I really like their fresh pasta - they have traditional and fun shapes. And their chicken ravioli are delicious!

I'm a big fan of small plate dining/sharing too and here are a few of my favorites from RHT: crispy poached egg definitely. The deviled eggs are also really good. The lobster sliders are the best lobster sandwich version I've ever had. So good! If the chef is doing a clam pizza that night do not miss it - it's that good (all the pizzas are good but that's a personal favorite). And the seared arctic char is really good too - excellent crispy skin and perfectly cooked fish. I've never had any issues with anything from the raw bar and surprisingly while I feel there's rarely anything special about shrimp cocktail I think the version here is amazing!

I love Toro, Neptune, Oishii, Russell House, Island Creek. Love ethnic cuisine and clam shacks. Hate boring and food that's trying to be fancy but is just bad. Price doesn't matter. Atmosphere is wide open. So many places aren't open for lunch so it's a challenge. Think Yoma?

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Toro
1704 Washington St, Boston, MA 02118

I'm going out to lunch with a friend tomorrow and we want great food and a fun atmosphere. Where would you go?? We have a car so we can drive anywhere within 20-30 minutes.

This past December I was searching and searching for a caterer for a small dinner party and somehow came across South End Chef (www.southendchef.com). She was so reasonably priced that we ended up giving her a try and it was the best choice ever. She has done two events for me - the small dinner party (7 people - 5-course meal) and just recently a large party for 40-50 people with "heavy hors d'ouerves" that were enough to stuff even the most ravenous guests. Her food is incredibly good, her prices reasonable, and she is a joy to work with. I hesitate to even put this out there because I'm worried she'll get so busy I won't be able to book her, but she is worth every reasonable cent she charges (and she traveled to Canton for our party so travel to Burlington seems within her range).

Menu for 40-50 person party:
Assortment of Flatbreads:
Margherita
Roasted Squash, Sage, Prosciutto, Dried Cranberries
Rosemary Roasted Potatoes and Creamy Lemon Sauce

Cheese and Cracker Platter
Seasonal Fruit , Foccaccia, Artisanal Crackers, Brie, Cheddar, Bleu, Goat, Grape and Bleu Cheese Truffles, Spiced Nuts
Caramelized Onion and Gruyere Tartlets

Eggrolls
“Chicken Pot Pie”- Roasted Chicken, Carrot and Celery
Country Gravy Dipping Sauce
Asian Veggie- Sprouts, Snow Peas, Carrots, Peppers and Rice
Spicy Orange Chili Sauce

Old Bay Potato Chips and Crab Dip
Warm Home Made Chips with Chesapeake Bay Crab Dip

Ropas Viejas Sliders
Slow Cooked Beef with Smoky Cumin and Tomato Broth

Stuffed Cremini Mushrooms
Spicy Turkey Sausage, Sage, Golden Raisins

Roasted Shrimp
Sweet and Smoky Romesco Dipping Sauce

I had a similar experience at Menton and posted about it so you are definitely not the only one!

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Menton
354 Congress St, Boston, MA 02210

Looking for a place to take a small group (8?) to dinner on Christmas Eve in the Quincy/Braintree area. Must be wheelchair accessible. So far I know Legal's at the plaza but there must be something better!

So we selected a private chef/caterer for the event. She charges a fee for the evening plus groceries. Should we tip? If so, what is the going rate?
Thanks!

Looking for good recs for asian food for dinner tonight. Preferably something spicy - Chinese ok but would prefer Thai, Vietnamese, Korean, etc. Must be in Boston proper-we don't want to go far.

Highland kitchen?

Anthem has a room upstairs and could probably accommodate.

Any idea where to get great black forest cake or preferably cupcakes?

Thinking about hiring a private chef/caterer for a friend's birthday dinner. Would be small and intimate 6-8 people. Any ideas? Any known chefs who offer this kind of service?

Thanks Dave B! Downtown Nashua could definiltely work for us if you have even more suggestions. And thanks for the running suggestions - we've been warned about the hills and are doing this as a practice so we know what to expect race day. We're all a little worse for the wear after training so we're going to take it easy this time in preparation for giving it our all on race day.

Good luck to your GF!

We're heading up to Hollis this weekend to do a long run in preparation for the Applefest Half Marathon and we're looking for a great brunch spot on Saturday - preferably full service including a bar. Any ideas?

We went to Stoddard's on a Sunday night and despite what the website said couldn't get food and the service was so rude I don't think I'd even want to go back to try. Too bad b/c I had high hopes. Just goes to show how bad service can really ruin an experience.

We had some of the dollar snacks at the bar the other night and everything was delicious. Especially the artichokes and grilled peppers with salt. Ant the drinks were great! The bartender was very accommodating to our tastes and made great recs. Sorry to hear your experience was so uneven. Given the madhouse toro can be I thought this was a cute alternative ( recognizing it wouldn't BE toro.

Thanks. I really wanted to go to a restaurant where we could sit down and eat lobsters in the city but instead, we satisfied his seafood craving with lobster rolls at Neptune for lunch and the dinner at Vinoteca di Monica's (excellent) for dinner.

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Vinoteca di Monica
143 Richmond St., Boston, MA 02109

Lucca, Taranta, and Vinoteca di Monica are all excellent and all take reservations. Check out Open Table too.

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Vinoteca di Monica
143 Richmond St., Boston, MA 02109

Lucca Restaurant
226 Hanover St., Boston, MA 02113

My cousin is in town and I'm looking to satisfy his lobster craving without breaking the bank. If I'm too lazy to cook tomorrow, where can I get great, simple lobsters (steamed, boiled or bake stuffed) at a reasonable price (doesn't have to be cheap, but Oceanaire was $25/pound and that's a little more than I wanted to spend)?

Don't even THINK about recommending the Barking Crab :)

There's also Eastern Baking Supply on Washington Street near N. Station/N. End

My husband was craving crab and we were still celebrating his birthday week, so five of us went to the Barking Crab on Saturday night. What an awful, disgusting, offensive experience. It was overpriced, the food was terrible, and I really felt like this tourist trap of a restaurant was taking advantage of its patrons.

Let me start with the positive - our waitress was phenomenal. She was friendly, sweet, and a real asset to the restaurant. I wish I could remember her name because a real restaurant should come and scoop her up.

Now the bad. Four of our five dishes were inedible or ridiculously overpriced. I'll start with my own dish, the lobster roll. I'm so glad that I had eaten a late lunch or I might have cried when it came out. Literally I wondered where the other half of my sandwich was. There were probably 3 pieces of lobster on a sub roll that couldn't have been more than three inches long. (see the photos with the fork for point of reference). It was ridiculous. And for $18 just so overpriced. I'd rather get a lobster roll at the Dog and Claw stand in front of the Aquarium. While not gourmet, it's a decent lobster roll for a decent price.

Two of our guests had soft shell crabs - one as a platter and one as a sandwich. Both of them got crabs that were not soft. And by not soft I mean they literally had to pick hard pieces of shell that were completely inedible out of the dish. I was shocked. How can you possibly serve soft shell crabs that you can bite into?

Finally, the birthday boy got his crab bowl. At $80 this is four pounds of crab in the shell, served in a big bowl with crackers. There were 3 types of crab (and I don't even want to bother going to their website to figure out what kind they were). Two of them were good, one tasted rotten. But still, it was just cold crab in a bowl. $80? Really??

Drinks were weak and also overpriced and I just felt so ripped off and offended. I went in knowing I wasn't going to have a great culinary experience, but this was just the last straw for me. Given all the other great places in the Boston area to get seafood and all the other caring restaurants serving great food at affordable prices I'm just dismayed that this place continues to pack them in. So heed my warning. Stay away.

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The Barking Crab
88 Sleeper Street, Boston, MA 02210

I took my husband to Menton last weekend for his birthday. I wanted to love it but unfortunately, it just didn't meet my expectations.

The space itself is beautiful and they do a really nice job of keeping the space light from the outside while recognizing that a view of Congress Street probably isn't all that exciting. It's pretty modern - lot of greys, dark woods, sheer curtains, modern art, etc. Very pretty.

The waitstaff was also excellent. Our waiter was very attentive, took my food allergies very seriously (and I've had two really bad experiences with this lately), and did a great job on our wine pairings.

But the food disappointed. First of all, I understand why for large parties it makes sense to force everyone to do either the 4 or the 7 course menu, but when it's just two people it doesn't really make sense. The menu isn't that expansive that it should be that much of a burden for small parties (6 and under maybe?) to have a choice. Nevertheless, b/c we had to choose, we went 4 courses since we could try more dishes that way.

I started with the lobster salad (for an additional surcharge) and my husband with the asparagus salad. Both were beautifully presented. The kitchen obviously puts a lot of attention into the presentations and technique. The starter courses were good, nothing outstanding that made me want to run home and try to recreate - just good basic food.

Second course I had langoustines wrapped in kataifi (shredded phyllo, and again, for a surcharge) with pea puree, my husband soft shell crab with green goddess dressing. The langoustines themselves were delicious and perfectly cooked. I loved the contrast of the crispy kataifi against the tender langoustines. I enjoyed the first bite of the pea puree but after a while the dish got a little muddy, as if it needed a squeeze of lemon juice or something else acidic to brighten it and keep it interesting. I didn't try the soft shell crab but my husband enjoyed it. Nothing that was exceptional though.

Third course I had the beef tenderloin, my husband had the fois gras stuffed quail. Let me start with the positive. The quail was unbelievably good. Perfectly cooked and with real fois gras inside (we were imagining it was going to be mousse). It was accompanied by phyllo wrapped asparagus which he let me eat in return for the mushrooms with my beef. All the vegetables were actually handled expertly at the restaurant. The biggest disappointment though was the beef. I actually thought it wasn't good. It actually had that taste as if it had been pre-cooked and then heated again. Not good at all.

Desserts are not are thing but we ordered the chocolate caramel tart and the rhubarb clafloutis and both were excellent - anyone with a sweet tooth would have been very satisfied.

All in, wine and dinner, we spent $450 and just couldn't see the value in it (although we were full at least). For that kind of money we really wanted a food experience that was going to leave us wanting to come back or dreaming about it again. But this just completely fell short of that. Other than the beef there was nothing particularly bad, but it just wasn't great or special the way a dinner should be for that price. My husband would like to go back and try the 7-course meal and I won't stay home, but unless they do something to really ramp up the food, it will be my last time there.

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Menton
354 Congress St, Boston, MA 02210

So last weekend we went to Tavern at the End of the World in Charlestown and I owe a big thank you to the Chowhounders for recommending this place. It was great! The place was much less "divey" than we expected, and with parking out back at night it was super easy to get there and park. We ordered fish and chips, the chipotle burger, and the vegetable curry. The fish and chips were great! Light coating and expertly fried it was sweet, not greasy, and a generous portion. It was served with hot and crispy french fries, a tangy mayo-less slaw, and a russian dressing like tartar sauce that was a perfect accompaniement. Bottles of vinegar are on the table too. The burger was awesome. Unlike most places nowadays it was actually perfectly cooked to medium rare, fresh bun and toppings, and the same french fries. We also enjoyed the veggie curry, but I was expecting something a little saucier, which is more to my taste.

The service was outstanding. The bartenders out front watch over the tables out back and they are friendly, nice, and efficient. Everything was prepared to order (we watched them make our food) but it still arrived quickly and hot! And the beer list is absolutely outstanding - it runs the gamut from "fancy" beers like Duval and Chimay to PBRs.

Our whole dinner for 3 came to around $50 with drinks, which is ridiculously inexpensive for the quality of the experience. All in the only thing that made me sad about the whole thing was that I never knew of this place before. I will be back!

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Tavern at the End of the World
108 Cambridge St, Charlestown, MA 02129

Glad you enjoyed - I dined there last night as well. The food is great, the service is so nice, and they are always willing to accommodate my food requests (usually extra spicy please).

I'm trying Tavern at the End of the World tonight. I'll post results with a new heading!

I'm jealous! I'm near Faneuil Hall and I'm surprised and what slim pickings there are that would be considered Chowish around here - in fact I'd love more ideas. Volle Nolle, Umberto's and Neptune in the North End come to mind. I also really like Sultan's Kitchen. I am really getting into a rut though. I'm going to start heading to East Boston for lunch treats - I figure it's a quick T ride to some good ethnic food.

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Volle Nolle
351 Hanover St, Boston, MA 02113

Sultan's Kitchen
116 State St, Boston, MA 02109

Billy Tse's on Commercial Street has great Asian food - not your typical N. End restaurant but quick, friendly, and delcious.

Neptune before 6 for 1 should be fine. You should be able to get a seat at the bar. Same with Vinoteca di Monica.

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Vinoteca di Monica
143 Richmond St., Boston, MA 02109

Billy Tse's
240 Commercial St Lbby 1, Boston, MA 02109

Are you referring to High Street Grill in North Andover? If so, it's closed.

It definitely won't fill you up. My husband and I went and spend over $400 at O Ya and I went home and ate a peanut butter sandwich b/c I was still hungry. It was good, but I don't really see why it was worth it - especially since I was still hungry. (And for the record, I'm a thin female who doesn't need to eat a ridiculous amount to satisfy myself).'

I've never been to Oishi but people seem to like it.

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O Ya
9 East Street, Boston, MA 02111