MrsCheese's Profile
Hudson/Marlborough, MA Fish Market Meat Market Farm stand?
I buy my fish at Quarterdeck in Maynard. We think the quality is very good. Not sure if it's too far for you. They have an email you can sign up for that lets you know what fresh fish came in that day.
Inexpensive Salads -- Need Panera Alternatives
I also would recommend the noodle salad at Bon me. I may get skewered for this but I'd also recommend the salads at chipotle particularly with the corn salsa.
Dinner at Troquet
I'm glad you posted. We haven't been in years, but we're going in a few weeks. Looking forward to it! Our last meal there was spectacular, but we don't get out downtown by ourselves very often anymore.
AKA Bistro
Love this place. We usually get a babysitter and go on a weeknight and sit at the bar and watch Chris. I've had the French food before, and it's good (though I'll note that the frites suck unless they've changed them), but the sashimi is awesome.
Our favorites:
Hawaiian poke - we get this everytime. It's addictive and more substantial than the other items. I'm not usually a huge tuna fan, but the mix of the crunch of the bean sprouts with the cubes of tuna and flavor of ginger is a knockout.
Bronzini with hot sesame oil, cilantro and jalapeno - tastes as good as it sounds.
Scottish salmon sashimi - this one is reliable. also has cilantro on it, which I love.
Hamachi with pineapple - very good flavor combination. Little diced pineapple with perfect hamachi and a ginger vinaigrette.
I also really like the rock shrimp tempura with the spicy aioli. My husband loves the oysters with yuzu mignonette.
It's not a cheap date but you definitely get what you pay for here. I have never had a stinker when ordering the sashimi, and we've been many times. I also love that they have Trimbach Gewurtz on the wine list - a bit of an odd pairing but actually works really well with all of the lively flavors.
Need North End Restaurant for visiting parents and awful toddler
I made a reservation - it looks perfect.
Beachowolfe - fair warning.
Thanks all!
Need North End Restaurant for visiting parents and awful toddler
Never heard of Panza, thanks for the rec.
Need North End Restaurant for visiting parents and awful toddler
I forgot about Taranta - I've sat in that room on the 3rd floor. It would usually be my least favorite place to sit but you're right that it would probably be perfect for this.
I hear ya on the bathrooms - if I remember the stairs are a little treacherous on a couple glasses of wine.
Need North End Restaurant for visiting parents and awful toddler
Thanks so much, guys! Plenty of ideas here. Appreciate it!
gimlis1mum: Calisthenics! lol
ScienceChick: Chinatown - if only! That would certainly be my preference - but definitely not what mom has in mind. Mom and Dad are from the Midwest, you see. :-) My kids do great in Chinatown - my daughter's fave food is dim sum, and the little one usually has plenty of entertainment. We even have done hot pot with success!
and RichardinJP: appalling that someone's kid would be so awful as to make you walk out mid-meal. I hope everyone understands that my post was a bit tongue in cheek, mainly to get some attention to the thread - my kid is terrible compared with his sister at that age, but she was exceptional. I'd never let my kid piss everyone around us off (or run up and down aisles, or do any of those other awful things I see some people let their kids do). I do have to retain a little smugness here (wink* sallyt)
Wish me luck!
Where can I find Boston's best and freshest fried haddock plate?
Love Moulton's. Their fried fish is really good, and I'm pretty sure it's haddock. We usually get the two-way or three-way combo. Fried clams and fried scallops are great too.
VISITING BOSTON? One Hound’s Guide to Historic Areas and Restaurants
This is fantastic! I'm local and still will find it super useful.
Coach Grill, Sudbury
Apparently a lot of people like it because the parking lot is packed to the gills every night of the week. I drive by there on a Tues night and think, who are all of these people eating steak in the suburbs on a Tuesday night?
It's an old school steakhouse, emphasis on old school. The meat is high quality, but you're not going to find anything interesting here. My husband loves it. I think it's fine, but I'm not really into steak, so I'm probably a bad judge. If you had a hankering for prime rib, it's a great place for that.
I prefer the atmosphere of the bar over the dining room.
I would say if you're looking for a high end steakhouse experience, you might be better off in Boston. However, I think the prices are more reasonable at Coach Grill for essentially the same steak.
Need North End Restaurant for visiting parents and awful toddler
"Please post the date, time, and restaurant you decide on."
I just realized this was a little weird. You're trying to avoid us, aren't you!
Need North End Restaurant for visiting parents and awful toddler
Thanks. I thought about Giacomo's but it's Memorial Day weekend and I'm afraid the wait will be even worse than usual. A reservation would be ideal.
As far as date and time, I'm planning for Sunday May 27 around 5:30 (going out early is a must with this one).
How bad is Giacomo's on a Sunday afternoon? Do you know how difficult it is to get a table for 6 in there? My mom would love it because Rachael Ray recommended it. /roll eyes/
Need North End Restaurant for visiting parents and awful toddler
"I don't know your child's Grandma, but I know my child's loved the idea of us all going out, but wasn't happy when it wasn't the experience she was hoping for."
Ha, this is so true! Honestly, we'll be fine at Antico Forno if that's where we end up. He's not *that* bad - I think I tend to exaggerate a little. :-) I was just hoping someone might point out someplace I'd overlooked.
Need North End Restaurant for visiting parents and awful toddler
Surprised no one has told me to stay home yet. :-)
I wanted to specify that what I'm really looking for is a place that won't give us the stinkeye for having a kid who needs a highchair and is relatively loud. Would like some place that is not super cramped, out of concern for others, and this knocks out many places. We used to go to Pomodoro with our daughter and not think twice about it (and they were so sweet to her). Never in a million years with this one. Also need not too fancy (but not Galleria Umberto either, not what mom's looking for).
Also would love to get decent service so we're not waiting around forever (that's when the native gets restless). Bringing his food out early or bringing food for him is not helpful because when he's done, he thinks everyone else should be done.
I'm asking too much here, aren't I.
Need North End Restaurant for visiting parents and awful toddler
My parents are visiting later in the month and my mom wants to go to the North End. We'll be a group of six: mom, dad, me, hubs, impeccably behaved 6yo daughter who eats anything, and an impatient, loud, grabby, generally terribly behaved toddler. He's lucky he's otherwise charming and easy to parent in almost all other aspects of life, so we've decided we'll keep him. :-)
Ideas? I guess the default in this situation is Antico Forno - loud, not cramped, reasonably priced - but I was hoping to come up with something else. We also used to go to Trattoria Il Panino frequently in the pre-hellion years, but I'm not sure they can accomodate our group.
Perhaps someone out there with a similarly awful diner in the family has a suggestion I haven't considered? I'm at a loss - our older child was a wonderful diner from the get-go. Apparently that was not a result of my expert parenting skills but just the luck of the draw. (Tip: for anyone else out there with a similarly well-behaved child with a very adventurous palate, don't go patting yourself on the back just yet. :-))
Oh, and leaving the little troublemaker at home isn't an option - Grandma wants to eat with her darling grandkids.
Thanks for any suggestions!
So-Gross-They're-Good Faves
Yes! to the Falafel King. Love the chicken kabob roll up. I long for the shish taouk sandwich at a Lebanese place called Nate's from my Cleveland days, and Falafel King's is the closest thing to satisfying my craving.
Asia Gourmet in Concord: Very Good Taiwanese
We ate here for the first time tonight and it is a wonderful addition to the area. We ordered 7 dishes from the dimsum portion of the menu. Salt and pepper chicken - I couldn't stay away from this one even after I was full. Crunchy flavorful and juicy meat. Soup dumplings were good and new to my family. Potstickers were as expected but with a tasty spicy dipping sauce instead of the usual soy. The beef wrap in scallion pancake kind of reminded me of Mulans but the pancake was thicker. Not too greasy and one I went back to for seconds. The daikon cake was nicely brown and my husband proclaimed it the best he'd had - he's not usually a big fan of those. The noodles with sha cha beef and watercress were good but not particularly memorable. Steamed pork buns were probably my least favorite - more like a meatball inside and I prefer the BBQ pork ones that have minced up stuff inside. But they were eaten! Overall not a stinker in the bunch and Asian gourmet will go into the regular rotation. Thanks for the recs!
Suggestions for pizza topping combinations, please!
I always use garlic and olive oil instead of marinara sauce
sauteed shiitakes and shallots with or without italian sausage
a margarita style pizza (fresh mozz, sliced tomato, basil) topped with strips of prosciutto
we also usually do clams and bacon, but you said no seafood
Maine Shrimp 2012... Can't wait!
I've been getting them at the Quarterdeck in Maynard for $4.99/lb head on. I think that's a little more expensive than last year. Just had some Friday night and they were fabulous.
to the OP - my foolproof preparation method is based on a peel-and-eat shrimp recipe I saw once from Jasper White. I'm not even sure anymore how close my recipe is to his, but here it is:
For 2 people:
2 lb Maine shrimp
2 chopped inner celery stalks, the more leaves the better
1 chopped shallot
1 bay leaf torn in half
1 small lemon, thinly sliced
1 T. Old Bay
1 t. kosher salt
Mix all of the above together in a bowl and let sit for 10 minutes. Meanwhile bring 1 beer and a good glug of cider vinegar to a boil in a large stockpot with steamer insert. Add the shrimp and rest of the bowl contents, cover, and steam for 3 min. Stir, and steam for another 1-2 min. They're perfect and don't even need to be dipped in anything.
Looking for best bahn mi in greater Boston
This is great to know! I always go to Momogoose out of habit, and balked at the idea of $6 banh mi, but I'll have to try BonMe if it's that good.
Sichuan Gourmet
I prefer the dry fried chicken with chili sauce (not really a sauce) to the Old Sichuan chicken, myself. You might want to try that one and see if you like it better.
As far as the bamboo shoots go, I like the spicy wonder sauce, but I tend to order the bamboo shoots with the sesame oil instead. They use that same spicy oil in so many other things that we order that it's nice to have the counterpoint.
You had asked about the pea tendrils too - they're one of my favorites but they don't always have them.
Hong Kong Market Food Court Allston
"smells kinda gross" is being very kind. When you walk through that side door (you know the one that was broken and covered in duct tape for quite a while?) it smells like straight up rotten trash. But, like you, I have an easily upset stomach and I've never had any problems there. Dim Sum Chef is pretty decent (I like the hargau quite a bit), love the banh mi at Pho Viet, and pea pod stems at Kantin. Agree with others that the pho at Pho Viet is awful - reminds me of dishwater. It's too bad, because a few years ago it was better. Not nearly as good as Dot, but pretty good for the area. Not sure what happened. Bun bo hue is better than the pho, but also not great.
Dish that got the best compliments today - share the recipe
I've made the Carrots with Shallots, Sage and Thyme from the last issue of Gourmet (RIP) for the past few years and it gets rave reviews. Everyone had seconds of it this year.
Do you really like that green bean casserole?
I also liked canned cranberry sauce. I even like it better than the homemade stuff. So sue me (or take away my Chowhound membership?). :-)
Look, I'm all for gourmet most days of the year, and I support my local farmers and belong to a meat CSA, buy locally caught seafood, etc, and my family eats very well (and very little processed stuff). But if I'm a guest for Thanksgiving, I'm going to appreciate whatever is on the table, and I even have a soft spot for some of it.
Make Ahead Turkey Gravy
I make this every year and it's *perfect*. Just put mine in the freezer this weekend.
I've started doing it with a 10-11 lb Butterball. Roast the turkey like normal, remove the breast meat once it's cooked to freeze for leftovers (or eat hot browns like we did tonight) and use the legs, wings, carcass to make the stock and go from there. It's awesome. I have at least 2 qts of gravy ready to go.
Do you really like that green bean casserole?
Hell yeah. I am so not above canned crap when it comes to tradition. Nothing says Thanksgiving like MSG and marshmallows.
Sometimes we shouldn't take ourselves so seriously.
skate wing
A bit of a drive, but the Quarterdeck in Maynard has had it fairly regularly lately. They are my go to fishmonger. I have never had fish or shellfish there that was less than great. Just had some Nantucket Bay scallops from there tonight -yum!
Rave for Arlington Restaurants
When we lived in Arlington, we used to go to Medford for Vietnamese. Pho Yan, I think? Is it still there? Totally not special compared with Boston Vietnamese, but it worked in a pinch.
