kelly001's Profile
Good Places to Eat outside of Boston?
I second the recommendation for La Provence in Concord.
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La Provence
105 Thoreau St, Concord, MA 01742
Anyone been to Giacomo's in the North End lately?
Good food, very simple and family style. Very reasonably priced and the entry wines are possibly the most affordable in the North End.
Craigie or Oleana?
Dinner at Craigie and the baked alaska at Oleana for dessert? :)
Can't go wrong with either place.
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Oleana
134 Hampshire St., Cambridge, MA 02139
Affordable fish in the Concord, MA area?
Quarterdeck in Maynard and get on their mailing list. They send out an email each time their return from the pier (twice a week). That's obviously the best day to pick up the freshest quality fish. They also dare to buy more unusual fish like skate for example.
Twin Seafood is extremely pricey. For example, with lobsters, the last time I bought lobsters there they were $16.99/lb. Expensive! They make their own chowders, which are the best in the area.
The Shaws in Stow probably has the best supermarket quality fish and selection in the area. Roche Bros in Acton is second best for supermarket fish.
Trader Joe's in Acton for flash frozen wild caught fish.
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Trader Joe's
1427 Massachusetts Ave, Arlington, MA 02476
Best seafood
Neptune Oyster is one idea.
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Neptune Oyster
63 Salem St Ste 1, Boston, MA 02113
ONE night in Boston - where to eat?
Something you won't find in NYC: Oleana in Cambridge.
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Oleana
134 Hampshire St., Cambridge, MA 02139
Sunday night prix fixe?
One amazing value, on Sundays only, is the Chef's Whim menu at Craigie Street in Cambridge. $40 for a 4-course dinner. Always exciting!
http://www.craigieonmain.com
Metrowest Outdoor Dining
AKA Bistro in Lincoln.
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AKA Bistro
145 Lincoln Rd, Lincoln, MA 01773
MetroWest casual for next Wednesday night?
I'd disagree. It's pretty low key. Very family/kids friendly.
North End Bummer
I have no idea why people would recommend Pagliuca. I've been twice over the past 10 years and both times, it was just poor quality food. Tourist trap.
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Pagliuca's
14 Parmenter St, Boston, MA 02113
Looking for outdoor eating, wine & salads
AKA Bistro in Lincoln, MA? Makes for a scenic outing to scenic Lincoln/Concord area.
http://www.akabistrolincoln.com/
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AKA Bistro
145 Lincoln Rd, Lincoln, MA 01773
What are the top five restaurants in Boston proper?
L'Espalier seems like the most serious contender for your wallet in Boston. It answers both the luxurious setting and high-end food experience you seem to crave.
http://www.lespalier.com/
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L'Espalier
774 Boylston St, Boston, MA 02199
How's the pizza in Boston?
One place in my book for Neopolitan style: Gran Gusto in Cambridge. Not a fan of Regina, which is what most people associate with Boston pizza.
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Gran Gusto
90 Sherman St, Cambridge, MA 02140
cost no object
Finest: L'Espalier.
Most unique (and arguably one of the best restaurants in the city): Oleana.
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L'Espalier
774 Boylston St, Boston, MA 02199
Oleana
134 Hampshire St., Cambridge, MA 02139
new french bistro in Lincoln
As you know if you live around these parts, our options for fine dining are rather restricted to say the least. So on paper AKA Bistro is a welcomed promise. What happens when you eat there, well, it’s still promising. I’ll only speak about the French side of the menu since that’s what we ordered from tonight. Their French offerings are very typical, there is nothing daring on the menu. Many staples of French comfort food cooking: blanquette de veau, coq au vin, moules frites, boeuf bourguignon, steak tartare, etc. Very traditional and the recipes respect these food traditions. They are not reinventing each dish, but what we sampled was well executed.
I had a salade niçoise, which was impeccable. I admit, this one is hard to mess-up, but I’ll commend them on using excellent produce to accomplish this very simple and basic dish. The whipped butter, served with our appetizer, was very good and their French rolls were quite good. I followed my appetizer with an entrée of Moules Frites. Again, the quality of the actual mussels was excellent. I didn’t care much for the sweetish broth but that was a personal taste issue. It was well balanced and worked with the mussels; I, however, just like my mussel broths either on the white wine end of things or the lemony end of things. This one, as I mentioned before, was predominantly sweet. I also must say that the mussels dish was way to copious for one person. My wife had the foie gras with a Sautern gelée and the grilled lobster. She was happy with both dishes. The only true disappointment, food wise, was the fries. They were limp, looked unappealing, and tasted marginally okay.
It was opening week, so you don’t expect everything to be perfect and they were certainly a few slip-ups. The kitchen set-off the fire alarm and we had to find refuge in the chilly outdoors until the firemen came and turned off the blaring alarm. It was unbearable inside the restaurant. 10 minutes later, everyone was back inside. Our waitress brought us a glass of sparkling wine to apologize. It seems odd to offer an alcoholic drink to someone who hasn’t ordered any alcohol with his meal. The manager came to apologize to some tables only he did this selectively. If you are going to do this, you should really stop at every table. It’s not like there are more than 15 tables in the dining room. Furthermore, the place wasn’t even full. One other complaint is that the main dining room gets very loud. They need to work on controlling the acoustics of this room with some dampening materials. It was hard to carry a conversation without having to try to yell louder than the next table and the place was not even at capacity. When they served the mussels, they did not provide a dish to dispose of the shells. The plate was so overfilled; it made it difficult to scavenge through the mix of empty and to-be-eaten mussels. Solution: either serve fewer mussels with this dish, or provide a side dish to dispose of some of the empty shells.
I don’t foresee this place becoming the new trendy place that will draw city folks to the suburbs, but it stands a real chance of becoming a very viable dining option in the Lincoln/Concord area. Prices were perhaps a little high on some of the more basic entree dishes. We’ll be back to try the sashimi side of their menu.
While we didn’t have our kids with us this evening, it was a pleasure to see the diversity of their kids’ menu. Our toddler eats about anything and we usually have to order from the regular menu since we often find kids’ menu options unhealthy and highly redundant.
Tell me which Concord Area restaurants a Camberville Foodie would like?
One place that hasn't been mentioned in Concord is Farfalle Italian Market. It's one of those hidden places. it's across the tracks from la Provence, kind of behind Chang Ann. They make very good paninis and various fresh dishes. They are very picky about the quality of their ingredients. They have a few tables or it's takeout.
I also second the recommendations for Sally Ann, Concord Cheese Shop, La Provence and Twin Seafood (very good clam chowder!). For lunch you won't be hurting in Concord, but for dinner, good luck.
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La Provence
105 Thoreau St, Concord, MA 01742
ONLY 2 DAYS IN BOSTON - WHAT SHOULDN'T I MISS?
Trident is a place to stop though the drinks/food is pretty mediocre. The bookstore is pretty nice. Crema in Harvard Square is THE place for coffee in Boston these days and Caffe Vittorio in The North End is a nice stop as well.
ONLY 2 DAYS IN BOSTON - WHAT SHOULDN'T I MISS?
For an unique restaurant, try Oleana. You won't find this type of restaurant anywhere else. Kind of high-end Turkish with a heavy Italian/French and North African influence. Very talented chef. Best Italian: Gran Gusto in Cambridge. Also the prix fix at l'Espalier for lunch is hard to beat $40 for 3 dishes (very seafood heavy). Probably the, if not one of the, classiest restaurant in the city. Fabulous use of New England products by this classically French trained chef.
Restaurant for mother-in-law's birthday dinner in/near Natick
Sel de la Terre in the Natick Mall Collection.
Visiting Boston for a weekend - trying to pick a neighborhood to stay in
Boston is "walkable" is a big statement. Frankly if you come to Boston, you'll want to see the North End, Cambridge (Harvard Square at the very least, MIT area, Central Square, etc.), Kenmore, Newbury Street, South End, etc. It's a lot of walking especially in February's weather. I personally would stay on the Cambridge side. Harvard Square being my top pick and Central Square my second pick. Most of my favorite "Boston" restaurants are in Cambridge (Craigie on Main, Oleana, Salts, etc.). Beacon Hill is a little stuffy and uneventful at night but it's definitely a nice neighborhood. Take a right or left off of Charles Street (Beacon Hill's main drag) and you won't see so much as a cat walking the streets past 8PM. Cambridge has a livelier side at night (mind you it's still Boston and the night is very short). Very good venues to see indie shows like at The Middle East or TT the Bears as well.
Metro west Mexican
Zocalo Cocina Mexicana in Arlington. Same people that own Olé in Cambridge.
Texas foodies in Boston for 4 days
Oleana in Cambridge, Craigie Street also in Cambridge, Giacomo's in the South End or North End. If you want to splurge in local fashion, L'Espalier.
Concord, Lexington, Arlington?
Concord has very good options for lunch but NOT for dinner. I would recommend Farfalle Italian Market (very fresh and high quality ingredients, hidden local hangout across the street from La Provence), La Provence (French with great daily specials until 2PM and very good prices), The Cheese Shop and Sally Ann's for lunch. All but Sally Ann offer seating. All are well worth a visit.
Saturday night with out of towners-- dinner in a "wow" space, good food, pricing perhaps $130/cpl
Definitely Oleana. It's not only fantastic but it's not the type of restaurant that you will find in every city. Her cooking is quite special and unique.
NY hounders in the Boston Area for the weekend.
And I'll add that the food is really worth it at Oleana as well and more so unique than Craigie in a way. Ana Sortun is one of a kind chef with an interesting twist on Middle Eastern cuisine. And don't forget their interpretation of the Baked Alaska. By far my favorite dessert in the city.
NY hounders in the Boston Area for the weekend.
Oleana or Craigie Street. Both in Cambridge. Both outstanding. Oleana is a little more exotic. Craigie Street is on the French "cook every part of the meat" side of things.
San Diego / West Coast for a first timer w/ a vegetarian
Thank you everyone for the recommendations. While our stay was very short, we managed to go to El Comal, which was very good. The owners were extremely friendly (even offered a free meal for my son). We clearly were the only gringos in the place. The veggie burrito was by far the best offering I've ever had. The cilantro mixed with the asparagusy cactus flavors was just great. There is nothing sophisticated about this restaurant (and we weren't looking for anything sophisticated here), it's family cooking at its best. I'm glad we were able to eat here. We also were able to eat at the WhisknLadle in La Jolla. This also turned out to be a very pleasing experience. With its refined and trendy bistro approach, we were greeted to a most excellent summer salad (best salad thus far this summer), moules & frites, flatbread pizza with roasted vegetables, cheese platter (with sweet pairings), chocolate cake with peanut butter crème anglaise and concord grape ice-cream (beautiful presentation to boot), fruit crumble with blueberry cardamome ice-cream (this actually worked extremely well!). They paid attention to detail: the french bread was very good, the cucumber infused water was a nice touch. While our server was extremely friendly and upbeat, he wasn't very knowledgeable about the menu and several times retreated to the kitchen to get some answers. No biggy, but a restaurant like this should probably have tastings for their servers so they can answer basic questions about the dishes or ingredients. He gave us a whole shpil about how they try to only use local produce and ingredients, but when we asked if they had any local cheese on the menu, he had no idea. Odd. While in Coronado, we had breakfast at Tartine, which was petty good. Good scones, turnovers and sticky buns but average croissants. The espresso drinks were well made. They also bake "Épi" (a type of French bread) that was delicious for breakfast with some jam and butter. We went back the next morning just to pick up some "Épi" to bring home for breakfast. So all in all, we ate very well thanks to you guys! :)
San Diego / West Coast for a first timer w/ a vegetarian
Thanks for the recommendation though I'm really not looking for a vegan or vegetarian restaurant.
