Holyoke, MA area

[UnConundrum]

My adult son and I will be traveling to Holyoke for a week in the beginning of January. It's going to be a bit of a boring trip, and we both enjoy quality food. Could you suggest some upper end restaurants to brighten the trip? Anything we shouldn't miss? We'll need at least one sushi suggestion if possible

[dscott]

As a proud Holyoke resident, my semi-joking response is "why?". But, to focus on the positive, here are (some of) your options.

In Holyoke, the pickins are very slim. The Black Sheep Deli is in a nice, converted mill space called Open Square. Black Sheep is open 7-5 M-F only. It is a breakfast and lunch standby in town. For a more old school joint, you could hit Gramp's on Lyman, especially if you like polish food. Neither of these is "upper end."

For your sushi fix, the only purely Japanese I have personally tried in the area is Osaka in Northampton (first town north of Holyoke, abt 10 mins). Personally, I prefer the sushi at Zen (also in Northampton), which is more pan-Asian but has some really interesting food, Japanese and otherwise (more appealing than Osaka, IMO). Again, not sure that this counts as "upper end". Personally I think Zen is a good deal for the food.

Your best bet is to do an eGullet search for the Northampton or Springfield areas. There, you'll find suggestions such as Green St. Cafe (if it's still open, Smith College is threatening its existence) and Del Raye in Northampton. A little further north is Blue Heron in Sunderland and, if you feel like a 45 min drive, head up to Brattleboro for TJ Buckleys (which is high end and worth it).

Heading south to Springfield area, the only upper end places I can think of are Max's in the Basketball Hall of Fame area and The Federal in Agawam.

Welcome (in advance) to Holyoke. Take a look around. There's lots of good going on around here.

Feel free to PM if you have further questions, especially abt Holyoke specifically.

[Miss Dish]

There is some great food in the Valley. Chef Mamou's is a fabulous cajun place in Springfield. There is also a high end Italian restaurant called Carmela's in Springfield. Pintu's is my favorite Indian restaurant in the area - a little tricky to find in West Springfield but worth it.

I agree with the Osaka recommendation for Northampton (order the sweet potato roll!). The Korean place on rt 9 between Northampton and Amherst is good.

For an interesting side trip go to the Montague Book Mill. There was a cafe there the last time I went - the Lady Killigrew (???). A nice place to relax.

Its been about a year since I was there, so I can't be sure that all these places are still open...

[UnConundrum]

head up to Brattleboro for TJ Buckleys (which is high end and worth it). 

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Is TJ Buckleys the place in a caboose? If so, I ate there a few years back with my wife when we made a rambling trip up to Montreal. Had a great meal there

[dscott]

head up to Brattleboro for TJ Buckleys (which is high end and worth it). 

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Is TJ Buckleys the place in a caboose? If so, I ate there a few years back with my wife when we made a rambling trip up to Montreal. Had a great meal there

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Yep, that's the one. Haven't been in a year but it is still the best meal I've had in the Valley.

[gini]

There is some great food in the Valley. Chef Mamou's is a fabulous cajun place in Springfield. There is also a high end Italian restaurant called Carmela's in Springfield. Pintu's is my favorite Indian restaurant in the area - a little tricky to find in West Springfield but worth it.

I agree with the Osaka recommendation for Northampton (order the sweet potato roll!).  The Korean place on rt 9 between Northampton and Amherst is good.

For an interesting side trip go to the Montague Book Mill. There was a cafe there the last time I went - the Lady Killigrew (???). A nice place to relax.

Its been about a year since I was there, so I can't be sure that all these places are still open...

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I love, love Chef Mamou's.

[UnConundrum]

Well, we're here, and ran out to Zen tonight around 6:00. Couldn't get over the crowds on the streets of Northampton. We drove around for 15 minutes looking for a parking spot. We found Zen to be fine, great in fact when compared to what's available to us locally. My son had the sushi taco which is served on a lettuce leaf. For $5 it had to be the best bargain in town. We had 4 other rolls that were fine. One was a special Hawaiian roll with mango, roe, cashews, and honey. My son really liked that one too. I thought it was different, but I wouldn't get it again. I really enjoyed my rainbow roll... We'd go back.

[UnConundrum]

We stopped at Osaka too. I'd give it the nod above Zen. For $4.50 I got an Alaska roll that I thought was one of the best I've had, and they have a volcano roll that's rather different. Made with the soybean paper, asparagus, and 3 different fish. This is the first time I had a volcano that wasn't spicy, and I have a low tolerance for hot stuff, so this was right up my alley. So, I had the Alaska, Volcano, and a sweet potato roll for a total of about $22. We also had some edemamme, something that is missing from the menu at Zen. Lastly, Osaka is directly across the street from Herrells, a great homemade ice cream. My son had the chocolate pudding with hot fudge sauce, M&Ms and chocolate whipped cream...one of his favorite all time sundaes

Also, we ate at the Delaney House (we stayed at the Country Inns and Suites next door). Food there was good, but nothing really special. I had a seafood appetizer which was one blakened scallop, one fried oyster, and one crab cake. For my main course I had the prime rib. It was done to my request (medium rare) and was reasonably tender. The baked potato that came with it was a little cool. My son ordered the Kansas City steak which, again was reasonably tender, but he had ordered it rare, and it came close to medium. It came with gnocchi that he really enjoyed.