A Week of my Lunches Part Trois

The story continues with another week's lunches at places I really like. And one that I rarely visit 😋.

Monday is Indian for lunch, and I headed out to Little India Express in Lexington. They are located just over the Woburn border. One good thing about the pandemic is that I found small takeout only places like this that I would never have visited before.

Lunch Rice Plate ($10.95) served with half a Naan. Today's choices were Chicken Tikka Saag (medium) and Baingan Bhartha. The eggplant is phenomenal. There was soo much tandoori chicken that the next time I'll ask for less chicken so that I can get more saag. Excellent basmati rice with every grain separated. How good is this for the price? Easily two meals for me. They now have changed the lunch plate offering, and I have no idea how it works, and neither do they since they couldn't' explain it.

Tuesday's are for Mexican, so I headed out to Torito in Danvers. You still have to ask for the lunch menu at lunch. I had forgotten that you get a bean dip with your chips, so that was a pleasant surprise, even if the bean dip was just lukewarm.
Lunch CHILE COLORADO ($10.99). "Tender chunks of skirt steak simmered in Colorado sauce and served with rice, beans, lettuce, pico de gallo, avocado, and warm tortillas". The beans were tasty, as was the rice. The Chile Colorado was just OK this time. The skirt steak was tender the last time, and there was plenty of excellent sauce.

As you can see, the sauce was primarily absent. It was still tasty. The promised avocado had morphed into guacamole served on top of the Pico de Gallo.

I usually have Chinese at least once a week. This visit on a Wednesday was my first dine-in at Taipei Tokyo in Arlington.

No lunch specials, but they have combo platters during lunch. "Combination Platter #18 (8.50) Curry Chicken" ordered extra spicy and extra sauce. Extra spicy actually works here. You can pick from five appetizers. I selected "Chicken Wings." The wing (singular) was crispy and juicy and very tasty. In fact, both items were excellent. The curry was sharp, and the chicken was tender. This is a proper version with only peppers and onions. No carrots were harmed in the making of this dish. I think I'll try the takeout again the next time. I believe that the takeout portion was way more generous than the dine-in.

They have an excellent online ordering system that I used during the takeout-only period, and the food was ready precisely at the pickup time, so it doesn't sit around for very long. There is also parking in the restaurant's back that I didn't know about.

Mount Vernon in Somerville has started to serve a Throwback Thursday menu with very attractive pricing.

I have enjoyed the Extra Thick Stuffed Porkchop ($7.99) on several Thursdays. You get two sides, and I have been going with double mashed, but I did fries and mashed this time. The mashed is usually pretty good, but it was unseasoned and watery today. The fries were the previously frozen variant, but they were cooked perfectly, lightly crisped, and fluffy inside. Of course, the pork chop (on the bone) was cooked pink as requested, so it was still juicy. The stuffing is really enjoyable, and there is a ton of it. Extra gravy, of course! I'm happy to see that they have retained their staff before the pandemic.

I had other plans for this Friday, but the weather was terrible, and I needed some comfort food. So I headed out to Brothers Deli in Wakefield, which I really like. Meatloaf ($13.75) with two sides. Well, one side since I always ask for double roast potatoes and, of course, extra gravy. 3 1/2 slices of a great meatloaf was tender and tasty. The sauce was OK but not as good as the pork gravy. So when I saunter up to the counter with my leftover box, without saying anything, I get an extra scoop of sauce on my leftovers.

Saturday. I was made aware that Markey's Lobster Pool had a Groupon available, and I quickly grabbed two. As a bonus, Groupon had 30% off that day. So I went to this website and thought, Great, I can get two Lobster Salads for my $30 Groupon. Well, when I got there, I could only get one! Unfortunately, they are unable to get the other website taken down. The fries were the previously frozen variant but were cooked OK. The slaw was fine. Leave the slaw until the end of the meal. The room temperated slaw was much improved. The lobster salad just had a hint of mayo. It was fresh and tasty, and it was a lot of lobster but only claw and knuckle. Putting my to-go serving on the scale yielded 16oz of lobster. This was certainly worth the $11.20 I paid. I got another one to go, despite the Groupon saying dine-in only. The regular price is $29.95. If you go during the summer, ask the lobster guys if they are selling bodies only. A great deal if you are willing to put in some work, lots of meat in there. As of 03/09/22, the deal is still available.

Sunday. The Wardhurst has started offering a Greek menu on Sundays in addition to their regular menu.

Roast Leg of Lamb ($22). "Slowly roasted and topped with a lamb sauce. Served with a choice of two sides". Mashed potatoes for the leftovers and Double Stuffed Potato Rounds (+$2.99) for now. The mashed is the real deal, even if it is occasionally bland and watery. Today it was perfect. The Potato Rounds are worth every extra cent. I would have liked the lamb cooked pink, but it was still tasty and tender. Extra sauce, of course! The standard bread and butter have now been replaced by an excellent flavored dipping oil. The service here is fantastic, and they retain their staff for a long time. I still recognize most of them from when I started lunching here.

Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror. Just keep going. No feeling is final.

-- Rainer Maria Rilke