Dining in Boston
 

I'm making another trip to Boston soon to hang out with our recently departed EDF mod.

We're determined to not be lazy this time and to make reservations at a handful of great restaurants in the city.

Last year we went to Grill 23, which was great, albeit a little salty. Where else shall we go? I have read great things about Abe & Louie's so that seems like a must.

Re: Dining in Boston
 

in the non-steakhouse category:

Oleana (in Cambridge) (Mediterranean fusion)
No. 9 Park (Italian/French)
Troquet (French mostly)
Salts (in Cambridge) (American..the duck for 2 is amazing and will be cute on your date)
Petit Robert (French bistro)
B&G Oysters (Seafood)
Hamersleys (French)
Toro (Spanish)
East Coast Grill (in my hood in Cambridge, seafood, a step down from the others but it's a great place in my awesome neighborhood!)
Mooo is a cool new steakhouse/bar. I ate at the bar a couple weeks ago. it's not Abe & Louis, but if you are looking for a scene it's a bit cooler

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Some of my favorite places (note that I am a broke graduate student)

Helmand - Afghani

Addis Red Sea - Ethiopian

Cafe Polonia - Polish

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Rialto (in Cambridge) (high end Italian)

Les Zygomates - French bistro

Recently went to Sibling Rivalry and enjoyed the meal there. It's got a gimmick - the head chefs are brothers. The menu is a list of ingredients with a dish by each highlighting the ingredients. Good food.

Re: Dining in Boston
 

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Some of my favorite places (note that I am a broke graduate student)

Helmand - Afghani

Addis Red Sea - Ethiopian

Cafe Polonia - Polish

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I second the Helmand.

East Coast Grill isn't bad -- if I'm remembering correctly, they're next to All-Star Sandwich, which is a fantastic little place to get lunch.

Also, I like the Eastern Standard.

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I'd highly recommend a small Italian place near fenway "Toscana Trattoria", reasonably priced and the food is awesome

B&G Oysters for high-end seafood

Dali for tapas (the food is very good, the atmosphere is a ton of fun)

The Oak Room for a great meal at an exorbitant price

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If you like sushi, then Oishii Sushi Bar is the best restaurant I have ever been to.

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Excelsior!

or Mamma Maria in the North End for Italian.

Olives in Charlestown was the best meal I had in 4 years in Boston, though.

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Excelsior!

or Mamma Maria in the North End for Italian.



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Mamma Maria is great, I bet Daryn has been there. Excelsior is very expensive and not that great

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Nice one guys, keep it coming. The more you write about these places the better. Any more steak recommendations?

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Nice one guys, keep it coming. The more you write about these places the better. Any more steak recommendations?

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prob just go to Abe & Louis

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Dali for tapas (the food is very good, the atmosphere is a ton of fun)

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Yeah, good one, alimoe. Not high end, but the food is good, and the decor is off the chain - a cross between portuguese cathouse and devotional grotto.

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I was disappointed with Sibling Rivalry. It's a great concept, but I thought the food wasn't excellent, and the service was pretty bad.

Smith & Wollensky isn't too bad for steak. It's obviously a chain and you've probably had it elsewhere - however, it's located in a castle (I think I've posted the image before). It makes for a pretty cool dining experience.

http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/270...e015601ut0.jpg

Re: Dining in Boston
 

Sorellina on Huntington was one of the best meals i had in the city. The tuna tartar appetizer was amazing. Very old crowd in there though.

For steak after Grille 23 I chose either Smith or Abe & Louis. Both very good, obviously eating in a castle is cool.

I agree on sibling rivalry. Awesome concept, but the food was meh. Although when I ate there we were in a hurry and practically ate our meal before valet parked the car.

A list of random places I enjoy...
Tsunami (BYOB Sushi) Brookline
B&G Oysters (Seafood) South End
Tapeo (Tapas) Newbury
28 Degrees in South End. Tuna tartar and calamari is amazing. And I love a bloody bellini.
Wine Cellar (Fondue) Mass Ave near Beacon
Figs in Charlestown is good for lunch
Flour on Washington St also good for lunch (Bakery/Cafe)

Thats about all I can think of for now. Also, Boston dinner party? I love free meals.

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im moving to cambridge soon so i'll have to check this stuff out too! i know there is one very good Korean Restaurant in porter square right next ot the tstop.

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http://images.citysearch.net/profile.../4745774p1.jpg

Border Cafe in Harvard Square is great if you want a cheap definitely not fancy tex-mex meal. I love Harvard Square, and I always end up eating here. Obviously not gourmet or on pace with the rest of the thread in that regard, but def. enjoyable.

for a little higher end southwestern food, I love Masa

http://a1204.g.akamaitech.net/7/1204..._inclusion.jpg

I've gone there a couple times this year, and they have a tuna dish that is great, as well as a "Masarita" which is made with grapefruit juice.

They have an awesome/cheap brunch on sundays as well with texas toast w/ carmelized bananas and chocolate chip pancakes with mango butter.


I need to get out to more places, but these are two places where you're guaranteed to have good food and a good time.

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bro,

i went to an amazing italian resturant last night in the north end called Cantina Italiana on 346 Hanover. Best [censored] dish I've ever eaten.

Hanover is best place to eat in this gawd aweful cold ass town to be honest.

Indy

Re: Dining in Boston
 

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Hanover is best place to eat in this gawd aweful cold ass town to be honest.

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that's exactly what we like visitors to think

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Hanover is best place to eat in this gawd aweful cold ass town to be honest.

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that's exactly what we like visitors to think

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everybody in this forum knows i dont mince words. boston is overrated and i cannot wait to get back to Cali SUnday. I can barely sleep in this weather. The italian food here is good, however. Cantina Italiana is supposed to be the oldest restuarant in the north end.

edit: actually there are some serious hotties here of the non-asian descent, and the pubs rock....i was very impressed with how hoppin the town was on a thursday night to be honest. Obv Im joking, boston is teh pwn:) Just too [censored] cold.

Indy

Re: Dining in Boston
 

I'm pretty sure he was implying that we like visitors to think that Hanover is the best place to eat ... it's not even close.

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hey guys, if you like feel free to extend this to cool bars to meet fun, hot girls. thanks!

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Bars near Fenway (and more importantly BU):
Eastern Standard - definitely older than a college crowd, but good drinks
Game On - If there are any good games going on, it's probably the city's best sports bar

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hey guys, if you like feel free to extend this to cool bars to meet fun, hot girls. thanks!

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you could have good night near Fenway by eating at Eastern Standard (great burger) and hanging at the bar there, or going right next door to the Foundation Lounge, which is a cool little trendy lounge which usual has girls of all varieties. or you could eat at Petit Robert, which is also pretty close, but Eastern Standard is more of a loud/bar/type place that could get you in da groove faster. that's a pretty good itinerary for 1 night.

another combo night would be eating upstairs at 33 (which is decent, but a scene) then going downstairs to the dance area, which is a good singles scene.

Gypsy Bar is a bit frattier, but still not too bad, and it's a huge place with bars/dancing that always has a lot of girls.

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Or you could take a drive out to Frmaingham and go to the Melting Pot.

Reasons.

`1. They give you bread to dip in a vat of melted cheese.

2. They give you lobster tails and filet mignon to coat in batter and then dip in boiling oil.

3. They give you brownie and cheesecake pieces to dip in bubbling hot hazelnut chocolate.



Fonduuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuue!

Re: Dining in Boston
 

thanks again kbz, eastern standard sounds pretty good, i am partial to a great burger

haha noah that sounds sick. never tried anything like that before and am somewhat intrigued. daryn lives in woburn so we could easily check out the one in burlington. btw that website is off the chart cheesy

i urge you all to not ask for trip reports. diablo knows only too well the high probability that we are too lazy to actually eat at any of these places.

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also, where is the best chowder in the city? legal is great but the portions aren't massive. i'm a big fan of joe's just because of the bread bowl. where else?

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Border Cafe in Harvard Square is great if you want a cheap definitely not fancy tex-mex meal. I love Harvard Square, and I always end up eating here. Obviously not gourmet or on pace with the rest of the thread in that regard, but def. enjoyable.


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This place is awesome. My friends and I went here at least once a month or more and we always had a competition to see who could consume the most chips.

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also, if you're into cougars, check out Jury's, easily the cougar capital of Boston. not a bad bar in general, but the line can suck, get there early or risk having the bouncers tilt you

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Game On! sucks. Yes there will be a decent amount of people there but 90% of them are douche hats, not to mention the bartenders are complete [censored] too. I have been kicked out of there more times then I care to remember for infractions varying from extremely minor to somewhat major. Place sucks, go next door to Cask N' Flagon where picking up chicks in their boom-boom room is rather easy.

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P.S. I also have a good time in the back room at An Tua Nua on Beacon quite a few times later in the night. If you want to drink a crap load of beers go down commonwealth and turn onto Brighton Ave and hit up Sunset Grille, they have like 100 beers on tap and more in bottles.

Good steaks:
Burton Grille on boylston near Fenway.
The Stockyard - in Brighton on market st.

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http://lacasadepedro.com/
This is a great Argentinian restaurant in Watertown. It might be a smallish trek depending on where you guys are staying, but it is both reasonably priced and incredibly tasty.

There is a Peruvian/Italian fusion restaurant in the North End called Taranta that is really good as well.

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im moving to cambridge soon so i'll have to check this stuff out too! i know there is one very good Korean Restaurant in porter square right next ot the tstop.

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Koreana in between inman and central is better imo. Where in Cambridge are you moving to?

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hey guys, if you like feel free to extend this to cool bars to meet fun, hot girls. thanks!

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I always preferred going out in the Alston-Brighton area as you tend to run into a lot less meat heads compared to most other areas of Boston. Specifically I think you should be able to find wide range of bars around the intersection of Harvard and Commonwealth.

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try out the elephant walk in porter square for cambodian/french

also blue room in kendall square is very good american with great wine selection

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Check out Tangierino in Charlestown. Totally crazy Moroccan restaurant, complete with a hookah bar. It's pretty expensive but worth it if you ask me. If you think it's too goofy looking then just go to Olives which is right down the street and also very good.

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also, where is the best chowder in the city? legal is great but the portions aren't massive. i'm a big fan of joe's just because of the bread bowl. where else?

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best chowder imo is joe's or any of the back bay group restaurants (i think they have the same chowder as joe's at abe and louies)

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went to a VERY good french restuarant last night called Sel de la Terra on 255 state street. very awesome food, and great foie gras. getting a table there was worse than the slanted door in san fran, however.

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Pleasant Cafe in Roslindale section of Boston

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bk thought you only ate at Subway.

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If you're in the mood for slightly different Italian food I'll recommend Grotto on Beacon Hill. They've got a nice tasting menu for $35 or you can order ala carte. It's not really fancy but is a nice, funky restaurant.

As for bars, I second the recommendation above of Sunset Grille and Tap. If you like tequila there's also a branch on Commonwealth Ave. in the B.U. area called Sunset Cantina. They trim down the beer list and replace it with various tequilas.

The Boston Beer Works is a good choice for microbrews if that's your cup of tea.