flickerfade.org

i’m gonna review every restaurant i eat at, at least superficially. start with the basics, i suppose. i’ll add maps later!

i haven’t had a bad experience yet. maybe because i know where to eat haha. or maybe because i am lucky.

• the asgard (central sq, cambridge): food is so-so, dessert is pretty good, though. bartenders and wait staff spread too thin over a large bar. doesn’t require you to be 21 to get in, which is unlike many bars. this makes trivia night more fun because nobody gets left out. in other words, a bunch of 18-20 year-old MIT kids come in to join the usual biotech crowd, forcing you to be on your A-game to win. (10 July 2007, 4/5)
• the hill (cambridge st., near MGH): food is above average, great sweet potato fries. happy hour is cheap but not that cheap (maybe it’s my poor salary, though). waitstaff is good-looking, haha. seriously, they do provide decent service. given its location, a popular haunt for MGH folks. was one of the few places nearby to watch the world cup last summer, but atmosphere nothing like the landing. i like it because it’s a nice balance of atmosphere, food, location and price. probably won’t go there as much next year when i move on though! (13 July 2007, 4/5)
• minado (natick, ma): reminds me of a hong kong buffet, except more average food. it’s all you can eat, a disturbing amount of japanese food. however it’s kind of expensive and gets crowded by noon time. but just focus on the sushi and seafood, like any other buffet. dinner is supposed to have better food but i am not sure it would justify the high price. i remember seeing that they are open on holidays too, if you’re in a pinch. (14 July 2007, 4/5)
• minado, dinner time. better seafood, you get crab legs and other seafood on the warm side, better soups, etc. it’s still a better value over lunch, as the price goes up to $25 or so. (8 Dec 2007, 3/5)
• the breakfast club (brighton, on western ave): good breakfast and shakes. food is better than ihop. no hash browns, only home fries (boooooo). cheap, disappointingly short hours (only seats guests until 2 pm), crowded, old reviews say the place used to be better until it got overrun by BU’s post-clubbing hangover sluts. i’ll probably stick with south street diner, although that place has also totally changed. (15 July 2007, 3/5)
• anna’s taqueria (brookline, cambridge): cheap. reasonably filling. decent. the place smells funny because of all the mexican food though. don’t eat too much there, either. (19 July 2007, 3/5)
• mcdonald’s (central sq, cambridge): the staff shifted nationality since my last visit, which makes me think it got sold recently. service is ok for a fast food joint. kids everywhere, so thank god it’s not a meth lab like the now-defunct burger king was rumored to be. anyway, i went because my stomach was screaming for food. (by the way, that burger king became an upscale french fusion restaurant, rendezvous.) (20 July 2007, 2/5)
• be.good (harvard sq, cambridge): harvard kids work here, ergo, service kind of poor. it probably didn’t help that like 4000000000 people or however many came for the harry potter release. food seems to be ok, but because i ate mcdonalds, i didn’t try it. a friend said that “the fries were worse than in-n-out, if you can believe it.” they looked fine to me. seems to be kind of pretentious fast food restaurant, though. (20 July 2007, no rating)
• rangzen (central sq, cambridge, on pearl st): easily the best buffet in central sq. the other 50 are indian buffets anyway. probably the best for vegetarians, too. dishes seems simple, flavors not too overpowering. good substitute for your normal heavy brunch. dinner isn’t bad either though i usually don’t go at that time because the buffet is obviously a much better value. (21 July 2007, 4/5)
• grendel’s den (harvard sq): cheap beer (less than $4) and cheap food (half price during many hours, $1 on sundays during the school year) make this place popular. food is mediocre at best, though, but there is more variety than at most bars. (22 July 2007, 4/5)
• koreana (prospect st at broadway, between central and inman sq): the best korean in cambridge overall, but it’s moderately pricey for a grad student with no income like me. you can get cheaper at other places (seoul food near porter square, for example) and there is probably equally good food in boston, allston, and brookline. the barbeque is great and the staff was happy to cook it for us at the table. (12 January 2008, 4/5)
• pour house (boylston ave, across from hynes convention center): cheap specials. completely random quality service (ours was good on the night) from attractive waitresses. random douchebag college students who try to rush you out of your table. in short, your standard college hangout. but man, the food is dirt cheap. the booze is standard boston price. (17 January 2008, 3/5, 4/5 on burger night haha)
• china pearl (chinatown): supposedly the best dimsum place in boston, probably tied with chau chow city for that honor. prices definitely reflect it but for lunch it’s not horribly expensive or anything (we paid $12.50). food was still decent even though we arrived late–at buffets and dimsum, obviously, food quality deteriorates as you get closer to the end of the serving period. staff is, em, typical chinese–that is to say, if you weren’t a cantonese speaker, you wouldn’t really know what you were getting. (19 January 2008, 4/5)
• cafe nicholas (brookline, off beacon st on washington st. t: green line C branch to washington st): despite its relatively upscale yuppie location, it’s not ridiculously pricey. we ended up here after finding out minado was packed with mothers (it was mother’s day weekend), then ironically passing by three or four restaurants closed at 2:30 pm. guess people actually keep normal schedules around there. anyway, tuscan calzone was quite large and filling. mozzarella sticks were mediocre, though. nothing to write home about, but after our long search for food, they get bonus points for, you know, taking customers in the middle of the afternoon. (10 may 2008, 3.5/5)