Thinking of grilling either Black Cod (Butterfish), Chilean Sea Bass or Sea Bass this weekend (if it ever stops raining!!). Looking for a reasonably priced alternative for these fishes other than Captain Marden's or Whole Foods. I am willing to travel to an Asian market if that is a reasonable alternative and they carry these species and they are good quality. While price is important, quality is much more important. Any suggestions?

Not normally near Somerville but had to work in Somerville last night and passed right by Doowee at approx. 6:45 pm so I decided to try for the 1st time. There was only one other customer waiting for take out and I ordered a pork bao bao and chicken with rice to take out. I really enjoyed the bao bao and would definitely order this again when in the area. I was disappointed in the chicken with rice. I felt that the chicken dish was lackluster and lacked flavor and as a prior poster noted, the rice was similar to that found in a box of Near East rice. I would return for the bao bao but would not drive out of my way to return.

Thank you. The menu at Juliette's Kitchen and Bar looks quite interesting. I made reservations for Friday evening.

Thanks but there are 1176 restaurant reviews on ocweekly.com, it might be a little overwhelming.

Leaving tomorrow for 1st visit to Newport Beach. Staying at the Marriott Resort and Spa (wife has a conference) but our adult daughter is also coming and we will have a car. Coming from Boston and would like to experience foods that we might not get in Boston such as fish tacos, Mexican, etc. That said, we are always up for a great burger and fries, Italian, seafood, and we especially like small plates and tapas. As suggested earlier in another post, we may meet friends from Santa Monica one night at Enrique's in Long Beach. Any other suggestions?

The Captain's Takeaway in Wellesley, very casual, attached to Captain Marden's Fish Market. Legal Seafood or the Dolphin in Natick.

I second Island Creek Oyster Bar. It is near Fenway Park (Kenmore Square), on a nice day very walkable (maybe a mile) but it is also on the subway line. For burger suggestions, some feel that one of the best in Boston at the moment is at J M Curley's not far from Downtown Crossing and also about a 10 minute walk from Arlington and Newbury Streets. A good resource for burger suggestions is the bostonburgerblog.com. Also casual, good food with a lot of variety, next to Island Creek is Eastern Standard. The North End section of Boston is the Italian section, it is fun to see and walk around with a large variety of Italian restaurants with all different price points. You are also a short walk away from the South End which has several very good Italian restaurants, Coppa, Stella and others.

Oleana in Cambridge; they have a very nice outdoor courtyard and very good food.

I just don't get the hype and great reviews on yelp, tripadvisor, zagat (25 food rating). The chef/owner appears to be wildly popular in the media, writing cookbooks, etc. I will preface my remarks by saying that I have eaten here several times, dining in and taking out. I have always felt that the food was good not great, saturated in butter and oil (don't get me wrong, I love real butter and olive oil but not when the food coagulates the next day) and not very inventive. Their menu is dominated by gut filling, heavily sauced pastas more appropriate for a cold winter's day and unfortunately, the menu rarely changes. Last night 3 of us had dinner. Three entrees and 1 appetizer were ordered so I got to try 4 different items. The entrees were shrimp scampi over linguini, bolegnese over house made pappardelle and Rosemary chicken. The appetizer was the risotto of the day which was risotto, fiddle heads, mushrooms and onions. The risotto was a little too al dente (a little too firm and underdone). I could have lived with that as I prefer that too overdone (mush) but as my wife stated, "the flavors just didn't blend right." As far as the entrees, the shrimp scampi was the best of the three, a little too lemony but still good. The Rosemary Chicken which has been on the menu since day one and is usually a winner was just average, perhaps I am just getting tired of it? As far as the bolegnese, the house made pappardelle were fine but the sauce just wasn't a standout, nothing particularly bad about it but not very memorable either.

Thank you all. I suggested Enrique's to my CA friends. I looked at their menu and it looked good.

My wife and I will be staying in Newport Beach in a couple of weeks and I have close friends in Santa Monica and we are planning on meeting for dinner 1 night. While both couples would be willing to drive the entire 1 hour in the other direction, it would be nice if we could meet in the middle. As far as food, looking for something moderate/good value, could be upscale pub, Italian, Mexican, Californian, Seafood, etc. Preferably, not touristy, looking for excellent food and not necessarily atmosphere or a "scene".

So sorry but you were the one who said there was a language/cultural barrier. No reason to get upset with me.

Next time, ask for Joe Lee (father) or Johnny Lee (son) and they will get you what you want. Johnny was born in the US and they are both want very much to make people happy. He will be honest and forthright in recommending dishes.

I returned on Friday and had another exceptional experience. I took dim sum home as well as Yang Chow Fried Rice, Black Pepper Steak and a Chinatown style Sweet and Sour Pork (not the gloppy, syrupy fried dish with pineapple). Everything was delicious. I also had to order 3 appetizers from the Americanized side of the menu: crab rangoon, spareribs and chicken fingers as I needed to take them to a friend's house Friday evening. The appetizers were also excellent. I found the service to be very good.

Lost their lease? I thought his father owned the building?? How about The Biltmore or Blue on Highland?

Had to try Shack Shack for myself to see what all the hubbub was all about. Figured I would drive by after the Celtics game on Friday night to see if there was a line. At approx. 10:15, no line. Order taken within a minute, food arrived within 5 minutes. Only wanted to taste the burger not the frozen, crinkle cut fries. Ordered 1 Shake Shack burger, I think it was $4.75. I am not a fan of fast food burgers and was prepared to be disappointed. I was actually surprised that the burger, though small, was quite tasty, nice beefy flavor but perhaps a touch too much salt but the salt probably did enhance the flavor. Nice fresh lettuce and tomato but could not detect any sauce on the patty. I have now experienced it, would I go out of my way to go back? No. I am more of a pub burger kind of guy, more in the J M Curley way. It is what it is and it's not bad.

You are correct. I spoke to the son of the owner and told them that they need a website and it is something that they are working on and will have.

Not anymore. The owners formerly owned China Stars in Methuen, Ipswich, Amesbury, Salem NH and one other but sold them all around 1989 and purchased a supermarket in Boston's Chinatown. The family had not run another restaurant until they opened China Star on Broadway in Lowell about 2 1/2 years ago.

I did not look at the menu but the owner showed it to me about 2 weeks ago and it was very long with the front of the menu being your typical Chinese-American items and the last several pages being geared toward the Asian population. I cannot recall but I believe that the authentic options were both in English and Chinese but I am not sure.

Attached photo.

1733 Middlesex St, Lowell; dim sum served daily from 9-3 with carts

fyi, taking about 8 different items to go. Everything made in house and from scratch. Spoke to two different diners and they said the dim sum is better and fresher than Boston.

Opened today at 9 AM. 11:30, dining room almost full. I will report back later on dim sum.

All licenses issued today. Building Inspector would only give them 200 seats due to amount of toilets; they wanted 285 for banquets and dim sum but they will start with 200 and try to increase after they open. They are planning on opening April 3rd.

Thank you very much. I will check out the timing of trying to attempt Di Fara and see if my family are willing participants. If it doesn't work out, I may have to stop in New Haven on the way back to Boston at Frank Pepe's or Modern Apizza.

I was thinking of doing a self-guided walking tour for pizza slices in East Village, West Village, Little Italy, etc. I am not sure though who sells slices and who does not?? How are these pics and do you have any others? Some of the places I was thinking of are:

Johns, Bleeker St
Keste,
Lombardi's
Sullivan Street Bakery
Motorino
Artichoke Basille's

I am a member of the wine club at Bella Vineyards a great little vineyard in Healdsburg, Sonoma Valley. I have visited about 20 vineyards in Sonoma and they had my favorite wines though not cheap and I had to go on a waiting list for about 6 months to get into the wine club. They are a very small producer and their wines are only available through the wine club, at the vineyard and at a few local restaurants. I receive two shipments per year of about 1 case each time. You will not find their wines in any liquor store. If you are a Pinot Noir fan, look up Papapietro Perry in Healdsburg. They are a wine maker and not a vineyard. They produce great Pinots and buy their grapes from other vineyards.

There are dozens and dozens of small wineries that ship directly to consumers in MA from Sonoma and Napa Valleys if you join their wine clubs. These are small vineyards that do not work with distributors and therefore are exempted from the existing law. I receive two shipments a year from a vineyard in Sonoma and it is great wine. I suggest that you do a search online for some of the smaller wineries/producers in CA and contact them directly or go to their websites.

It is sad, but if you head over to Restaurant Depot and see the number of food operations and restaurants with thousands of dollars worth of frozen, processed and already prepared food items on their carts, you will understand that many in the restaurant business "strive for mediocrity".

So is it worth the hype? From the pictures, the fries look like the frozen variety? Best as I can tell, burgers look very small? Best burger I have had in recent memory, J M Curley's.