ok, now that i've defined chinese diner food, i can talk about some places! over the holidays, we took a couple of liberal lunch hours, and one of them was to the chinatown cafe. oscar, harvey and i hauled ourselves over there, found parking (tough) and set out to introduce harvey to chinese diner food.
chinatown cafe is where a lot of the locals go, and in chinese it's call "szeto", which is the equivalent of calling it "joe's". they're known for having good chinese bbq (not the best - see kam man), and good, solid chinese diner food. it's really popular with the tufts med crowd, too, since they are just around the corner.
it's got about 10 tables, but it can barely qualify as a sit down place. you walk in, order at the counter, wait for your number and your food comes out in styrofoam containers which you can then eat at the tables. they recently renovated the place, so it's a slightly nicer downscale joint.
oscar got the beef and tomatoes over rice, and gave it a thumbs up. harvey got the general gau's and was pretty happy with that. i got the good old beef brisket with won tons, and it was pretty consistent with the other upteen times i've had it. the won tons are decent, the brisket well seasoned and the broth is reasonable.
this place is good because it's consistent and an extremely good deal. for around $5 you get a huge amount of good food. it's not the best example of chinese diner food, but a good one. and it's fast.
oscar said we have to try the taiwan cafe next time, so look for that review.
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