sons but I found the wine to be far better at Benziger which is only about 5 minutes from Imagery. I agree with Winecountrygirl that Benziger does a great tour through the vineyards.
Sonoma Itinerary Recommendations (for next weekend!)
You really should go to Bella. Also for excellent Pinot Noir try a small winery along Dry Creek Road named Papapietro. I have eaten at Willi's and it was quite good. If you happen to pass by the Healdsburg Bar and Grill, I would keep walking, we ate there for lunch and were disappointed.
Sonoma Itinerary Recommendations (for next weekend!)
I just returned from my third trip to Sonoma County in the past 18 months. We had a very nice dinner at the Hot Box Grill in Sonoma. If you want picnic food, I suggest the sandwiches and take-out food from the Sonoma Market over Whole Foods. We have visited about 15-20 vineyards near Sonoma and Healdsburg and our favorite for both experience (small, not commercial, family run) and delicious wines is Bella Vineyards in Healdsburg.
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Sonoma Market
500 W Napa St, Sonoma, CA 95476
Bella Vineyards
9711 W Dry Creek Rd, Healdsburg, CA 95448
Hot Box Grill
18350 Hwy 12, Sonoma, CA 95476
