Brunch in Central Square

I’ve been meaning to write up a post on brunches for awhile now. A is a big fan of brunch, so even though I’m not really into it (given the limited vegetarian options) we’ve checked out a lot of different places. Here’s a quick run-down of some places worth mentioning (in approximate order of preference).

At the top of the list for A (and not far from the top of my list either) is Tosci’s in Central Square (899 Main St.), yes the ice cream place. Although brunch is a small operation mostly focused on sandwiches, eggs, and pastries, the food is solid and they always have some version of pancakes for me which are actually some of the most enjoyable I’ve had as they’re not too heavy. The wait is generally not long because (for now) it’s still a lesser-known secret, although be forewarned that on holiday weekends brunch usually isn’t served. Also, although I don’t think I’ve mentioned it already, Tosci’s is by far my favorite ice cream place in Boston. Or anywhere for that matter. Here’s an interesting post about some of their more-unique flavors, from their website.

Next up, and just down the street, is Craigie on Main (853 Main Street). Craigie is much more of the complete brunch, and although it has a high standard, the two times we’ve been the presentation was a bit better than the actual food which didn’t quite achieve greatness. We both really appreciate its move to Central Square, and A finally made it over there for dinner and it was apparently just as good as we had hoped (although he went without me the jerk and I still haven’t been yet. So sad.) It gets crowded, but they take reservations.

Onto the second tier. Among the places that are perfectly serviceable but not really standouts is Plough & Stars (912 Mass Ave., between Harvard and Central Squares). We actually just checked it out for the first time last week, and although they didn’t have much in the way of vegetarian/vegan options the food was still pretty good.

Another place we checked out recently is S&S in Inman Square (1334 Cambridge St.). This place really feels like a well-oiled institution, and in that sense reminded me of Katz’s Deli in New York. The food is hearty; the waitresses are diner efficient; and the place is huge.

Cafe Luna (403 Mass Ave.), just up the street from Tosci’s, is another viable brunch alternative. They always seem to be packed when we walk by, and in the summer there were a lot of people sitting at the tables outside. The couple of times I’ve been they had musicians on Sundays, which made the small space even more cramped. I’m not a fan of live music for brunch, but it’s a nice alternative and I appreciate that its popularity keeps Tosci’s from getting crowded, haha.

Brookline Lunch (in Central, 9 Brookline St., a few steps away from The Middle East) is kind of dark inside and definitely on the slower, greasier side of food life, but it’s another viable brunch alternative.

At the bottom of the barrel of course there’s the afore-mentioned Miracle of Service (i.e. Miracle of Science). I’m also going to have to include Sunny’s Diner (7 Landsdowne St.). Although W has praised them on several occasions, the two times A and I tried to go we waited for more than 10 minutes without any acknowledgement that we were ever going to get even a coffee so we just gave up and left. Although brunch is a leisurely meal, there’s a difference between leisurely and complete lack of service, particularly when a place isn’t even busy.

And to wrap up, some places where the food is edible but why go there when you can go somewhere much better are Mass Avenue Restaurant (906 Mass Ave.), a greasy-spoon-type eatery, and Zoe’s (1105 Mass Ave.), which is less greasy and definitely better overall, but still hasn’t been worth a second trip for us. Both are in between Harvard and Central.

Looking over the lists of brunch places in Cambridge there are still a lot of places I haven’t been or haven’t been in a long time, so at some point I may make a sequel to this post. Reader, beware …

Two restaurant closings

Today was quite a sad day. A and I hadn’t been to Shilla in Harvard Square for a while, so we swung by for lunch. It was only after we’d sat down and ordered that we noticed the sign on the wall … and found out that after 23 years it’s closing its doors tomorrow due to having to give up their lease. In a previous post I’d mentioned that we were regulars there, and so of course this was incredibly disappointing news. The sign mentions that the restaurant directly up two flights of stairs, the relatively new Shabu-Ya, is owned by the same people and will feature some Korean items on their menu. I don’t hold out much hope that it’ll be much of a consolation, but we’ll definitely be checking it out.

In other restaurant closing news, Great Bay also closed, just a couple of weeks or so ago. It was sad to see it go, although we had observed its steady decline. One can only hope that new restaurants will help fill the void.

Thumbs up: Cambridge 1, The Red House, and Centre Street Cafe

Since it seems like all I’ve been doing lately is complain about restaurants, I thought I’d just throw together a quick post about some places that we’ve actually had good experiences at.

In contrast to the dismal service at Chris Lutes’ Miracle of Science (as recounted in the immediately preceding post), the service at Cambridge 1 (27 Church Street, Cambridge) in Harvard Square has always been friendly and attentive. The food is also quite commendable: a small menu featuring pizzas with robust flavors. The casual ambience (the back overlooks the peaceful Cambridge Cemetery) tops it off to make us happy to be regulars there. [Actually I just noticed that they opened a second location in the Fenway (1381 Boylston St, Boston) in August of 2007. The review in The Globe of the new location isn't too complimentary, although I agree somewhat that the quality of the food in the original location has gone down some since it first opened in 2002; but certainly not enough to put us off from going there.]

Last week was a week of exploring, and we hit up The Red House (98 Winthrop St, Cambridge), also in Harvard Square, for the first time. We went on a whim for lunch one weekday not expecting much, and we were pleasantly surprised. The food was much better than average: I had the artichoke pasta, which was surprisingly flavorful, and A had the “breadless club sandwich”, which turned out to be the insides of a club sandwich on four skewers. The service was great, and the dessert turned out to be a real find. We were torn between the tiramisu and the cake-like dessert with berries and red currants (and Chantilly cream?), but we chose the latter and it was easily one of the best desserts I’ve had in Boston in a very long time. We’ll definitely be making a trip back just for that. The reviews on Yelp are less encouraging and may indicate a lack of consistency, but we’re keeping our hopes up.

Lastly, A and I happened to eat at Centre Street Cafe (669A Centre Street, Jamaica Plain) two days in a row, once for brunch and once for dinner. The place is a small, casual, neighborhood restaurant that is completely unassuming but serves honest and unfussy food with friendly service. Such a place should be far more common than it is, and we were won over. If we lived in JP this would be a great place for a laid-back meal.

Just a sampling of some good meals recently. This post serves as a good reminder to myself that yes, there are still good dining experiences to be had in Boston, both old and new.

Miracle of Science = A miracle if you get served

Jumping to the top of the list of places to avoid like the plague is Miracle of Science (321 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge) near Central Square. I used to go there a fair amount when I was in school, but I don’t remember the service being nearly as bad as it’s been for quite some time now. The slow and inattentive service has been so annoying for so long that I’ve been avoiding it more often than not, but last weekend was the last straw.

A and I went in last Saturday and there were only a few people already seated, so we were looking forward to a quick and easy lunch. But alas, it was not to be. We ordered, and then we waited … and waited … and waited. By the time we realized we’d been waiting for almost half an hour and noticed that the waitstaff and cook had just been pretty much standing around chatting all that time, we finally got up and asked what was going on. Some guy, who I presume was a manager or something, told us there’d been a mistake and they’d lost our order. When A pointed out they could’ve told us when they realized what had happened instead of just letting us wait even longer, rather than apologize or offer us some compensation the guy just got defensive and started blustering that it was “just a simple mistake” and that our food was on its way. Okay, I can understand a place that’s busy if it makes a mistake, but when there are three people handling waiting duties at a small place like the Miracle of Science and there are only three tables to attend to, I’d like to think that any half-decent place would notice if one of those tables was still waiting for their food. By that time we were ravenous, of course, and we just couldn’t be bothered to wait even longer, so we just got up and left.

It’s a mystery how service can be so bad in a place that otherwise has a lot going for it. The owner, Chris Lutes, also owns Cambridge 1 which always has fantastic service, as well as Audubon Circle. The food at Miracle is definitely not worth the shoddy service, and it’s too bad that this experience has tipped us over the edge since it’s pretty much fine as a bar. Maybe their main problems are with their lunch staff. But in any case we’re never going to go there again; there are more than enough places to go with good service that Miracle certainly won’t be missed.

Late to the party at All Star Sandwich Bar, or “Disappointment between two slices of whole wheat”

In a renewed quest for new eateries the bf and I hit up All Star Sandwich Bar (1245 Cambridge St) in Inman next to Christina’s. Sadly, apparently we were somewhat late to the party on this one. The original incarnation, which opened in the fall of 2007, seems to have gotten pretty good reviews, but its owner, Chris Schlesinger of East Coast Grill fame, sold it last year. Perusing the reviews on ye olde Yelp it seems the food didn’t completely survive the transition. From my experience I can say that the veggie sandwich was easily the blandest, most tasteless (as in “lacking in taste”, although I suppose that as an affront to my delicate vegetarian sensibilities the latter sense applies as well) sandwich I’ve had in a very long while (although in all fairness I should point out that Nadeau’s original review in The Phoenix does note the mediocre vegetarian offerings). A’s chili wasn’t nearly as spicy as advertised and really more like a beef stew (not to mention served nice and cold), and it was accompanied by some lovely slightly stale cornbread, note the double shot o’ sarcasm.

But worse than that the service was lousy, lousy, lousy. Not only was one of the waiters snippy to us, but our waiter took the orders of two couples who came in after us which made the long wait for our food even longer; he completely forgot our side order as well. We didn’t have the heart to explain the poor tip we left since we’re not planning on going back there ever again, but it is somewhat reassuring to read that lackadaisical service also seems to be a common theme pre- and post-Schlesinger (more post) according to the collective consciousness that is the reviewers on Yelp.

The sad thing about the place is that on first glance it has a New York sort of feel (quickly dispelled, however, on closer acquaintance) which got our hopes up. My cynicism regarding restaurants in Boston seems to be growing daily …

Another overloaded restaurant post: Sorellina, Great Bay, Cuchi Cuchi

For a belated V-day dinner, the bf and I hit up Sorellina (1 Huntington Ave) which is right behind ye olde Boston Public Library. It seems like in Boston restaurants have gotten worse and worse, so much so that whenever we make the effort to go out we’re always reminded of why we avoid eating out. A had had a good time at the bar previously, and although the ambience was good in the dining room and the service was impeccable (which in Boston is no small thing), we found the food to be quite unremarkable. I started with the beets and had the mushroom fettuccini, the latter of which was indeed nice and mushroomy but unfortunately completely drenched in butter. Also had a side of “truffled fries with parmigiano” which were good but salty. A had a simple salad, but his pork (a special) was in his words “bland, overcooked, dry, and tasteless.” But the service is good! Which makes it all worthwhile. Ha ha. Their official website is here.

Sorellina forms quite a contrast to Great Bay (500 Commonwealth Ave in Kenmore Square) which has subpar food and mediocre service. Great Bay is a prime example of a place that has really, really gone downhill. A and I used to go fairly regularly because of a friend who was a regular there (note “was”), but apparently in recent times they’ve dumbed down the menu, presumably in their attempts to appeal to the Red Sox crowd. The chef has changed and we know for a fact that some of their best staff have also quit in disgust. I hadn’t realized the place had changed so drastically, so when I went a couple of weeks ago it was quite an unpleasant surprise. The food ranged from uninteresting to downright mediocre with a notable lack of vegetarian offerings even compared to their previous menus, but the service was even worse: our server thew down the cutlery without any regard for where it was being placed; she wandered away in the middle of bringing out our entrees to attend to another table; and in general did her best to make us feel she could care less about our dining experience. So stay away, all.

I wish I could end on a happier note, but no. A and I had been to Cuchi Cuchi (795 Main St, near Tosci’s, i.e. between Central and Kendall) once before, and I didn’t remember a thing about it. So when we were hard up for a place to eat out nearby we checked it out again. Cuchi Cuchi bills itself not as a place for “tapas” per se, but instead they offer up “small international plates”. We ordered six plates for three people which was a decent amount, and the food was okay, albeit unremarkable in and of itself. But the main problem is that the food is way overpriced for what it is; this is a case of a restaurant with misguided beliefs about the quality of their food. The ambience was irritatingly campy, with all the female waitstaff in hats and feathers and flapper-type or similarly silly dresses. But apparently from the reviews on Yelp we’re in the minority there in our opinion. I suppose it’s a presentation that would only work in Cambridge if at all, and as a place to grab a snack and a drink with a friend from out of town it would be a decent option; but as a place for sit-down dining it’s definitely not a place we’d go back to.

We’ve gotten way behind on the restaurant scene and I still cling to the hope that we’ll find someplace we’re completely impressed with. Stay tuned …

Korean restaurants in Somerville (and Boston)

I have a load of restaurant reviews that I’ll probably never catch up on, but here’s an attempt to start a dent in the pile. I don’t make it out to Buk Kyung (290 Somerville Ave) or Wu Chon (9 Union Square), two Korean restaurants pretty much next door to each other in Union Square, all that often because I’m too lazy to take the bus out there and neither offers up food that’s distinctive enough to make a special trip. But I happened to revisit both recently when relatives were in town, so I thought I’d offer up a quick recap.

Wu Chon is more of the typical Korean restaurant, and it does a fairly serviceable job. Nothing too special, but it does have the famous Korean barbeque as a point of focus, and the prices are better than the nearby (and now much sleeker than before due to renovation) Koreana (158 Prospect St).

In contrast, Buk Kyung specializes in more Chinese-derived dishes, especially the black bean noodles called jja jang myeon which are not often found in Korean restaurants in the States. Online there’s more information about their second location, Buk Kyung II in Allston (151 Brighton Ave), e.g. here’s a good review of BKII from a Boston blogger. I’ve been to that location as well and, as you’d expect, the food is pretty much the same and the newer location has a much shinier decor. The original Buk Kyung has a more hole-in-the-wall feel, which also gives it a more intimate, homier feeling which is nice. Similarly the food at the original location has a more homier feel than other places, and depending on what you’re used to you may find you prefer food from other restaurants that is a bit more Americanized (e.g. a bit sweeter or has less-traditional ingredients added in, like watercress).

To wrap up, I suppose I should add some info about my personal favorites in Boston. Being Korean-American I’ve pretty much tried them all many, many times, and my favorite for a long time was Suishaya in Chinatown (2 Tyler St). But they changed management, and although the food survived the transition decently well (although far from completely unscathed), there was a sudden huge drop in the quality of the service. Perusing the reviews on Yelp it seems I definitely wasn’t the only one who noticed the change, and the bf and I had so many mediocre-to-downright-lousy waiters in a row that, combined with the lesser-quality food, we ended up pretty much giving up on it. Too bad.

So what does that leave? On the cheap the Korean place in Super 88 in Boston (1095 Commonwealth Avenue) is definitely worth checking out. I end up going to Shilla in Harvard Square (57 JFK St) a lot because it’s convenient and not too pricey, and on average the food is pretty good (although their chigaes, while flavorful, are watery and not at all hearty like the traditional Korean style).

But the surprise winner for the moment for when I need a dose of Korean food is actually Chocho’s in the Porter Exchange (1815 Massachusetts Ave). It’s a surprise for several reasons, the main one being that their menu includes many non-Korean dishes including pad thai and udon. The Pan-Asian approach is usually a bad sign when it comes to finding good authentic Asian food, but Chocho’s’ Korean dishes are great and their non-Korean dishes have been highly enjoyable as well. They take a sort of middle-of-the-road approach in terms of hewing to the traditional styles, but they succeed in providing the heart of each dish without adding unnecessary frills. The service is always good (although being a small staff they do get busy), and their consistency is fantastic, something I’ve really come to value in all my years of eating out. I can honestly say I’ve never ever had a bad meal there, or even one I didn’t enjoy, which is no small thing. Aack! Now I’m totally jonesin’ for some BBB from Chocho’s. Even though I was just there this weekend, after writing this post I wouldn’t be surprised if I ended up back there next weekend as well. Or sooner!

Gourmet Dumpling House in Chinatown

Quick restaurant review. Happened to go to the Gourmet Dumpling House in Chinatown (52 Beach St.) twice in two weeks. The first time I had the Ma Po Tofu, which was nice and spicy and also I think used soybean paste which I like, along with the Vegetable Steamed “Ravioli” (i.e. dumplings) which although not as good as Wang’s Fast Food in Somerville were still quite good and way better than the usual Chinese restaurant. A had a pork dish and the pork dumplings, and he enjoyed both as well. The second time I went I came away less impressed. The “Home Style Bean Curd” I had was in a greasier brown sauce and unfortunately had chicken in it, and the Steamed Vegetable Buns had a good filling but they were more bready than doughy, i.e. on the heavy side. D’s chicken entree was likewise on the heavy side. All in all, though, it’s still definitely one of the better Chinese places I’ve eaten at in Boston. And someone on Chowhound has kindly scanned the menu , which is handy if you’re a compulsive checklist-ticker-offer like I am. Their menu’s pretty big, though, so it’ll keep you (i.e. me) busy for a while.

Petit Robert in Kenmore Square

Went to Petit Robert in Kenmore Square a couple of weeks ago after an acquaintance raved about it as a “real”, everyday French bistro. The experience was indeed a nice change of pace from the stiffer places in the South End, and price-wise it is more in the everyday range. Both factors seemed to be reflected in the clientele, which was much more mixed than those other places, and included families with children and more younger couples.

But unfortunately food-wise the restaurant as a whole didn’t particularly impress. Which is kind of too bad, because the service was quite good, as was the presentation. I started with the vegetable paté and A had smoked herring filets. Apparently I was feeling hungry, because I also ordered the potato and leek soup and the “garlicky salsify and parsnips persillé”. All of them were fine but nothing special, although the latter was surprisingly tasteless and must go down on record as the least parsnip-tasting parsnips we’ve even eaten.

For our entrees A had the calf’s liver which was cooked well but disappointing due to its sauce being too vinegary; he also found it odd that all the entrees came with the same sides. I had the crispy lentil cake, which had a sort of bubble and squeak feel to it, but was decidedly not crispy; but I appreciated it anyway, seeing as how vegetarian options are few and far between. We ended with the pumpkin tarte (a special) which was, like much of the meal, on the bland side. Although we both appreciated the effort to provide Boston with a more casual French bistro dining experience (in the fairly restaurant-less Kenmore Square at that) and although the meal itself was fine, on the whole this just isn’t a place we’re likely to come back to in a hurry.

Apparently they’ve also opened a location in the South End. It looks like The Globe has reviewed both locations twice (not sure why), all of which seem to be fairly complimentary. The reviews on Yelp, which are less glowing, seem to be more accurate in general, a difference between the two sources that I’ve been more aware of lately.

Rocca in the South End

I’ve been meaning to post about Rocca for a while now. Rocca opened around the end of summer 2007, but I went there for the first time about a month and a half ago not knowing anything about it. It turns out I agreed with quite a bit of the Boston Globe’s review (including the astute observation that “In the South End, do not underestimate the power of the [parking] lot. Barring outright badness, this convenience ensures Rocca’s success.”). Anyway, it seems not much has changed in the year since it’s been open. In general the appetizers I had were so-so. The farinata (“chickpea flatbread with mushrooms, caramelized onions & sage”) was both overly salty and overly greasy. The fried cauliflower had none of the lightness of a good tempura and was also overly salty. The pastas we had fared better, including the potato gnocchi with mushrooms and the butternut squash pasta (a special, I believe). A enjoyed his hanger steak (a special?), but otherwise we were left unimpressed with both the food and the less-than-average service. (And it looks like the yelpers agree too.) The trip did remind me that it’s been too long since I’ve gone out to relatively new restaurants, so I’ll be trying to make more of a point to do so in the near future.