Location:
Mitropoleos 12, Athens 10563, Greece
As soon as we arrived in Athens, we were starving and decided to check out the Plaka district. We asked a group of cops at the corner (we did wonder why there were cops hanging around in that area) for a recommendation of tasty and authentic fare that would be casual but not "fast food". They directed us around the corner and down a street. We were skeptical, and unsure if we'd know where it was, but then we found it easily as it was the only restaurant on a side street that had light spilling out onto the street, cheerful patrons and the delicious smell of seafood.
The BEST. I finally found the name and map to the restaurant, with a little bit of sleuthing on Google Maps! I don't know how to pronounce it, but if you're ever in the Syntagma Square area of Athens, GO THERE!
We had red wine, Mythos greek beer, a giant Greek Tzitzikas (just found out that it means salad) which is my favourite type of salad and a giant fried seafood basket.
Amazing service, and INCREDIBLE food!! Sigh..to eat those olives once again.
Location:
Came highly recommended. Didn't know it was a chain. And for someone who spent more than 8 hours at the Met without eating anything, I was, to say the least, starving. The service was top knotch, and because we said we were incredibly hungry they brought out everything in literally 10 minutes.
The rice and beans were unlimited, and we (mostly me) had about 5-6 refills.
The fish dish was spicy just as I ordered, just wonderful. Ah, to have it once more.
Location:
1270 Westford Street, Lowell, MA
Looking for amazing Indian food in Massachusetts? Look no further than Priya's.
Authentic north and south indian fare that's well priced and so delicious. We ordered half the things on the menu (some not pictured) and everything was excellent. Service, although friendly, is a bit slow. One of the tables beside us pre-ordered on the phone prior to coming in, which seemed like a good idea as they sat down after us but were eating well before us.
Still, a great place for indian food and big enough to host parties and functions. (Photos via underwater camera)
Location:
539 Commercial Street Provincetown, MA
For the MLK long weekend, we decided to check out Cape Cod for the day. Yes, it was freezing, and yes, everything, save for a few shops, was closed. However, we were recommended Fanizzi's by the water and decided to grab dinner there before heading back.
We scored the best seat of the house, overlooking the water and the sunset.
The service was lovely and the place filled up quickly as the sun began to set.
We chose a dish of sea scallops n' pasta in marinara sauce and fish n' chips, both downed with beers. The coleslaw that came with the fish n' chips was to die for. It must have had some green apple or something, as it was both sweet and perfectly coleslaw-y. The bread basket arrived piping hot which is always welcome. We also had coffees and the molten lava chocolate cake, which took me well over my sugar quota for the day, but was totally worth it.
I can't recommend this place, enough. We'll be back this summer!
Location:
279 Newbury Street Boston, MA |
Not only was it packed, which is one reason we thought it might have been a good choice, but it was packed with INDIAN people, which is sometimes a good indicator of a decent Indian restaurant. Not this time.
Kashmir has terrible, terrible indian food.
I'm from South India where we LOVE our rice to death. Present me with old rice (where it's clumped together, with bits of rice stuck to the outside rim of the bowl?) and I'm already an unhappy camper.
Tandoori salmon, which came out looking like steamed salmon with an aside of curry to be poured over it. How is that Tandoori salmon? It had not a single piece of evidence of having been in a tandoor oven. The sauce was the same as in the fish curry dish.
Our bhatura was initially forgotten and then brought out later looking flat, which a bhatura should not be.
Veggie samosas which were filled with mashed potatoes - seriously?
The eggplant was mushy and tasteless. The only item we liked were the Kashmiri naans, which were quite good. Makes sense to me now, why the place is called Kashmir.
Add slow service and disgraceful bathrooms to round up this review.
Oh, and when I asked to get the Kashmiri naans to go, big mistake. The worst thing, ever, that a server can do, is to place other dishes ON TOP of the dish you've asked to take home. Needless to say, our takeout was tossed right away.
Tell me Bostonians, where the good Indian food at?
Location:
32 Church St., Cambridge, MA
Appearing as though it's the red light district of Harvard Square, this Border Cafe in Cambridge is loud, crowded and welcoming.
The margaritas were STRONG, the nachos crispy and the Cajun/Mexican mains absolutely delicious. Each of us in our party of five enjoyed our round-table meal.
I even spilled a drink on my brother in law.
If you can't have a good time here, there is no hope for thou.
Location:
26 Park Plaza, Boston, MA
Everyone said to go, so we finally went.
With our fish eating friends from New York.
They know good eats, so it was fun to try a variety from the menu: Oysters, New England Clam Chowder, Lobster Bisque, Signature Crab Cake, Lobster Roll, Fish n' Chips and the Wood Grilled Assortment.
Although it seemed like forever for our food to arrive, reaaaaally forever, when it finally showed up, we were all really happy with each dish. It was totally worth the wait! I even tried a bit of the cream-based soups and marvelled at the scrumptiousness of them. Definitely hands down the BEST sea food I've ever had! And our friends agreed!
With their:
"If it isn't fresh, it isn't legal"
slogan spanning more than 60 years now, Legal means business and they're open for it; I highly recommend giving it a try if you're looking to try sea food or are a sea food fanatic!
Location:
250 Northern Avenue
Boston, MA
www.temazcalcantina.com
We went to Temazcal to celebrate my BIL's birthday.
It was one of those early Fall September days, so the rain was coming down, and it was a Friday so we did get caught in rush-hour traffic.
On top of this, a few things to note:
Temazcal doesn't take reservations.
They have valet parking which is $20 (!) but you get it validated by the restaurant so it's actually $16 (!). (There will be much usage of exclamation points in this post).
We had to wait at the bar for our table, which was to be about a 45 minute wait. (!)
We had a round of cocktails - the mojitos were served in these giant glasses, with the thick rim, you know the kind, when the rim of the glass fills your whole mouth as though you won't be able to get a sip to drink? And the entire drink had far too much ice for enjoyment.
Then we were seated and given iPAD menus!
My BIL mentioned how unhygienic something like that would be to use - but then again, so are paper/laminated menus as well. They say menus are the filthiest of all.
But I digress.
The light emanating from the iPads were incredible - all of our faces were highlighted in a blue glow, but as soon as we'd all ordered and the iPads were taken away, it was as if someone had turned off a light. We were left to make conversation with ourselves, without the entertainment of swiping through the menu.
The view from the restaurant is quite lovely, and I must say the interior is really nice. Watch out for the slippery floors though - not a friend of a lady and her heels!
Beside us, a table was served with an ENTIRE PIG (LECHON ASADO)! Gross to the vegetarians of the table (and although I don't eat chicken anymore, but do eat bacon - don't ask - I was also not happy to catch the visual).
For the table we ordered the "GUACOMOLE DE LA MIXETA" which doesn't come with chips by the by. Is this not weird to anyone? We then had to order a couple of chip plates.
The guac was AMAH-ZING. And very filling.
I ordered the HUACHINANGO A LA VERACRUZANA (red snapper with plantain mash). It was incredible; the portion was huge and the entire thing was absolutely delicious.
My Mom got the POLLA A LA PERILLA MEXICANA which she loved (surprising, as she's very hard to please)!
Unfortunately those were the only dishes at the table that were good.
This is also largely due to the fact that 98% of the menu is non-veg, and although on the phone they said they'd be able to make any dish veg, our server didn't think so. Thus, the only real veg option was the ENCHILADAS VERDES, which was not a huge hit; the BIL especially did not like it.
The QUESADILLA BOLILlOS (chicken) were average.
The MOLE PABLANO (chicken mole) was served alone without any side of rice or anything. Hard to eat that much mexican chocolate without any carbs, you know what I mean?
Our server, however, was good, and tried his best to accommodate our dietary restrictions as much as he could.
Still, most of the group, aside from me and my happy red snapper, felt like their meals were a huge rip-off in the end. Fancy Mexican is apparently not for this family. Maybe we're just happy with our version of Mexican dinners, with our Uncle Bens Spanish rice and refried beans.
OLE!
Location(s):
A. 732 Sainte-Catherine Street West, Montreal
B. 1658, rue Saint-Denis, Montréal
www.les3brasseurs.ca
(All images photohogger)
Let me start with the pros of the restaurant:
Amazing beer-battered poutine. Great atmosphere: loud, bustling, was fun to be there during the Stanley Cup playoffs.
The Food (pros & cons):
Everything was grease-central (could be a pro for some?). The fish and chips came with overly battered and overly deep fried fish, so much so that the fried shell separates from the fish.
The flatbread pizzas are so thin, which some peopel may prefer, but I say why bother! You practically have to eat the whole thing with a knife and fork which I know some prefer for eating pizza, but I like to pick it up like a pie. Loaded with lots of veggies so it wasn't bad.
My understanding of, and the way I make, a Nicoise salad is with tuna, hard-boiled eggs, beans, tomatoes, olives, optional artichokes, red pepper and anchovies, all on a bed of lettuce. This one came with smoked meat instead of tuna. Since all of us eat mostly only fish, we opted for no smoked meat. It was alright, but would have preferred more of the original style of a nicoise salad.
The beer-battered poutine (that we didn't order) was delish. We ordered regular poutine and thought that what we got was regular poutine, and wondered why it was so greasy. But as far as greasy poutine goes (which it all mostly is, anyway), it was a winner!
The cons of the restaurant:
What is with the section of the restaurant that is also part dish-clearing station/garbage take out? Please get rid of this section! I understand one has to clear the dishes and take out the garbage, but is there not a wall behind which this could be done? We had to sit there and be a witness to a server scraping off the plates into the trash and worse see one of them struggle to pull out the garbage bag from the trash can - minus gloves! Then the trash can fell over with a crash! Not something that you want to see before (or anytime) you get your meal.
Then, we were billed for the beer battered poutine ($8.99) which we ate unknowingly as we thought we'd simply ordered the regular poutine ($5.99). I realize it's only a difference of $3, but it was still the server's mistake which she acknowledged and insisted to correct but the manager then said couldn't be reversed. So our server told us not to tip her instead. How ridiculous is that? Needless to say we DID tip her on top of their mistake. She gave us each $5 gift cards to use back in Toronto. Thanks but you won't see us running over there anytime soon.
Sitting next to the kitchen on visit number two (St. Denis location), we had a clear view of all the cooks in the kitchen, all the orders given, all the plates being served, and all the accidents, such as the dropping of a plate of salad near our end of the table. A hearty dose of salad dressing landed on four of us and what did they do to make up for it? "2 beers on us!" Thanks fellas...we were only a group of fifty! And the group menu they gave us was crap. Four options for dinner included: some flatbread with chicken dish, some sausage and sauerkraut dish, some veg lasagna and some chicken skewer dish with fries. I had the veg lasagna and it was soggy, covered in cheese and tasteless.
Besides that, the restaurant is so cramped (why else would we have been right beside the kitchen?) that our server(s) kept squeezing their ar*** between our two tables to get to another section of the restaurant. This happened all night long and I received several scrapes to my back from their pens! Definitely not a good dining experience.
I don't know who the three brewers are but they need to get their act together. The beer they brew? Not one of them did I fancy...but I'll let Beerhogger review them for you.
Overall, A had slightly better food and service, whilst B is somewhere I never wish to dine again.
One can hope that Toronto's location is better, but I'm not holding my breath.
A.
B.
Location:
3706 Rue Saint-Denis
Montreal, QC
http://www.nilbleu.ca/
Hands down the best Ethiopian restaurant I've been to thus far. But don't ask me, ask my Mom and Mom-in-Law who couldn't stop raving about it. And they know how to cook, if you know what I mean.
The dishes we ordered were:
YETIMATIM SALAD $4.95 (tomatoes, onions, green peppers seasoned with lemon and olive oil dressing)
the VEGETARIAN PLATTER FOR TWO $27.00 (potatoes/cabbage/carrots, lentils, spinach)
and YEASSA TIBBS $14.95 (sole cooked with green peppers ginger).
One thing to note is that the fish came on the same platter as the veggie platter, which may not be good for those who are strictly vegetarian so be sure to make this request when you order!
We also ordered the house wine, which was a Spanish red and quite good.
They gave out damp napkins to wipe our hands with but didn't take them away like one would with hot towels, so we realized we had to keep them, and it made sense later as we ate that it was easier to wipe our fingers with. Be warned that you will leave with turmeric stained fingers nails (even after washing) after dining here, but let me assure you, it's well worth it!
Everything was delicious...and the injera kept coming until we were completely and utterly stuffed.
The exotic decor, which is what I want my home to look like (think animal prints, African sculptures, white leather couches) is beautiful and seems very new.
My hubby who'd eaten at Nil Bleu perhaps 12 years ago didn't remember it looking like this! The fancy bathrooms round up the upgraded look.
The service was a tad slow, but since we weren't in a hurry, it didn't bother us and overall the service was sweet and attentive. Thank you to Chakib & Rahel for making our Moms very happy :)
Great place for dates or groups and has outdoor seating. I've already recommended Nil Bleu to my family and friends who are visiting Montreal next month!
Location:
117, Rte Principale E RR 2, Sainte-Cécile-de-Masham, QC J0X 2W0, 819-456-4545
Not only does Carlo do pizza, and amazingly well (the veggie one we got was chock-full of tasty veggies and not very greasy), he does the best poutine I've ever tasted in Quebec! Mighty squishy curds and a not-too-salty gravy that's just the right consistency. The pan fried tilapia was amazing with the poutine! They don't skimp out on quantity either, check out the amount of cheese on this caesar salad! Now, if only Carlo's was closer....
Location:
125 Kerr Street
Oakville, ON
Since when are you not allowed any substitutions at a Japanese restaurant?
Isn't everything made fresh?
It's not like the sushi is pre-made and stuffed with something else beforehand?
And worse, this wasn't even a sushi substitution but rather a bento box substitution.
Instead of CHICKEN, I requested SALMON.
"No."
"No? But why?
"It doesn't come like that. "
"Can't I get salmon even if I pay extra? "
"No. But you can order salmon terriyaki that comes with soup and salad. "
"Er...Okay...Fine. Does it come with any tempura?"
"NO, JUST SOUP AND SALAD, I SAID"
Ouch.
And for $20 it didn't even come with tempura?
So rigid. And what for?
At least the salad was tasty. We were hopeful.
But alas, the sushi wasn't great.
And then, the salmon wasn't even fresh after all that. The chicken in N's bento box was disgusting. Only the tempura was good. The spring roll you see here, was nasty!
And since when do the Japanese use CELERY in their vegetables? And zucchini?
So weird.
The miso soup was overly seaweedy and fishy smelling. With mushrooms. Is that common? Let me know.
The dessert that came with each of our orders was good, at least. But how to you screw up friend bananas and ice cream?
And we were freezing in our booth. Those curtains don't do anything to ward off the cold from the entrance. Put some heat on, would you? Even the people in the booth next to us were cold.
Tokay. Bay. Never. Again.
Location:
226 Lewers St
Honolulu, HI
www.roysrestaurant.com
After visiting Mama's Fish House in Maui three years ago, we didn't think anything could come close. Let me tell you, Roy's comes pretty close!
I've never been to a restaurant where there has been such incredible attention to my dietary concerns! Our server was worried that I would be in need of medical aid if I ate something I couldn't (dairy).
With that, the butter sauces came on the side and there was nary a smidgen of cheese on anything.
They started us off with edamame - nom nom nom- which disappeared in a matter of seconds.
Then, it was champagne paired with the ahi tuna, baby back rib and chicken spring roll appetizer, which was delicious (and this was pre-Kauai roosters, so I was still eating chicken).
Thank goodness I'm not allergic to nuts!!
Hello, macadamia encrusted opah! Get in my belly!
Served with simple but oh-so delicious potatoes and asparagus. Paired with a white and red.
Salmon ginger sauce with cucumber and radish salad. The fish was amazing, but the salad a bit too tangy for me.
For dessert, we had the chocolate souffle and ice cream and the macadamia nut tart.
Paired with ports, the chocolate souffle was divine!
The tart was overbearingly nutty but amazing for a couple of bites. If I hadn't already had the macadamia encrusted fish, this would have been heaven.
Service and presentation could not have been better; we had such an incredible time and were thoroughly stuffed and satisfied.
The washroom signage was super cute, too.
If you're on Oahu, check out Roy's, there are three locations on the island, and several more throughout the States.