Perpetual Restaurant Review -- Eastern Massachusetts

CAMBRIDGE 1
VEGGIE PLANET
CAMBRIDGE, MA

The two restaurants I wish to praise here (I will not always praise!) are both in Harvard Square, within stone tossing distance of each other.

Veggie Planet is run by Didi Emmons, author of at least two cookbooks and veteran of about three restaurants. It shares space with and provides meals for those enjoying live folk and accoustic music at Harvard Square's historic Club Passim (Dylan, Baez, Rush). Her thin crust pizzas are vegetarian or vegan. But meat lovers won't necessarily find themselves protien deprived. The combinations are original -- like Henry's Lunch, a pizza proported to be the favorite of Didi's cat featuring roast winter squash, I believe carmelized onions and white cheese -- and the flavors are strong and rich. When the menu says garlic, believe it!
Always delicious.

My only complaint with the place is with the people who come for the pizza and not for the show who, regrettably, must be squeezed into the drafty lobby. They make far too much noise but with food this good and with good company, happiness = noise.

Now, as good as Didi's pizza is, it is downtown. The pizza at Cambridge 1 is uptown. That doesn't make it better or more innovative. And here I should say that both are restaurants rather than pizzerias, if you get my drift. But Cambridge 1 (which I believe also is the creative product of a well known chef) is suave and sophisticated -- albeit still in a Cantabridgian way -- that the funkier, earthier Veggie Planet is not.

But in Cambridge terms, Veggie Planet is the Harvard Radcliffe Dramatic Society and CAmbridge 1 in the American Repertory Theatre.

There's meat at Cambridge 1 and beer and wine. The space is still crowded but more brightly lit. Alas, there is no music.

While Harvard Square is fading from its Americana originality, at least one can still eat well there.

Are you restricting replies only to restaurants located in eastern Massachusetts?

Staying in Harvard Square.....

THE BUDDHIST CULTURAL CENTER (I think, couldn't find it in the yellow pages)
CAMBRIDGE, MA

This place is a vegetarian restaurant and a place of prayer for Buddhists. They have dimsum, but the best bet is to get the daily special which comes with 4 dishes and a big pile of white rice for about $6.

SEPAL, Watertown

Excellent Felafel! We ran across this restraunt when it was in an old KFC in Arlington. Since moved near the ArScumball Mall. Try the foool. Also veggie w/ meat available for the carnivores.

Similarly, SKEWERS in Harvard Square.

more when I think of it. For 'k, are we sticking w/ veggie places, or shall we eat some cow?

CAPTAIN FISHBONES
Allston (where Sports Depot used to be)

Pretty good food, not too pricey, despite the fact that it's heavy on seafood. Options for landlubbers. Greek salad was okay but nothing special. Maryland crab cakes were good but no sauce was offered. A seafood with rice special was tasty and had all the usual assortment (crab, clams, shrimp and a bit of lobster), but nothing out of the ordinary. A solid family place; not really a place to take a date or a client. Free parking on site, near T.

John,
I live in Eastern Ma so I will limit this to restaurants I have access to. You can start a similiar thread for your area.

SP - don't stick to vegies on my account! I've been to Sepal, when it was around the corner from where it is now. I keep meaning to go back in there (I'm one of the arsumballites).

Had a nice dinner at FLORA in Arlington one evening before catching a movie at the Capitol. Best damn sweatbreads I've ever had!

Personally boycotting the 99 because of a waitress that stuck our bread plates in her armput while talking to other diners.

Personally boycotting Ruby Tuesday for a particularly unsavory episode at the Wrentham Outlet Malls.

Personally boycotting Friendlys for a number of sub-standard meals.

Personally boycotting McD's except sometimes when Mrs. SealPoet isn't looking.

MAISON ROBERT
BOSTON

I had always wanted to eat at this Boston cuilinary landmark. I did on the day I won my ageism suit. I was thoroughly disappointed. True, it was Ben's Cafe, the outdoor location and the meal was lunch and not dinner, but just because food is served in the middle of the day is no reason for it to be lousy.

Lousy it was. I had nothing in mind when I sat down to eat but the seafood crepe caught my eye. The vicyssoie (I can't spell in English, so don't expect great things in French) was bland. It could have been anything. The crepes arrived in a covered dish which made them soggy. The sauce was like glue. I would not serve a starch with crepes but they served yellow rice -- like something from a box from the supermarket! This was July but the veggies were mysteriously roasted beets and broccali -- December food. Where were the fresh tomatoes or corn or crisp lettuce? The only edible part of the meal was the veggie side dish.

Maison Robert is closing. Good riddance.

Sealpoet: When I first came to New England, someone said Friendly's was the place to go for a good hamburger and good ice cream and it was. The chain has been sold so many times and the menu changed with it and seldom for the better (the Hershey's ownership wasn't bad). The downfall of Friendly's (the ice cream isn't as good either) is a strong argument for local ownership. A decent hamburger is hard to find!

BTW, Arlington center is becoming a great place to eat.

You won the Ageism suit?!

You go girl! Umm... no...

YOU GO WOMAN!

Yeah. Arlington has relaxed the blue laws some. But avoid Jimmy's Steer House.

Another Eastern MA mecca for eating is Waltham. Many excellent eateries on or near Moody Street.

BISON COUNTY for BBQ
BOMBAY MAHAL and LITTLE INDIA
TUSCAN GRILL for over-the-top dining
SOLEA (spelling) is a sibling of DALI and TAPEO for tapas
TAQUERIA MEXICO for cheap mex
CARAMBOLA sibling of ELEPHANT WALK for Cambodian

Mouth is watering...

Seal --
Avoid Jimmy's Steer House? I was wondering if that is the same place that is in the Burlington Mall simply under the name Jimmy's?

Every tme I go by, people with walkers are coming and going and men who look like Goombas.

It might be. Walkers and Goombas. Keeps the place in business...

Needed to talk with my troubled son Eoin and so I took him to dinner last night.

RAMA THAI
MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE
ARLINGTON

Awful! Gooey noodles. Barely blanched veggies. Avoid!

I went to a small steak Argentinian restaurant on Mass Ave in Arlington once that was pretty good...I forget the name though. And it kind of reminded me of that skit in SNL where the waiters start kissing/fondling the woman at the table...the guys there would come to the table, act overly friendly while just grinning widly at the girl I was with.

Here's my review: Bickfords, Location: Any.

The atmosphere is quite delightful, with beautiful lighting that stops just short of blinding you. If you ask nicely, often you can be seated right at the huge window that overlooks the interstate and town center where a Bickford's most likely resides. Decor is state of the art, including oversized, couch like booths for you to sit in. Waitstaff(usually middle aged women) are very friendly, many times addressing you as "hon."

Go hungry, because the menu has many selections! Whether you're in the mood for breakfast or dinner, you can opt for either, at any time of the day, and we mean ANYTIME! Bickfords is a 24 hr joint.

The chef, probably named "Ricardo," "Juan," or "Jamal," takes his time to put together an elegant and delightful dish, both asthetically and palatable. For example our beautifully assembled meal of scrambled eggs and bacon came piping hot from the microwave, and besides the strong overtone of water, was "de-lish!"

Great place for a celebration(such as losing your job), bringing a date(if you never want to see her again), and to aid in an all night drinking binge hangover!

The Argentine place in Arlington is named TANGO. Been there, ate that. Pretty good place for a carnivore...

If you don't want cow, don't go.

wow! Look what I found!

They're all chains anyway.

MAIN STREET CAFE
STOCKBRIDGE, MA

Alright, so Stockbridge is not at the Eastern end of the state, but, neither am I.

This past summer, hungry for live theatre, I ushered at Shakespeare and Company in Lenox, MA.

The Berkshires are so tempting and so lovely, that one wants to be part of the scene. Unfortunately, this area is also pricey. In Lenox, I could afford the coffee shops or the tavern that offered bar food. I like good bar food but this place wore out its welcome after one visit.

The evening of my last assignment, the air was chilly and I knew I couldn't drive the 50 miles home without caffeine. For me, caffeine means a latte or espresso. Stockbridge, the city made famous by Arlo Guthrie and James Taylor beckoned.

I considered The Red Lion Inn. After all, it is venerable and Victorian. I peaked at the menu, concentrating on the right hand side. Too expensive. I also worried that the food might be of the sort a friend calls, "old people food." It's the sort served at destination restaurants, the ones where people on walkers struggle their way off the bus and into the restaurant. Steamship beef is certain to be an offering and the tables usually have packets of cellowrapped crackers to be used with the cottage cheese based dip the waitress will immediately bring you.

Halfway down the block, kitty-corner from TRLI was a coffee shop. It was cute and its sign said, "Lunch." I went in through the wooden screen door. The coffee was made in drip machines and its temperature was maintained in air pots. Lunch was over but there were cookies and muffins. Too cheap and too inadequate.

I then noticed the Main Street Cafe and so I crossed the street again and went in. I noticed the words latte and espresso. I went in. I was immediately seated as were the couple (about my age) who were behind me. The woman turned to me and said the hostess was a go-getter with an approving voice. She said she was tired of waiting at restaurants that had empty tables.

Although I was hungry, I didn't want a sandwich because their blackboard offered pumpkin pie. Pumpkin pie is my specialty. I make it from fresh pumpkin, sweetened with molasses and baked in a butter crust. I seldom like other pumpkin pies. I think the Pie Guy makes inedible pies.

I ordered the latte and the vegetable soup but told the waitress I might order dessert. The latte came first in a cup so large that I thought the soup had been pureed. The latte was delicious.

The soup was full of fresh veggies. It bordered on bland but,where I live, the vegans put so many flavors into their soups that bland was welcome.

I was almost full when I finished my first round but I ordered the pie anyway. Whether it was canned or fresh pumpkin was difficult to tell. It was sweetened not with molasses but with caramel. I am going to try caramel to sweeten the next pie I make with a "cheese pumpkin," which has more delicate flavor than a sugar pumpkin. The crust was not made with butter but it was homestyle and flavorful.

I would not only recommend it; I would return.