aquariumtown's Profile
new indian place in holyoke, anyone been?
you should let this guy know about this SF legend:
http://zantespizza.com/about.htm
their indian pizza is actually very good
Plum Island (and thereabouts)--eating advice?
sure! I should add a bit more detail--the reason that Bob Lobster won our heart on the eating-there side was that they have the right kind of wiener roll but they toast it a bit; and there was plenty of very tasty lobster and not a lot else. The take-out version was not toasted, which initially disappointed me. But after taking it to the beach I realized that was the right call for the picnic lobster roll (the plastic wrap and the delay in eating would have probably just made the toasted bun a bit more soggy b/c of condensation w/heat, etc), and liked it this way too. While I like the super gourmet version of a lobster roll too (just had the B+G version recently for a considerably higher price, though also with a nicer wine list), this seems like the apotheosis of the traditional more low-budget form of the lobster roll.
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Bob Lobster
49 Plum Island Turpike, Newbury, MA 01951
Plum Island (and thereabouts)--eating advice?
Trip report:
Ambitions, as usual, were somewhat curtailed by the baby, but not in a bad way. Two trips to Bob Lobster, with great lobster rolls to eat there, great lobster rolls to be wrapped and taken to the beach. Also went to Mad Martha's for breakfast; it's changing ownership and the new owners were there learning the ropes--seemed like two very nice women who I am sure will keep the nice vibe of this place. The chef/owner was a master of the breakfast grill--hopefully they will be able to match it. Really nice homey brunch place. Also, it seems, no relation to the ice cream place of the same name on Martha's Vineyard.
We went after a storm had washed sewage into newburyport, but we ended up doing beach days on the far southern tip of the island (a state beach), which, if you're staying there, is where we found the nicest parts of the island. easy to get bob lobster food to take down there.
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Mad Martha's Cafe
10 4th St, Newbury, MA 01951
Bob Lobster
49 Plum Island Turpike, Newbury, MA 01951
Plum Island (and thereabouts)--eating advice?
thanks for all the great tips, folks--will definitely report back
the other thing is that where we're staying has a kitchen! so we might bring up all those vegetables that are building up from our CSA and just try to eat em
but we're definitely getting some lobster rolls and fried goodness
thanks again
Plum Island (and thereabouts)--eating advice?
thanks for the tip! from that suggestion i see that yelp reviewers say the village pancake house has "screaming babies" so we will look like angels since our little angel, of course, would never ever scream.
Plum Island (and thereabouts)--eating advice?
thanks! we've been long-time oleana patio fans from way before we were married--but doing ten tables cambridge on friday night since i think i've reached my limit on oleana patio dates... in our particular relationship that raises the suspicion that i just didn't get it together to make an actual reservation!
thanks for the info--very helpful. (esp the frying oil change time!).
Plum Island (and thereabouts)--eating advice?
hounds,
I am taking my wife and our 11.5 month old daughter to stay on Plum Island, for my wife's b-day; we'll cook a bit, but I'd also like to go out. No babysitter so all options must be reasonably kid-friendly--she's a good baby, but still, a baby.
A review of the boards and elsewhere reveals the Clam Box, Bob Lobster, Farnham's; Mad Martha's for breakfast. Any dinner suggestions? Plum Island Grille--the menu suggests overpriced-ness but is the food good? And where else would you suggest in the area for breakfast, lunch, dinner? Glad to drive up to 20-30 minutes.
Most specifically, for my wife's birthday, she and I going snazzy back in Cambridge on Friday night, but would like to go to the perfect funky-family-friendly place on Saturday night. Where would you suggest a happy new family go to be even more happy?
Thanks for any advice you can offer--
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Mad Martha's Cafe
10 4th St, Newbury, MA 01951
Clam Box
789 Quincy Shore Dr, Quincy, MA 02170
Bob Lobster
49 Plum Island Turpike, Newbury, MA 01951
CSA Rating
Fellow Parker Farm subscriber. Agree: Last year was spectacular. The year before that was a bum year--got flooded out, had no corn--our first year, but even during that bum year we were still psyched. This year, somewhere in between, but very good. But, each year, everything we get is great food. Can't think of anything we've gotten that isn't high quality. The differences year to year are variety and quantity; in any of those three years, we have not lacked for quantity, however, in our small share for two adults, and sometimes have to work to keep up. He puts weekly updates on his Facebook page, so folks who are interested can see what he's put in his shares this year. We've never had another CSA so hard to rate numerically, but we are pretty loyal.
Boston and beyond. College Visits for daughter, fun food for mom.
Atasca is a good Portuguese place, and as a former San Franciscan, it was one of the kinds of food here that surprised me, that I hadn't had much of before.
Also as a former San Franciscan, I would recommend getting a lobster roll somewhere. It's a local must. Lots of opinions about where to get the best. I go to Charlie's Kitchen in Cambridge but it's kind of a beer garden, sending a bad message to your dear child perhaps, and it's not like the lobster roll is actually that good. It's about the ambience. But it's a reminder that lobster used to be a crap food that only poor people ate--a lobster roll is some lobster salad (= +mayonnaise) and a white bread hot dog roll. It's awesome. I'm sure there are passionate lobster roll threads elsewhere on this board, sorry I'm useless on specifics.
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Charlie's Kitchen
10 Eliot St, Cambridge, MA 02138
Boston and beyond. College Visits for daughter, fun food for mom.
Deluxe Town Diner is perfect for this purpose.
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Deluxe Town Diner
627 Mt Auburn St, Watertown, MA 02472
Cheese and wine meal in central Paris
In re Les Aprioris: went in earlier this week; quiet on the Tuesday evening we were there with just us, but have seen it more crowded when we've gone by in the past; a lovely plate of cheeses, I couldn't say who the producers were but we liked them a great deal. A simple wine list. A sweet young woman running the place. Nina Simone for music. Great place to go for pre-dinner, or for light dinner.
West African food
Dear hounds,
Wondering if anyone has recommendations for West African places in Paris? From take-away to sit-down.
We are enjoying the city, eating good things and will file a trip report at the end of the week...
Cheese and wine meal in central Paris
We are across the street from there this week; looks great, haven't yet been able to go in, but a nice vibe from the outside. Your link didn't work for me (I think because there was a colon immediately after?), but here for others is the full link w pictures, comments, etc
http://www.resto-de-paris.com/les-aprioris-bar-a-fromage/restaurant/paris#comments
we'll be sure to report our findings...
High and low Chow in Paris in October
Dear hounds,
we will be taking a honeymoon and will be in Paris in the second part of October, and I ask for the kind advice of any hounds who would list any or all of their choices for the following:
- bistros which will embody straight-ahead but delicious French cooking
- deep Chow: African food, schwarma, breakfast places, etc--especially, stuff it would be harder to find in Boston
- and, the big splurge restaurant that you would choose if you had to just choose one.
Add to that the complicating challenge that we don't eat mammals (ie., fur = we don't eat it; feathers, scales, or exoskeleton, we do eat it); we appreciate that this blocks off some delicious cuisine in all of the above categories, but we stick to this rule nonetheless.
We will be staying in the Marais but expect to travel the town in search of varieties of urban life beyond that offered there. For a bonus round, if you have markets / farmer's markets that you would especially recommend around the neighborhood for materials for our own cooking, that would also be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks, mes amis.
Downtown:3/22-28 daily Tasteful for brunch, ethiopian dnr etc?
Adding a couple:
Dinner:
Addis Red Sea: there are now two, one in Cambridge and one downtown. Nothing wrong with em. Not like DC but then, DC probably isn't like Addis Adaba, so you take what you get.
North End: consider Antico Forno, and Mike's for cannoli (the various cannoli options in the North End are a matter of great debate, but whatever; go to Mike's and you'll be just fine)
Near(ish) to MIT: Atasca (Portuguese)--Portuguese food is great in New England, and this is a favorite
Harvard lunch: Bartley's Burger Cottage is sort of a schtick-y place, but the burgers are good, good frappes (milkshakes), sweet potato fries, etc, etc; sort of an institution
also Darwin's, on either side of the Square for good sandwiches
MIT lunch: I second Miracle of Science
By Northeastern: consider going over to the South End for dinner
Sorta near BU: Super 88 food court
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Super 88 Market and Food Court
1095 Commonwealth Ave, Boston, MA 02215
Darwin's
148 Mt Auburn St, Cambridge, MA 02138
Darwin's
1629 Cambridge St, Cambridge, MA 02138
Antico Forno
93 Salem Street, Boston, MA 02113
Atasca Hampshire
50 Hampshire St, Cambridge, MA 02139
Mike's Pastry
300 Hanover St, Boston, MA
Bartley's Burger Cottage
1246 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02138
Outdoor cafe or casual dining?
when it warms up, two classic spots in Cambridge are:
Cafe Pamplona
and
Grafton Street
both within a half block of each other.
Also in Cambridge, Central Kitchen has sidewalk dining though you are right in the middle of Central Square madness, so you take your chances... More of a dinner.
A couple of coffee places: 1369 on Mass Ave is both a bohemian/graduate student hangout and also an inspiring testimony to the fact that the forced institutionalization of the mentally ill in the 1960s and early 1970s was really unnecessary as long as there are places in the community where you can get a coffee, set down a sketch pad, and write in little cramped letters to document your delusions.. Likewise Au Bon Pain which is a chain but has the best Harvard Square real estate, street chess players, and also ample testimony to the capability of public spaces to accommodate both the mentally ill and the mental giants of the college across the street, and of course, the many Cantabridgians who are mentally ill mental giants.
As above you've got to wait until May, but when it comes, it is glorious and sweet.
Recommendations for special occasion restaurant near Pt Reyes?
Thanks all.
Ended up going to Nick's Cove, had small plates and some oysters. Got smoky cooked fresh sardines; an anchovy salad; crab cakes; and some asparagus. The sardines were fine though in the end I missed the more vinegary Portuguese version we've had in New England; liked the anchovy salad; crab cakes were yummy though not unique; asparagus was good though not unique. Point Reyes sparkling wine was surprising and nice. Nice local wine list. Good local oysters--got some from each of the local vendors they were offering (hog island, drakes bay, preston point) and compared and contrasted. All had their good points--no clear winner, except for the person who gets to eat them.
The location is a great argument in its favor.
Drake's Beach Cafe is only open for dinner on Fri/Sat plus a BBQ on Sunday afternoons; lunch Th-Monday. Had lunch there during this trip--some very nice Manila clams in a tomato-y broth, nice bread, informal sweet atmosphere. We endorse lunch there highly.
Thanks again.
Recommendations for special occasion restaurant near Pt Reyes?
Returning to Pt Reyes and the Bay Area after living in New England for a long time, I've been foiled x2--I've moved out of the area and didn't realize Manka's wasn't serving... and then discovered the possibility of Seaweed Cafe and found it just changed hands... Hoping that I can find both a proper sense of romantic occasion and good chow somewhere in the area--a substitute option for someone who would have chosen one of the above. And worse yet, hoping to go tonight (Tuesday) when everything is closed!
Hounds, your counsel is definitely needed.
Carnitas
felipe's in harvard square has carnitas, not the best you've ever had but probably good enough for a fix. definitely better than Qdoba, just on principle. very accessible by T, but no beer.
Atasca or O'Cantinho?
In memoriam:
Here was my tribute a while back:
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/304504
This is very sad.
petsi pie's latin brunch?
like a candle it burned brightly but soon went out. sorry. an individual's experiment that i think she wasn't able to carry through somehow.
A walk north in Cambridge--two kinds of worldliness
On a nice day two weekends ago (?I think--I'm losing track of time), we went for a long walk from our base camp near Harvard Square, up to Fresh Pond, around the reservoir, and back down Huron Ave and then Concord. By the time we got to Huron, we were getting pretty hungry.
We stumbled across Ortanique, which has had regular praise here, but which we'd never visited. This is a very small and sweet Jamaican place with reasonably-priced meals. The owner and his wife were both there, serving up lunches and keeping half an eye on the wildlife documentary playing on the little TV that sits in the kitchen. I had the soup of the day, a red bean soup which was slightly spicy and fully filling at $5.00. My colleague-in-chow got the jerk chicken, which she reported was excellent. The soup was nothing fancy, but it was delicious. My colleague's jerk chicken was flavorful and nicely (and freshly) cooked. "It was spicy, but not that spicy--just enough to linger a bit" she reports in retrospect. She had the home-made ginger beer; as a fan of ginger she loved it, and as not-such-a-fan-of-ginger I acknowledged that if you love ginger you will love the ginger beer. I liked the slight ginger tinge in the sorrell drink, made from a Jamaican plant that the owner tells us has all sorts of excellent anti-oxidant properties; if you like the pomegranate-cranberry side of the juice spectrum you'll like this. The soup came with some tasty Iggy's bread--the only touch that seemed more of the neighborhood than of the food's origins. Other than that the food does not feel at all Huron-ified; it is not a nouveau interpretation of Jamaican food, it is Jamaican food.
This place is a paradox, as its owner acknowledged: this is about as far from a Jamaican neighborhood as it gets. Contrast this to Flames, the two-restaurant Caribbean place in Boston (I've only been to the one on Huntington Ave.): there the emphasis is big starchy portions sitting in warming trays, and then when you select them, jammed into styrofoam containers that can barely hold them. Really great in its own way, and certainly authentic-seeming, but different. Ortanique is trying to walk a difficult line. It wants to fit into the neighborhood, but it also wants to be authentic. The food doesn't feel like its conceding to the pseudo-cosmopolitanism of fusion cuisine; there's no lemongrass jerk chicken or whatever. It's just nicely presented as if you were an honored guest at the house of sedate, family-oriented, middle-class Jamaican people. Not knowing much about Jamaica or its cuisine I can't comment on its authenticity but it seems like a nicely done and fresh version of other Jamaican food I've eaten that was being served to Jamaican people in other places, so take that for what it's worth.
The owner says he based his business plan on his observation that the people in the neighborhood are worldly, and can appreciate food from other parts of the world. Although his restaurant has been going along for some time now, he is apparently still anxious about its future, urging us to promote it to others. I'm glad to. This restaurant is frankly improbable in its combination of cuisine and location, but in that combination it encourages a kind of worldliness I appreciate--the worldliness of chow and of cross-cultural kindness expressed through making chow, selling it, buying it and consuming it. For all his apparent worries, the place clearly had plenty of regulars; we hope to become semi-regulars ourselves.
There was a very different kind of worldliness down the way, at Formaggio Kitchen, where we topped off our Jamaican meal with some samples of their crazily tasty and impossibly rich 30+ cheeses fondue which they make on the weekends, and a cookie for each of us (mine was a chocolate-almond macaroon, and it was delicious). We tried to hold off on buying some of the expensive and delicious cheeses of the world, though we did eat a couple of samples; the fondue sample was just a nostalgic reminder of the time several weeks before when we'd driven there and shared take-out fondue in our car while parked at Fresh Pond--before an earlier walk around the pond. (That time we had bought the cheeses, and were very very happy when we ate them that week, though considerably poorer for it.) Anyone who's missed this place--as I had, idiotically, for some time--would do well to come here for a spectacular set of options of fancy cheeses, desserts, and other gourmet tastiness, with nice helpful folks ready to provide their expertise. Finally, the coffee they serve at FK (who knew?) is spectacular--rich, dark, full of flavor without bitterness--and was a great way to end our break from our long walk.
As the weather gets warmer I would strongly recommend this trek for folks in the area.
so sick of Boston bashing...
Sorry, the "white folks" reference was unnecessary--the point is that SF burritos are really an SF invention, by Chicanos and Mexican-Americans living in SF; people who come straight from Mexico to a place like Boston might be more likely to make good tacos and to understand what makes a taco good then if they are replicating a formula from San Francisco that is many steps removed from the Mission. (i.e., from the Mission to the Sunset for Gordo's, then from the Sunset to Brookline, and Brookline to Cambridge... lots of steps that don't have anything to do with why Mission burritos are great.) I guess the bigger point, relevant to this thread, is that I couldn't enjoy Boston taquerias like Felipes until I just stopped wanting to be back in San Francisco and started wondering what was good on its own merits. Turns out a corn tortilla with meat, onions and cilantro is really good, and has nothing to do with burritos. Nowhere in Boston is going to be the Mission District, and even the best Boston burrito is not going to be an SF burrito.
Another Boston great thing: going apple-picking in the fall. The apples here when they are ready locally are fantastic, and made me like apples in a way I never did in California.
And another: bluefish. Never had it before I came here. That's a great fish.
To take the Boston influence on less local food, the portuguese-influenced sardines that Rendezvous was serving for a while were really great. A nice example of doing something cuisine-y with local chow, leading to what might be described as Chow Cuisine.
Speaking of cuisine, Oleana, especially in the summer, isn't like anywhere else I've been.
so sick of Boston bashing...
"A lot of food memories also have to do with who they ate with, what was going on in their lives when they ate that food."--so true. A huge amount of my early "I hate Boston food I miss SF" was about missing SF. Surely that is true for lots of us SF exiles.
It's so sad that someone above said that the best SF-style burritos on the East Coast are here, since these places are rip-offs of Gordo's in SF which is not a very good place to start with (proprietors of BG and Anna's are related to the Gordo's guy, Felipe's is chef from Anna's). But I've realized that the point isn't to order burritos--at least at Felipes, just remember that the people who work there are actually _Mexican_ instead of San Franciscans of Mexican descent, and then you realize that it's all about the tacos, and the burritos are what they make for the white folks. Maybe that goes to Limster's point--you can't be a San Franciscan chowhound when you're in Boston, you have to figure out what they make well and enjoy that. And maybe that means stop griping about what they don't do as well.
The Portuguese food here is an entirely new thing for me--it's all about O Cantinho--and the Brazilian is also new for me. (There's some in SF but it's not such a big thing, or wasn't when I left anyway.) I think on average the Asian food is considerably better in SF, but there's some great stuff here. Just for charm alone the Super 88 food court would be a find in any city. Porter Square Japanese food court is good too. Taiwan Cafe has some good SF-worthy dishes.
Some other stuff--using as my criteria places I might show to friends from SF...
hot chocolate at Burdick's
Cuban sandwiches (at Oriental de Cuba and Chez Henri both)
lobster rolls--never had em before coming here
also, lobster rolls.
and in addition, by the way, lobster rolls.
Toscanini's is strong--I do miss Mitchell's since I used to live around the corner from there, but it's a good substitute.
I love Neighborhood Restaurant, for its vibe in the summer as much as for the food.
Irish pubs like Plough & Stars or Squealing Pig--nice hanging-out places.
There are some places that could fit in SF--Rendezvous, Central Kitchen, Ten Tables.
No. 9 Park is pretty solid for any city.
And to echo the above, Chacarero sandwiches won my heart the first day I arrived. When I was coming here for interviews, Chacarero was around the corner from my last interview of the day, and after having their sandwich, I wrote someone a long email about how maybe Boston might be OK.
Best *new* food in 2006?
New to me:
--The Chez Henri Cuban sandwich (looks like a lot of us discovered this one this year...).
--The tasting menu at No. Nine Park--turns out that hype about food I can't afford is sometimes actually true: see http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/341288#2012635
--The food court at Super 88, now a treasured place for lunches on rainy days (Chowhounds, with this recommendation alone, you made Boston a better place to live for me, and you can't possibly know how grateful I am for that).
--I just discovered I can finally once again use my old pre-CNET workaround: using google to enter |Site:www.chowhound.com "query phrase"|.
Just plain new:
--Petsi Pies new branch near my house: excellent scones (I'm a partisan of the pear and pecan scone, with a hint of ginger); and their pear, prosciutto and gorgonzola sandwich is something made of "gourmet" ingredients that serves as comfort food.
--El Oriental de Cuba: phoenix from the flames. Straight-up Cuban sandwich that's a simpler, more basic thing than the Henri version, but great--EOdC:Henri::Ibrahim Ferrer:Ry Cooder. ( http://www.pbs.org/buenavista/musicians/bios.html )
--Rendezvous in Central Square. We find that we make good meals of their small plates; of these, I especially liked their sardines, fresh, piquant and strong, dissected with skill by my comrade-in-chow--looks like they're rotated off the menu now, but I hope they'll be back.
Although it sucks that Toscanini's is getting pushed out of their Harvard Square spot for at least half a year, and I'm bummed that Rendezvous has nixed the bluefish cakes and the sardines, and I miss the f-ed up design of the old chowhound that made me feel like I was part of an arcane underground sect, still, like my old chowhound search strategy, I hope that all good things will in some form return.
Atlanta for one day--got lunch, what about dinner?
Two of us northerners (from Boston) came down to Atlanta for an exam (long story), and had an evening to spend. We followed our noses from this thread and went to the Colonnade, after showing up at the High Museum at a half hour before closing time. Without art to see, we stumbled into the super chi-chi modernist wine bar in front of the restaurant across from the museum's entrance (1018); my fellow hound had some wine and I had a nice vodka tonic. We also had some lovely prosciutto because we were hungry, which was topped with some kind of unnecessary marmalade or fruit whatsit that marked it as more than a plate of prosciutto. Then we got a cab over to the Colonnade, where a fried chicken dinner with two sides cost just a smidgen less than the plate of three slices of prosciutto and basket of bread that we got at 1018.
We arrived early to find that the Early Bird Special was clearly in full flower with old folks throughout the place chowing down on 10 dollar chicken tenders, chicken fried chicken, and other early bird options. We splurged and went to the regular menu to put that extra dollar down for the fried chicken. Crispy and light on the outside (with the requisite satisfying level of oil), very moist on the inside. Sweet potato fries were also standouts--basically a demonstration of the fact that sweet potatoes appear to be more porous to oil than regular potatoes. Collard greens were just fine.
Their beer menu is actually kind of tony and includes Guinness and other non-Southern beers.
All in all, a study in Atlanta contrasts, from a super-futuristic modern wine bar where we sat next to what looked like an architecture firm's after-work get together (total cost of the designer eyewear in the place probably approximated that of a new pickup truck), to a great meal of fried chicken in a restaurant next to a porn shop, where a child was leading his older female relatives in saying grace before their meal. Thanks for the tips on Colonnade, hounds!
engagement recc's
It costs a boatload, but hey, so will the ring: doing the No. 9 Park tasting menu with matched wine for each course is one of the most lovely and romantic times my honey and I have had in a long time. (Bless her folks for getting her the gift certificate.) Everything is amazing. You hang out and eat and drink for what becomes hours. We ended up with a kind of early res at 6 but that meant we got sat in a corner booth so we could sit perpindicular to each other in booth seats rather than across from each other--might be worth specifically asking for in this setting. The staff are super nice and not snooty--though for better or for worse big into explaining things. (I love that, personally.) It might be a little haute for the kind of folks you might be describing--gotta just trust the chef on some of the things. But it was an amazing night.
If they don't actually care that much about food, the top of the hub at the Pru is hard to beat for the view and there's plenty of space between tables. Wouldn't be my choice for this occasion but if Ruth Chris is on the list maybe this should be too.
