Aries' Noodle & Dumpling Waltham

I'm not sure where I heard about Aries' Noodle & Dumpling in Waltham, but they just had a main water break on my first visit, so that didn't work out too well. No website that I can find, but THIS should sort of show what they have.

They are located on Main Street in Waltham, and there is paid parking in the lot to the right. There are also a few free on-street spots further to the right, across the street.

I think they have simplified the menu. Last time the specials board was packed with dishes. The inside was pleasant, and the takeout was flying out the door at lunchtime.

The menu said Aries' Lanzhou Beef Noodle Soup ($12.99 extra beef $5). The soup was pleasant, and the beef was a thinly sliced beef shank that was tender. The noodles were good, but it was kind of a big lump, so it was hard to eat. Having no clue what the noodles were, I had to ask if the noodles were made in-house? My waiter then explained it was hand-pulled noodles. The receipt said Lan Zhou Hand-Pulled Noodle, and that changes the whole dish. The broth was very mild, verging on bland. 06/24/21

The sign on the front window explained the dish. Of course I didn't see this until I was leaving. 1. clear broth Fail 2. white Fail, wasn't present 3. red Fail, wasn't present 4. green Fail, scallions 5. yellow Fail, white noodles. If you are serving a famous dish, shouldn't you do it right?

Szechuan Style Sliced Pork with Hot Sauce ($15.99). Yes, that's a mound of garlic on top. Next time I'll remove some of the garlic. This was a very generous serving. It was all tender pork that wasn't mushy. There were some small bits of cabbage underneath and celery. This is not like Sichuan Gourmet, where there is a mound of stuff underneath. It was spicy, but I think I would have liked it spicier. The "hot sauce" was delicious. Extra spicy next time. Rice is $1.50. 07/15/21

Szechuan Spicy Chicken ($14.99). This is a dish that's on every self-respecting Sichuan restaurant's menu. This was an excellent version with super crispy and tender chicken. Done correctly, it should be dark meat, and it was. The peppers were actually spicy today, and you never know what you will get. There were also Sichuan peppercorns hiding in there. They don't stick to the chicken, so you have to hunt them down. Notice that they are doing the right thing and breaking the chili pods open. I don't understand restaurants that cook with whole pods. 09/04/21

Appetizer Spicy Duck Slices ($12.99). Looking at the picture on the takeout menu, it seems like you would get around five slices of duck breast. However, what you get is half a duck sliced on the bone sitting in a pool of chili oil and soy sauce topped with chili peppers. The duck was tasty and tender and had been rendered down perfectly. Yes, this might not be for everyone since there are tons of bones, but I don't mind. It was delicious! They now have a helpful new menu that includes pictures. Added is a shrimp dish with what looks like shrimp that I had in Sweden. 09/29/21

And here they are! Just called Cold Water Shrimp ($12.95) on the menu. This is, in fact, the long-missed Swedish shrimp. I never thought that I would encounter these guys over here. The texture was off a tad, but not by much, considering that these are previously frozen. These guys are tasty! The dipping sauce was also really delicious. I would absolutely have overlooked these if it wasn't for the picture in the new menu. The waiter tried to translate where they come from, and his phone said the North Pole, and that's pretty close. The North Sea would have been more accurate. 10/21/21 Got this as a takeout on my last visit. Way more shrimp in the box.

I also ordered the Pork & Cabbage Dumplings (10 pcs $7.99). They come with some black vinegar in the brilliant serving tray. The dumplings were really delicious, even if the picture won't win any awards. The skins were on the thick side. It does, however, show off the serving tray. 10/21/21

Noodle soup with Pork Ribs. ($11.99). The receipt read "braised ribs W bbq sauce Noddle". This was an excellent soup, rich and fragrant, and I wouldn't call it spicy, but it had a subtle hint of heat. The ribs were tender and porky. Beware of bone splinters. Noodles were cooked perfectly, but they were LONG, so they were a bit tricky to eat. Yes, I now have a shirt with spots 😋. 11/18/21

Address: 617 Main St, Waltham, MA 02452 Phone: (781) 209-0008

You will either step forward into growth, or you will step backward into safety.

-- Abraham Maslow

Fogo de Chão Burlington

Fogo de Chão Brazilian Steakhouse finally opened its Burlington location. Never been to the Boston location for a million different reasons. I have been looking forward to this happening, especially since a friend told me about the excellent lunch deal. Signing up for their eClub gets you a $15 gift certificate.

Yes, you are dining in what used to be Sears! Of course there is plenty of parking.

Sitting in the kitchen area gives you a good view of the grilling. The bar area is behind me.

MARKET TABLE & FEIJOADA BAR is included in the CHURRASCO EXPERIENCE. The Market Table and Feijoada bar on its own is $15 at lunch. Feijoada is a bean stew, not sure where the bar comes in.

The Churrasco is $40.95 at lunch. The $15 can only be used for the Churrasco. You promptly get sides. The Yacca fries were excellent. The mashed potatoes were the real deal, but stone cold. The plantains probably were good as well. I'm not doing more than tasting this. Meat it is.

The cheese bread was delish, and I had a hard time not doing more than tasting the bread. Caesar salad with an excellent dressing, asparagus, and potato salad from the Market Table. You can't get better asparagus than this.

Beef is prevailing in what comes around. I promptly requested only lamb and pork. I can eat sirloin and round at the local place in Woburn for a fraction of the price. This is Lamb Rump, medium-rare. Well seasoned and super tender. This was followed by a parmesan encrusted pork something, that I also liked. I also tried the pork ribs, but they were all ribs and almost no meat.

I had to ask for the Lamb Chops, and the double-thick chops finally arrived. Medium-rare and really well seasoned. I really enjoyed them. The hospitality and service were excellent. The waitress and the manager made frequent stops to make sure everything was OK. Since I'm not a big meat eater, this was worth it as a one-off experience. However, there is more to come. 10/29/21

My next visit was to pick up a gift card with added benefits on Black Friday. This deal was soo great that I couldn't refuse. Buy $125 worth of gift cards, and you get an extra $25 bonus and a free ($40) lunch experience.

This is an outstanding value for $15. The prosciutto and the other cured meats were excellent. Try the little red peppers next to the other red things. Spicy, but very very flavorful. The smoked salmon was very lightly smoked and comes with all the trimmings. Asparagus doesn't come any better than this. The hummus was very smooth and really enjoyable.

What can I say? More good stuff and all of the best quality and prepared beautifully.

Feijoada bar. Not sure why they call it a bar since it's just a bean stew, rice and one other soup. The bean stew needed salt but was really pleasant.

Pro-tip, stay away from the bread but don't miss the candied bacon. My last plate was Caesar salad loaded with salmon and prosciutto. How can you go wrong with a place that gives you unlimited smoked salmon and prosciutto? There was soo many great tidbits to try and enjoy. I didn't even get to try the cheeses! The dining room was fully booked, so sitting at the bar was the only option. I think I prefer a table for the next time, which will most likely be the Brunch Market Table, so I can use my $25 bonus. 11/26/21

Address: 75 Middlesex Turnpike Ste 1630, Burlington, MA 01803 Phone: (781) 382-0222

You miss 100 percent of the shots you don't take.

-- Wayne Gretzky 

Alchemy Lynnfield

Alchemy in Lynnfield is located in the Market Street complex and is the Serenitee Restaurant Group's latest addition. They had again loaded $10 on my rewards card. Or should I say on my app?

They took over the space that was formerly occupied by Gaslight. There is convenient parking to the left of the building. It's a bit tricky to get there.

They kept the nice bistro look but added a humongous bar in the middle. What used to be the bar is now a sushi counter. You can see the admirable red leather seats in the back.

HERB CRUSTED MAC & CHEESE (16). "Add rotisserie chicken 6 or pork belly burnt ends 7". Of course I added the pork belly. Sprinkling something green on top doesn't make it herb-crusted. I was actually curious how they would execute that. The pork belly was excellent, and there was a good amount of tender belly. It does a really great job of hiding in the picture. The M&C was tasty and super creamy with plenty of cheese sauce. The Cavatappi was cooked a perfect al dente. This was really enjoyable, especially with $10 off. As with all their restaurants, the service was impeccable.

Address: 1100 Market St, Lynnfield, MA 01940 Phone: (781) 776-6491

To affect the quality of the day, that is the highest of arts.

-- Henry David Thoreau

A Week of my Lunches Part Deux

Or Restaurants that I really like and go back to part Deux.

Mondays are for Indian food, and since Masala in Tele Square in Somerville had announced on social media that their buffet ($12.95) was back, it was time for a visit. I even paid for parking today. I haven't seen a buffet since the pandemic started. Indian dishes and momo's on the left, Nepali dishes, condiments, and fruit on the right. Highlights are Momo's, Shrimp curry with BIG shrimps, Chicken Malai Kabab that was super tasty and could be cut with a fork, Dal Makhani that was thick and creamy. Oh, and they have an avocado salad that consists of fresh avocados with a few bits of cucumber thrown in. How often do you see an AYCE avocado? All the Nepali dishes are worth trying. The food here is always well seasoned, nothing especially spicy, just really delicious dishes.

I had other plans for Tuesday, but then the Serenitee Group loaded $10 on my card, so I decided to hit up Maggie's Farm instead. Bacon-Wrapped Maggie’s Meatloaf ($20). "Broccoli, bacon-cheddar mashed potatoes, mushroom gravy". I tried to get the excellent spinach instead of broccoli but ended up with both and no mashed! This was quickly remedied, and I got to enjoy my mashed. The spinach had enough garlic to keep the vampires in Danvers. The humungous meatloaf was excellent and moist. The mashed were again dry and a bit stodgy but with plenty of bacon and cheese. It was nice to again see people seated at the bar. The service is always excellent here.

On this Wednesday, I headed out to Mandarin in Reading. They fell off my radar when buffets were not allowed anymore, so I have never ordered from the menu here. They have a reasonably priced lunch menu (7 days/week). I have had their General Gau's Chicken ($11.50) as takeout for lunch and decided to try it as dine-in. Look at the amount of chicken! And not a trace of broccoli could be found. I learned that if you do takeout, you get a spring roll. If you dine in, you have a choice of soups. The H&S soup was pink and had whole mushrooms in it. It was hot (spicy) but lacked a depth of flavor. So, in short, boring. Next time I'll try to get a spring roll instead of the soup. This is just about the only American Chinese dish that I like if it's done right. It seldom is. The dark meat chicken was cooked perfectly and had just a very thin batter. This is the best rendition of this dish that I have found. A good amount of sauce that was a bit sweet with just a hint of heat. Some chili oil on the side took care of that, and I didn't even get charged for the chili oil as I was when I did takeout. I saw a lunch order with the pork fried rice, and it looked to be the dark over soy sauced terrible version.

Apart from the rice, nothing traces back to China. Spring roll? Invented in NY City. Fortune cookie? San Francisco. The General Gau's (Tso's) chicken? Nope. There is no recorded connection to Tso Tsung-t'ang, nor is the dish known in Hunan, Tso's home province. However, American Chinese cuisine is recognized as a cuisine on its own.

Thursday took me to Brothers Deli in Wakefield. Cafeteria-style dining, and that works for me. They only do breakfast and lunch. Parking in the back. All Brothers are now independently owned.

Thursday's Special is Roasted Pork ($15.95?) with two sides. It used to be a big chop and a chunk of loin, but today I got two tender chops that were, as you can see, falling off the bone. Double order of roasted potatoes that showed no evidence of having seen an oven. The potatoes were also lacking lemon. However, they were perfectly cooked, so I'm happy. Nothing better than roughly mashing the potatoes in with the gravy. Extra gravy naturally, and then more gravy to go with the leftovers. The staff here is exceedingly friendly.

Friday. I have been to Pita Thyme in NA once when they only did takeout and was very impressed by the food. Now it was time for dining in. They are still serving in takeout containers. It kind of makes sense, seeing how much takeout it was today. I meant to order the BEEF SHAWARMA PLATE but ended up with the STEAK KEBAB PLATE ($13.99). "Marinated steak, skewered, charbroiled and served with 3 sides". The Hummus was incredibly smooth, and the Baba Ghanouj was also excellent. I love their spicy potatoes, but I'm partial to potatoes. The beef was really savory with a nice char. It was topped with tahini and garlic aioli. Served with a thin fresh half white pita. The food is really excellent and enjoyable. The inside is nice and bright, and I enjoyed my window seat. There is a gym next door. I'll say no more.

So shoot me, but I like Cracker Barrel and go to their Tewksbury location occasionally. It was even better during the pandemic since with social seating distancing, the sound level was reasonable. They have a Saturday special that is really misnamed and got me a free meal when I complained!

Country Fried Pork Chops ($10.99) is the Saturday Special. "Starting at 11 AM, enjoy two crispy hand-breaded fried pork chops smothered in roasted pan gravy plus choice of two Country Sides". The pork chops were crispy, but they weren't really pork chops, just pork loin. The loin chops had been tenderized until almost mushy. They weren't really smothered either despite being ordered with extra gravy. My waitress quickly brought out more sauce. My sides of Steak Fries and Hashbrown Casserole were both delicious. Service is always pleasant here, but having to go to the register to pay is a pain in the butt. I'm now spaying at the table, using their app, except today it didn't work. One thing I can't figure out is how do they know that I already paid?

Sunday was Viet-Thai Restaurant in Lowell. I only went here for their excellent buffet and never ordered from the menu. Appetizer 6 Fried Wings ($9.50). You don't get six wings, but you get six pieces of wings. The online menu prices are NOT up to date, and it also doesn't work at the moment. The wings are super crunchy. Not just crispy but extremely crusty. They were cooked well and were still juicy. I think this is the best wings around. The leftover wings heat up perfectly in an air-fryer, so get the larger order!

This is the #80, Thai Fried Rice with Duck ($11.50). This was a well-executed dish with a reasonable amount of sliced tender duck breast. Not as generous as on my visit in July last year. Even the carrots were cooked nicely. It could have used some salt and white pepper. There was a container of chili oil on the table, so I drizzled a little over the rice. Be aware, the chili oil is very fiery. It was a generous portion and really enjoyable. There is a surcharge when paying with a CC, and that's illegal in Mass when a restaurant does it. However, there is a loophole where it's legal for the CC service to charge a fee.

It's one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself, to forgive.

-- Maya Angelou