Algiers is very expensive --- maybe for coffee and tea only a little more than most places, but food prices are ridiculous. It's also beautiful inside, especially on the second floor.

In Harvard Square I'd say that the best Fancy food is at Harvest. Henrietta's Table in the Charles Hotel serves a terrific breakfast, but I would studiously avoid all other meals there, including Sunday brunch.

The best casual, sit-down places are Cambridge 1, Tamarind Bay, Orinoco, Russell House and yes, Bartley's. I think people have very different preferences when it comes to burgers, but I personally can't stand thin patties. Bartley's are very thick, almost round burgers, and they will cook them medium rare. The sweet potato fries and onion rings are very good.

Among quick lunch places for a sandwich there are quite a few good options, including Darwin's, Clover and Pronto.

Veggie Planet, Pinocchio's and Otto all serve very different styles of good pizza.

For late night food, there's Tasty Burger (for decent hot dogs and onion rings, skip the burgers and fries), Felipe's (the tacos and burritos are average, but better than Qdoba or Chipotle, and they have a terrific self-serve salsa bar, including excellent marinated onions.

The most divey, studenty places, however, are certainly Charlie's Kitchen and the Hong Kong. The burgers at Charlies are decent and fried foods, like crab rangoon and scallion pancakes are surprisingly good at the Kong.

Crema Cafe, Cafe Algiers, and Cafe Pamplona are all nice cafes. Boston Tea Stop has refreshing bubble tea, and actually the best ice cream in the Square (mochi ice cream flown in from Hawai'i). Berryline has very good local frozen yogurt, and Zenniken's makes decent Belgian waffles.

Personally, I would recommend against partaking of any food at Upstairs on the Square, but I agree that the Sunday brunch is fun. The Krokodiloes, however, will probably not be around anymore since finals period just ended. Border Cafe is generally disgusting. If you must, the chimichuri steak is decent. Please avoid Fire & Ice, Yenching, and Panera.

Harvard Square may be mostly chain stores and banks (in fact, mostly banks), and many of the restaurants are owned by the same restaurant groups, but there are still a lot of interesting stores and some decent restaurants.

I've never made pickles myself, but Arax Market in Watertown had three or four different varieties of cucumbers last weekend. A small "Lebanese cucumber" was delicious chopped up in a salad!

I think the Chongqing Dry Fried Chicken is the best dish at Sichuan Garden. I find that the Woburn location is better than the Brookline location.

I think overall Red Peppers is the best Sichuan restaurant in the Boston area, but Red Peppers, Sichuan Gourmet, Sichuan Garden and Chili Garden each have their own strengths. Other restaurants, such as Fuloon, Mulan, Jo Jo Taipei, and Zoe's also do some truly excellent Sichuan dishes.

The Student Prince in Springfield MA has bear on the menu in February most years.

It is hard to imagine a more delicious cheap lunch than a Banh Mi, and Pho Viet's makes one of the best. Banh Mi Ba Le in Dorchester is even better, but is quite a hike.

Other favorites of mine in the Super 88 food court include the beef shortribs at Pho Viet's, the lamb skewers and sour cabbage from One of the Kind, the dduk bokgi (many varieties) from the Misono Grill, the Biryani from JMP, and the duck buns from Kantin. And, of course, bubble tea from Lollicup (note the flavors on the front of the display case that indicate fresh fruit, or ask the staff what fresh fruit flavors they have today --- these are generally a lot better than those where the flavor comes only from a syrup or powder).

Great Taste has a few Chinese-Portuguese dishes (from Macau) such as Portuguese Chicken casserole with spaghetti. It wasn't fantastic when I tried it, honestly, but it was certainly unique.

Taiwan Cafe has lots of interesting dishes buried in its menu. Their preserved egg with tofu is one of the very best renditions of this dish. They also have good duck tongue, and an interesting fish prep, which I believe is listed on their menu as cod with soy flakes.

Jade Garden does a decent version of fried duck with taro (with lots of real taro, not just a little fizz on top).

I need to try that duck stuff taro root at Peach Farm though!

Pigeon can be found quite a bit around Chinatown. I had a particularly good version at New Shanghai a few years ago; not sure if they still have it.

Not so unusual perhaps, but the Hainan Chicken at Penang is very good.

It might be a little far from the Financial District, but I would have to go with Highland Kitchen!

I really love the wild-caught salmon sushi at Sushi Island.

Salmon Haw Moak at Khao Sarn is very good --- honestly, it's just about the only dish I would get there, but it's excellent.

I like Persian bread a lot, and I was really pleased to discover the Sahar brand Sangak bread at Arax Market this weekend.

It's made in Los Angeles, packaged and sent, but I daresay it's as good as any locally made bread I've had, including that from the excellent Tabrizi Bakery up the street. Not that I wouldn't still go to Tabrizi for amazing chickpea cookies and rice flour cookies, among other sweets.

The secret to Sangak bread is that it must be warmed in the toaster oven right before eating. This Sangak bread had a lot of depth from the whole wheat flour, a terrific texture, and a hint of sweetness.

The only better Persian bread I've had is at the Shop Delight market in Great Neck, NY, where it's baked to order in an enormous rotating stone oven.

If you do it often it makes sense to have special equipment. A purpose-built tofu press is the right size and exerts even pressure. But if it's not something you do often, I agree that it makes a lot of sense to improvise.

+1 to MC Slim's recommendations, especially Rincon Limeño, Pollos a la Brasa El Chalan and Taqueria Jalisco, which are three of my most favorites.

I would also add Frio Rico. It's a small Peruvian grocery store that serves excellent shaved ice and interesting ice creams. They close around 8 PM most nights, so get dinner early and head there afterwards for shaved ice.

So sad that Tawakal Halal Cuisine, the Somali restaurant in Orient Heights closed. El Paisa, the Colombian restaurant around the corner is not bad either, especially for steak.

Your friend is lucky to have such a great guide. Sounds like a delicious set of places and a terrific time.

It takes about an hour to cook the lamprais, and it takes some work to prepare. So I think that's why they ask for a day in advance, but they've actually made it for me when I asked for it the minute we walked in, and it comes out about an hour later. However, it's definitely better to ask for it a day in advance, because in addition to the wait, I think it puts an extra burden on the kitchen staff to prepare all the items. I love so many things on Biryani Park's menu (Chicken 65, Gothamba Coconut Roti, Panchratna dosa) but I think the lamprais are the most delicious.

Whoa, nice! Little finds like this are something I really love about Boston. Like the Regina Food Market in Everett that has Italian and Salvadorean goods, or how Capone Fine Foods also has homemade empanadas.

Big, big thank you for pointing this out. I definitely would have missed it otherwise. And boy am I glad I didn't. I drove up from Cambridge with five friends yesterday and we had quite a feast.

The food fair is held in the basement of a large Baptist church. Most dishes are $3/each, desserts are $2 each, and fresh hot tea or cold bottled drinks are $1 each. Everything is cooked in the large kitchen next to the community room in the basement.

The foods on offer included samusas, burmese tofu salad (with either chickpea tofu or with noodles), assorted fritters (bean, onion and tofu) with a spicy sauce, bean plata with a spicy cabbage slaw, mohinga, burmese yellow noodle salad, and chicken briyani. Finally, there were two desserts. A Banana bread/cake and a shwe kyi, a coconut cake.

Oh my gosh, everything was delicious. Spicy and authentic, clearly made freshly and made carefully enough to be restaurant food but clearly the kinds of comfort food one gets from a loving home. I don't mean to be too poetic, but it was one of the most delicious meals in recent memory. I've had Burmese food at YoMa in Allston, as well as in London and Maryland and in a Burmese friend's home in suburban Baltimore. This was easily the best. And the least expensive.

The tofu salad and noodle salads had deep reserve of spice, and wonderful textures from the ground peanuts, chopped scallions, and the gritty texture of the chili sauce themselves. Bright cilantro opened everything up, and there was a slight sour taste underlying them. When I go the chickpea salad I asked for some of the spicy chili sauce. She warned me that it was very spicy but I insisted. After the first dallop I asked for another. She was right, it's an incredibly spicy, concentrated sauce. My friend and I were sweating and smiling as we dug into this dish. Wow.

The bean plata dish consisted of oily bread and oily chicken, with a dry and tasty side of cooked beans and a dry and very spicy cabbage slaw. The contasts worked really well together. Mohinga was probably the star of the show --- a deeply rich soup with thin rice noodles and a mound of cilantro. Fish sauce really came through. I almost didn't try the chicken briyani, thinking it out of place, but I'm glad I did. It was a terrific biryani, with fluffy flavorful rice even with only a little chicken. Banana and coconut bread made for a nice desert, not too sweet.

So no tea leaf salad, but lots of dishes available. With six people we were all able to try one of everything, and no one spent more than $10. Some overlaps with dishes I'd had before, and also lots of new tastes.

One of our ground had been to Burma for several weeks, and whether here or there Burmese food is a little oily. But it is nothing if not flavorful. I can't wait for this to happen again.

Also, while sitting and eating we were treated to several cultural performances and music, and met many interesting people, both from inside and outside of the Burmese community in Lowell. I don't think too many other people traveled from Boston for it, but it was so worth it.

While we were in Lowell we also walked around the old mills, got some interesting chocolates at Sweet Lydia's, peeked in at the Babylon Restaurant (an Iraqi restaurant to which I want to return) and the cute coffee shop Brewed Awakening, avoided the drunk UMass Lowell students preparing for Cinco de Mayo, did a little shopping at the Bangkok market, and stopped at Gene's Chinese Flatbread Cafe in nearby Chelmsford for a bowl of noodles.

Whew, what a day.

I know I'm late to the party here, but while I like Tenoch and I hope that they do brunch as well several restaurants offer migas. Not the least of which is Mike and Patty's in Bay Village, which does an excellent version and the very authentic Mi Rancho Restaurant in East Boston.

What's wrong with tilapia in fish tacos? Tilapia isn't the fish I would choose if I were baking or steaming a filet with salt, pepper and a little oil, but in a complicated dish where the fish is there more for texture, and the cooking method, spices and sauces provide the flavor, I don't see the problem. Then again, I also haven't tried their fish tacos!

I really prefer Salts to TW Food. TW Food is more "precious", but I think the food at Salts is better and also seems more suited to your tastes. It's a little unfair to categorize and compare unique restaurants, which each have their own special aspects, but if I had to, I'd say that Bondir is a better version of TW Food, while Salts is a more expensive version of Bergamot.

They always have them at Wegman's. I've also seen them at Russo's sometimes. I don't like them so much though.

Has your friend been to some of the Mexican places in Waltham or East Boston?

Brasserie Jo has my favorite steak tartare as well, but I haven't found the rest of the menu nearly so appealing.

Hilariously misguided indeed.

The chicken tartare at Yakitori Zai is really good. Very tender, which makes it have a very different feel than most raw meat dishes I've had before.

I think Eastern Standard has a beef cheek appetizer always on their menu.

Biryani Park would be my first choice. Excellent dosai, terrific chicken 65, and great biryani, in addition to the really interesting Sri Lankan dishes.

Darbar in Allston is Pakistani and has lots of meat dishes.

Finally, Tamarind Bay is expensive, but also excellent.

I like the atmosphere, location, and hours, but have also been underwhelmed by the food, in general. What I do like there, however, are the steak and lamb dishes under the "to share" section. I think the version of the lamb that's on their menu currently is a little different than what I had last summer and fall (pictured below), but I think in general the best things at Westbridge are these larger meat dishes, rather than the more intricate appetizers. The "to share" dishes seem both less complicated and better executed than the "large" dishes --- I (barely) remember very unremarkable venison, lake and fluke dishes from that section. I'm usually a fan of intricate, complicated food, but I'm happy to adapt a restaurant's strong suit. They also made me a really delicious non-alcoholic cocktail featuring pineapple juice and orzata syrup.

I just tried the Green Pea Pâte and the Almond Spread from Guy's Healthy Home Cooking. They appear to be based in Jamaica Plain. I bought them at the Meat House in Brookline. Not sure where else to get them; maybe Marty's in Newton? Really enjoyed both of the spreads. The Green Pea Pâte is more savory and went well with French bread as well as with crackers and matzah as an appetizer. The Almond Spread is a bit sweeter and is nicer, I think, with bread and cheese after dinner, or perhaps with breakfast. It is reminiscent of the almond filling that comes in some croissants. They have a Facebook page, but I don't think they have their own website.

I have had fish sperm at Craigie on Main!

Your itinerary sounds fine --- there are many good options in Chinatown.

Personally, I like Taiwan Cafe best, and also like Winsor Dim Sum Cafe for dim sum. I much prefer Dumpling Cafe to Gourmet Dumpling House.

For Banh Mi I do prefer Mei Sum (although not as much as Banh Mi Ba Le in Dorchester). For bubble tea I like Juice Bar. in addition to your choices at Eldo, I would also recommend the tai yuan bing (sometimes called sun cakes) at Great Taste Bakery.

I much prefer the fish tacos at El Pelon, but also agree that the fish tacos are the only food to get at El Pelon (they also have good green tea and other drinks). I think the tacos themselves, the fish, the light batter, the sliced radishes, and the sauce are all better at El Pelon. I don't think Dorado or La Verdad are bad, but they are not as good. Olé makes terrible fish tacos. Angela's, a place I otherwise love, also makes terrible fish tacos.

I bought some at Russo's recently. They were pretty good, but quite small and quite expensive. I believe I have seen them at Wegman's as well. Juice Bar in Chinatown does a very nice passion fruit juice drink.