Blogs : Boston Digest

Brunch, Plain or Fancy

Weekends are for waking late and eating slow, and two fine brunch options were discussed this week on the boards.

The first was Aujourd’hui, that Back Bay hub of fine French dining that’s often mentioned in the same breath as L’Espalier. Brunch at Aujourd’hui is “incredible,” according to macadamianu’s mouthwatering description: “Full raw bar with lobster, crab, shrimp, smoked salmon, oysters, clams on the half shell and that is just one table. Dim sum, outrageous ham, lovely salads and even the fruit salads are unique. The dessert table is oh so special. The waiters come round and round all morning with fresh squeezed orange juice. You must try this at least once in your lifetime.” The bad news? The fine china and circulating waiters will cost you from $65 to $100 per person, depending on when you go, and that’s before cocktails.

Lack the scratch for such decadence? Masa is offering a $7.95 “brunch fiesta” deal on Saturdays at both its Woburn and Boston locations. For that low, low price, you get a choice of a first course (fruit, granola, caramelized plantain empanada with cinnamon cream cheese, drool), and then a main dish plus tea or coffee. Jpan99 had creamy scrambled eggs with fruit, home fries, toast, and chorizo, plus a bread basket with mini sweet bread, flavored butter, and housemade jam. “The food was great, the service fine and the prices unbelievable,” says Jpan99.

Aujourd’hui [Back Bay]
200 Boylston Street, Boston
617-351-2037

Masa [Woburn]
348A Cambridge Road, Woburn
781-938-8886

Masa [South End]
439 Tremont Street, Boston
617-338-8884

Board Links: Aujourd Hui
Saturday brunch special at Masa in Woburn

Posted by Joyce Slaton | 0 comments
Tagged with: boston area, restaurants and bars, aujourd'hui, aujourdhui, aujourd hui, masa, brunch

Chicken-Induced Traffic Jams

Noticed traffic jams this week in Chelsea? Believe it or not, they’re due to the opening of the new Pollo Campero, the vastly popular Guatemala-based chain of fast-food chicken joints. The new restaurant, a 42-seater with a drive-thru open until 4 a.m. Friday and Saturday nights, has proved so popular that no matter what time of night and day hounds have attempted visits, there’s always a long line. Even in the rain. Sometimes as long as three or four hours!

So what’s the chicken-crack Pollo Campero is selling? Hounds who tasted it were hard-pressed to describe its deliciousness, which reportedly is such that folks returning to the United States from Central America frequently bring a bunch of Campero boxes back with them. Luther allows that the chicken is “kind of greasy but not battered,” itaunas has tried Campero from other outlets both in the U.S. and Central America and says “the chicken [was] tender and not dried out … Portion size pretty small, these aren’t monster overgrown chickens.”

Along with the fried and rotisserie chicken, Campero offers sides like yucca, plantains, beans, and rice.

Pollo Campero [Chelsea]
115 Park Street, Chelsea
617-884-0070

Board Link: New Chicken Place in Chelsea

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Tagged with: boston area, restaurants and bars, pollo campero, chicken, fried chicken, guatemala

The Other Southeast Asian Cuisine

Burmese restaurant Yoma doesn’t get the love it deserves according to StriperGuy, who says he “basically demolished the menu” there. “Quite frankly this place is amazing. The nuance and subtlety noteworthy. The breadth of flavors …” rhapsodizes StriperGuy. Yeah, yeah, but what should we order? StriperGuy loves aa mae thar thot ($7.45), charred beef salad with lemongrass, lime, cabbage, cucumber, and a long list of piquant toppings, as well as tha yet thee thot ($6.25), green mango salad. barleywino also recommends the shwe pa yon thee hin ($9.25), sweet pumpkin with shrimp, tomatoes, ginger, shallot, lemongrass, and cilantro. 9lives calls the tofu jaw ($4.95), a housemade Burmese tofu made from chickpea flour, “a real hit” as well.

A tip: The food travels well for take-out. “The soba rice noodles in the slow-roasted spicy pork dish get pretty soft, but that dish is so delicious that it doesn’t really matter,” says bear.

Yoma [Allston]
5 North Beacon Street, Boston
617-783-1372

Board Link: Yoma WAY Underrated

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Tagged with: boston, restaurants and bars, yoma, burmese

Bread, Wine, and Dave

Dave’s Fresh Pasta food store, long a beloved hound hangout for its wide and delicious selection of sauces and housemade pasta, has taken over the space next to its original location, and has expanded its offerings as well.

Chowhounds are particularly excited about the addition of baguettes from B&R Bread, because, as autopi put it, Dave’s baguettes were “less than spectacular.” There’s also bread from noted Cambridge bakery Iggy’s, and fierce bargains on day-old product, stocked in the freezer case for times when “you just need that brioche for a last minute french toast craving,” says yumyum.

Dave’s has also beefed up its grocery selection, with new canned and prepared items like Herdez Mexican salsas, hot sauce, rice flour, and udon noodles joining the cheese, pasta, spreads, and wine the store has previously been known for.

Pia hopes that now that the dust has settled, Dave’s will start offering classes at night again. For about $25, participants are invited to taste libations and snacks. “As the parents of a toddler, we don’t get out that much and this was a great way to spend date night—try some new things and learn about the brewing process, be part of a small crowd but still get to talk to each other, have dinner, AND pick up some bottles of wine at a discount (I think it’s 10% the day you attend the class), all in one evening,” says Pia.

Dave’s Fresh Pasta [Somerville]
81 Holland Street, Somerville
617-623-0867

Board Link: Dave’s Fresh Pasta expanding

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Tagged with: boston, restaurants and bars, food and cooking, dave's fresh pasta, b&r;, iggy's

Flatbread So Fresh It's Still Warm

Right in the middle of a thread about the lovely flatbread sandwiches at Sofra, StriperGuy lets loose with a great tip about where to get the best flatbreads in the Boston area: Arax Market. According to StriperGuy, Tuesday mornings are the best time for an Arax run, as this is when drivers arrive with “truly amazing stuff, literally baked that morning, tangy, and wonderful. I swear one time I was there as they unloaded the truck at 8:30 a.m. or so and it was still warm. Bread is a great insulator and a whole truck full of it held it’s heat for the six-hour drive down, amazing.”

“I’ve been lucky to get that bread warm off the truck from Montreal too, and I almost wept. Like, real tears and all. Word on Arax,” says yumyum.

Oh, and speaking of Sofra, though the seating there is uncomfortable, if you order one of the flatbread sandwiches (described on the boards as “addictive” by multiple sources), make sure you hang around to eat it, as they’re best hot off the grill. Other picks: lamb schwarma, chocolate earthquake cookies, and the walnut and green olive spread.

Sofra [Cambridge]
1 Belmont Street, Cambridge
617-661-3161

Arax Market [Watertown]
585 Mount Auburn Street, Watertown
617-924-3399

Board Link: 12/10/08 Sofra, Cambridge Report

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Tagged with: boston, restaurants and bars, sofra, arax, bread, flatbread, sandwiches