Tried Great Bay last night for the first time. Two of us shared 3 items: Crab Cake, Clam Chowder and Lobtster Roll and 2 of the 3 were very good. Service was very good and it was nice that they offered to split the chowder and lobster roll when they knew we were sharing. Chowder was quite good and unusual in that the contents come in a bowl (fresh clams, pancetta, potato, and a root veggie, might have been parsnip) and then they pour the broth over the contents; broth was quite good and they did not use a thickening agent such as flour as most do just a little cream. The Lobster Roll was also quite good and very large, quite enough for 2. The crab cake was the only miss, it was just average and the salad that came with it of black peas, mango and opal basil just didn't work, it might have had a vinegar in it that made it a bit too sharp for our tastes. I would definitely go back.

Thank you all, the powder is going in pork burgers and I will just use a bit less than if I was using the crushed seeds.

Is cumin powder a reasonable substitute for a recipe that calls for crushed cumin seeds?

Instead of crushing cumin seeds is it a reasonable substitute to use dried cumin?

Any local sources for chile de arbol powder and cumin seeds? Thanks in advance.

Jimmy's Harborside is no longer, it was torn down a few years ago to make way for development in the new "Seaport" district. I would recommend Great Bay in the Commonwealth Hotel in Kenmore Square, they do take reservations.

Any good casual seafood restaurants for fried food, chowder, etc in Yarmouth? Thanks in advance.

Very similar but slightly different, mine came from recipezaar.com. I double recipe as it calls for only 6 oz of pasta and I usually use 1 lb. Yours calls for basil, mine parsley but otherwise very close and, yes, it is quite good!

How about a good burger and fries in the Newton, Needham, Dedham areas? The Biltmore was very good but they had that massive exodus recently; Dunn Gaerhin's is decent; Halfway Cafe is pretty good; Any better options?

They have been fairly slow the first few months and my sense is that the Boston Globe article probably left them a bit overwhelmed by the increased traffic as they make everything cooked to order. Hopefully if the increase in business maintains, Gitlo will be able to adjust to the volume.

Have you tried Dim Sum yet during the day? If not, try Hei La Moon or China Pearl or Emporer's Garden. You might want to try (with a group and ordered 24 hrs in advance) the 3 course Peking Duck at King Fung Garden with their scallion pancakes and dumplings. I cannot attest, but a Chinese friend of mine highly recommends Ho Yuen Ting, a tiny place in the basement on Hudson Street.

Thanks for the review. Great choices in Crispo, Burger Joint and Katz's!!

I tried for the first time (take-out) last night and here are my impressions:

Although in somewhat of an odd area for a restaurant (commercial and industrial area), it is actually a very attractive space, open kitchen with a trattoria like feel and a nice outside patio area.

We ordered a Porcini Pizza (smoked mozzarella, sausage and porcini mushrooms); this is a white pizza and had decent flavor but the crust was very lackluster, my wife thought it was very dry, I thought it was a little cardboard like. We also ordered a pasta dish, Maltagliati ai Funghi (wide noodles, wild mushrooms, vegetable broth and white truffle oil). The pasta was much better than the pizza, nice flavor, noodles cooked al dente. The pizza and pasta were each $15. I will try again but not sure if I would order another pizza.

The fresh fries at UBurger are pretty crisp and delicious but there burgers are just so-so.

Before I boil eggs, I take a needle and poke a hole in the top (the more narrow end), when finished plunge in cold water and then peel. I cannot remember where I read about the needle trick but it seems to work just make sure you peel before they get too cold.

Now that I recall, it was the chowda at FF that many posters say to avoid not the lobster roll.

IMHO, The Village Restaurant does not serve "stodgy standard New England food", unless by that you mean delicious, fresh seafood. I have had fried fish and seafood at Woodmans, Essex Seafood, Farnhams and The Clam Box, and I prefer the Village Restaurant. I do agree, however, that the atmosphere is a bit "stodgy" but not the food.

A very popular recipe and very easy is Bonnie's Buffalo Chicken Dip; if you "google" that you will find the recipe.

People rave about the Pies at Marion's Pie Shop in Chatham (Rt 28) and clams at Friendly Fisherman in Eastham (Rt 6), shortly after the Orleans Rotary heading to P-Town on the right. Also, Arnolds in Eastham but the waiting lines are pretty bad and many say that the clams at FF are better (although I believe that most posters say to stay away from the lobster roll at the FF).

I have been there once; seems to be a pretty typical japanese steak house (out of the Benihana mold) with the addition of sushi; I have been told that the sushi is pretty good, the rest is pretty average. Seems to be popular for parties for youngsters. Personally, I wouldn't go back but that's just me.

I am not a boater, but you might want to try the Chart Room along Buzzards Bay in Pocasset (North Falmouth).

I think you will get better responses if you indicate what part of the Cape you will be staying in or travelling to because with all of the traffic most people tend to stay close to where they are staying.

I am not an expert but in the hot weather you may need to be a little more cautious but I generally leave it on the counter, wrapped in its packaging, for about 1 hour and I have never gotten sick or food poisoning from doing this.

If you want to grill a great steak and you are using a very good cut of steak then you want to keep it simple and not cover up the flavor with a dry rub or marinade (marinades are great for a cut like flank steak). You want to use either a Boneless Rib Eye, a Strip Sirloin or a Porterhouse (the Strip Sirloin with the Tenderloin attached); bring to room temp before cooking, season with kosher salt and pepper; when you take it off the grill, put a little extra virgin olive oil on top.

I am certainly no expert but as far as production, the big dim sum houses in Boston certainly have to produce far more than the Dim Sum Chef as they do serve hundreds if not thousands; the Dim Sum Chef has far less volume and therefore has to produce far less. In addition, although I don't eat dim sum every weekend, I have had it quite often from Empire Garden, Hei La Moon, Imperial Teahouse, China Pearl, etc and I find that the har gau, shrimp in rice noodle, and beef meatballs are close to the quality that I have found in Chinatown; the shu mai on the other hand, I have not been too fond of at the Dim Sum Chef. If the Dim Sum Chef serves frozen Shu Mai, Beef Meatballs and Shrimp wrapped in Rice Noodles, I would love to find out the brand they purchase because they are awfully good.

I've been pretty pleased with recipezaar. I do like the comments and ratings that people give the recipes after they have tried them.

Never made home made pickles before but went to recipezaar.com and got recipe for "microwave bread and butter pickles". I made them this weekend (doubled recipe), they were incredibly quick and easy and absolutely delicious!

Clam Chowda and Old Cape Cod go together like peanut butter and jelly!

Just curious, how do you know that the items are "premade frozen variety"?

Bramble Inn looks spectacular, but their website doesn't give prices, can you give me an idea of prices ofr apps and entrees?