Takeout @ Guadalajara Grill Boston Malden, MA

the search for good tacos continues. i drive pass by Guadalajara Grill everyday because i live down the street from it. it is in a weird location. no parkings, not even street parkings. although it is very close to malden center subway station, besides the DD next door, its pretty much isolated.
i thought it’s a small take-out place, but it’s actually pretty nice inside. it wasn’t busy during din din time probably because they just opened and not a lot people know about it. the people that work there are really friendly. while i was waiting for my food at the bar, a lady sat close to me raved about how good their food is and offered me to try their salsa and chip. she said the salsa is very close to the one she had in mexico. it was nice and spicy, but i wouldnt know cuz ive never been to mexico.

the food was still super hot when i got home. the beef was on the more tender side comparing to average beef tacos. it tasted more like a savory meal than tacos if you know what i mean.

i believe the salsa was for my chips, but i put it in my tacos since i didnt want to eat the chips.

homemade complimentary chips. these were still hot when i got home as well. too bad i am on a diet and couldnt eat them.

i think it was a good meal, but i wouldnt put them on my good tacos list. very nice and clean restaurant, friendly staff, fast service, nice and hot meal. i will come back again to try more.

Category: Mexican
2 Florence St
Malden, MA 02148
(781) 288-3004

http://www.gmexgrill.com/

The Gallows @ South End Boston, MA

i went to the gallows last nite for din din with a friend. plenty of parkings on washington st on a tuesday nite. when i got there gallows was pretty empty, but it started to get busy around 8pm ish.

loved the ambience and decor, very relaxing and causal. service was very friendly and attentive.

SCOTCH EGG

Daily Tacos – salty, meat was not tender, overall flavor was very disappointing

CHICKEN LIVER PATE – wasnt fresh, bread was soggy, weird taste

SMOKED BLUEFISH PÂTÉ – was not as bad as the chicken live pate but wasnt enjoyable either

GRILLED GULF SHRIMP – spice rub, chilled spinach, mango-cucumber sambal. shrimp was over cooked, overall flavor was kinda weird, but was the best dish of the night

SPIGARELLO BROCCOLI RABE- chili flake, lardo, preserved meyer lemon. extremely salty that we had to ask them to take back

THE THOMAS MAGNUM – miso mayo, spam, fried egg, toasted nori, wasabi gouda. meat was mushy, salty, and oily.

i really wanted to like this place because of the nice ambience and friendly service, but the food was TERRIBLE. i mean extremely terrible. very disappointing. i will not return.

this place gets 2/5 bunny belly

Category: American (New)
1395 Washington St
(between Union Park St & Pelham St)
Boston, MA 02118
Neighborhood: South End
(617) 425-0200

http://www.thegallowsboston.com/

Sushi Feast @ Yoki Boston Medford, MA

i blogged about yoki’s having 50% off everything today for their 5th anniversary in my last yoki review. how can i pass on a deal like this, so today i went with 2 friends to ready have a feast. we got there around 5:30 after work (yay for workin from home), we had wait for couple mins for a table. wow really? you never have to wait for a table at yoki esp monday nites.

yoki started to get packed around 7:00. looks like every asian in boston came to yoki tonight. i expected it to be busy, but def not crazy busy like this. i wonder how people know about it cuz it seems they are not advertising it anywhere.

i think yoki is just an average sushi place, i really wouldnt come here often if i didnt live close. i did want to take advantage today to order a few things i wouldnt normally order.

Tuna Tataki
Fresh tuna thinly sliced and torched to perfection.
Served with scallion, Daikon radish, and Ponzu sauce – was only ok, liked the ponzu sauce.

Hotate-Hokkaiyaki
Scallops and crab sticks baked in
spicy mayo, with tobiko and enoki mushrooms – FAIL. ginza in watertown is wayyyyyyy better, this cant even compare.

Celtics Maki
Unagi and cucumber roll topped with a mixture of crispy tempura flakes and spicy crunchy tuna. Finished with fresh sliced avocado, tobiko, scallion, and glazed with sweet sauce and spicy mayo.

Midori Maki
Yellowtail, salmon, and tuna roll topped with wasabi tobiko and scallions.

Alaska Maki
Salmon, cucumber and avocado

tuna, white tuna, tamago, and eel sushi

Patriots Maki
White tuna and cucumber maki topped with shiso leaf and 3 types of fish. Finished with rainbow tobiko and glazed mango sauce.

Green Tea Tempura Ice Cream

our bill: 19 something per person. AMAZING!

YOKI why cant you have an anniversary event every month!

62 Station Landing
Medford, MA 02155
(617) 381-6688

http://www.yokirestaurant.com

Cheap Eats: Anna’s Taqueria @ Boston Davis Square Somerville, MA

unless you are a visitor, probably everyone in boston knows about anna’s taqueria. its a locally owned mexican ‘fast food’ place. they have serval locations in cambridge, somerville, brookline, boston, etc.

it can’t compare with the tacos from the west coast and meat could’ve been cooked better, but they do use fresh ingredients. very cheap! my 3 tacos only cost $8.

i got grilled chicken, al pastor, and steak tacos.

give it a try if you love mexican; you wont hate it.

check out their website for locations:

http://www.annastaqueria.com/

Guchi’s Midnight Ramen @ jm Curley Boston, MA

my life in boston can never be completed because i cannot find two things: good ramen and tacos. Guchi’s Midnight Ramen has been in the spotlight for a while and ive been wanting to go for a long time. the two words ‘handmade noodles’ are enough to make me drool over on my keyboard.

(yea im not gonna go into details about their venture and concepts cuz i feel like everybody is talking about it, if you really dont know jus google it and i bet 100 pgs would pop-up)

‎4 yrs of skills that I got from registering classes in college finally paid off; i managed to score tix on eventbrite.com chea

this time they were taking over jm Curley. the light in the dinning room was extremely dark which made it very challenging for my photos.

we opted for the beverage pairing.
sake gelee, orange-shiso gremolata, ginger juniper dust – jelly texture, tasted exactly like the description

Braised Pork Belly Buns with cilantro, peanuts, pickles.
i absolutely loved this. the pork was braised perfectly it reminds me of my grandma’s braised pork. melts in your mouth and not a bit of greasiness. i usually hate eating fat, i hate the texture and the taste of greasiness, but i did love this pork bun. oh and the bun, handmade and the dough was very well prepared.

it deserves a second look

mazamen
crispy bacon, runny egg, parmesan.
this was my fave out of all three. it’s weird because im not a big bacon fan. bold bacon flavor. mildly smoked and not overly salted with a hint of sweetness.

the noodles were heavenly. chewy, moistened, firm, ‘al dente’! loved the texture of the handmade noodles. this reminded me of my grandma again. in our family, non-handmade noodles are definitely NOT acceptable. i have grown up eating all my noodles handmade. after moving to boston, i stopped eating noodles because the saggy texture of non-handmade noodles just grosses me out.

traditional mazamen
char siu, bamboo, scallions, shochu, combier, grapefruit, shiso, salt air

crab and roasted tomato- shiso, nori, lemon
buttery and delish

beverage pairing
sake, hendricks gin, lillet rose, seasonal berries.
taste of fresh berries stood out

shochu, combier, grapefruit, shiso, salt air.
citrusy and summery

sorbet, lychee, lime, coconut
refreshing

at the end of the meal we were very satisfied. i really wish guchi’s midnight ramen can happen more often and become more available. i can totally eat this everyday haha. i would also wanna try their ramen with broth. cant wait to come back again.

guchi n me

and squirrel.

Coppa @ South End Boston, MA

i was browsing online then i found out the coppa’s owner and chef is Ken Oringer, same owner and chef with one of my fave restaurants Toro. instead of spanish tapas, they serve italian tapas. that jus sounded heavenly to me. we had to immediately make a trip there to test it out.

when we got there, the wait was an hour and half. we were ready to give up, but we saw they were setting up outdoor seatings. there was no wait for outdoor seats. we immediately sat outside without waiting for an hour and half. score!!!

Pig’s Ear / Pig’s ear terrine with yuzu aioli

foie gras- this was one the specials of the night. fave dish of the night. delish

Funghi Marinati / Marinated mushrooms with Eva’s herbs $5 – this was ok, mushroom tasted like canned mushrooms.

Spaghetti alla Carbonara / House made pasta with smoked pancetta, sea urchin and farm egg – 1st time had uni in my pasta. yumm

the other special of the night, bone marrow. toro‘s version’s way better.

Pepe Bianco/ White clam pizza with bacon and baby leeks – very flavorful but overly salty

Panino di Riccio di Mare / Sea urchin and salami panino with mustard seeds – again, toro’s wayyyyyy better!!

although it was a good meal in general, toro is a lot of better than this place. coppa and toro have pretty much the same concept. i will stick with toro and i dont think i will return to coppa.

this place gets 4/5 bunny belly.

253 Shawmut Ave
(between Bradford St & Briggs Pl)
Boston, MA 02118
Neighborhood: South End
(617) 391-0902

http://www.coppaboston.com/

Tavern in the Square @ Boston Allston, MA

last nite we went to tavern in the square after din din @ coppa in back bay. it’s a popular sports bar or a bar in general in allston.

look at the dessert menu. ew gross. fried snickers and butterfinger really?!

my friend really wanted dessert so she ordered the fudge cake. was not good at all. we barely touched the cake.

calamari

jack

coconut colada

sparkling mango – i dont drink beer unless there is no other options. i was hoping the drinks could be acceptable even tho its a sports bar. bad decision. they turned out to be horrible. i had one sip and never touched it again.

skip the desserts, skip all the mixed drinks, just grab a beer and just enjoy whatever game thats on.

161 Brighton Ave
(between Harvard Ave & Parkvale Ave)
Allston, MA 02134
Neighborhood: Allston/Brighton
(617) 782-8100

http://www.taverninthesquare.com

Sapporo Ramen Porter Square Cambridge, MA Boston

after a full night of fun @ royale last night, it’s time to cure some hangover. a bowl of warm ramen sounds so good.
ramen choices are so limited in boston, sapporo is one of the most popular places among all.

i havent seen the fat lady that used work here for the last two times.

pork gyoza - pretty good, fresh, better than the ones @ yoki

the house ramen – altho meat was tender, broth was thick and flavorful, a lil bit salty for my liking.

spicy miso ramen – thick and flavorful broth. the noodles were perfectly cook.

i do come here a lot, but i have had way better ramen outside boston area.

this place gets 4/5 bunny belly.

1815 Massachusetts Ave
Cambridge, MA 02140
Neighborhood: Porter Square
(617) 876-4805

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Monthly Archives: June 2012