Boise, Idaho

[wicked]

My company is temporarily transfering me to Boise, Idaho for a month and would appreciate any recommendations for places to eat.

Thanks.

[uberleet]

What do you like? Where are you staying?

[wicked]

I will actually be staying in Mt. Home, Idaho. It is an approximate 45 minute drive from Boise.

This is my first trip to Idaho and I'm looking for any eatery from street stands to 5 star restaurants - anything to keep me from the same boring restaurant chains that thread through this country. I'm going to be there for a month and would enjoy a bit of food adventure.

Other than potatoes, I don't even know what is cuisine is indigenous of Idaho.

So, I'd really appreciate any suggestions. Thank you.

[uberleet]

I will actually be staying in Mt. Home, Idaho. It is an approximate 45 minute drive from Boise.

Dear lord. Mountain Home is, uh...well, you'll see.

Downtown (Boise) has a ton of cool places; on the Basque Block you can check out Gernika or Bardenay - Bardenay has an on-site distillery. They make a signature gin and an amazing Martini, they also have a pretty good menu. Or, you can head to the sister property, BitterCreek Alehouse, they have good food but a better beer selection.

The Korea House is good, the owner and his wife are verrrrry friendly; if you go in for lunch, you'll be there a while (ask him about his tabi socks :). Upstairs is Shige, which has pretty good Sushi.

The Cazbah has extremely good falafel (as does the Aladdin, but the Aladdin is a little harder to find). Actually, the whole Cazbah menu is good. There's a new Thai place called the Mai Thai? I don't remember the name, exactly, but it's something like that, it's pretty good.

Moon's Cafe is an institution, if you like diner food (and sitting next to Boise's version of celebrities).

The Flying M coffeehouse is a cool place to spend an aftenoon, I think they roast their own coffee...around the corner is a little french bakery whose name escapes me, but has some good (expensive!) stuff.

I've left a bunch of places off. These'll get you started, anyway. A lot depends on how much you're willing to drive; Mt. Home to Boise is a pretty long drive (booooooring), and Boise is pretty spread out. There's some good Indian food out on the west end of town (not far from HP, which in turn is close to Eagle), along with the Santa Maria Barbecue place and a new Vietnamese restaurant (Pho 79, where I'll be for lunch in about 10 minutes ).

[uberleet]

Other than potatoes, I don't even know what is cuisine is indigenous of Idaho.

Oh yeah, the Korea house makes a kick-ass potato kimchee, and Tsuru (a sushi place) makes an idaho roll that's stuffed with potato (I think it's tempura potato, it's good!).

[ccoupe]

Try Scrubbys BBQ in Mtn Home -- call first to get their hours.

[wicked]

Thanks for the tips; I'll give 'em a try!

Stopped by for lunch at the Gernika Basque Pub for the Chorizo Sandwich with the Basque potato salad, which was a Basque sausage on a french roll, with a leafy green and pickle spear-

Pretty good and cozy little place- and topped lunch off with some rice pudding, everything was very reasonably priced- bonus!

Thanks all

[John DePaula]

Recently spent First Thursday in Boise. Had a very pleasant evening at Mosaic Restaurant & Wine Bar. Very good wine, very good food (we had various tapas & puerco andalusian), and there was a great jazz duo, Sally Tibbs and Kevin Kirk. Highly recommended.

Also had a couple of meals at The Milky Way. Good atmosphere and good food. We had the Seared Marinated Duck Brest (excellent) and the Mustard Veal Scaloppini (very good but a bit salty). This restaurant also recommended.

Read a lot of good reviews of Le Café de Paris, so I was surprised at the disappointing Tarte aux Poires Bourdaloue (almond-pear tart). To me it seemed stale and they should give you a sharper fork to make it through the tough-as-nails crust. Not recommended.