Touristy? Are they Chinese tourists? Because almost every single time I have been there, I have been on only white guy.

When I visited a friend in Japan we went to dinner at a restaurant call Asadachi It was featured on the pilot episode of Bizarre Foods. As you can guess, it serves some interesting items. As we were walking down the dark alley I turned to my friend and said: "I will try almost anything but I am not eating horse!"

So we get there and everyone is shocked that a couple of Gaijin just strolled through the door. We sit down at the bar along side a Yakuza, a porn movie producer, a completely smashed senior citizen and a Kendo master. My friend is fluent and started speaking to the chef in Japanese (this sent the place into a near frenzy)

The special that night? Of course, raw horse 5 ways and I scream out: ORDER TWO!

Turns out, horse is awesome

People think I am insane when I explain this difference. :)

I have had terrible cocktails Tiki and otherwise at East Coast. Drink and highland kitchen are the two best I have run in to

And dragon 88 in boylston might make the best Mai Tai in the state. Seriously

20-25 min wait thurs at 530

Sign says its ok to share a bowl with a kid under 12

Going to hit up yumewokatare tonight and possibly looking for a bar that has fresh Sapporo on draft. Does that exist locally?

How can it be new when Mari mentioned it 7 years ago?

Grilled duck tongue skewers @ dumpling cafe
Frog @ best little resturaunt
Geoduck 3 ways @ peach farm
Stinky tofu @ gourmet dumpling house

Just a few quick hits :)

Yes but do any of them do it particularly well? In my limited experience in ordering faux-Chinese in Chinatown ( usually to appease a picky member of the dining party) it has never been very good.

Central Kitchen has a website: http://www.enormous.tv/central/index1...

It is however quite possibly the worst website i have ever seen, starting with the URL...

Safe to say it wasn't the Svedka that caused that.

In York ME at a river side shack they were selling a bakers dozen of chix for $45.

I suppose deals like that aren't available in MA but at $3.99/lb they are cheaper then salami so I would say they are a pretty good deal as is.

i have posted a couple of times that I thought they were different under Greg (and not really in a better way) but it was not so much as to make me stop going there. I don't think i was alone in that assessment. I am glad to hear that the original is coming back but to be honest I'll believe it when i see it.

I understand calling the No Name an over-priced tourist trap is the default answer on chowhound but i just looked at their menu and nothing seemed remotely overpriced or even expensive. Can you point out what is overpriced specifically?

They sell out but the last few times i have gone, i called up a day or two before and snagged a cancellation plus during dinner there had been a bunch of no-show tables. I think they hype gets tons of people to register and then blow it off as the date approaches.

I have been going to speeds for a while. Not back in the 1980s a while but close to 10 years. I don't think its as good as it used to be. Maybe its the grill change, maybe Greg is doing things differently or losing focus with other items. I am not sure but I know its not as good as it used to be. Its not nostalgia, I think the decline has been recent; in the past year or two maybe.

I don't think SOWA crowds are a good indicator. I bet 90% are having their first Speed Dog. In fact crowds tend to make me leery because I think most people have no idea what good food is. (Cheesecake Factory, Andleman events, etc)

They also pimp it on Royal Pains and I think one other show

Wow It's as good as Drink? So its basically the best cocktail program in the city? That's some high praise. What other bars do you like?

No it isn't.
No they aren't
Untrue

Just spotted these very reasonably priced 100% agave tequilas at the local package store:

El espolon 20 <---- i think this is a nice product
Camarena 25
El jimador 20
Azul by centenario 21
El charro 19
El Cazadores was around 20
Corzo was on closeout for 19.99 in all 3 varieties <----not a fan

They also got in Sauza Blue which is the low end 100% agave line. Think it was around $20

Not so long ago, a reasonably priced 100% agave was impossible to find. At these price points there isnt really any excuse to get a mixto.

Have the trend chasers moved on? There seems to be a sudden increase in trendy expensive Ryes...

The funny thing is you visited AFTER their big renovation.... as bad as it is now, it was 10x worse before

Joe is great which reminds me that i forgot Highland Kitchen.

-----
Highland Kitchen
150 Highland Ave, Somerville, MA 02143

Green Street
Craigie
Think Tank

all have great cocktail programs in the area. Maybe not Drink level but certainly close if not on par with Eastern Standard

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Eastern Standard
528 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215

Think Tank
1 Kendall Square, lower level, Cambridge, MA 02139

i actually saw something called Sauza Blue Sliver which was packaged almost exactly like the regular Sauza mixto but clearly said 100% de Agave. Saw it at the NH liquor stores but not in Mass.

why? should Bourdain only hang out with liberals?

Is this new? I have gotten lobsters at Somerville MB many times in the past. They dont have a display tank of the floor. You have to order at the deli....

why the !@&% didn't I go back to Toro?!?

Last week I got a rare opportunity to go out to lunch during work. My job is in Newmarket and Speeds was incommunicado so on Tuesday I swung by Toro to try the "messy burger" i have heard so much about. It came a la carte so I was talked into a white gazpacho by the helpful and friendly bartender.

I am not good at food descriptions but both were really really excellent. One of the best burgers I have had recently and the messy sauce was just awesome. With a soda, tax and tip, i think the total was around $16 or so

2 days later, i went to Victoria's diner. I hadn't been in probably a year, but i remembered it being ok, especially if you played it safe. Alas, I remembered wrong. I got a chicken salad club and soda. Cisco fries, crappy chicken salad, wilted lettuce etc etc. I mean it was just chicken salad so its not a big deal right,...

the bill with tax and time was like $14! I still don't really know how that happened.

All i could think of is that for TWO FREAKING DOLLARS I could have go to Toro!

Lesson learned!

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Toro
1704 Washington St, Boston, MA 02118

Hey all

Last night, i took the wife to Central Kitchen. Nice as always. Split fried artichokes, steak tartare, grilled octopus and a side of fries. Excellent cocktails also

But the place was really dead. Half empty from 7-815 when we left. I seem to remember it being slow the last time we were there. Just wondering if they are doing ok.

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Central Kitchen
567 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139

Think he was gone all week.checked today and Thursday also

I don't get this at all. It didn't happen to you. You have no idea of the circumstances. You are not grieved. Why boycott Cragie because they *may* or *may not* have treated a customer *you don't know* poorly.

Why do you feel so strongly about this post that you have to take a stand?