I don't have that kind of rice cooker (or maybe I do and I'm just too afraid to use it that way?). Otherwise, Pinch of Salt's ingredients were basically what I did with a bit of variation. It took me a long, long time to make it, though, and I will admit that had I known how much effort it would take, I would not have attempted it.

I had to take a break halfway through cooking for a snack, but on the plus side, it is 2 days later and I am still eating congee....

I ended up making congee! Called my friend, got his recipe, and now I have about a week's worth of congee. Ooops. Better halve that recipe next time...

Thanks for the suggestions!!

As yet another beautiful weekend arrives, I will be spending it indoors. Last weekend I either got a stomach bug or inadvertently gave myself food poisoning; this weekend I am exploding into a coughing fit every 5 minutes.

My throat is sore, my head is congested, and I am really grieving the long-ago closure of Arlington's Viet's Cafe. I have to venture out soon for cough medicine and library books; does anyone have recommendations for soup near Arlington that will magically make me feel better about spending a second weekend in a row in my dark apartment?

Note: I'm lactose intolerant and can't handle spice.

I finally got to Strip-Ts tonight for the first time. I had japanese sweet potato wedges (YUM, not too sweet) and the roast chicken. Chicken was delicious - very moist. I just wish they had about twice the amount of apple butter on it. That apple butter was so good. Heck, just cover the whole chicken with it!

Dessert was the lemon steamed cake with graham cracker, a really interesting/not something I would willing eat again ginger/miso cracker, beet sorbet. My stomach felt rather uncertain about this mix of flavors. It was delightful to look at and amusing to taste but overall, I don't think I actually would order this again. My dining companions settled for the mocha chocolate cake which the waiter described as, "Just a cake." He really undersold it, but both of them were quite happy with it as it was not too sweet.

We also received little samples of a hazelnut cake with a dot of blueberry on it - had this been on the menu, I think I would have liked it much more as a dessert than the lemon steamed cake. There was way too much going on with the lemon cake.

I would definitely go again but I don't think I'd bother with dessert next time.

Does anyone know if the sandwich menu by the bar is available only at lunch/at the bar? It looked better than some of the dinner menu options.

Closed and looking for new location - they just updated their Facebook page.

Taipei Gourmet has taken over the former Three Gorges in Lexington. I visited it today with my parents for lunch.

I had never been to Three Gorges, so I don't know if the interior has changed much. About 3/4 of the people there were Asian, and though the restaurant was mostly empty when we arrived at 11:30, it gradually started filling up so that by the time we left at 12:45, the one waitress was starting to scramble a bit.

I was mostly interested in the section in the menu on "Taiwanese Appetizers & Flour Corner" (not entirely sure what a "flour corner" is meant to be, but my carb-loving stomach liked the sound of it). From this section, we ordered scallion pancake with roast beef, xiao long bao, steamed homemade dumpling with pork and cabbage, steamed red bean buns, and pan fried turnip cake. We also ordered noodles with ground pork in peking sauce, ko-cha dish, watercress, and bok choy.

The watercress and bok choy were not really on the menu, though they both showed up as "seasonal vegetable" on the bill. Both were stir-fried; the watercress with garlic, the bok choy with ginger.

My favorite dish was the scallion pancake with roast beef, though the pancake was greasier than I usually like. The steamed homemade dumpling had thick skin (to withstand the steaming, I suppose) and would have been tastier pan-fried. We found the meat in the dumpling to be underseasoned. The soup dumplings were tastier than I expected but not as soupy as the ones at Asia Gourmet. My parents really liked the noodles with ground pork (which we ordered mild) but I found it bland.

The ko-cha dish was something I hadn't had before - apparently a regional specialty that seemed to consist of squid, tofu (the kind with the dark skin), random dark things. It was tasty, but just not something I would order on my own.

Biggest disappointment were the red bean buns, which are the kind you can just buy at a chinese supermarket and steam at home. I was hoping for homemade.

Overall, the food was fine - not great, but not bad if you just want to go someplace close. I thought the prices were a little expensive (the total with tax was about $70, and we did not have any drinks other than tea). If I had unlimited time, I'd probably drive the extra distance to Asia Gourmet, but this place would be acceptable if I didn't. The people working there seemed nice, and though I didn't have anything that wowed me, I'd be willing to try other menu options.

I just tried it. It was not bad, not great. Will post separately on it.

I used to like Big Fresh when I lived in the area - off route 30; very easy to get onto route 9 or the pike from there. Not sure how it is now as it's been a few years since I've been there.

Sel de la Terre at the Natick Mall is good.

JP and Brookline might be doable also, and there are lots of options there.

I did eat it by itself. It was like drinking liquid fat once I penetrated the eggplant skin. Ugh!!! But then, I'm also not a fan of mayo on bread...

I took my parents to Gen Sushi tonight for a delayed celebration of my mother's birthday. My parents are usually dubious of trying new places, but since they only eat Asian food and I didn't want to deal with waiting for a table at Toraya, I figured we'd take a chance on this place, based on the chowhound feedback.

We got a special of black cod miso (delicious, though small), and ordered a Sushi & Sashimi Combo for one, a nabeyaki udon, and tempura mushroom maki and unagi maki with avocado.

My father couldn't get over what a good value the sushi & sashimi combo was. He said that usually he leaves a Japanese restaurant not quite feeling full, but he was stuffed today. At $26, the sushi & sashimi combo came with 9 pieces of sashimi (salmon, toro, hamachi), california roll, and 5 pieces nigiri (I think there was an uni, salmon, black sea bass, striped bass? Not totally sure I am remembering correctly). The pieces of fish were quite thick and large.

My parents said the raw fish melted in their mouth and was very fresh. They said it was better than Toraya -- I think it was the combination of the size of the fish and the quality that they enjoyed.

The menu is somewhat limited for non-raw eating folks like myself. My rolls were fine, but nothing special. I was definitely full from sharing the nabeyaki udon (came with 2 clams, which is unusual) and black cod miso, though. There weren't many vegetables in the nabeyaki udon but my mother said the noodles weren't soggy and just the right texture. They also brought the tempura shrimp separately without us needing to ask.

Upon hearing we were celebrating my mother's birthday, they brought over complimentary mochi ice cream and a chunk of pineapple. Everyone was really nice.

The only negative is how tiny this is - my parents would bring their friends but they are afraid of it being full, so I suggested they go at an off hour. We were there between about 6:30 -7:45 tonight and only 1 other table was filled, with one or two take-out orders occurring during that same time period. I hope that others will check out this place - would hate to see it fail given how excellent the quality of the fish is.

It was a madhouse here today because of artbeat, and thank goodness I was prepared because of reading this thread! I went with the bowl option -- you can add a pita to it, which makes this option just as good as a sandwich, but with way less stress!

Most of the toppings I tried were good. The baba ghanoush was a standout. The one negative is that I thought everyone was raving about the FRIED eggplant (there was no roasted option), so I grabbed two of those to try, even though they looked like blackened lumps. I am sad to report it was utterly disgusting. Just tasted like balls of OIL.

The falafel were moist and tasty on the inside but harder than I like on the outside -- way too crisp.

Though I had to fight my urge to shove everyone aside and completely reorganize their system to be more efficient, I'd definitely give it another try.

I think maybe the sprinkle-sprankle was what was on top of the beans in the bean plata. It was good, but I had no idea what it was until now.

Also, part of what made our meal so good is that we had a nice table right up against the wall so we could eavesdrop on a table across the way during which a customer kept asking, rather loudly, how "big" everything was. We never did find out why she was so fascinated with size.

A friend and I decided to try Yoma last night. Neither of us had been there before, but I remembered reading good things about it on Chowhound.

We started with the bean plata, which is a flaky bread (like a very very thin scallion pancake, minus the scallion) with an amazing bean dip. Not so much a dip as a little bowl of beans. It reminded my friend of split pea soup. We both liked this (though I wished we'd gotten more bread).

Then I got the pumpkin pork and my friend got the Rainbow noodles. I wish the menu had more descriptions because I wasn't quite sure what I would be getting, but fortunately I loved it anyway. Cubes of perfectly cooked pumpkin and pieces of pork, accompanied by rice.

My friend said she would order that the next time. She liked her rainbow noodles but said it wasn't as special. I didn't try the noodles because she said it was quite spicy, but it looked like there was a whole lot going on in that dish - 4 different types of noodles, maybe some chicken, squash, etc. it was very monochromatic.

Thanks very much for the recs -- I probably would never have thought to try Yoma if it hadn't been mentioned here. I'm looking forward to trying more on the menu -- maybe a tea salad next time? I wasn't sure what that was, but Yoma is the kind of place where it seemed perfectly normal to order outside of your usual preferences.

We went to Asian Gourmet last night, spurred by this thread and a rec from my dad's friends. It felt a little bit strange to be eating Taiwanese dim sum items at night, but we persevered and ordered massive amounts of food. There were 3 of us and we ordered 10 dishes:

- pan fried daikon cake (very good; I couldn't stop eating them and usually I'm just ok with these)

- seafood hot pot (surprisingly deep dish, lots of noodles, not so much seafood and other stuff, but a good broth)

- snow cabbage with dried bean curd (I didn't know what this was when my parents ordered it. It's a cold dish of what looks like edamame with a tiny bit of wilted green stuff -- the snow cabbage, I guess-- and some small cubes of tofu. Tasted good.)

- tofu sheet (another cold dish, just a whole bunch of tofu skin with a nice sweet flavor)

- salt and pepper fried chicken, minus the spice (good)

- sliced beef wrapped in scallion pancake (the winner, for me. Delicious. Excellent sauce. And just as good eaten cold the next day, which I might have done a few minutes ago.)

- oyster pancake (my parents said this was very good)

- steamed mini juicy pork buns (very good, but I think Dumpling Cafe's is still better as I like the thinner skin of the dumplings at DC. The ones at Asian Gourmet have slightly thicker skin and tasted a little saltier, but were still good.)

- pan fried dumplings with chives and eggs (I liked the filling but didn't care for the skin as it tasted just like fried flour without much flavor. But I think I just don't like this dish. My parents thought it was very good)

- some kind of green vegetable that I think is called sauteed water spinach in english. Good.

Within 5 minutes of our ordering, dishes starting arriving. Granted, we had gotten there early and the room was only half-full, but it was pretty impressive that everything arrived within 15 minutes, and the waiter who dropped off the soup dumplings advised us to eat them immediately.

We had recently gone to Chung Shin Yuan and found the food had taken a turn for the average, and of the dishes we ordered at Asian Gourmet that we've had at CSY also, we all agreed Asian Gourmet was better.

Service was good, everyone was friendly, and we will be returning during a more lunch-ish time. Soy milks and shao bing/you tiao are only available on weekends (but all day), and the other items we ordered are available all the time.

The lower level (the hibachi and main area) was full by the time we left around 6pm. It was quite hot in there because of the hibachi, so I think next time we will sit upstairs in the sushi house part. They own both of them, and told us we could sit in either place and order from any menu.

The cost was about $70 before tip and with a 6% cash discount, and that fed 3 of us plus made 2 meals for my parents. We were very pleased with it, so thank you for the rec!

Pho and Spice in Waltham had excellent pho the one time I went there. I think the owner also owns Pho and Rice in Somerville.

Thank you for making me giggle.

Is Strip-T's serving lunch at 3? I thought dinner was when the special stuff came out.

What a lovely idea to do a special celebration.

I still remember the one meal I had at Bergamot about a year and a half ago. I started with a salad that had a fried/poached egg on top. It was like nothing I'd ever tasted before, in a very good way.

I wasn't crazy about the room (very noisy, tables close together) but I went when it had just opened so I don't know if that has changed. But the food....oh boy. I'm afraid to go back there again in case it can't live up to my memory.

My parents and I went to Maki Maki tonight a bit before 5:30pm. There was no wait.

The only other sushi AYCE buffet that I have been to is Minado. Maki Maki is set up exactly like Minado: hot entrees on the right, then soups, then salad line, oysters/cold stuff/sashimi, sushi, desserts.

Main differences between Maki Maki and Minado:

- Maki Maki has ginger/scallion lobster at dinner (key tip: as soon as a server takes away the platter bearing lonely lobster heads, start lining up for the fresh batch. It goes pretty quickly.)

- Minado has more cakes for dessert and the crepes

- Maki Maki does not advertise handrolls, but according to a waiter, they will make whatever handroll you want if it's based on the sushi rolls they already have

- Maki Maki has a lot more interesting maki, and a lot more non-raw maki

- No grill at Maki Maki

I do not eat raw fish but my parents reported that the sashimi was fresh and good. My father did not like how they cut it, though. He said it was cut very small.

Minado's food looks better, but I think Maki Maki's tastes better. Some of the items included snow crab legs, asparagus, chinese broccoli, shrimp and snap peas, flounder and random things, the usual fried rice/noodle stuff, oysters, shrimp tempura, 3 savory soups (miso, seafood, and fish maw) and 1 sweet soup of taro and tapioca. My parents didn't really bother with the raw maki and stuck with sashimi. I enjoyed the non-raw maki, though a lot of them seemed to feature mango and fried tempura.

I think we all skipped the salads.

For dessert there were 4 types of little cakes, all red and all highly uninteresting, standard ice cream (vanilla, chocolate, strawberry -- would it have killed them to get in some red bean/green tea/ginger flavors?), and the usual fruit: melons, grapes, strawberries, oranges, pineapple. Tea is extra and they do not serve alcoholic drinks.

The room is smaller than Minado's, and when we left around 6:45, all the tables were full and people were waiting. This may be because they are offering 10% off until tomorrow.

One minor quibble: the sign at the front of the restaurant said they had an opening special of 10% off, and seniors were 20% off. Well, no - turns out seniors are the regular 10% off, and then they take another 10% off after that which is not as much as taking 20% off the regular price.

We enjoyed it, but wouldn't make a special trip for it. As long as you're not a vegetarian, you can certainly eat enough to make up the $30.95 sunday dinner price, particularly if you keep your eyes peeled for the lobster and don't mind being a jerk and grabbing a bunch at once (I think there was one woman there who pretty much swept the platter clean when it came out).

2nd Red Lentil. I've only been there twice for brunch and never for a non-brunch, but I've loved everything I got. Cute and cheerful room, also.

It happens on all boards; it's just that I usually only look at that boston board.

Just now it also happened on the iPod touch for the first time. My name shows up in the corner but the site doesn't flag the new posts. Oddly, I am able to view all the posts I ever responded to by clicking on my name, so it's almost like I'm partially logged in. When I tried to reply to this post, I kept getting an error message.

On the mobile site, there is no logout button so I had to go to create a new post, at which point I was asked to log in even though my name had been showing up as though I was logged in

Once I re-logged in, the new posts showed up as flagged and I was able to reply to this thread. So the error appears to be more that the site has somehow only partially logged me in (I can view my posts but not see new posts flagged).

I will try logging out from the desktop computer later today, but it likely won't be until late at night.

About a week ago, I stopped being able to see new posts flagged on the Greater Boston board. I can see new posts fine on my iPod Touch using the Safari browser, but when I use Firefox on my desktop PC, everything looks the way it would appear if I wasn't logged in - except I am logged in. Any suggestions?

I'm hoping to try Strip-T's for dinner soon, but the menu seemed kind of sparse for my vegetarian dinner companion (not sure DC will go for the eggplant banh mi). Anyone know if they offer more salads or veggies for dinner that aren't listed on the dinner menu online? Oddly, the lunch menu seems much more vegetarian-friendly...but no burger available then, which is what I want!

Are you averse to making your own? The soy milk maker was quite easy to use.

I find that fresh soy milk is a bit thick for me. I've recently decided to go with tj's unsweetened, refrigerated soy milk also, and it has almost a cleaner, thinned taste (which I prefer) compared to fresh. I was never a fan of the Chinatown fresh soy milks, though I like the sweetened kind at Taiwanese brunch, and I also had a soy milk maker and made it myself for a while. It didn't take long but the machine was a pain to clean (in addition to tasting thick) so I stopped using it.

I usually go to Trader Joe's and Market Basket. Wilson Farms on the Lexington/Arlington line might be a possibility for you - their fruit is quite good and the produce is better than at Market Basket.

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Wilson Farm
10 Pleasant St, Lexington, MA 02421

I am greatly enjoying this thread but maybe I missed something - how are you able to hit so many restaurants in varying locations every day? Do you have the month off from work?

If it's nice out, there are tables outside Flour where you could sit. Or do what my nephew did -- he was 2 years old at the time, fell in love with the regular brioche at Flour, and just sat in his stroller outside the Children's Museum and gobbled that sucker down.

Any Asian supermarket should carry this, but my two containers of pork floss have lasted me for years so I haven't looked lately for it. I like it on buttered mantou bread (the frozen white, oblong buns).

I buy from Upton, but last summer at the Lexington Farmer's Market, I picked up some Notting Hall tea (Dragonflower blend) and it's one of my favorites.

Many thanks to all who responded. We did end up going and had no problem with spice levels - we just stayed away from anything in red on the menu. We don't have any issues with garlic.

We got:
- pork, leek, shrimp dumplings. Just okay - didn't seem to have quite enough pork and was mostly leek

- green bean noodle with sesame sauce. Not at all what we were expecting. These looked like cubes of jello. The sauce, however, was excellent.

- beef with scallion (and onion). Very good -- just like how my mother makes it.

- whole fish with ginger and scallion. Sauce excellent again, but I think they said the fish was tilapia and it was fishier than I like, and also cooked just a shade too short. It was a little bloody inside.

- sauteed pea pod stems. Fine. Not bad, but not the best I've had, either.

- shredded potato. Father loved this. I am a big potato fan (see my name) but didn't care for this as much because it just didn't taste like potato.

- white rice. This was, very surprisingly, the worst part of the meal. We arrived around 11:30 today, and were one of maybe 3-4 occupied tables until we left an hour later. The rice looked kind of old, as it had that dried-out look to it and was kind of discolored like it had been scraped from the bottom of the rice cooker.

Overall we enjoyed it, though I'm not sure I would make a special trip here. I'd be more likely to go to Mulan instead (haven't been to Shangri-La in ages, so can't compare).

Sadly, I didn't see aromatherapy's recommendation of the meatballs until I got home - we actually had been considering that as one of our dishes but weren't quite sure about it, and went with the beef with scallions at the last minute.