Monday, September 30, 2013

Punjab Arlington

A Monday post from Punjab in Arlington? Well, I decided to try something else apart from my three standard choices so I figured it was worth a write-up.





I can't figure out how to take a picture of a curry and make it interesting. It's meat in gravy! Anyway, this is Chicken Korma. Mildly spiced cream sauce with nuts and raisins is what the menu said. The nuts and raisins were finely minced so they added a nice texture to the creamy sauce. Only in America will they ask you how spicy you want your korma and I ordered it medium and it worked out OK but it should really be served as described on the menu. Not really a fan of fruit in my food but it didn't really detract since it was such small pieces.

Saturday, September 28, 2013

PHU KET Wakefield

It's Saturday so were are I? PHU KET in Wakefield of course. Beautiful day for a top down drive.



Simple Red Curry with Chicken ordered extra spicy. Carrots, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, red peppers and basil. The bamboo shoots were nicely julienned and it was spicy but with a nice flavor balance. Excellent lunch for $7.

Friday, September 27, 2013

MuLan Waltham

I was getting a set of almost new tires in Waltham so another lunch at MuLan in Waltham was in order. It turned out to be a miss matched pair so that didn't work out.



Hot and Sour soup joins the pickled cabbage and peanuts that are on the table. Chopsticks by default but I had to wave the fork away.



Kung Pao Shrimp combo plate. This wasn't any better than the Chicken version that I tried before. I never learn, should order what they are good at. The shrimp was good, big and cooked perfectly. It wasn't very spicy, but a good helping of their delicious chili oil took care of that. The rest of the plate was excellent, the chicken wing was crispy and very juicy, sweet corn and the Edamame beans was very nice.

Thursday, September 26, 2013

The Mughals Burlington

This will be my last lunch buffet takeout from The Mughals in Burlington. The restaurant has been sold after being open a little more than a year and the owner is moving to Florida. The chef who was also a partner left a while ago and the food suffered a bit, still well cooked but lacked the bright flavors that he imparted and his Tandoori wings on the lunch buffet shall be long remembered. Next week it will change its name to Bombay Club and the new owner already have a number of Indian restaurants in the area including Masala Art in Needham. They also ran the now defunct Bombay Club in Harvard Square, but that was a while ago. Masala Art does take out from its buffet and hopefully they will do that here too and I'm hoping they will keep the current lunch buffet price.



No More!


Today's buffet takeout. From bottom left, Papads, Potato and Peas, Garlic Naan, Tandoori Chicken, Chicken Tikka Masala, Potato and Peas Samosas, Chicken something (forgot the name) and Chicken Biryani rice. When the new chef does a Garlic Naan, he's not holding back on the garlic! Their buffet selection changed daily and they also posted the dishes on their website daily and I thought that was an excellent service.


Don't go to the The Mughals website, my Windows virus protection claims it has a virus and will not open it.

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Sichuan Gourmet Billerica

Went back to Sichuan Gourmet in Billerica try to get a seat for lunch today and had better luck than last week and got seated quickly. This is one busy place!



You get no soup when ordering soup for lunch, kind of makes sense in a weird way, but you get the pickled veggies that are really good.


Pork Spare Ribs Noodle Soup is a favorite of mine. Chewy noodles, tender pork ribs and a spicy broth with Bok Choy is a perfect combination and really delicious.

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Royal India Bistro Lexington

I went to Royal India Bistro in Lexington a couple of time after they opened and the food was OK but decided to visit them again today for lunch. They are tucked away on a side street in North Lexington, near the Village Green and there is still free parking here.



This is a small place but nicely decorated and well lighted inside. On a brisk day, stay away from the window seating, the window leaked something fierce.



A couple of papads and condiments arrived promptly. Metal water-glass and modernistic looking salt and pepper containers. No indication of what contained what. My guess is that 3 holes is salt and two holes is pepper. The onion chutney was HOT.



This is Keema Curry from the lunch specials menu. Ground lamb cooked with peas, tomatoes and onions. I ordered it a little spicier than medium and the spiciness was spot on. On the check it was marked as medium plus and kudos to them for getting it right. Rice was cooked nicely, could have been more fragrant but overall this was a really nice lunch. Service was very attentive and at 12:30 they were almost filled up. Glass covered tables and paper napkins was about the only drawbacks but who really cares when the food is good.

Friday, September 20, 2013

Masa Woburn

Time to restock the espresso beans at Whole Foods in Woburn but first I'm having lunch at Masa in the same plaza.



Interior is nice and I like the high tables in the bar area next to the windows. The day was nice enough that they had the outdoor seating set up.



Bread with three spreads quickly appears. I especially like the chipotle one, he roasted red pepper isn't bad either. Sorry for the confusing picture, this was not a good idea.



The choice was (again) the Grilled Chicken Caesar Wrap but it's really good. There is Grilled Chicken, Tender Romaine, Roasted Green Chile Caesar Dressing, Flour Tortilla. The chile dusted fries were cooked perfectly today and the chicken was also really moist. Not bad for $7.95 and that included linen napkins.
I have also added a "Subscribe by Email" option to the blog. I didn't know that only dimwits, nerds and other lower life forms used RSS, but I guess that I should have got a hint when Google discontinued their RSS Reader.

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Taipei Gourmet Lexington

Took the back roads to Taipei Gourmet in Lexington today for another lunch.



This is Beef with Noodles in Sa-Cha Sauce, figured I should try another Sa-Cha sauce dish and this one tasted better than it looked. The sauce was nice with a hint of heat and the noodles were cooked OK. The beef was tender and it was plenty of it.

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Simply Khmer Lowell

I was going to go to Sichuan Gourmet in Billerica but when I got there early for lunch (11:45) they were full of people waiting for tables so I decided to continue to Simply Khmer in Lowell instead. They were not very busy today for some reason.



This is Mee Ka-Tang Spicy Special with chicken (choice of meats: beef/chicken/seafood). Flat rice noodle, meat, bamboo shoot, sweet pea pod, basil, Chinese broccoli in spicy sauce. When they say spicy, they mean it! Not just spicy but runny nose spicy. And not just a runny nose but flooded! Anyway, apart from that it was delicious, really tasty.

Saturday, September 14, 2013

PHU KET Wakefield

I know, PHU KET in Wakefield again but I really like this place and they were almost busy at lunchtime today.



This is the Mandalay Curry Noodles, tender chicken in a light curry base over soft egg noodles with broccoli and red onion. I asked them to get me something instead of the broccoli and they did. I was a bit surprised that red onions were uncooked but I was fine with it. The chicken was tender and the noodles was cooked nicely and this was a very pleasant dish especially with some added lime and fish sauce.

Friday, September 13, 2013

Sakura Winchester

The all you can eat lunch Sushi at Sakura in Winchester had a price increase of a dollar to $14.95 but, it's still a good deal. The dinner price also went up to $21.95.



Started with fried pork dumplings, tempura scallops and tempura shrimp. All of it very good especially the scallops and the pork dumplings.



The normal order of tuna, red snapper and salmon but I added a spider handroll (soft shell crab). I always think that I'm eating bits and pieces that I shouldn't when I have a soft shell crab, but I still like them.

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Szechuan's Dumpling Arlington

Top down, AC on full blast! Still trying to eat my way through the lunch menu at Szechuan's Dumpling in Arlington and I'm making some headway.



Soup today was pork and crunchy beans. The soup was OK.



On the menu, this is called "Beef with Water Spinach in Sa Cha Sauce". A more appropriate name would have been Water Spinach with nuggets of beef. The tender parts of the spinach were fine and the overall taste was good but I didn't like the big stems. Sa Cha sauce is made from soybean oil, garlic, shallots, chilis, brill fish and dried shrimp. It has a savory and slightly spicy taste. Not having that much experience with the sauce it tasted fine to me.

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Sichuan Garden II Woburn

After a harrowing experience of taking a bus to downtown Boston this morning and then waiting for a bus back to Woburn that never showed up I needed something comforting so I stopped for a late lunch at Sichuan Garden in Woburn.


Their Hot & Sour soup is excellent!


One of the best dishes on the lunch menu is the Mapo Tofu (called Chef’s Ma Paul Tofu with Minced Pork). I ordered it extra Mala and got plenty of ground Sichuan peppercorn as you can see but it lacked heat. Their crispy chicken wing is a delight, crispy and juicy. This is the dish that actually got me to eat tofu..

Monday, September 9, 2013

Punjab Arlington

The reason you never see any posts on a Monday is because it's Indian Lunch day at Punjab in Arlington. I usually rotate between three dishes and how much can you write about that but I figure a post every year is doable and it is a really nice place with free on street parking.



I like to get a table at the little patio seating, nice and bright and a good view of the not so exciting Arlington center.


Lentil soup is included in the lunch specials. Nothing special but tasty and it's a nice start.



Vindaloo Chicken was today's choice, ordered medium. Their definition of medium borders on the hot side so beware! Punjab's version of this classic Indian dish is really good, tart and spicy with tons of flavor. The rice is excellent, very fragrant with spices and always cooked perfectly. Not sure how they do it but every grain of rice is separated. Did I mention excellent service and linen napkins?

Saturday, September 7, 2013

PHU KET Wakefield

I have tried most of the lunch boxes at PHU KET in Wakefield so I decided to go with something from the regular menu.



Beef Basil ordered spicy was a nice lunch with Beef, Red Peppers, Mushrooms (impeccable clean), Snow peas and hot peppers in a Basil Sauce. Could have used a bit more sauce. The portion looked small, but it was enough for lunch.

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Strip-T's Watertown

Decided to take the back roads to go to Strip-T's in Watertown, it's kind of a hike to get here, but today was such a gorgeous day that I didn't mind the drive.


This is the bar seating enhanced by the friendly staff behind the counter.



Today I was going to try their famous fried chicken and it lived up to the hype. Perfectly fried, succulent high-quality chicken that actually tasted of chicken. I also liked the pepper infused honey that you drizzle on the chicken. For my side, I choose fried Japanese sweet potato wedges that come with a miso-mayo dip. I'm not a fan of sweet potatoes but decided to try them anyway and they were delicious, much to my surprise but I guess anything that's fried in duck fat has to be delicious, right? Probably the best fried chicken ever but for $13 it should be.

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

ZuZu's Cafe Wakefield

Time for another lunch visit to the delightful ZuZu's Cafe Wakefield.


I was going to have the Beef Tenderloin sandwich but it turned out that today Panini special was Grilled Beef Tenderloin with Grilled Peppers & Onions, Swiss, Arugula & Horseradish Mayo on a Grilled Onion Panini Roll for $8.95, so I decided to try that. It was hard to get a good picture of the Panini so this is it. It was OK but the horseradish mayo was excellent and they didn't hold back on the horseradish. It was a pleasant day for an outside lunch.

Monday, September 2, 2013

Punjabi Tadka Arlington

I went to Punjabi Tadka in Arlington last year on Labor Day since Punjab up the street only serves lunch from the Ala carte menu on holidays.



I decided to order the same dish as last year, the Non-Vegetarian Thali and I must say that it looked the same. I ordered it medium and while it lacked heat it was much more flavorful than the normally bland dishes I have had here. The Lamb curry was tasty with very tender lamb and the Seekh Kabab (lamb) was fine and the lentils were very good as was the chicken. The rice was cooked well but could have had more seasoning. The Naan was crispy and flaky. I must say that you get a ton of food for $10.95.