Wednesday, August 30, 2017

Sugarcane Peabody

I have heard good things about Sugarcane in Peabody so on this beautiful day I headed to Peabody.



Look at that sky! They are located on Main Street, and I was about to pay the meter when I spied the sign for Sugarcane parking. They have a big private lot on the side of the building.



The inside was bright and spotless.



The bar is just a bar, no sushi available.



This is the small version of Pho House Special (7). "Beef, brisket, tripe and beef meat balls". The picture doesn't really show it, but it was loaded with beef, brisket and some tripe. I have gotten regular sized Pho with half the meat I got here. The meatball was absent, but everything was tender, and the tripe was cooked right. The soup itself was fragrant and tasty. This small bowl makes a very nice lunch.



I also ordered the Grilled Lemongrass Spiced Chicken (8) just because. "Choose thigh or breast. Marinated chicken in lemongrass and spices grilled to perfection garnished with a salad". I went with the thigh and it was very nicely seasoned and grilled to perfection. The salad was nice with marinated carrots and daikon. The Nước chấm was seriously tasty. Service was pleasant, but they weren't very busy at lunch.

Address 106 Main St, Peabody, MA 01960
Phone number (978) 532-7800

Sugarcane Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Monday, August 28, 2017

Punjabi Grill Somerville

I haven't been back to Punjabi Grill in Somerville for a couple of years, but I still vividly remember the Chicken Karahi that was on the buffet on that visit.



They are in Davis Square, isn't everything? I managed to snag one of the free parking spaces today, so this is starting out well.



The inside is bright and impeccably clean. Lunch buffet in the back, and there is also two tandoori ovens behind the glass.



Unfortunately, the Chicken Karahi wasn't present today but Chicken Kadahi was, and it was also very good with a mixture of white and dark meat. The chickpeas were the blandest dish but the yellow dal was very tasty with a bit of heat. The sign said Tandoori chicken but it was some chicken with pepper that was very good. I noticed that a lot of the sign were inaccurate. All the food was well seasoned and hot. This is a very nice buffet and it's only $8.95.

Address 236 Elm St, Somerville, MA 02144
Phone number (617) 718-1599

Sunday, August 27, 2017

Joe's On A Roll Beverly

Google maps showed no congestion going north on this beautiful Sunday, so it was finally time to visit Joe's On A Roll in Beverly. This will be my first food truck visit.



It turned out to be food trailer. They are mostly at the same location, changes are announced on FB. There is on street parking, but not much of it.


Not a very extensive menu, but that's to be expected. The draw is the Deluxe Combo for $20, tax included. They have a two top on the side. The beach is relatively close by, and there are benches available there.



I went with the Lobster Bisque that turned out to be fantastic. Thick and creamy with plenty of lobster pieces, and I think it also had sherry added. The lobster roll had a nicely toasted bun and lots of lobster including both claws and tail. No fancy stuff here just lobster meat tossed very lightly with mayo. The staff was very friendly.

Address 77 Water street, Beverly, MA 01915
Phone number (978) 395-6394

Joe's On A Roll Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Friday, August 25, 2017

Cracker Barrel Tewksbury

When some friends posted a picture of them having lunch at a Cracker Barrel, I got confused since I know that they like good food. It turns out that they go for the Friday Fish Fry, so I headed out to my nearest Cracker Barrel that's located in Tewksbury.



They are just off Rte 495, so they are easy to get to. They have a big parking lot, and it was packed.



It's a big place with a country store up front that was really busy. And it was seriously LOUD, and the dining rooms were packed.



Here is the aforementioned Friday Fish Fry (10.29). "Starting at 11 AM, we serve four Cod fillets, hand-dipped in our own special batter and fried. We suggest enjoying them with Homestyle Fries and Cole Slaw". No, this is not a small plate, but an enormous piece of fish. I went with mashed potatoes and cole slaw. My waitress forgot the slaw. I ordered three things, and she wrote the order down. The fish was on the drier side, but the batter was excellent and well seasoned. I had to put a napkin under the fish to soak up the excess grease. The mashed potatoes were dense and lukewarm but adding the minuscule butter I got with the bread helped a bit. The slaw did arrive, and it was OK. The biscuit was good, but the cornbread was dense. I asked the waitress for a water refill, it never happened. Most people seemed to have breakfast here.



My check said Pay the Cashier, and I had to ask the hostess where the cashier was, and of course they were just behind my back, so it was waiting in line time.

Address 1795 Andover St, Tewksbury, MA 01876
Phone number (978) 858-3717

Cracker Barrel Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Thursday, August 24, 2017

New Sapporo Newton

I had a Groupon to The Savage Wiener that was about to expire, so I decided to try something different at New Sapporo in Newton today. They seem to have lost their nice website.



I have yet to find any free parking in Newton, but metered parking is only 75¢ an hour.



I was going to have a Katsu Bento Box, but then I spied the Spicy Pork Bento Box ($9.95) on the lunch menu. The Japanese Shumai and the Goyza were both fine. The salad was OK, of course the dressing was only on top, and there was a lot of dressing. The spicy pork was tender, but not very spicy. I would have liked some more sauce. The maki was mostly cucumber with a sliver of avocado.
The food here has always been acceptable, but nothing has ever been exciting. The best dish was probably the Salmon Gopdol.
The Savage Wiener seems to have a perpetual Groupon that is a really good deal. Not only is the dogs HUGE, they are also very tasty and freeze well. Mac & Cheese dog for dinner tonight.

Address 81 Union Street, Newton MA 02459
Phone number (617) 964-8044

Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Brothers Kouzina Peabody

I had an excellent meal at Brothers Kouzina in Peabody a while back and spotted someone who had ordered something that looked really good, and I couldn't wait to go back and try it.


Here's a hint!


From the lunch menu, Gyro in Pita (10.99). "Served in a warm pita with diced tomatoes, onions and tzatziki sauce with French fries". I asked for the tzatziki on the side since I'm not too fond of yogurt. The fries were nothing special but fried nicely. The Gyro in Pita wasn't your everyday version, loaded with salad, tomatoes and onions, with a few slices of previously frozen meat thrown in. This was loaded with meat fresh off the rotisserie with a few diced tomatoes and onions in there. The meat was crunchy from the outside bits and soft from the rest. This was a substantial serving and very tasty. Next up is that lamb on the bone dish.


Tuesday, August 22, 2017

Bunratty Tavern Reading

I read some good things about Bunratty Tavern in Reading, so I decided to visit for lunch today. They are located on Main Street in Reading, and I'm familiar with Main street, but I couldn't figure out where they were located.



This might be the reason that I have never noticed them, and I drove right by them today and had to circle back. There is free on street parking.



It's an Irish pub, enough said.



They have a nice patio, but today was too muggy.



I must admit that I had high hopes for the Traditional Shepherd’s Pie ($12.99) from the lunch menu. "Ground beef sautéed with onions, carrots in a savory broth topped with mashed potato". Unfortunately, it fell way short. The unseasoned mashed potatoes were watery, and the filling was bland, completely lacking seasoning. I also got the dreaded rolled up silverware with its minuscule wrinkled napkin.



It's important to know exactly how long it's to the next St Patric's Day. I wasn't too impressed by the service either, took about 20 minutes before I could flag down someone to get my check.

Address 620 Main Street, Reading MA 01867
Phone number (781) 779-8245


Bunratty Tavern Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Monday, August 21, 2017

Anmol India Beverly

I have heard good things about Anmol Indian Restaurant in Beverly, so I headed up there for lunch today. Not a good day going north on Rte 128 since it was down to one lane around Rte 114.



Lots of street work going on but I managed to find free on street parking close by. They are located just up the street from the very pleasant Super Chicken that you can't get to from here since the street is closed going in that direction.



The interior was a bit dated but nice and impeccably clean.



The other dining room.



Very nice place setting and you get a lot of papads and the regular chutneys. The onion chutney was very nice without being overly spicy. Did I mention linen napkins?



This is the CHICKEN VINDALOO (Hot) (9.50). "Boneless chicken pieces cooked in vinegar spices with potatoes in spicy tomato and onion sauce". This was the actual color. A very generous portion of all white chicken with only one piece of potato. The chicken was cooked well and still tender and moist. I was asked how spicy I wanted it and we settled on medium plus, and it was pretty much spot on. The sauce was tasty and really well seasoned without being overly tomatoey, but a Vindaloo it was not, it lacked the vinegar part. What it was was a very tasty chicken in a very pleasant sauce. The basmati rice was light and fluffy. I'll be back to try more dishes.



A complimentary rice pudding arrives, and it was really good. Normally I skip the rice puddings since they are often way too sweet, but this one was good.



With the check, you get a bowl of spices, No idea what's in it apart from something licoricey. The service was very pleasant and it was service with a smile, so many Indian restaurants have grumpy looking waiters.

Address 258 Rantoul St, Beverly, MA 01915
Phone number (978) 232-9009

Anmol Indian Restaurant Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Sunday, August 20, 2017

Acitrón Arlington

I had a very pleasant lunch at Acitrón Cocina Mexicana in Arlington about a month ago and decided to visit them for brunch today.



I'm not very happy with Arlington since they installed parking meters everywhere, but today is Sunday, so parking is free.



The inside is very pleasant and bright. They were reasonably busy, this is taken after most of the customers had left.



From the brunch menu, I picked HUEVOS CON COCHINITA PIBIL (11.95). "Three eggs scrambled with onions, tomato and poblano peppers served with Mayan style shredded Pork marinated with Axiote seed, spices and fresh oranges". This was served with home fries and fresh fruit. I also got some fresh and warm corn tortillas. This was very good and tasty even if the potatoes needed seasoning. I must say that this was not a bad deal at all. The service was very pleasant.

Saturday, August 19, 2017

Taste of Siam Stoneham

There is never a rush at Taste of Siam in Stoneham for a Saturday lunch. Again I was the only customer, apart from one takeout.



The sign still hasn't been fixed. Their takeout menu says that there is parking in the parking lot on Benton St, but there is no parking lot there. There is plenty of street parking.



I got a complimentary chicken & noodle soup while waiting for my food. I like the soup here, so I was very happy. You also get good silverware.



I decided to order something new today, so I went with a favorite the Drunken Noodle** ($7.95 with pork). "Stir fried wild rice noodle with bell pepper, bamboo shoot, string beans, carrot, tomatoes and basil leaves". The tomatoes were absent but not missed. I didn't know that there was such a thing as a wild noodle, probably meant wide. This is a typo in the online menu.
Me: I would like it extra spicy.
Him: A little spicy?
Me: No, extra spicy.
Him: On a scale from 1-10?
Me: 7.
And that's what I got. This was a proper runny nose spicy, but despite that, it was very tasty with properly cooked veggies. I really like this little Thai Restaurant.

Friday, August 18, 2017

Strega Prime Woburn

This is the last day of this years Boston Dine Out, so I headed out to Strega Prime in Woburn that is practically next door.


They do have a very attractive dining room, and I managed to get a window table with the nice leather chairs.


You get a nice and very light popover with some butter drizzled with olive oil and sea salt.


Their website and the Boston Dine Out website said "Smoked Steak Tartare Herb aioli, spicy crackers". So what did the actual menu say? "Steak Tartare Herb aioli, spicy crackers". The smoked part went up in smoke, I guess. One reason I went here today is that this was different from the normal business three-course lunch offering for $21. Anyway, one cracker was nice, the other one was very thick, but the tartare was well-seasoned and very tasty.


Here is the Twin Filet with Green beans and fingerling potato salad, salsa verde. I read this as Green Beans, Fingerling Potato Salad, so I was a bit surprised when this showed up. There were two substantial pieces of filet that were ordered rare. What did I get? Two pieces cooked medium. I should have read my blog before I went, exactly the same thing happened the last time. This time I couldn't be bothered to send it back. How can a steakhouse not cook a steak as ordered?


Last was the Strawberry Panna Cotta. What I got was a plain panna cotta, it's underneath all that strawberry coulis, with a strawberry sorbet swimming on top. This was as bad as what they tried to fob off as a Tiramisu on my last visit. Service was excellent, apart from my waiter, who took my order and delivered the check. He never asked how the food was. The rest of the waitstaff was excellent and friendly. Not sure if I will be back for the next Boston Dine Out, especially since the normal three-course menu for $21 looks better. I did see a couple of lobster rolls get delivered to the next table, and it looked like it was a lot of claw-meat.

Thursday, August 17, 2017

Davio'S Lynnfield

I couldn't help myself, so here I'm at Davio's in Lynnfield for the second time this week to try more dishes from the Boston Dine Out lunch menu.



Today was the first day I could dine outside, it was too windy on my previous visits. An astounding number of attractive females strolling by.



If you visit on a Sunday, you don't get the housemade chips. No more Sunday visits ;-).



I started with a salad of Beets, Goat Cheese, Baby Greens, Candied Walnuts, Red Wine Vinaigrette, and I don't even like beets! Well, I think I have to narrow that down to I don't like the pickled beets I grew up with in Sweden. This was delicious.



This was followed by Pork Milanese with Crispy Potato, Frisée Apple Salad, Warm Bacon Vinaigrette. Of the Crispy Potato, there was no trace. It was later explained to me that it was supposed to be crispy potato strings in the salad. I think the description should have been Frisée Apple Salad with crispy potato. You know what happens when you put a dressed salad on top of crispy pork? Yep, no more crispy pork. This turned out to be a substantial pork chop on the bone that was nicely breaded and cooked. The salad was nice as was the sauce.



Cupcake Duo, Vanilla, Chocolate said the menu, but this is what arrived! The cupcakes were super light, and so was the frosting. The chocolate on the plate was intensely chocolatey. Another really enjoyable lunch here and I'm looking forward to the next Boston Dine Out.