ErinB

-I had wide noodles with chinese broccoli and beef. the vegetable dumplings were really good as was tom kha soup - my friend got a green curry that was really yummy. and her brother got a pineapple fried rice that just scared me cause it sounds wrong.

We ended up going to Dok Bua, one of galleygirl's suggestions. It was pretty good thai. The prices were good, service was quick. It's on Harvard Ave, not in walking distance, but there's plenty of parking in the area.

I'm going to un upcoming show at the Paradise (on Commonwealth ave) near BU. I'm looking for something in the area that I can walk to that is inexpensive to moderately priced, preferably something ethnic. But if it's a good deal that's ok too. I don't care about atmosphere, just looking for good food.

CiriloE, I have not been to Rue. I actually pick up take out Thai quite a bit from Sawaddee, right near there. I've checked out the menu while I've walked by, and it hasn't been compelling enough for me to go. The one place I haven't tried in Providence that I really do want to try is Chez Pascal. Has anyone been recently?

Just had a great meal at New Rivers last night. Highlights were a carrot and ginger tortacelli with sunchokes and sausage. All of the flavors and textures in the dish mingled together perfectly. This was on the "lighter fare" portion of the menu. Also, the desert I had was a pistachio ice cream with a apricot compote and a black sesame tuile/sugar cookie. Really interesting and unique combo of flavors. Was excellent. It was my favorite meal there so far, I've been there 3 times, partially due to the fact that it wasn't completely packed. It was very nice to go there on a monday night, and the restaurant still was bustling with people.

KCRW's Good Food is available for podcasting. I listen to that every week, a few weeks ago they interviewed Chris Cognac. They always have interesting stuff. I also listen to the Food Schmooze on CT NPR every Wednesday, although it is not available for podcasting yet.

I had one of the worst restaurant experiences of my life last week, at the Red Stripe in Wayland Square, a moderately priced casual place with a french brasserie type menu. I had always been curious to go here, but it is always packed. We decided to go on a Sunday at 5pm, to avoid the crowd. We walked in and the restaurant was about half-way filled. We were greeted by a man saying "Do you have a reservation?" When we said no, he made a face, and then with what seemed to be too much effort for him, found a table for us to sit at. He told the waitress what table, but didn't even acknowledge us at all. We proceeded to sit down, in an area that was a pretty small space, with a table of 4 next to us. Then, we met our waiter. We asked what kind of beer they had on tap. His response was "We don't have any beer on tap, but we have every kind by the bottle." We then proceeded to ask for about 3 beers that they didn't have, and then he finally started listing what they did have, which wasn't a very expansive selection. Maybe, he just assumed he didn't need to list the beers because it was two women. We ordered our meals, and the food and service at that point was fine. The food was decent, nothing above average. Then the final straw. We were about halfway done with our meal, and the table next to us leaves. The waiters separate the tables next to us to make room for two parties of two. Our waiter, warns us in advance saying "There's not really room for 3 tables here, but sorry, we have to do it." We got the check as quickly as possible and left. The whole experience was really surprising to me, but I guess the place is so busy all of the time, they don't care too much about service. I subsequently found out that the man at the entrance who was seating customers was the owner. Needless to say, we won't be going back here anytime soon.

I just had dim sum this weekend at Lucky Garden and it was excellent. And very cheap, our meal came out to be $10 per person. Our favorite dishes were the various dumplings (pork and vegetable) and the sesame balls. They had fresh egg tarts which were also pretty good. We're definitely going back. For good neighborhood pizza, we just tried Gourmet on hope which was pretty good, similiar to Bob and Timmy's pizza, but on the east side. I also went to Neath's for new years and was underwhelmed. Really liked the cocktails and appetizers we had. But the entrees were only ok. My entree was tuna and the sauce they had on it was too much. I also want to second previous comments about New Rivers. If i want to have a nice meal in Providence, New Rivers is the place I go. Next I'm going to try exploring some of the mexican places in Central Falls and surrounding area, if anyone has any suggestions.

I have also made the Lentil and Sausage. Super easy and really good. I substituted a spicy chicken sausage and it came out just fine.

I'm bumping this topic up, since I'm planning on cooking a fresh ham this christmas. Any new words of advice?

Since my last post, I've been to a few new places. I've decided after trying every indian restaurant in Providence, that my favorite is Not Just Snacks on hope st. The food is very spicy, but it is my favorite of all of the indian places.

Ok thanks for the advice. Both places have websites and menus online. I'll let you know what I end up doing.

I have been asked by friends to try to find excellent Italian pastries for a bridal shower? Any suggestions? Providence or any of the suburbs is fine.

I'm trying to plan a vacation to Cape Breton in September, so thanks for the posts ... I'm looking to have maybe one fancy meal and everything else on the cheap.

Thanks for the post. It's great to hear about all of these places. I have just moved to RI, and just went to Gray's last week. I got the grape nut ice cream, which was good, but I wish the grape nuts were crunchier. Next time, I'll get the coffee. BTW, the grape nut ice cream is vanilla with grape nuts ....

Oh ok ... Is that what you order when you say you order cold dishes? Do you just go up and pick out what you want? I felt a little nervous looking at everything trying to figure out what was what. I'm definitely going to go back and then go to the buble tea place.

I had lunch here the other day. It was great. I ordered a dish reviewed above, tofu with mince pork. It was great. I've had a comparable dish at GSIM, and I can say that the spicyness was perfect at Spicy and Tasty. The dish i had at GSIM did not have pork, but the pork here added an amazing flavor and texture. Also, had the pork dumplings which were some of the best dumplings I've had in my life. My dining partner had a pork dish with some type of onion. (they tasted like scallions but were really huge) . I thought the taste of the pork was really good, but I thought the dish need a little something extra. We got there a little before noon, but they did have a lunch buffet that started later that looked interesting, but many of the things looked very unfamiliar.

So I ended up going to S'agapo. It was good but not great. I can't say I've had authentic greek food so much so I can't compare. We just got appetizers because we weren't that hungry. We had the meatballs which were great, charbroiled octopus which was also really good, and spinach pie which was greasy.

I'm going to be having dinner in Queens on Monday night. I'm leaning towards Greek because Astoria is the most convenient neighborhood and because I haven't had greek food in a while. Based on previous posts it looks like S'agapo because this thread has been really mixed on where to go. What dishes should i order, grilled octopus? Also, is this the right place to go if i want to keep my meal to $25 and under per person? If anyone has a strong opinion that I should go somewhere other than S'agapo, let me know.

On friday night, I had an excellent dinner at Nick's on Broadway. They only do dinner on Friday's and it is a prix fixe $40. Also, it is BYOB. It's a small menu. You have a choice between 3 appetizers, 3 entrees, 3 desserts. On the friday I went here was the menu: Appetizers: Mixed Green Salad with goat chees and duck Zucchini Soup Some sort of pasta dish (I forget what was in this) Dinner Pork chop with chive polenta Tofu and Vegetable Curry Salmon with roasted peppers in broth Dessert Blueberry Bread pudding Strawberry Granita Cherry Parfait That's the menu as far as best as I can remember. We tried everything except the salad, tofu, and cherry parfait. The chef, Derek uses fresh ingredients and top quality meat. If you haven't been to nick's, the kitchen is completely open, so you can see all the food prep behind the counter.

I love Cafe Routier. I have been there many times. Everything I have had there has been good or excellent. Especially their steak frites. The place is not that fancy, people come in there in jeans and fairly casual, the menu is french bistro. I have also heard good things about le petit cafe.

Cafe Nuovo? Tell me more about it. I haven't heard of it.

Underwhelmed by Kabob and Curry. I thought the food was bland. I liked the place on Wickenden the best. It was good, but not great, imo. Haven't been to Lucky Garden, but will. Al Forno: had the polenta lasagne the last time I was there. More and more, I'm judging places on cost relative to the food. The food is good, not great, and relative to the cost, and constant crowds, not really worth it. Maybe for dessert and pizza though. What's in the tagliatelli?

Forgot to mention, I've also been to New Rivers, this was a few months ago for New Years and it was great. I also want to go to Gracie's, but the menu seems pretty typical to me, so it's not at the top of my list. Also, they just moved.

This thread hasn't been posted in a while, and since I just moved to PVD, I've been exploring a bit. My faves: Sun & Moon: I've posted this before, but I am a regular here, I go about every other week and am working my way through the menu. Definitely as good as the best korean in Manhattan. Garden Grill: From what I can tell the only vegetarian restaurant of significance in Providence. They cook their seitan really well. My favorite dishes have been those. Also, some of their dishes with tempeh are really good too. They just started with wine and beer too. Nick's: On the west side. Amazing brunch. I haven't been for lunch, or for their friday night dinner, but I plan to, and word is it's all amazing. Very small and crowded, but they're moving to a new space in the fall. Mexico: Really cheap, mostly authentic mexican on Atwells. Average: Julian's: Average food, eclectic menu, great fun atmosphere. On broadway, down the street from Nick's. Oak: On hope st. fun atmosphere, been for brunch a few times. The first time I went i really liked it and then I haven't been as impressed since. Dinner was pretty good .. but not memorable enough for me to go back. It's always crowded though. I don't like india that much. The sushi i've had a Ran Zan? was ok. The Blue Cottage is a good place for a cheap breakfast. Everyone seems to love the Brickway, but I don't get why. And, each time I go back to Al Forno, I'm less and less impressed. I'm conviced that one should only go there for desserts. The only place I haven't been that I really want to go is Neath's.