Shiki Restaurant --lunch

Shiki Restaurant, 9 Babcock Street, Brookline, MA
*Near Coolidge Corner "T" Stop and off Bus route #66

Shiki since it has opened earlier this fall has been my "it" Japanese restaurant to go to! I love this place! I think of Japan whenever I come to this restaurant. Note that they are closed on Tuesdays and lunch is only served from Monday to Saturday 12-3pm. They close a few hours in the afternoon to prep for dinner service opening at 5:30pm.

This Japanese restaurant gem is housed in the former Firenze Italian Restaurant basement space. If you blink, you will miss it. It is next to a nail salon and across the street from Citizen's Bank. Once you enter, you are enter a nice calm space with fall colors. Shiki means "autumn" in Japanese so it is befitting the theme and decor of the place. I loved their place mats too.

From some media I read, the chefs were trained and hail from Japan. This meal I wanted to try their kaiseki lunches. Kaiseki means "stone in the stomach" and you wonder why I want to try it? This refers to the Zen monk practice to stave off their hunger using warmed stones and placed in their obi to alleviate their hunger pangs. (wikipedia) In Japanese cuisine I feel it is one of the "must trys" if you do not know what it is and if you are adventurous. It is the chef's selection of food in season cooked in various ways to enhance the natural flavors. A regular kaiseki meal can be very elaborate and comprise of many components.

For our lunch purposes our kaiseki was much simpler. First we got a delightful salad with a refreshing ginger dressing which we loved. All the Asian restaurants have ginger salad dressing but not like this one! It was not overly heavy on the ginger or oil/mayo as other places. The miso soup was fine with the fine cubes of silk tofu and wakame seaweed mixed in the lovely broth. Next came our big plates of food I got the Kiku (Japanese Chrysanthemum) kaiseki which was an astounding $14 (when you consider the quality, skill, flavors it was a steal)! The menu notes that the kaiseki includes "appetizer, sashimi (can be exchanged for a cooked item if you are squeamish), tidbits, broiled, sauced, fried and steamed" items on the plate. I could not identify everything but I enjoyed it all! The broiled fish, excellent melt in your mouth sashimi included salmon, tuna, mackerel and whitefish. The steamed item was a lovely chowan mushi. It was a delicate egg custard in a broth with bits of seafood cooked to perfection! There was a layered omelet (requires lots of skill), grilled eggplant piece with miso, a refreshing vinegary salad with white fish proved a nice contrast to everything. The veggies, spicy bamboo strips and grilled fish were nice touches. The tempura shrimp and veggies were fried to a great crispy texture and not overly greasy. Of course, the accompanying dipping sauce was mild and light to enhance and not take away from the chef's adept skills. We had a choice of veggie rice or white rice. The veggie rice was flavorful and had bits of seaweed in it.

Only complaint would be the slow service. There was only one server during the lunch time. We did not mind as we were lingering over our delicious lunch and enjoying everything! To my knowledge, I do not know of another Japanese tapas place with affordable prices, high quality food and standards, hidden in Coolidge Corner! The word is out to the local Japanese transplants too! Everytime I go, I always hear a whirlwind of Japanese around me! I feel as if I am in Japan whenever I have a meal here except English is spoken and you can read the menu.

9 forks out of 10 forks.

New York Botanical Garden--Garden Café

(pic credit: Cooper Robertson)

New York Botanical Garden Café


Half sandwich and cup of soup $6.95 special


Sweet onion bread with roast beef and swiss cheese half sandwich and I got the Asian Vegetable Soup with Ginger was good. It was very light and flavorful with the ginger flavor with lots of celery, potato, carrot and ginger. I had the little glazed lemon poppy seed bundt cake $3.95 which was good but a bit on the dry side. The sandwich was helped by having some mustard.
For a café, the selections were not bad with salads, some California maki, and hot food choices with cakes, pies for dessert as well as fruit-apples, bananas and oranges.

Food is alright 8 forks out of 10 forks



Pics of the Sandwich/soup and glazed lemon poppyseed bundt cake in this album:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=20404&l=3c8ad&id=575810425

Extra Virgin Restaurant-West Village (NYC)

Extra Virgin
259 West 4th Street, New York, NY 10014 (212) 691-9359
Extravirgin.com

Located in the West Village, my friends and I went to Extra Virgin. They were telling me the food is excellent and consistent and their fish dishes are excellent. We are greeted and seated quickly for 6:30 on a Saturday night. It is a cute place with the typical tightly packed tables (maximizing all the space) you first enter at the bar area. We are seated in the dining area on the right side. We do not get our bread by our server is very nice. When I order my drink, she is fearful there is not available so I have a back up drink. I get the blood orange margarita $10 (blood orange juice, tequila and triple sec) came in a salt rimmed tall glass with a lime wedge. It was nice and strong but not in the typical margarita glass. We were all a bit ravenous and requested some bread. We never got it. We ordered our meal and I got the Pan Roasted Monkfish (Rock shrimp, lobster chowder, and sautéed spinach) $21. I was told by Ian that this dish was “meaty.”

I got two beautifully pan roasted pieces of monkfish with the skin on, and the lobster chowder was flavorful and lovely with the bits of great rock shrimp. I really wanted some bread to sop up the sauce, but alas I never came. The sautéed spinach was great and cooked with garlic. Everything tasted fresh and delicious! I could taste the flavors distinctly and thoroughly enjoyed my meal.

With the dessert menu, I was the only one to get a dessert and the rose water crème brulee with almond biscotti caught my eye for $7. I got a healthy portion of crème brulee with a lovely sugar burnt crust and the creamy crème brulee was lovely. The almond biscotti was not that remarkable.

Service 8 (points taken off for lack of bread and asking for it to not even get it)
Food 9
Atmosphere 8

Total 8.5 forks out of 10 forks

Extra Virgin pics are here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=20404&l=3c8ad&id=575810425

Lady Mendl's Tea-Irving Place in NYC

Lady Mendl’s Tea Room
56 Irving Place (near Union Square)
212-452-2222

This space is a bit hard to find. It is a around the corner from the W hotel. If you do not know, it is in a non-descript brownstone with a small silver plaque of a teapot by the front door. Very warm and inviting entrance with softly lit candles and welcoming smells after coming in from the cold outside. I was walked over to the back into a very cute intimate space. I was seated my table for one.

Five Course afternoon tea $35 and my server Sahar was excellent and very attentive. I decided to be daring and choose the Karigane Kukicha which is described as a twiggy green tea that has the smell of the ocean and can come across bitter. I loved it! I did not need any cream or sugar to drink it.

First course was a simple salad of several lettuces, corn, tomato, cucumber lightly dressed in olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Second course was a choice of four finger sandwiches (requests for seconds was honored)
Smoked salmon with cream cheese served on pumpernickel bread, smoked turkey with cranberry on brioche bread, goat cheese with sun dried tomato on seven grain bread and finally cucumber slices with mint crème fraiche on brioche bread. I enjoyed the cucumber sandwich and goat cheese sandwiches the best to ask for seconds. All are very small portions, crusts are cut off, and the bread is a bit dry. You can tell it was pre-done but not bad.

The third course consisted of scones one traditional and cranberry raisin scones served with raspberry preserves and clotted cream. Typical of scones very dry and crumbly the clotted cream was hard to spread but still great and the raspberry preserves was typical.
The fourth course was the first dessert which is a crepe layer cake filled with French vanilla cream with a side of fresh berries dusted with powered sugar. It was divine!
The fifth course was the second dessert was a Belgian chocolate dipped strawberry and assorted petit fours.

Service is included with the food bill so you don’t have to add anything more. My 1:30 seating was done by 3pm and it was not overly slow or rushed. There are only two seating times and I was happy to finally come here as I had always been batting zero trying to get a tea appointment the prior times.

The restroom was by the rear room and I loved the Penhaligon brand Quercus Lotion and hand wash gel. Light clean scent from this lotion and I wanted to buy it! The bathroom is very clean and quaint with excellent thick hand paper towels to wipe your hands and fit the décor of the whole place which I liked. The Lady Mendel’s Tea Room is ensconced in the Irving Inn.
8.5 forks out of 10 forks

Lady Mendl's pics (are in this album with Extra Virgin as well)

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=20404&l=3c8ad&id=575810425

Gourmet Dumpling House in Chinatown-new addition

Gourmet Dumpling House (in the former Quality Cafe space)

52 Beach Street

Boston, MA

This newly opened Gourmet Dumpling House in Chinatown had alot of customers the two times I visited this past week and weekend.

There is an extensive menu consisting of a hodge podge of dishes seafood dishes, Taiwanese (lots of stuff similar to Taiwan Cafe's menu actually) alongside with dumplings (made to order give extra 15 minutes) and tons of noodle, rice and other dishes.

The first day we got the Xiao Lung Bao (pork and crab). They were alright and I am not a XLB purist but the better ones were had at Joe Shanghai's in NYC for my mom. Of course I had some amazing ones in Shanghai. They were made to order and had a nifty hole on top to get the broth out. The dough was on the thicker side with a decent ginger, soy and vinegar dipping sauce. Then we got the eel stir fried ee noodles. They were delicious with a slightly spicy kick from Jalapeno pepper slivers in this noodle dish. The eel was not abundant but the dish was good.

Service was ok and the waitstaff did their best the first time to be pleasant, fast and good. The second time at lunch on a busy Sunday, we had three errors (thought we got a certain dish not once but three times) brought accidently to our town too. They have to work out the kinks here and there.

Third time, I got the Pork Chop Rice (Taiwanese style) with lots of crispy fried pork served with pickled cabbage, tea egg and a meatsauce over a bed of rice. UMMMM it was delicious and it is not on a loud kids sectioned off plate as they serve at Taiwan Cafe. I felt there portion was more generous and it was great fun and good. Then my friend got the seafood noodle with ee noodles (very good and simple with bits of seafood mainly shrimp and squid and no veggies). Her husband got the beef with noodles stir fried with egg noodles in a sa chay sauce. I love sa cha sauce and I loved it! My other dining pal got the mini chicken dumplings in a noodle soup opting for the thick fat Japanese Udon Noodles. The mini chicken dumplings were plentiful and good in a very simple clean broth (not laden with MSG).

This restaurant tries to cram alot of tables and chairs into this very small and humble space. Since it is new, the business has been brisk.

8 forks out of 10 forks

Wheatberry Bakery nestled in Amherst, MA

Wheatberry Bakery and Cafe

(organic and artisan goodies)

321 Main Street, Amherst, MA

413-253-1411

Last weekend, I was in town for the Emily Dickinson Musuem (located across the street at 240 Main Street) I went to get a quick bite while waiting for my 2pm tour. It is a small but warm and inviting space. With a two counters and a few chairs so if you want to dine in you can. There is a lovely display of baked goods-cookies, scones, bars, and muffins. The menu is not too cluttered with a few hot options for breakfast, lunch and snacks. There are the usual suspects for drinks coffee and teas but in addition some higher brand waters and sodas (for those who do not indulge in caffeine.)

I got the Satori drink (soy milk with apple, carrot, ginger) $3.95 which was better than I anticipated. Plus I got some good nutrients and vitamins to boot out of it! I got the Italian Panini (la Quercia Proscuitto, Genoa Salami, sopresata with marinated olive salad grill pressed on country french bread served with asiago cheese.) $6.95. I enjoyed it alot and it really hit the spot with the mix of cheese and salty Italian luncheon meats, great olives and crusty bread made a delicious combo for this ravenous traveler.

9 forks out of 10 forks

Spoletos in the heart of NOHO, MA

SPOLETOS

50 Main Street, Northampton, MA (413) 586-6313

Spoletos is a Northampton institution and the most expensive restaurant in town. This past weekend I ventured back to my alma mater for a meeting. But I was with some friends who were in NOHO for the first time. We decided to head to Spoletos for dinner.

One memorable dinner experience was when Nicole Kidman with then husband Tom Cruise was in town filming "Malice" with Bill Pullman and Alec Baldwin. I got her autograph and Tom's too (that night I had just gotten back from a long road trip from Philly.)

It was busy on Saturday night and our table of 4 was seated after half an hour wait. Our waitress was attentive and I always had my water glass filled and she asked to make sure if we wanted our more bread etc. She did give some great suggestions since there was a lot to choose from on the menu with strong recommendations for the Chicken Balsamico and the Black Peper Encrusted Duck.

We ended up getting the :

Saul's Mussels' (PEI Mussels cooked with lemon, capers, garlic butter, scallion, red chili pepper flakes, white wine and marinara served with garlic bread.)

Angel Hair Crab Cake (Crab cake served with a twist-chipotle pepper mayo)

Chicken Balsamico (Half boneless roast chicken served with roasted garlic mash, grilled portabello mushrooms, arugula and oven dried tomatoes with a balsamic demi glaze)

Black Peppercorn Encrusted Duck (fanned atop a herb parmesan risotto along with sauteed spinach and finished with a port-cardamon demi glaze)

Rainbow Trout (Farm raised Rainbow Trout cooked with lemon caper butter, juillened mixed vegetables served alongside some herb roasted potatoes)

The bread with olive oil was very good. Nice warm and crusty with lovely softness in the middle great for dipping sauces (olive oil and the mussels sauce too!). We enjoyed the hint of red chili flakes that added the intense kick to the marinara, garlicky broth that was delish! The crab cake was good but nothing special just one crab cake beautifully decorated with a good flavorful chipotle pepper mayo.

As for the entrees, our favorites were the duck and trout with the chicken coming in last. Though two waiters "supposedly" love love the chicken dish. Though it was delicious, it did not compare in taste to the trout and duck. It was a bit dry and all the good served had generous portions. Considered pricey for local area residences, for a Bostonian the costs, quality of food and quantity made Spoletos a great deal in my book. The balsamic demi glaze was intense, the grilled portabello mushrooms a dream alongside with a cannot fail garlic mash, the extra dry white meat knocked the dish down.

The rare duck meat fanned on the flavorful cheesy risotto was amazing! My friends thought the peppercorns enhanced the duck's flavor and the port-cardamon demi glaze added a nice hint of flavor. But another fave was the Rainbow trout, with the great julienned mixed veggies, flavor from the lemon and caper butter to have a great moistness and not be overly cooked or dry. This dish definitely held its own against the the other dishes.

Service--great

Food--very good

9 forks out of 10 forks