.: angilou and tucker too :.

tennessee's bbq: 4.25 stars

that same night (see previous post), we decided to go to a tried and true bbq place, tennessee's.

village smokehouse: 2 stars

so, as an adopted texan, i have developed an appreciation for the local cuisine, as evidenced by my tex-mex food quests. of course, i would be horribly remiss if i did not include that bastion of texan fare: barbecue. of course, tucker is a big bbq fan, so he weighs in also.

i decided to take him to the (a href="http://www.villagesmokehouse.com/">village smokehouse in brookline. it's a kitchy little place in brookline village, and it looked like as good a place as any. i had been there before and don't remember any negative recollections.

rather than bore you with a whole review, the synopsis is that it was mediocre. we ordered the "texas hawg" that had brisket, beef and pork ribs, sausage and chicken. everything came out black and charred, we're not sure if intentionally. the best thing was the sausage, which was actually pretty good, but everything else was too dry. the sides (cole slaw, cornbread and beans) were too sweet, and the beans tasted caned (travesty!)

the service was acceptable, but in the end, other than order sausage for take-out in the future, it didn't warrant another visit.

pho lemon: 3.75 stars

so, pho lemon is this little place near kendall square, not really close to anything. it's a cute little place, nothing special, but tidy and reasonably cheery. the pho is pretty darn good. i usually order the rare beef, sometimes the beef brisket. the broth is clear and tasty, nice big portion. it's actually better as take out, rather than eat in, because they pack the broth and meat separately, so if you like your beef really rare, you can eat it right away. the one time i had it at the restaurant, it was already well done by the time it got to the table.

tucker gets the bbq chicken over rice, which he really likes, and i think is good, but nothing special. we've also had their spring rolls, which are good, but don't get the dumplings - too doughy.

on just the strength of their pho, i would have given them a 4, but i'm not as impressed with their other menu items, so i downgraded them. oh, a plus: they deliver!

minado: 4 stars

not a cheap eats place, but writing it up anyway.

this weekend, took the fam to minado in natick, right across from the mall. it's along the lines of the asian food buffets, although this one bills itself differently, calling it a "japanese seafood buffet". it's the most expensive of the route 9 places: i think rainbow buffett is $17, pacific is $19 and minado is $24 ($26 on the weekends). it charges the premium because it does provide more of the seafood/sushi vein.

decor is bright and pleasant, with a neat and modern buffet place layout. if any of you have been to kam man in quincy, the layout is similar, but much more pleasant. the tall ceilings have exposed pipes, etc., but it's all painted white, and colorful decorations are hung from the ceiling. we got there right when they opened, and the staff all lined up in front of the buffet, bowed and greeted us in japanese before the buffet opened - a nice little touch.

it definitely has the most sushi of any of the buffet places, they advertise about 30 kinds. actual sushi there is maybe 10 kinds, but then a whole bunch of rolls. nice variety of rolls, and they had 6 sushi makers behind the counter, so they kept those coming. you can also order hand rolls, so that's cool. other neat things they had were a sashimi salad and a raw oysters. the latter were really popular, so you had to go right when they came out, otherwise you were sol.

they had a nice range of other options, mostly seafood. they advertise lobster, but it's mostly the large crayfish variety, and like the sashimi and oysters, it goes fast. other nice additions are a hibachi grill, beef tataki, and some nice, light asian salads.

while it's definitely pricier than the others, it is worth it if you are a sushi/seafood eater. the staff is pleasant and efficient and the presentation of the food is quite nice. pacific has a wider range of dessert and other options, but definitely doesn't measure up in the sushi department. $24-$26 bucks for all you can eat sushi is hard to beat.

pu pu hot pot: 3 stars

last night, too lazy to cook, so we ordered delivery from pu pu hot pot. when i used to live in cambridge, this was my regular place, so i've always liked it for those nights when you're just too tired to cook. good chicken wings, and the beef and broccoli was good: crunchy but not raw, and the beef was tender. a little too much oil, but hey, that kinda comes with the territory with cheap chinese take-out.

our front door has this wierd couple of steps that lead down to a porch. so, after we paid the delivery guy, who was a frenetic little man, i close the door and i hear "ka-thud"! i open the door and asked "are you ok?!" i hear some giggling from the guy as he said "yah". he had completely fallen down the 2.5 steps when he left our place. oops.

chinatown cafe: 3.75 stars

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.

chinese diner food

my definition of chinese diner food consists of rice plates and noodle dishes. sometimes, certain drinks. so, my typical chinese diner benchmarks are:

yang chow fried rice: your basic fried rice with shrimp, bbq pork, peas and scallions. should be yellowish, not brown, indicating it was fried with a fresh egg.

"see jiu fan", or beef and peppers in black bean sauce over rice: sliced beef, onions and green bell peppers stir fried with a black bean sauce over white rice. beef should be tender, veggies not overcooked, and the black beans not overwhelming.

won ton noodle soup: broth should be clear, and not too heavy in the msg. wontons should have a good mix of shrimp and pork. some places have a detergent-y smell, which i don't prefer.

"gnow lam sui gow mein" or beef brisket and water dumplings with noodles in soup. a lot of similar tenets to the won ton noodle soup, but the 'water dumplings' should NOT be the same as won tons. the beef brisket should be very tender, without too much tendon-y stuff.

emma's pizza: 4.5 stars

lu told me about emma's in kendall square , and i've driven by many times. tucker, in one of his many pizza cravings, inspired me to go try it out.

it's a cozy little place, about 10 tables and a counter in the front. we mostly get takeout, but it's also a good place to eat at, with wine and beer and a cramped, friendly feel. the staff all seem like old regulars, and are fast en efficient. the pizza is awesome. thin crust style, three different sauces, traditional and fancy toppings, like roasted russet potatoes. the crust is light and crispy on the edges, exactly as it should be. sometimes they go a little heavy on the toppings, but fortunately, they use all fresh stuff and even when it's too much, it still all tastes oh so yummy.

they serve salads and pressed sandwiches, too, and the salads look yummy, but we always manage to bypass them whenever we're there.

we were fig's fans before we found this place, but now we go there every week (except when we're on atkins). figs has a bigger menu, more extensive winelist and fancier pizzas, but you can't beat emma's for a consistently good pie.

el pelon: 4 stars

a couple of weeks ago, tucker set up a nice, little date for us: try out a new restaurant and then go see a movie. he was quite proud that he found one in the fenway, so that everything would be relatively close - it was all planned out. off we go to the fenway, and tucker forgets the map. we traipsed around behind fenway park, down boylston and then ventured into the queensberry/peterborough area. on the corner of peterborough and something, tucked away in this residential neighborhood, there is this cute little multi-cultural restaurant row: sorrento's (italian), naha (korean/japanese), el pelon (mexican and our destination), rod dee 2 (thai), pho hong kong (vietnamese/chinese), and thornton's fenway grill (american). who would have thought? the location is great, because the fenway theater is only two blocks away, making it a convenient dinner destination.

we hopped into el pelon, a tiny place with a couple of tables and a counter, brightly decorated with huge colorful posters. i got the beans and rice and tucker ordered the tacos (of course). the tacos were double corn tortillas, filled with meat and topped with a cabbage and cucumber relish. they were reasonably priced and pretty big, but messy, from the dribbling meat and relish juices. tucker said it might have been more of the interior mexican style, but excellent: the meat was grilled well and the relish, while odd, was tasty and refreshing.

the chips were good and you get a small cup of chunky salsa to go with it. the salsa tasted fresh and witha good mix of flavors. the beans and rice were excellent, but i'll have to go eat them again to write in more detail.

overall, a hidden gem and we've already been back several times! the last time i had the quesadilla, which was straight chicken and cheese, with salsa on the side. chicken was marinated well, and the quesadilla was grilled to perfection.

the only downside: tiny place, so really more of a take-out or eat and go type of place.

jose's mexican restaurant: 1.5 stars

went to jose's mexican restuarant in north cambridge last night. it was marketed as a kitschy, cheap authentic mexican place, so of course we had to check it out.

walking in, it was definitely kitschy and homey. there's a cramped lower level and a second level which we didn't see. latin music of all forms played on the radio from classical spanish songs to ricky martin. the menu had a range of seafood and your traditional mexican dishes: fajitas, enchiladas, etc. service was spotty but cheerful and heavily accented.

ok, onto the food. the salsa was pathetic. it barely tasted like salsa, more like some kind of tomato sauce with cilantro and onion floating in it. queso was tasty, coming in a heated pot, but we suspected it was cheez wiz with salsa, vs something more authentic like velveeta. tucker gave the tacos a thumbs up, but thumbs down on everything else accompanying it: rice, beans, etc. my fajitas were tasty, although the meat was marinated on the sweet side. i too was disappointed in the sides. rice was tasteless, beans were unextraordinary. many people touted the margaritas, and they were definitely large, but nothing special.

overall, a disappointment, would not go back there again.