Nora Rocket's Profile
Sushi near the Boston Common Loews?
As well they shouldn't, yes? What with the no fish delivery on Sunday (or do I recall incorrectly)? This may be the place for us.
Sushi near the Boston Common Loews?
Hm, the InterWebs tell me Sushihaya is at 2 Tyler near Beach, and looks like a fine place into which to pop. Ginza too. Thanks also for the head's up on Shino...you'd never know I'd lived here over a year given what I still don't know.
Sushi near the Boston Common Loews?
Pre-holiday date with the SO tonight: dinner and a movie. Where might we get tasty sushi within a brisk walk to the movie theatre, given that the show starts at 6:45 and I'm off work at 5? I work near the green line Arlington stop and was thinking we'd just pop over to Newbury for a quick bite at Shino Express (I think it's called...) and then a walk through the garden and common in the snow. White Christmas indeed.
Thanks in advance!
Favourite FOODIE Thanksgiving Dish?
I make a great lentil & nut roast that can be done vegan if you like. It's from a random cookbook but I've made a few...improvements. Served with garlic/ginger cranberry chutney for full effect (the spicy, the sweet, the savoury--it's all there!). It's all neither elaborate nor expensive: red lentils, hazelnuts, and walnuts are the only even remotely specialty ingredients.
For sides I always like a seasonal veggie roast, like carrots & parsnips done in maple pecan mustard glaze. A roasted squash is always welcome, as are mashed potatoes prepared with roasted garlic and celery root (ugly from the ground, nutty in the mash). My partner loves stuffing and we've been experimenting with cornbread style stuffing lately.
This year I might go a little more...polished than usual, with courses of soup, vegetable, lentil roast, cheese plate.
Now you've got me all excited. Thanksgiving is, like, American foodie Christmas, but secular and centered squarely around togetherness and food. These are a few of my favourite thiiiiiiings...
Friday, Saturday, Sunday in Provincetown--Recs?
Okay, I've trolled the boards and found a few recomendations, but let's say your mother-out-law and some assorted family--five of us in all--are driving from Boston to stay on the cape this weekend. Many have said Clem & Ursies, many have mentioned making sure to hit the Portuguese bakery for sweets, Karoo for South African, possibly Lorraine's... Any other knockouts? She's paying, but my part of the deal, as I'm well known to be a bit of an eater/drinker/diner, was to scout places to eat. We'll do two dinners, two lunches, possibly two breakfasts, and are a cheifly pesco-vegetarian bunch. A round of festive cocktails on Saturday--with a view--would be stellar.
Thanks in advance to all!
World's Best Mustard? Please stake your claim.
Singing Pig Garlic White Wine mustard. Ordered, of course, from my number one food museum in the LAND: The Mustard Museum of Mt. Horeb, Wisconsin, metioned above by LindaWhit. If you love mustard, you must go. I've been, oh, six times.
Lemon Thai Cuisine in Somerville
Thanks for this--am on the hunt for good Thai near me and hadn't found it yet. Will try Lemon Thai and Tamarind House (had looked in their windows and wondered before).
Taipei Tokyo in Davis Sqaure
I like Yoshi's for a neighbourhood place and find it pretty "standard" in terms of cost, bang-for-buck. WAY superiour to Tapei Tokyo, which I tried two weeks ago and found deeply mediocre and overpriced. I mean really, crab stick as a component to the "sushi deluxe?" Dream on.
RW Week Plans
Joanie: L'espalier is on the list, yes. Good thought on PR and its cost; I nixed a few off my list of "to do" because I can afford them in a good month or will go anyway. This was to be a pie-in-the-sky eating endeavour for me, but dang my late-to-the-party-ness! Maybe I can slip away for a lot of lunches, when things might be less packed? Good to know for next year; I didn't even know of RW up until very very recently.
RW Week Plans
I'm new to Boston and new to RW, so I'm shooting in the dark on my ideas. Would love to hear suggestions--and after the other Pigalle review, I think it's on my list, as well as the popular-to-chowhounds Aquitaine and Taranta. What about Sel de la Terre? L'Espalier? Mistral? Petit Robert? So excited!
Dakshin Tonight - thank you HarpOOn!
Oh man, my Indian travels from last summer are calling to me, with this post...must go soon! Any chance that a girl could get to Dakshin via the commuter rail and some hoofin' it?
"Ratatouille" got me all choked up.
I agree I agree! I shed real tears of joy for that scene, the visceral tenderness of it and the truth of it! *That's* what food does to those of us who love food.
Ego also has the line that cracked only me up in the theater full of slightly understimulated kids (much higher-brow humour than they've become trained to enjoy--farts, puking aliens, etc...): "I don't *like* food; I *love* food. If I don't LOVE it I DON'T SWALLOW."
Chicago Chowhound visiting Boston this weekend
Very close to the green line, I'll reemphasize. As for you, kcp118, I'll second Helmand--nothing like it in Chicago, and I say that as a recent transplant to Bostonland from that fair city. We were at Helmand the night of the 3rd for a great meal at a price I pretty much didn't believe: two aps, four entrees, a soup, two desserts, and two teas--we all had to be rolled out--for $87 before tip.
Best Salad in Boston???
Small Plates, I do dissent indeed, but that's another story. I enjoy the big spinach salad at the Parish Cafe on Boylston near the public gardens and my employer on Arlington. Handy for me, but you didn't say where you were coming from? I'd rec the Parish anyways, frankly.
BYOB mid-range spot, transit accessible?
Woah, and speaking of "Nora doesn't do her homework," I just uncovered that BYOB is not so much a thing in Boston. Forgive a Chicagoan; she doesn't know what she's doing out here!
BYOB mid-range spot, transit accessible?
Hey all,
I'm seeking suggestions for a mid-range price place off a train line, preferrably BYOB (but not required by any means). Friend in from out of town tomorrow night. Two omnivores and one pesco-ovo-lacto-vegetarian (me). Any ideers? Secret favourites? Thanks in advance!
-Nora Rocket
Brunch, Exchange Street Bistro, Malden
So, last week's hit was this week's miss. We happened to go again this past Sunday with a friend in town and things went less well.
I had the smoked salmon "benedict," and it was the kind of thing that a less shy person than myself would have sent back. Eggs tremendously overdone, paltry salmon, no avocado (as described on the menu--wish they would have told me!), and a hollandaise sauce that I could have sworn my well-meaning waiter called "light." As if I'd ever ask for low-cal hollandaise. Potatoes again disappointing: I think I'll stick with the non-potato-bearing dishes henceforth--that layered french toast seemed dependable.
My dining companions had the smoked salmon platter (better salmon than I got...) and the appetizer pizza with duck confit, and they also split a french onion soup. The pizza, while deliciously salty (to my palette), was overly oily, like they'd drizzled it when it came out of the oven. The soup was hearty, but it contained green onion as well as caramelized yellow onion (an odd choice in my book).
Service was again pleasant if unremarkable, and the coffee was tasty. Oh, and, this time around they gave me a cocktail menu--I guess I looked my age...
Valentine dinner at Gargoyles on the Square
Sounds like a really lackluster night--I may bump my plans to visit back a little, behind other restaurants, and not just because you had an ungreat meal. Oh no, there's a far more deep offense here...
"Then we had a “Not So Simple Ceasar Salad” with hamachi for two. I thought it was pretty simple, myself. The hamachi pieces were seared, fresh enough, but lacking in that buttery texture I hoped for. There were thin bits of an aged dry orange cheddar I think was called Mimolette, and some supposedly “truffled” croutons that didn’t taste like much"
Hamachi on a Caesar? CHEDDAR on a caesar??!! This was not only "Not So Simple," it was Not So Caesar. I call shennanigans!
Davis Square options - advice on places I haven't been to yet
I just ate at Yoshi's last night and it was exactly decent. The salmon last night was especially tasty and the rice was nicely seasoned and temperatured. The pickled gourd in the oshinko maki (my fave anywhere) was also really good. There was one piece of nigiri (dunno which it was) that seemed like it included a bit of ligament or fiber (?) but that might have just been an unfortunate cut. I like Yoshi's fine and would make it a regular stop if I lived in the area.
Can I Say That America's Test Kitchen REALLY Irritates Me?!
In Brookline, no less, and I went to their (I think annual) open house in early December and got to eat munchies, tour the test kitchen, and talk to some of the staff. A very cool night, and I bought my weight in their cookbooks as holiday gifts.
In other words, oakjoan can say that ATK really irritates, and I can definitely say that I disagree. :) To each, and all that...ATK makes me want to get in the kitchen and cook attentively. I really like their scientific approach, and it reminds me of Julia Child's recounting of cooking dishes over and over and over until she got it juuuust right for MtAoFC one.
Brunch, Exchange Street Bistro, Malden
Well well well, a snazzily outfitted little bistro with a very economical brunch menu, no crowds, just a walk from my house? Don't mind if I do... I'd walked past the place a few times in town, and a short while ago someone on the board brought up that they served brunch on Sundays. I'd also seen it featured on a certain *mysterious* local restaurant review television show and I liked the chef's attitude: genuine and thoughtful. So we rocked over to the bistro this past weekend for some hot brunch action.
The place was busier in the front section, in front of the bar, which is backed by a sectional wall of pale green, frosted glass. The back section was nearly deserted and my dining companion and I were seated in one of the amply proportioned booths (could seat 6, no trouble). Dark wood, black (marble?) tabletops, and an inoffensively-volumed mix of music, from generic dance beats to jazz standards. Tap water was brought promptly, along with a pair of yeasty rolls with butter. Staff was capable if unremarkable, and kept the water and the coffee coming (huzzah). I ordered the crab cakes "benedict," very reasonable at $12, accompanied by house potatoes. Crab cakes were very tasty--they weren't made with big lumps of crab, as has been pointed out here in the past, but they were delicate and tasty nonetheless--and the eggs were perfectly poached. The hollandaise was tangier than I remember hollandaise being, but I think that reflects more on my hollandaise inexperience. The potatoes were the only weak element: they had a good moderate spice, included onion, and had a higher-than-average salt level, but they were a little...damp--like they'd been boiled, tossed in spice, and left in a pile. Too bad. My DC had the stuffed french toast, a total tower of power for only $9. Three thick texas toasts schmeared with mascarpone cheese (and did I detect a hint of maple in the mascarpone? I certainly hope so...) and topped with blueberry compote and a few peach wedges. Were the peach wedges canned? I fear so. Was the dish amazingly sweet and delicious? Yes. Her only complaint with the meal was her orange juice: it was akin to college dining services OJ, served from a spraying machine and containing no pulp. The juice didn't match the decor, for sure. I also missed a brunch cocktail menu--there was a martini list that had a few contenders, and I probably could have ordered one if I wanted one, but without the suggestions I defaulted to coffee.
The brunch menu is pretty limited, but if the two things we had are any indication, it's about quality and not quantity. The price is definitely right, and I plan to go again and again. With the large back seating area nearly vacant for our entire visit, I got the feeling that perhaps a girl could show up with her Sunday Times and linger over a relaxed brunch and cuppa coffee.
new super 88 in malden
I could see a full parking lot and people coming and going as I rode the T north into Malden today.
new super 88 in malden
w00t! I do hope the food court will materialize--Allston's not an easy destination for me.
I'll probably hit the new location up in a few weeks, when we're ready for another grocery run; bet they'll be fully stocked by then.
b-day dinner tasting menu
Well, I know what I'm doing for *my* birthday now....I was very impressed with my Nov. trip to Neptune Oyster: raw bar, aps, wines, mains, atmos., and all. I'll take an "all you might eat" offering as a challenge! Anyone else done what _heathermb_ decribes?
new super 88 in malden
Huh, I didn't know they were moving, but if they'll be nearer to my house, I'm for it. I live in Malden but since I have no car, grocery shopping is a bike- or feet-only affair, and the Eastern location was farther than I liked in the winter... Do you know, Commercial and what cross street?
Fasika, Somerville
WOW! With all these raves and an economical price tag, I can't wait to try it. Was underwhelmed by Addis; mabe this will do the trick. And, pamiam, if the tej is like Chi's Ethiopian Diamond, I am in for a treat.
Need vegan main dish for a potluck!
Check the ingredients on yer canned enchilada sauce! La Preferida contains lard.
Need vegan main dish for a potluck!
I make a mean lentil and nut loaf--kindof in the vein of meatloaf, but with veggies, nuts, and lentils. If you have a food processor, it's actually pretty quick to make (1 1/2 hours including baking time) and it transports and reheats like a dream. I make it for Thanksgiving, with a spicy, gingery, garlic-y, cranberry chutney. Send me an email if you think this fits the bill and you want the recipe.
