galleygirl

Thanks; I'm embarrassed to admit, my wine-budget has been low, low, low lately..I usually find a dry white I love, and buy a case at Trader Joe's or Martignetti's....There's a Ferrande Sauvignon Blanc at TJ's that seems to go with everything I serve, and costs $6 at TJ's....It tastes like a very good $12 bottle...

Thanks, pandangirl, sorry it took so long to get back to this... Super 88's food court is barely touching what Boston has to offer, there's better in *all* categories, but still, for a quick bite...But you're so close to Vistoria Seafood if you're out there!!! Mix Bakery is the best in Chinatown for bânh mi(Vietnamese sandwiches)...They have the dac bîet(special, with pate and cold cuts), grilled beef9ask for NO extra sweet sauce) or tofu, which is what I get...There's other, flashier places than this Chines coffeee-shop, but their bread isn't as good...For the best bânh mi, it's Bâ Le in Dorchester.... There were some other posts on CH about the hawaiian place; turned out to be a basic American breakfast place that offered a spam omelet at brakfast; that was about it....

Two thoughts; One, is that Jasper White wasn't ultimately satisfied in leaving Jasper's for the corporate life, and wasn't even satisfied in reveling in the downscale clamshack feel of the Summer Shacks...He had to pop his signature pan-roasted lobster into the downscale menu... Two, is that Mantra is planning not one, but two new branches...Perhaps that precipitated the chef's leavetaking? And Mantra has had a spotted reputation, despite that glowing Herald report...It's mostly tourists and businesspeople, normal Bostonians don't consider it a good take, on the basis of value of the experience for your dollar. Edited for horrendous spelling.

You're close enough to Super88 in Allston to just take the T (green line, B-branch) from Kenmore Square....All your Asian veggies, tofu, various condiments, a good selection of western veggies, but not all, and the quality of them bears scrutiny...A fish-market in the back, THE place to go for whole and live fish, unless you wannah take the T in the other direction, and hit Chinatown...There are several there I could recommend... The BEST Thai in Boston is in Coolidge Corner, at Dok Bua...Take the C-Branch of the green line to Coolidge Corner, walk about 5 minutes toward Allsrton for this amazing store-front place, with the most authentic stuff around..Just ate there last nit, spicy catfish in chili sauce was as good as usual, and my BF insists on miang kum as an app..BYOB...Slightly more expensive, and with *tableclothes*, is Khao Sarn, same T-stop, other direction...The best steamed fish with chilis I've ever eaten, and Yoshi, the bartender, makes a mango martini that'll make you swoon, more like a mango cloud...If you ask in advance, they can do Yum Pla Duk Foo... Rod Dee II is in the Fenway, my #3 choice for Thai...They're actually better than the others for a nice, greasy plate of pad thai, which I don't consider the test of a Thai place, but I sometimes get a craving for. Don't bother with Brown Sugar, too sweet and American for my taste. My favorite Vietnamese is in Chinatown, on 4 or 6 Beach Street, Nam Vang...Best fish in clay pot, best banh xiao, bun rieu, and spicy sour soup....If you wannah head to Dorchester, and you will, if you love Vietnamese, you'll wannah hit Pho 2000 in Fields Corner...But only after you've been here awhile There's a Vietnamese place in the Fenway, but it's barely mediocre... Close to you, at the Brookline Village stop on the D-branch of the green line, is Sichuan garden, for KICK-ASS Sichuan...make sure you ask them for the special menu (it's translated).... A deal for Hong Kong style seafood is Victoria Seafood, on the B-bramch of the green line...2 for $12.95 lobsters, best with ginger and scallion... Going to Chinatown for Chinese, the lobsters are a little more at Peach farm, but they rule the roost on spicy-salt-fried anything...And you MUST have their oysters on the half-shell with black bean sauce. They're the size of your head.... I second everyone's rec for Sea to You, but, again, it's only Saturday, and inconvenient for a T-person...The Shaw's in the Fenway is okay for veggies, and the one near Super 88 in Allston is good for fish..... I agree with everyone on El Pelon. For me, they're the best fish burrito in Boston!

pandangirl, where in Boston will you be living? And which Asian cuisines are most important?

I'm usually the only gwailo in the place ... Definitely low on the decor scale, usually full of familes eating big platters of the lobster specials...I've even introduced a few suburban friends to its delights... Why go to brown Sugar when Dok Bua is so close? Or Khao sarn, if you require that white tablecloth atmosphere?

I would also warn anyone away from any cooked food at Union Oyster House, but you can't beat the raw bar...They always have fresh, LOCAL shellfish, very reasonably...But you're right, avoid the rest of the menu like the plague.. I am the anti-Legal Seafood poster child, but again, even I am forced to admit, their clam chowder, and underated-fish chowder, is the one I would squander my claories on...As for anything else, eat elsewhere, you can find much better... I have heard good things about KingFish Hall, but when I need a clam shack fix and don't have the time to go to Essex, and my beloved Essex Seafood, I go to the Barking Crab, on Fort Point Channel...Lovely veiw of the skyline, tent with open sides, damned good fried clams...I've even had a tuna-steak there that rated highly.... For Hong King style seafood, you've got to go to Peach Farm Seafood in Chinatown...Huge, steamed oysters on the half shell with black bean sauce($8.95 for 6, and believe me, you won't finish them...They're available by the piece..)...great salt-fried things...Love the squid...twin lobster specials, most notably in ginger and scallion.... BUT, for a budget lobster splurge, head to Victoria Seafood (also Hong Kong style), right on the B-branch of the Green line, in Boston/Allston...They constantly do 2 lobsters for $12.95, provided you spend $5 more...Not hard to do, with a bowl of, say, pea pod stems...Again, go for the ginger and scallion prep...People who live and work in Chinatown come out here, because they know the prices are better

How could I have forgotten, my favorite cheap gem.... Floating Rock, in Revere, Revere Beach stop on the Blue Line, will totally blow you away...The best Cambodian I have ever had, friends who've traveled there claim it's the same as the mother land....this place has all the ambiance of a coffee-shop, and closes aroung 7:30, but it's great for lunch...Jackfruit and coconut milk soup, tiger's tears, and don't miss the long bean salad with prahok..... Makes the wimpie, gentrified stuff at Elephant Walk hang its head in shame....

I can't imagine any meal at Uni costing $60, if that were the case, I'd be there much more often...;) As far as Sheryl Julian's review of the Butcher Shop, while those in the neighborhood love it, reviews on chowhound, by those South End denizens, seem to point to quantities taking a dip since those early reviews....

Did anyone notice that Torakris asked for locations that dealt with those of modest means? Uni, the sashimi bar at Clio, is the most ridiculously overpriced restaurant in town...An abstemious lunch there would still probably hit $75, and you'd still walk out hungry....The tasting menu soars toward $200, if you drink sake... B&G and The Butcher Shop are stiill very little food for a very lot of money...It's nice to be able to rattle off the hot new places in town, but it really seems like it won't hlp the OP in her goal...Don't get me wrong, I love barabara Lynch's food...perhaps the cheapest way to enjoy it is the daily prix fixe lunch at No.9 Park, 3 courses for $27...But again, for some, that wouldn't be very budget conscious.... Union Oyster House is a good idea for an oyster fix before you hit the North End...The raw bar is the only thing worth eating there; clams, oysters or steamers if you want cooked...I usually ask the shucker if the clams or oysters are better on any particular day.... Also at J.Hook, $8 lobster rolls, house-made...A great deal, but they don't toast the bun...

Haymarket is only on Friday and saturday...You should go on Friday, and make sure you get a dollar slice at Haymarket Pizza...Toppings cost a quarter more.. I love the onion and oregano, but check to see what's hottest out of the oven...Pizzaria Regina in the North End(Endicott St, not Quincy Market) also serves slices at lunch, til they run out...you may wannah compare, then do all your elbowing and kicking at the market... Dok Bua, outside of Coolidge Corner in Brookline, on the C-branch of the Green line, is the best authentic Thai in Boston. Really. I'm not kidding. Don't make me come after you...And it's cheap...And it's BYOB...Just don't get any of their lunch or dinner combos, they're dumbed down... Taiwan Cafe in Chinatown is my favorite chinese for lunch...THEIR luncheon specials are plates the size of dinner for $6.95, and include soup...fabulous choices... Chau Chow City is the best dim sum in Chinatown...You can get three or four plates for under $10...Unless you get the lobster dumplings.... Best Vietnamese in Chinatown is Nam Vang, on Beach Street...You can do lunch there for 6 or 7, too....Love the Bun Rieu, and their banh Xieo is the best...And, of course, the fish in clay pot.... Mix Bakery *is* the best Banh Mi, and they're $2...Its an old-style Chinese coffee-shop, tho, so you may wannah get it to go...OTOH, you could be the belle of the ball among the 70 year olds out for a kibbitz... For cheap Portuguese accessible by T, try O Cantinho, a Portuguese coffee shop that does sandwiches, and meal-sized apps in Inman Sq., Cambridge...Love their stewed octopus....

Peach Farm is my favorite restaurant for all Kinds of Hong Kong style seafood, but they do not serve dim sum....

S, Orenlund, where'd ya go? What'dja eat?

How does it compare to the North Shore places, like Essex Seafood, or the intown options, like Barking Crab?

Orenlund, there are others, that I wouldn't quite recommend.... Emporer's Garden, shilled long and loud by Eddie Andeleman on the Phantom Gourmet, is large, but, I have heard, fairly dirty, and again, slanted toward more American tastes..However, it has it's fans, and is also large and flashy.. New Jing Lei (I think that's the name) has very thin dumpling skins, but little variety, and is usually dead...A new place, unnamed in English, opened recently, but it's a joint venture between China Pearl, and Imperial Seafood(IS is horrible, couldn't finish my food there...).......

If you like China Pearl, I think you'll really enjoy Chau Chow City....I tried China Pearl in the beginnings of my Dim sum perambulations years ago, and CCH has gone way beyond...China Pearl seems a little old to me, and they have happily expanded to the 'burbs in Burlington, or somewhere around there....

My favorite is Chau Chow City, 83 Essex St. 617/338-8158 ... 3 floors of glitzy Hong Kong Style noise and bustle, served from carts....make sure you don't ened up on the mezzanine level, it's kind of Siberia... They do amazingly creative things with dumpling wrappers, always something new, green skins filled with mushrooms and chives, har gow filled with scallpos, and, ask for the lobster dumplings; my favorite... On the third floor, there's a steam table where you can seek out tripe, snails and various shellfish....Seafood choices here are more varied than any other places in Chinatown, altho pork rules Also, the best congee(jook) in town...The dried fish and peanut is my favorite anywhere. Second choice is Pacific Garden, on the corner of Beach and Harrison, downstairs...There, you order off a menu, so things are always fresh, but the choices are much more limited, and since the place is very small, the wait can be a problem....Hmm, not tha it isn't at Chau Chow, but that's part of the event, right?

I'm joining the party late, too, and for my first time!!!!! Please elaborate on feeding with Neptune's Secret...Where, what, and how often? Thanks.. gg

Pino's is hands-down the best pizza close to BC, for traditional (i.e, non-gourmet) pizza....1920 Beacon St, 617-566-6468, AND they deliver to BC...How do I have all this info at my fingertips? I had a late lunch, and needed a late-nite slice after the Sopranos; it was on my route home....I don't usually hit it much, because it's not my nabe,but it's damned good...Oh, and they're open til midnite on Sunday, and 1 AM all other nites...Gottah love it! There's better pizza in Boston, fer sure, but you have to go further into town...Me, I had a cheese slice right out of the oven...sweetish tomato sauce, lots of salty cheese, well-risen edge to the crust...I also had to have a Neapolitan (square) slice, cuz they had broccoli...I'm saving it for breakfast, but it was crispy on the edges, yet the doughiness melted in my mouth...Surprisinlgy good.. I'm not a fan of the Upper Crust, In Coolidge Corner, and almost never go there...I'm invariably dissapointed...It always smells like its gonnah be great, but never has much taste...Their curst always seems like the yeast is dead; no lift in the puter edge...

Everytime Portuguese food in New Bedford gets brought up, someone says, "Well, of course there's Antonio's", and someone else will respond, "Oh yes, Antonio's". So, since everyone seems to know Antonio's except me, I took advantage of a hungry Non-Portuquese-eating friend's desperation while antiqueing in NB last fall, to finally get there.... Antonio's is conveniently located 2 blocks from New Bedford Antiques, the huge group shop you can see from the hiway, 1 exit from the New Bedford National Historic Park...Not as good as it used to be, but only a few blocks from the newer, Acushnet River Antiques, another group shop that was full of good stuff... But enough of this, 5 hours of antiqueing had us *starved*, so I asked a local where A's was...She perked right up, directed me, and gushed, "Oh, I love that Chicken Antonios' with Shrimp, and that sauce".... So, off we went...It looked like my kinda place, a bar-room/neighborhood casual, non-dive...(NB:Cash only) Full of locals, from familes, to couples on dates, to white-haired gay couples... The food, to coin a phrase, was red-sauce Portuguese....Not that everything was sauced, or even that the sauce was red, but it was that kind of Ethnic/American version of the original, that will appeal to both. I mean, our waitress was speaking to everyone in Portuguese, but my Portu-phobic friend loved the place... The menu was huge, in Portuguese and English. Things started out on the right foot, with a surprisingly up-to-date and *reasonable* wine list...We had a bottle of Barba, a white from the Alentejo region, for $12....Only a few bucks more than retail! It was sharp, crisp, and dry, a big hit. And a big surprise for my friend, who thinks all Portuguese whites are Vinho verdes. The next happy surprise were the pasteis de bacalhoa, their fried salted-codfish cakes. Just order and don't translate the "salted cod" part to your friends ...They were about half-fish, three-inch long footballs, straight from the fryer, and better than any version I've had in Boston lately, where everyone seems to be buying their potato-heavy versions from the same Portuguese restaurant supplier. (How do you say Sysco in Portuguese?) As my friend inhaled his second one, he asked, "So, what are these again?" 75 cents a piece. As cheap as the streets of Lisbon... The menu included lots of grilled meats, pork chops, lamb chops chicken, espeidas(skewers) and fish. There was even a special of roasted pork loin, and duck!..No octopus[;(], but three different versions of sauteed littlenecks, a few of mussels,and a few variations of the Portuquese chorizo-clam combo...There was only one caldeirada offered, at $19.95, the highest price on the menu, but it had a lobster in it,and I'm always too lazy to dig around in a broth-drenched crustacean in public(g). I'm used to a few variation of this dish...No salted cod preparations besides boiled or grilled. The red-sauce comes in on the stewed, sauteed and braised dishes..It seemed like a pretty good sauce/broth, BTW, orangey with saffron, tasting of peppers more than garlic, lots of EVOO and wine. My friend quite liked it; he had the recommended Chicken Antonio's with shrimp, sauteed in "the sauce", and totally covered with a MOUND of those wonderful Portuguese fried potatoes...But I did notice that half the dishes coming out of the kitchen had "the sauce" on them... They also had huge amounts of food on them, and not the Familia Giorgios' kind of amount, where there's a pound of pasta, and not much else...It was the kind of amount where you have enough protein for lunch the next day. In fact, every platter coming out of the kitchen could have fed two.. I mean, there's *no* reason a person needs to eat eight perfectly-grilled sardines, is there? Which was why I stopped at 5...After all my whining about red-sauce, I had the most quintessential of Portuguese meals; grilled whole sardines, and potatoes boiled with a little olive oil, with a salad... For $8.95!!!!!!! The fish were fresh, tasty, just brushed with olive oil, and a squeeze of lemon. Better the the ones I had at Lupa a few weeks ago(sorry, Mario my luv), better than I've had in the Cambridge places, as good as my favorite, O'Fado in Peabody... And the killer was, with the bottle of wine, two dinners, apps and a tip, we walked out for $42, with two lunches for today. So, should you drive over an hour from Boston just for Antonio's? No, but if you live closer, or surf, sand, sightseeing and shopping bring you down there, definitely go. Hell, I'd sit at the bar and gorge on those pasteis de bacalhao and wine bargains all day long(g).

Craigie Street Bistrot purports to be a small neighborhood restaurant, capturing the spirit of a French Bistro in Cambridge...Reviews have varied widely, depending on what you read....They have a fabulous PR machine that gets mentions and lots of mainstream press, but places like chowhound have been more mixed. And Tony Maws didn't heitate to jump in and defend himself on CH when his place got dissed....And at $28- $36 and entree, I want GREAT. But, in keeping with the neighborhood theme, they offer a four-course chef's tasting, every Sunday nite after 9 PM, for $30...A good enough deal that I was kind of tempted. Due to a major harmonic convergence (no work Monday suspended his usual 11PM bedtime, and no new Sopranoes Sunday nite;)), the Commodore and I hit CSB for the Chef's Whim two nites ago...Every so often, I have to let him eat at a "real" restaurant ... Anyway, I was glad to know they could manage special requests (no meat or chicken for me), but a little dissapointed to hear that if one diner has dietary restrictions, ALL the diners in the party must abide by them...It kind of s*cked that the Commodore couldn't indulge in his taste for flesh...smile.gif We had the seafood melange of clams, and cockles. with a lovely sweet pea broth with paprika oil, a sweet balance to the more complex clams.... Our second course was the show-stopper, a salad of soft-shell crab and avocado...A half a large tempura'ed SSc, served over thin slices of avocado, with some fried sage, in a pool of sage-infused broth...Flowering chive blossoms pricked things up with their scallion-y flavor...The Commodore had never had a SSC before, so it was a grat first-time (now he wants the salt and pepper ones from Taiwan Cafe...I've created a monster) Next course was day-boat halibut...I was quite excited about this, but the halibut was a little subtle for my taste; maybe because of the way it was sliced....A thin cut, quickly cooked, I'm more used to a smaller, yet thicker piece that captures the fatty juices inside..Little match-sticks of potato sticks were scattered across the top, and there was a tangle of piquant little herbiage; I especially liked a bite that tasted sharply of licorice....BUT, my biggest dissapointment was that the chef used the same sweet-pea broth as the first course under the halibut...Such an unusual sauce used in two courses was a little lazy, I thought...In his defense, the Commodore's piece had a crustacean (but meat-based) broth, and a nugget of fried sweet breads, but if he could do two different plates, why not do meat for him? Yes, I know, chef's choice.... TC went wild for the coconut ice-cream, enhanced with a little ground vanilla bean(?) and nutmeg for dessert, along with little sugar-crusted beignets...The profiteroles filled with mint-ice cream (nice touch) were not as successful; the shells were, dare I say it? A little stale.... Since my high-end meals tend to be fewer and further between than many here, I usually walk out of a tasting or chef's menu, say, at restaurant week or other "Special Offering", starry-eyed and glowing, and vowing to come again, and splurge for the food at full-price...While the Chef's Whim here was a very good meal for the price (3 glasses of wine, T&T, and the whole thing came to $100 for 2), I have to say, that's all it was worth...It was nice to get a chance to sample Tony Maws' cuisine, but in all honesty, I wouldn't consider it at the full tariff.

Yes, yes, they still have all the things you asked about; whole menu sections for Dosai and Uthappam, every kind of crepe and pancake imagineable...I just feel a little bloated if I do a strictly bread and grain heavy meal, even tho they do them well, so I like to concetrate on some of those northern Indian dishes to lighten things up....There are actually very few of these dishes on the menu; it sounds like all your old favorites are still there...

I go there once a month or so, cuz my BF lives in Framingham...I think you have to order very carefully, because for me, it's very starch-heavy...I do love their poori appetizersand usually get a palak paneer, and maybe baigan bartha, two of the most veggie intensive dishes....I still haven't had their nan, believe it or not...Last time, they were having technical difficulties, so we ended up with paratha,I thiink there's some deal where they only nan on weekdays(they have a lot of strange practices, like you can only BYOB on weekdays!) The time befor that, had to try a dossa, (it IS the place for dosai!)....For true greasy goodness, get the veggie cutlet... Oh, I notice you said Ashland...Did you know theyhad moved to 417 Waverley Street in framingham? 508-820-0230

I love Arax, my favorite of the markets along there, but their selection of spices is pretty limited, I always end up having to go elsewhere as well...but if you're there, make sure to pick up Bay leaves Massis and Sevan, in the same blocks, might help you fill in, but it's still a very basic selection.... I take it all back...I hadn't been to Arax in awhile, stopped in today... That place is like sex, and that's all there is to it...You walk in take a whiff, take a deep, lung-filling breath, and your knees go totally weak. You try to isolate the source(heavily dominated by cumin) and can't; but you start indescriminately throwing things in your basket, filled with lust.. I had gone in for my fix of stuffed pickled eggplant, (awesome, tho to look at the barrel, you'd think it would give you a disease..), ended up getting container of 4 kinds of olives; they do their own marinated mixes, some of which have citrus, herbs and chili peppers, in different combination...They must have at least 10 kinds definitely the best selection (and cheap!!!) around...you can afford to go wild.. But I had really forgotten how good their spice selection was....I think I bought cassia bark. It wasn't llabeled, but it was bigger and roughr than cinnamon, and had a totally different, more pungent smell. The guy said it was old-fashioned cinnamon, but I'm sure he lied And I want to point out, I showed extreme restraint, and did not knuckle under and buy a single square of rose-water syrup soaked cake....

Blue Ribbon, in West Newton and Arlington, is hands-down the best in Boston...I bring my father take-out from there when I want to maintain favored-daughter status.....Burnt ends are always one of the options on the menu, briskit ranks high...There are those who say the ribs are second to Uncle Pete's in East Boston, however...Uncle Pete's sides arel ower rated, except for anything fried; they know how to handle a fryer.....East Coast Grill, while not strictly 'cue, does great ribs and pulled pork, tho their briskit was dried out last time I was there...Most 'cue lovers I know agree that Redbones was over a few years ago, and doesn't rate very highly... Fun place? yep. Good Guinness? yep. Good 'cue? Uh, no.....