Brown Sugar Cafe (Boston, MA)

Brown Sugar Cafe (and its sister-restaurant in Cambridge, the Similans) is quite possibly the best Thai restaurant in the greater-Boston area, and it has all of the awards posted in its entranceway to prove it.

Brown Sugar Cafe is located on the west side of the Boston University campus, and is very easily accessible on the B-line (MBTA green line) - Babcock Street station. It appears to be very small in size, but the restaurant is actually quite deep and service is quick, ensuring that you won't have more than a 15-20 minute wait.

The menu is so long that it resembles a book. You might think that if a restaurant has a menu this long, that none of the food would be good. However, every item that we have ordered from the menu at Brown Sugar Cafe has been phenomenal. Not only does the food taste great, but the food presentation is also quite nice - with some dishes being served in pineapple shells or with flower garnishes.

The Brown Sugar Cafe Pad Thai has yet to be beat by any other restaurant in any other city. This is one of our favorite dishes, and it is difficult to venture from it, even though we know we should try something different. However, we have also tried:

• Brown Sugar Fresh Rolls - a good starter - comes with shrimp, but can also be made vegetarian
• Seafood Volcano  - a mixture of different seafoods and vegetables (comes with a burning flame!)
• Bird of Paradise - another mixture of different seafoods and vegetables (comes in a cute aluminum foil bird)
• Siamese Twins - sweet and spicy chicken, shrimp, and vegetables (comes in a pineapple shell)
• Soft Shell Crab Pad Thai - for when we want the Pad Thai, but would also like something different than the typical chicken and shrimp variety

Service at Brown Sugar Cafe is quite good - on most occasions, the servers will repeat your order right back to you, which is very helpful to ensure that you will receive the correct food. Also, there is always someone walking around with a water pitcher, so your glass never runs empty. Not once have we had an issue with finding our server when we needed him/her, which is something that we can't say about many other restaurants.

We have not tried too many of the different drinks available at Brown Sugar Cafe. We don't know if they have a full liquor license (as they don't advertise mixed drinks on their menu), so it might just be beer and wine. However, they do make an excellent limeade and shirley temple.

The desserts at Brown Sugar Cafe are excellent. We have tried a couple of them: the fried ice cream is quite good, complete with a dollop of honey and sesame seeds on top. We have also tried the Brown Sugar Banana Dumpling, which is a warm banana dessert served inside a banana leaf. However, our favorite is the Mango with Sweet Sticky Rice. Unfortunately, the mango dessert is "only available seasonally" - which is something that we don't understand. We can purchase mangoes in the supermarket all year round, so why is this dessert seasonal? hmmm

A couple more comments:

• As mentioned previously, there is a sister-restaurant called The Similans, in Cambridge - near the Cambridgeside Galleria. The menu choices and food quality there are essentially the same. Unlike Brown Sugar Cafe, The Similans has a full liquor license (we have ordered some mixed drinks there).
• We would highly recommend going to Brown Sugar Cafe for someone's birthday. The way in which birthdays are celebrated at this restaurant cannot be compared to any other restaurant....you must go there yourself to understand this. (HAPPY BIRRRTHDAY TO YOU!)

Overall Rating (Brown Sugar Cafe): 10 out of 10
Positive: Hands down, the best Thai food that we have ever had.
Negative: Keep the Mango with Sweet Sticky Rice on the menu year-round!

Max and Dylan's (Boston, MA)

Max and Dylan's is a surprisingly affordable restaurant located in downtown Boston (near the Park St, Boylston, and Downtown Crossing T stops). We say "surprisingly affordable" because the quality and quantity of food, diverse menu, matched with a great location and superb service could demand much higher prices. Each time we go to Max and Dylan's, we are surprised at how low the tab is.

The menu at Max and Dylan's would be categorized as "American." They have your typical starters, soups and salads, burgers, and flatbreads. However, they also have a wide selection of macaroni and cheese (which are creamier and taste better (but alas - are more expensive) than those at Mr Mac's, and a decent selection of other fish and steak entrees. In essence, this is the perfect place to go to when you're with a group of people who can't decide on what they want to eat - there is something here for everyone, all of the food will taste great, and people will not be angry when the bill comes to the table.

For appetizers, we've tried:

• Buffalo Chicken Dip - a cheesy and spicy dip that comes with tortilla chips. We would highly recommend this as a sharing appetizer. One order of this dip could easily be split between three people. Any more than three people, and you might want to order a second one.
• Steamed Shrimp Dumplings - just what it sounds like. These dumplings are not as good as what you could get at a Chinese restaurant, but they were still tasty and satisfying.

For the main course, we've tried:

• Lobster Mac and Cheese - extremely creamy, and contains large chunks of lobster meat. Not a fan of lobster? Based on our experience with the buffalo chicken dip, we're sure the Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese will also be quite satisfying.
• Mini Kobe Sliders - three small hamburgers made with Kobe beef, and dressed with cheese, onions, and greens. The sliders were satisfying, but unfortunately, they didn't come with any sort of side dish - it was solely three small burgers (all dressed exactly the same) on a plate. It would have been more interesting if the three sliders had different toppings, or if there was some sort of side dish (french fries? anything?) to go along with them.
• Grilled Salmon Fillet - a standard entree at many restaurants, served here with asparagus and mashed potatoes. While the description of the dish sounds quite plain, it tasted quite good - the dish never had a chance at our table - we ate it up that quickly.

One of the big surprises at Max and Dylan's is the quality (and in some cases, quantity) of the desserts. We have tried two of them:

• Cupcake Trio: As mentioned previously, we believe that the cupcakes here come from Sweet. They are just as good as (and look quite similar to...) the cupcakes at the cupcake bakery. At Max and Dylan's, you will get three cupcakes: one vanilla cake with vanilla bean frosting, one chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, and one "lemon meringue" with lemon cake and meringue frosting. This dessert is easily split, and at $9, it's actually cheaper than buying three cupcakes alone at Sweet. So, if you're in the mood for cupcakes and in downtown Boston, go to Max and Dylan's.
• Chocolate Chip Cookie Sliders: When we heard the name of this dessert, we thought that we were going to get three chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwiches, with each chocolate chip cookie being the size of a Chips Ahoy cookie. To our utter amazement, what comes to the table was two HUGE ice cream sandwiches, with each cookie being the size of one of those large chocolate chip cookies that you could get at a supermarket bakery. At $6, this is the best "bang for your buck" dessert ANYWHERE in Boston - we believe that they could charge $6 for one of these, but they bring you two. Although it doesn't say it on the menu, this dessert is very easily split between two people.

Other comments about Max and Dylan's:

• The restaurant accepts reservations over the phone (unfortunately, they are not on Open Table). We would recommend making a reservation for any party of 4+ people, as the tables fill up rather quickly, especially around theater show times (as the restaurant is located near the Theater District).
• There is very limited waiting area inside the restaurant - the bar area is immediately at the entrance, and is quite tightly packed. Therefore, if there's a wait, have a game plan as to where you're going to go, because you may not be able to wait inside the restaurant.
• The restaurant has a full bar and a rather significantly sized mixed-drink menu, which we would recommend exploring.

Overall Rating (Max and Dylan's): 9 out of 10
Positive: Fabulous food at extremely affordable prices, in a very central location.
Negative: Always busy, with no waiting area (difficult on inclement weather days). Could be improved by offering reservations on OpenTable.  

Mr. Mac's (Manchester, NH)

Recently, comfort foods like grilled cheese and macaroni and cheese have become popular in restaurants. Mr. Mac's is a restaurant (almost) entirely built on making different varieties of macaroni and cheese. They have 14 different kinds of macaroni and cheese, and if you don't like any of those, you can make your own by choosing the types of cheese and add-ins.

One of our co-workers recommended Mr. Mac's, so we decided to go there for lunch. We ordered two different types of macaroni and cheese: "Cheese Please" and "Lobstah." If you eat inside Mr. Mac's (as opposed to ordering take-out), your macaroni and cheese will be cooked and presented to you in a cast iron pan, which is a nice touch.

The "Cheese Please" contains four different types of cheese, and was very creamy. It also had a crusty top due to the baking of the cheese on the top. We would recommend this version to someone who is interested in a classic macaroni and cheese, with no additional add-ins. The "Lobstah" is essentially the "cheese please" with a lobster add-in. The lobster pieces were ample - we would recommend this to any fish lover, but be aware that the lobster gives a distinctively fishy flavor to the macaroni and cheese that cannot be eliminated.

Be aware of how hungry you are when you place your order. The macaroni and cheese dishes come in three sizes (small, medium, and large). The small version may appear to be too small (more like a side dish size), but it would have been more than enough for one of us to eat on our own.  Unfortunately, we both ordered medium sizes, and we had half of each to take home. Macaroni and cheese is quite a heavy meal, and our stomachs felt like rocks until much later in the afternoon. Reheated, the macaroni and cheese also tastes fine, but just not as good as it is hot out of the oven. We would recommend that you order small sizes if you're not the type that loves eating leftover food the next day.

Something that is confusing to us is the pricing at Mr. Mac's. You can make your own macaroni and cheese - but shouldn't the price of the dish be the same as if you added the same toppings as one of their signature dishes? For example, the "Classic All-American" macaroni and cheese (the most basic mac and cheese) is $4.99 for a small size. However, if you want to make your own macaroni and cheese, the pricing starts at $7.99 for a small size. What is the difference between the "Classic All-American" and the make-your-own with no toppings that it justifies a $3 difference in price? In our eyes: nothing. However, this rule also goes the other way. The "Lobstah" mac and cheese is $9.99 for a small, however if you want to make your own mac and cheese, and just add lobster, a small size would cost you only $8.99. Our suggestion: do the math both ways, and see which way it is least expensive.

Other things to note:

• Mr. Mac's also sells make-your-own salads, but we didn't try them so we can't comment.
• Ambiance inside Mr. Mac's is nice - brighly lit and very clean. A mix of high and low tables, and even though you order at the counter, your meal is brought to your table, and you leave your plate on the table (they'll clean it up for you) when you leave.
• Bottled beverages (sodas, waters, etc.) are available for purchase - they don't have fountain soda, only bottled beverages.

Overall Rating (Mr. Mac's): 7 out of 10
Positive: Great-tasting macaroni and cheese. Good ambiance.
Negative: Pricing is different depending on whether you order a signature dish or make-your-own macaroni and cheese. The macaroni and cheese is heavy - something it will take us at least 6 months to recover from before returning.

Sweet (Boston and Cambridge, MA)

And now for something completely different...

Sweet is a cupcake bakery. There are three locations - two in the Back Bay, and one in Harvard Square. One must wonder - why would Sweet put two locations in the Back Bay, so close to one another (they are maybe 8 blocks apart)? The only reason that we can imagine is for clientele reasons - the Newbury St location caters more to tourists who feel that they should treat themselves to something while shopping, while the Mass Ave location caters to the more "normal" Boston population - people who live/work/study there.

The main attraction at Sweet is the cupcakes. The cupcakes come in a wide variety (maybe 15-20 different flavors), however, their selection is seasonal - there are certain flavors available during the winter months, different flavors available during spring, different flavors available during summer, and a fourth selection during fall. Some of the basic flavors (vanilla, chocolate) are available year-round, but the majority of the others are seasonal.

The cupcakes sold by Sweet are some of the best we have ever tasted (and believe me, we have gone around the greater Boston area tasting them at various other bakeries). While the name of the bakery implies that the cupcakes are sweet, the cupcakes are actually just sweet enough. Other cakes that we have tasted at different bakeries have been too sweet, leaving you with a sugar-high that takes a good amount of time to subside. The cupcakes at Sweet are different - after you eat one, you feel happy and satisfied instead of overloaded on sugar.

Flavors we have tried:

• Dark Chocolate with Vanilla Frosting - recommended, particularly for the frosting. The cake is great compared with other cupcake bakeries, but not the best that Sweet offers.
• Cookies and Cream - recommended if you want just a taste of chocolate. The white cake is quite moist, and the frosting is similar to a mashed-up Oreo cookie.
• Cappuccino - tastes more like cinnamon than cappuccino.
• Organic Karat Cake - we don't really care that it is organic. This is the best carrot cake around - you can see the small pieces of carrot inside, there are no nuts, and the cream cheese frosting is probably the best frosting that Sweet makes. This cupcake is our favorite.
• Sweet Cake with Vanilla Frosting - the white cake here is better than the dark chocolate version.
• Salted Brownie - available only in the fall - interesting salty flavor plays off of the sweet chocolate brownie. The downside to this cupcake is that it doesn't have frosting.

Sweet also has a small selection of coffees, teas, and bottled beverages for purchase, although we have never tried them, so we can't comment. They also make full-size cakes, and can provide cupcakes in large quantities, if you want them for a big event.

Other important information:

• Cupcakes come in normal or mini sizes. Normal-sized cupcakes cost $3.25 apiece (mini ones are a little cheaper). You can also buy a "frosting shot" - which is literally a small cup of frosting - for 50 cents.
• None of the Sweet locations have restrooms, so don't go in there thinking that you'll be able to use one if you buy a cupcake.
• There is extremely limited seating at all of their locations. The Mass Ave location tends to be less busy, because it is not in the tourist hubs of Harvard Square or Newbury Street. But, either way - don't expect to be able to get a seat. You're better off purchasing a few cupcakes to take home and enjoy in peace.
• They don't make their cupcakes in-house - they're made at a factory in Hyde Park and are delivered to the bakeries throughout the day.
• We have a sneaking suspicion that Sweet makes the cupcakes that are sold at Max and Dylan's, as they look and taste VERY similar. If you like Sweet cupcakes, and decide to ever go to Max and Dylan's, order the cupcake dessert, and you will be pleased.

Overall Rating (Sweet): 7 out of 10

Positive: Spectacular cupcakes

Negative: Cupcake varieties only change 4 times per year. No restrooms, and very limited seating at all locations.

Oak Room (Boston, MA)

We went for Sunday brunch at the Oak Room, which is located in The Fairmont Copley Plaza Hotel, right in Copley Square. This is one of those places that you might go to for a special occasion, but unless you're made of money, you will never go there again.

The Oak Room decor is like old money - like the name of the restaurant, there is oak wood everywhere...on the floors, the walls, etc. There are stuffed deer heads, and many many mirrors. The chairs and booth seats are covered in that half-velvet, half-cloth fabric that reminds you of the furniture in your grandparents' house, and the silverware is 97% silver (just check on the back of them for the "97"). Needless to say...make sure you are appropriately dressed (suit and tie not necessary....but don't go in there wearing shorts and flip-flops).

The Oak Room has the typical brunch menu for an up-scale restaurant - starters of soups, oysters, or fruit; salad choices; steak/burger choices; egg/omelet choices; and pancake/waffle/french toast choices. You can buy any of their dishes a la carte, or you can partake (which we did) in their brunch "special" - for $39 per person, you get your choice of any starter, any entree, and either Boston Cream Pie or seasonal berries for dessert. It also comes with coffee, tea, and/or juice.

So, ra ordered the lobster bisque, the corn flake-crusted french toast, and the Boston Cream Pie. Bo ordered the oysters, a filet mignon, and the seasonal berries.

Comments on the meal

• We both ordered orange juice. It was fresh-squeezed and tasted great.
• The lobster bisque was ok. Nothing spectacular. There were some larger chunks of lobster in it, although some of the lobster pieces resembled pieces of fake crab meat. It's going to be difficult for any restaurant to beat the lobster bisque at Surf anyway.
• The chef does not know how to count. This time, it worked in our favor. The half-dozen oysters ended up being 8 oysters on the plate. Interestingly, for such a high-end restaurant, the waiter did not tell us where the oysters came from. We presume there was only one type of oyster on the plate (they all looked similar), but we really have no idea. They tasted fine, but it would have been nice to know if they were local oysters or not.
• The french toast left a little to be desired. Ra ordered the meal with berries in honey on top....and that's what arrived on the plate....but something was missing. Ah! Maple syrup! They did not bring maple syrup to the table, and the waiter only came back to check up on us when we were 75% through the meal (a little late to ask for some syrup). Something about french toast does not taste right without some maple flavoring....and honey just doesn't cut it.
• The filet mignon was ordered medium-rare....it came out more like medium, which was disappointing. The outside of the steak was cooked medium-well, with only the inside appearing like medium. Surprisingly, the steak still tasted good. The steak came with fingerling potatoes, which were undercooked and hard. The side of vegetables (asparagus) tasted fine, but was not spectacular.
• By the end of the meal, ra was a little sugared out, and almost ordered the seasonal berries (same as bo), but made a game-time decision to go for the Boston Cream Pie. It's a good thing she did, because it was phenomenal. The three-layer cake (with cream between the layers) has a light covering of melted dark chocolate, and an exorbitant amount of shaved white chocolate on top. It was beautifully presented and tasted great...we would highly recommend it.
• The seasonal berries (strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries) tasted fine, but the presentation could have been improved. It was literally just mounds of berries on a plate....it's a good "bang for your buck" dish (there were TONS of berries), but we would have preferred fewer berries, with a little bit more decoration - perhaps a chocolate swirl, or some whipped cream to liven things up?

Service at Oak Room was impeccable - besides not being able to find the waiter when we wanted maple syrup. There was a good amount of time between courses, and we never felt like we were being rushed out of our seats. The waiters appeared to know the menu very well - they highly recommended the Boston Cream Pie, which caused ra to switch at the last minute.

Be aware that if you have to use the restroom at Oak Room, that they're not directly attached to the restaurant, and you will need to walk a good distance through the hotel hallways and lobby in order to find it. The bathrooms were clean (as they should be at a high-end hotel), and had nice heavy-cloth hand towels with which you can dry your hands.

One last thing to note is that The Fairmont at Copley Plaza Hotel has a hotel dog - a black lab - that hangs around in the hotel lobby if he's not out on a walk with one of the hotel guests. The dog is harmless, and does not approach hotel guests, so you should not be afraid of him attacking you or your small children (provided that your children are not chasing after him or hitting him, etc.). However, if you or your loved ones are highly allergic to dogs....you may want to steer clear of this restaurant.

Overall Rating (Oak Room): 6 out of 10
Positive:  Service is not rushed. Boston Cream Pie is excellent.
Negative: Overpriced, particularly if the food is not cooked properly. Presentation could be improved. We will probably not go back.

Le's Vietnamese Cuisine (Allston & Chestnut Hill, MA)

Le's Vietnamese Cuisine (hereafter called "Le's") is similar to Muse Thai Bistro in the way that it can't figure out what the name of the restaurant really is. However, unlike Muse Thai Bistro, rabo has some of the backstory:

Back in 1990, a man named Mr. Le purchased an already existing restaurant called Pho Pasteur in the Chinatown section of Boston. He kept the name of the restaurant, but revamped the menu. Everyone went crazy over the pho at this resstaurant, so Mr. Le gradually expanded to three other locations (all also called Pho Pasteur) - in Harvard Square, Allston, and Chestnut Hill. Then (for reasons unknown), he decided that he wanted his own name as part of the restaurant name, so he changed the name of the three expansion restaurants to "Le's Vietnamese Cuisine," but he left the name of the original Chinatown restaurant as "Pho Pasteur."

Needless to say, this restaurant has some of the same issues as Muse Thai Bistro in the fact that their menus still say "Pho Pasteur," and their credit card receipts may still say "Pho Pasteur," and even when their credit card receipts say "Le's Vietnamese Cuisine," it could still post on your credit card statement that the purchase was made at "Pho Pasteur." However, restaurant naming aside, Le's is absolutely phenomenal.

The reason to go to Le's is for the pho. There are many other items on the menu, but really...go for the pho. Pho is a beef noodle soup, which consists of beef broth, rice noodles, sliced onions, and cilantro, and your choice of meat - they have many different combinations of meat to chose from, from rare eye round to (for more adventurous eaters) a mixture of rare eye round, well-done flank, tripe, and tendon. All pho dishes come in either a small, medium, or large size. The pho comes with a side of fresh bean sprouts and basil leaves, along with hoisin sauce and spicy sriracha sauce for you to add to the soup as desired.

The pho at both of the Le's locations reviewed here (Allston and Chestnut Hill locations) is really, really good. The size of the small bowl is enough to satisfy even a medium-sized hunger, and the large bowl is more than enough to satisfy the largest hunger. The soup is simple, as it should be - but you can make it more interesting by ordering a variety of meats, or by adding some spice with the sriracha sauce. What makes the pho even better is the price - around $7-8, depending on the size and type of meats included - which is an incredible price-point for even the stingiest eaters.

We would also highly recommend the fresh rolls, which rabo always orders as an appetizer. The rolls consist of shrimp and pork (although, you can order just shrimp or just pork if desired), with lettuce, carrots, and vermicelli noodles wrapped in rice paper, and served with a peanut dipping sauce. What is nice about this version of fresh rolls is that Le's always provides ample peanut dipping sauce in a larger-sized bowl than most other restaurants, which makes it so much easier to dip the fresh roll into the sauce instead of having to use a spoon to put the sauce onto the roll.

Service and ambiance at Le's varies by location. The Allston location has somewhat spotty service - you are generally seated promptly, but no one ever comes over until about 10 minutes later to take your order. There have been occasions where we ordered beverages (fresh made limeade, which we would also recommend), and the beverages didn't make it to the table until we reminded them that we ordered them...and this was after the pho arrived to the table. That being said, there has never been a true mistake in placing an order - whatever we order is what arrives at the table - it just might be late. If you're not in a rush, then the service at the Allston location should not be an issue. Ambiance at the Allston location also leaves something to be desired - the majority of the restaurant is made up of green vinyl booths which look like they haven't been replaced for many many years. The tables may also be a little sticky, and the restaurant is perpetually filled with college students, most likely due to its location on Brighton Avenue. However, if you're in the area, and you want a good cheap meal, this is the place to go!

The issues with service and ambiance at the Allston location are non-existent at the Chestnut Hill location. Service is prompt and courteous. The tables aren't sticky. The restaurant is surrounded by (fake?) plants nestled on the first floor of the Atrium Mall - a very serene environment.  The only issue that rabo had with the Chestnut Hill location was the presentation of the hoisin and sriracha sauces. At the Allston location, these sauces are in squeeze bottles, which makes it very easy to add the sauce to the entire soup, by just squeezing the bottle and making a spiral shape over the bowl. However, at the Chestnut Hill location, the sauces are presented in small plastic containers with covers, so you must spoon the sauce into the soup, and then mix it in with your spoon or chopsticks. We realize that this is a small issue to complain about, but it is one small way that the Chestnut Hill location can improve.

Overall Rating (Le's, Allston): 8 out of 10
Positives: Excellent pho and fresh rolls
Negatives: Service could be more prompt, and decor could be improved. 

Overall Rating (Le's, Chestnut Hill): 9 out of 10
Positives: Excellent pho and fresh rolls. Service is prompt and courteous. Great ambiance
Negatives: Put the sauces into squeeze bottles.

Chipotle Mexican Grill (Boston)

Chipotle Mexican Grill is a national fast-food chain - it sells mainly burritos and tacos, but you can also get quesadillas, chips/salsa...your typical mexican fare. This review is about one of the Chipotles in Boston, MA - you may have a better or worse experience in a different location, but from what we've seen, it appears that quality of food and service is pretty much the same in whichever Chipotle you go to.

What makes Chipotle different from a Taco Bell is the quality of the food - there is no fake meat here - only real meat, real vegetables, real dairy, etc. And, you can taste the difference. The food actually tastes good and fresh. Typically, when we go to Chipotle, we order burritos, but we have also been known to order a "burrito bowl" occasionally. Burrito bowls are essentially the ingredients that are inside a burrito, but instead of being wrapped in a flour tortilla, they are placed in a bowl - it is less messy, if you have a place to sit down and to eat it.

All of the ingredients that go into Chipotle's food are made in-house. What we mean is - the meat is cooked/roasted/braised/whatever in-house. The vegetables are cut in-house. The guacamole is made in-house. Typically, you can watch the cooks in the back making the guacamole or cutting up vegetables or meat when you're placing your order.

One of the main complaints we have heard about mexican food is the beans - a lot of people don't like black beans or refried beans. Chipotle has the solution: substitute beans for sauteed peppers and onions and call it a "Fajita burrito" or "Fajita burrito bowl." Genius.

In terms of cost: a burrito and a beverage will cost you around $10, which is almost twice what a typical fast-food value meal would be. Personally, we think it's worth it, because the burritos are HUGE, and the quality is top notch for fast food. But, you can decide.

Service at Chipotle is generally better than what you would expect at a normal fast-food restaurant. The people who make your food work as a team - one person heats the tortilla and puts meat, rice, and beans onto it, a second person adds the other ingredients you want (lettuce, salsa, cheese, sour cream, etc) and wraps the tortilla, and a third person is the cashier and rings you up. While some people may complain about not having the same person handle their food from start-to-finish, this method is actually quite efficient. You have one person who gets good at doing one thing, so there is no delay (for instance) at the register because someone doesn't know how to ring up a fajita burrito with no meat, extra cheese and guacamole.

Speaking of guacamole...Chipotle charges extra if you want it on your burrito or salad. However, this extra charge is not always advertised. Sometimes, the person adding the guacamole will comment that "you know there is an extra charge for this?" but most of the time they don't, and you're whacked with a surprise charge at the register. There should be clearer signage regarding the extra cost.

A couple extra things about service:

1. Be careful if you are sensitive to the spiciness of food. One of us (ra) does not like tomatoes, so the mild salsa, which is more like pico de gallo, is not an option. However, the next appealing option is the red salsa, which just happens to be the spiciest salsa that they offer. So, ra always asks for "just a little" red salsa. There have been times when the employee dumps a whole spoonful onto the burrito, making it so spicy that you feel like your mouth is going to fall out of your face and onto the floor. So, the moral of the story is - don't expect to get the perfect spiciness level, and be prepared to get something that is more or less spicy than you wanted....if you wanted something of perfect spiciness, you should probably make your burrito at home.
2. On another visit to this particular Chipotle, ra was hit on by one of the employees. The conversation went like this:
• Employee: "So, what's your name?"
• ra: "I'm ra"
• Employee: "Hi ra, I'm Dave, and this is [pointing to another employee] Bob."
• ra: "Hi Dave. Hi Bob."
• Employee: "So, ra, do you have a [significant other]?"
• ra: "Yes, I do."
• Employee: "Do you want another one?

Not so great. But, you could probably get this anywhere....it won't deter ra from returning to Chipotle in the future.

Overall Rating (Chipotle): 8 out of 10

Positive: Good, quality food. Team service ensures that the line moves quickly.

Negative: Cost at ~$10 per meal is greater than a typical fast-food meal. Flavor/spice of your food is variable.

Surf (Nashua, NH)

Surf is quite possibly the best restaurant in New England. And we're not just saying that because of the events that happened when we went there on February 12.

This was our second visit to Surf. The first visit there (maybe back in October, 2010?) was just as fabulous. You know it's a good seafood restaurant when someone who doesn't really like fish (ra) can eat there and wonder why they didn't really like fish in the first place.

We arrived at the restaurant around 6 pm, and the entire restaurant was packed. This normally deters us, especially when we're told that there would be an hour and a half wait, but believe us - the wait is well worth it. We ended up only waiting for an hour anyway.

One of the great things about Surf is the arrangement of tables in the restaurant. Too many restaurants try to maximize their profits by squeezing in as many tables and chairs as fire code will allow. However, this makes for a very uncomfortable meal - everyone is breathing on your food and listening to your conversations. The tables at Surf are separated by enough distance for the average-sized person to walk normally between tables in order to sit down. There's no shimmying side-saddle, rubbing your behind on the next table over, in order to sit. There's even enough room for you to remove your jacket while standing next to your chair.

The menu at Surf is essentially all seafood. There are a couple of dishes that are not (salads, a chicken dish), but if you go there, make sure you're in the mood for fish. One of the "hidden jewels" of this restaurant are the crab cakes. If you go to Surf - order something that has the crab cake - either an appetizer, a salad, or as part of the main meal. You will not find a better crab cake on the East Coast (sorry folks, not even in Maryland). We don't know what they put into it, but it is amazing. If you go to Surf as a couple, we would recommend splitting their salad with crab cakes as an appetizer - the salad comes with three crab cakes on top, which is quite a lot for one person to eat on their own - it is very easily split.

On this trip, for the appetizer, bo ordered a variety of raw oysters, and ra ordered the soup special (lobster bisque). Like any good seafood restaurant, when the oysters were presented, the server told us which ones came from where, although it really didn't matter because they all tasted great. The lobster bisque was phenomenal - perfectly creamy, and with large enough lobster pieces for you to see on your soup spoon.

For the main meal, bo ordered the swordfish special, and ra ordered a half portion of the surf and turf (filet mignon and crab cake). The swordfish dish came with a creamy risotto and mushrooms and was phenomenal. The surf and turf comes with mashed potatoes and asparagus (although ra switched out the asparagus for green beans). Everything was cooked and seasoned perfectly.

However, the most memorable part of the evening came right after dinner, when A proclaimed their love for B, and got down on one knee and asked B to marry him. What A did not realize was that the entire restaurant stopped whatever they were doing and put their eyes on the table, making it extraordinarily difficult for B to say anything. So, B started to cry, and then she said yes. A put the ring on her finger, and everyone in the restaurant clapped.

And that is the story of how rabo got engaged.

After the excitement died down, we ordered two glasses of champagne (which later, to our surprise were paid for by the table next-door) and a "butterscotch creme brulee" dessert. When you think "butterscotch creme brulee" - do you think of normal creme brulee? We didn't either, but that is what it was, and it also was quite phenomenal.

If we had to describe Surf with one word, it would be: perfect. No matter what we order, it is always amazing. The restaurant is very well layed-out, and the service is attentive, but not pushy. It is the perfect place for a special occasion (like what occurred there on this visit).

There are only a couple of negative things we can say about Surf:

1. It is located in downtown Nashua, and only open from 4-10 pm Tuesdays-Saturdays. During the summer, this is not much of an issue, but in the winter it poses a problem. Most businesses in downtown Nashua close around 5 pm, so if the wait at Surf is long, what do you do? In the summer, at least you can walk around downtown Nashua a little bit. However, in the blistering cold winter, the only place to go is to the CVS down the street - and how long can you spend in a CVS? 
2. Surf does not take reservations for parties less than 7 people. So, expect to wait.
3. The prices (~$30 for entree only) prevent us from going there more often.

Overall Rating (Surf): 10 out of 10
Positive: Perfect food, perfect atmosphere, perfect service
Negative: They don't take reservations for small parties, so there's always a wait, which can be difficult in the winter. Prices are high, so we can't go back there often.

Muse Thai Bistro (Siam Orchid), Manchester NH

The ra of rabo went to Muse Thai Bistro (Siam Orchid). Although, we've both been to this restaurant numerous times prior to the beginning of this blog. We'll try to comment on our (multiple) experiences there.

Let's start off with the name of this restaurant. The name of the restaurant is Muse Thai Bistro. However, you would never know it until you got to the door of the restaurant and read the sign that says "Effective July 1, 2010, Siam Orchid is now called Muse Thai Bistro." If you were driving down Second St in Manchester, looking for the sign of "Muse Thai Bistro," you would never find the place because the awning outside (now 8 months later) still says "Siam Orchid." In fact, almost everything inside the restaurant besides the check print-outs and the shirts of the employees also says "Siam Orchid."

Which brings us slightly off-topic into a discussion on why restaurants change their names. If a restaurant goes out of business and another restaurant  (different cuisine, etc.) replaces it, then a name change is almost expected. If a restaurant keeps the same cuisine, but changes ownership, then a name change is also understandable. However, to the naked eye, nothing about Siam Orchid has changed. The waitstaff are the same people. The menus are the same. Even the business cards are the same - they still say Siam Orchid! The only reasonable explanation to me is if there was some sort of tax benefit to the owner by "closing" Siam Orchid and "opening" a new restaurant (alas in the same location....potentially a loophole...) named "Muse Thai Bistro." Did they get a tax break because the restaurant "went out of business," and then another tax break because they opened a new business? One can only speculate on this.

Regardless of the name of the restaurant, the Thai food at Muse Thai Bistro is quite good - probably the best Thai food you will find in the Granite State. The restaurant has won numerous "Best of NH - Thai food" and other such local awards for multiple years, and we believe that the awards are well-deserved.

I feel like you can judge the quality of the Thai food at a Thai food restaurant by the quality of the Pad Thai. If they can't get that very basic dish right, then there's no point in going through the rest of the menu. The Pad Thai at Siam Orchid is excellent. In fact, all of the food that we've ordered has always been fresh and well-prepared. In our multiple experiences at Siam Orchid, we've ordered:

• Fresh rolls
• Steamed Mussels
• Gyoza Dumplings (more on these later...)
• Tom Yum Noodle Soup
• Wild Boar Basil
• Gaprow Beef
• Mango Curry
• Pad Thai
• Crispy Chili Soft Shell Crab
• Numerous alcoholic beverages

The fresh rolls are excellent, and we've ordered them on multiple occasions. These rolls are not your typical Chinese-style fried spring roll. They are shrimp, vermicelli noodles, and vegetables wrapped in a soft rice paper, cut into bite-size (sushi-like) pieces, and served with a hoisin/peanut sauce. Fresh rolls are best eaten with chopsticks, yet whenever we order them, chopsticks are not provided. The waitstaff delivers the food, and then quickly turns and moves to whatever other tables they are serving before we even realize that we don't have the proper utensils. So, we sit and wait until we can get their attention again (this can be up to 10 minutes), and then they promptly provide us with chopsticks. On the positive side, fresh rolls are not served warm, so this delay does not hinder the food's quality. While we understand why the restaurant may not provide chopsticks at every place setting (i.e. the majority of their clientle prefer to eat with forks, and they don't want to waste money providing chopsticks and then having to throw them out unused when clearing the table due to health codes), the waitstaff should at least ask if the customer wants chopsticks before running for the hills.

We've also ordered the steamed mussels and the gyoza dumplings for appetizers. The mussels themselves are large (some of the largest mussels we've ever seen - where do they get these from?) and they are nicely seasoned, but the portion size is somewhat small compared to other mussel appetizers we've had at other restaurants. If you plan to order the mussels thinking that it is a good "sharing" appetizer for two, you may be disappointed. We would suggest that you order a second sharable appetizer, as we did once by also ordering the gyoza (pork) dumplings. However, what arrived at our table was not the gyoza dumplings, but (more likely) the Pearl (chive) dumplings. We're not quite sure where the mistake was made - by the waitstaff or by the kitchen, but we were a little disappointed in the error. Not only were the Pearl dumplings very plain tasting (they only had a mild chive flavoring), but they cost $1 more than the gyoza dumplings. Needless to say, we won't order any type of dumpling there again.

Onto the main course: as previously discussed, the Pad Thai at Muse Thai Bistro is excellent. There is an almost perfect sauce-to-noodle ratio, a ratio which many other restaurants do not get correct (leaving the noodles flavorless and dry). The portion of noodles is quite substantial, leaving even the hungriest person quite satisfied. One thing to note is that the "Pad Thai" here is served with both shrimp and chicken. However, the menu shows two separate prices - one for "Chicken only" and one for "Chicken and Shrimp." If you just say "Pad Thai," you will most likely get the more expensive "Chicken and Shrimp" version, so be sure to state "Chicken Pad Thai" if that's what you want. Once, a woman at a nearby table ordered a Pad Thai with chicken only. However, when it arrived, it had both chicken and shrimp in it (again, I'm not sure if this was a waitstaff error or a kitchen error). So, the woman called the waitstaff over and made sure that they knew not to charge her for the chicken and shrimp version because that's not what she ordered (she was ok with having shrimp in the dish, but she didn't want to be charged for something that she didn't request). The waitstaff acknowledged the error and (I presume) didn't charge her for the shrimp. However, if you have any type of food allergy....please be extra cautious, as "extras" might show up in your dish, even when you make a special request!

A quick run-down of the other menu items we've had:

• Tom Yum Noodle Soup: Served as expected - not as spicy as expected, but then again, this item does not contain any "spicy stars" on the menu.
• Wild Boar Basil: Too much boar (pork) and not enough vegetables. The dish comes with mushrooms, but that's the only vegetable, and it could benefit from something else - onions? peppers? corn? There's only so much meat and rice you can eat in one sitting.
• Gaprow Beef: The dish was prepared as expected - on the spicier side, but not too hot if you are used to spicy Asian foods.
• Mango Curry: Very nice mango flavor. Not as spicy as expected, considering the "2 spicy stars" shown on the menu, but it contains a nice mixture of meats, vegetables, and mango chunks.
• Crispy Chili Soft Shell Crab: Soft shell crab is a nice option that is not found on many menus these days. This dish was really quite spicy (you have been warned!), but similar to the Wild Boar Basil dish, it would benefit from having some vegetables or other "filler" to go along-side the crab.

Onto the drinks: we've ordered a wide variety of beverages (some alcoholic, some non-alcoholic) at Muse Thai Bistro. The restaurant has a fully-stocked bar, so you should not be afraid to order your favorite beverage. However, you might be afraid of whatever arrives at the table. The waitstaff at the restaurant are also the bartenders, which generally means that any "mix to order" drinks may vary widely in quality depending on who is making it. We have had pretty good luck with the frozen beverages (i.e. strawberry daquiri), but not such good luck with the other mixed drinks (i.e. martinis). If you want to be sure of what you are getting, order something that is bottled, such as a soda or beer - they'll bring the can over to your table so you know it has not been tampered with.

Service at Muse Thai Bistro is generally good and relatively fast. However, there have been some issues in getting what you ordered (discussed above) and in getting the waitstaff's attention when you need something. The restaurant has about a dozen tables plus bar seating, all of which are served by (about) two people. On busy evenings, you can expect that you will not receive any more attention than taking your order, delivering your food to the table, and providing your bill. Keep in mind that the waitstaff is not only taking orders and delivering food, but also busing tables, seating new parties, cashing out bills, answering the phone for take out orders, and making drinks. This generally does not bother us, because we're never really in a rush, but if you're the type of person who wants to easily get the attention of the waitstaff throughout the meal, you might be a little frustrated.

Cleanliness of the front part of the restaurant is generally good. We have had a fork with some leftover food on it once, but we got it replaced without an issue (again, it didn't bother us, but if you're more picky about these sorts of things...). The location of the restroom is strange - customers have to walk down a hallway containing random restaurant things, like 12-packs of soda, milk cartons, etc. before finding the single-serve restroom at the back of the building. Our recommendation: use the restroom at home (or somewhere else) before you eat here. The restroom itself is clean, but the fact that you have to walk down a messy, somewhat dingy hallway before getting there makes us feel a little weird.

Other random comments about Muse Thai Bistro:

• They also offer their full menu for take-out/delivery. When you call, don't be surprised when they ask if you want take-out for the Manchester location. My first thought is "Yes, that's why I called here." But, they actually have a reasonable explanation for this question: they also have a Concord NH location (alas, this restaurant is still called "Siam Orchid"!), so they've probably received calls from people further north, who then never pick up their food because they didn't realize they called the Manchester location.
• The restaurant is in a strip-mall that (like most strip malls) shares its parking with the adjacent businesses. The parking lot is really quite dangerous. I have seen many close-calls with people backing out of parking spots and other cars driving by and not noticing. There's also other "child-friendly" businesses in the strip mall, and when parents let their kids run around like crazy in an already dangerous parking lot, accidents are bound to happen. Just be sure to have your wits about you when trying to park or to leave the lot.
• The restaurant is NOT open on Mondays! We discovered this once, and were quite disappointed.
• Consider going there for lunch - most dishes are $1-3 less in price at lunchtime. We have never been there for lunch, so we can't say whether or not the portions are also smaller.

Overall Rating (Muse Thai Bistro): 7 out of 10
Positive: Excellent food
Negative: Service needs to improve to minimize ordering errors and to increase attention on tables. Consider hiring a bartender to improve mixed drink quality.

Welcome!

Welcome! You have found rabo's restaurant reviews.

You might have a couple of questions:

1. Who is rabo?
2. Really? Another restaurant blog?

The answer to #1 is rather simple. rabo isn't one person; actually, rabo is two people. The name came about from the combination of my nickname and my significant other's (from now on...SO) nickname. We'll both post on this blog. We'll try to keep it so that you can't figure out who is actually blogging...probably more of a challenge for us than for you.

Some info on us:

• We're both in our mid-20s.
• We live in the Boston metro area. And by "Boston metro area," we mean the area that stretches outward from Boston to about Providence RI, Worcester MA, and Manchester NH...that ought to give enough of a distance between us and the nearest stalker.

This idea for this blog came about last Sunday as my SO and I were eating brunch at a restaurant in downtown Boston. We realized that we go out to eat quite often and that we are quite opinionated about our experiences at various restaurants. We get frustrated at websites that have these lists of "restaurant reviews" for various restaurants, because we can't ever figure out if the great reviews are written by people affiliated with the restaurant or people who are paid to promote a particular eatery or if the bad reviews are written by the nearest competitor down the street.

Also, one of us (the ra of rabo) likes watching The Phantom Gourmet on television (if you're not from the Boston metro area....The Phantom Gourmet is a locally broadcast show in which a secret ("Phantom") person travels to different restaurants, and then scores them in various categories, like menu, service, cleanliness, value, etc.). However, this show has gotten particularly irritating recently, as it seems like some of the same restaurants are being "scored" in each episode, leading us to believe that the show is just one big advertisement for a small list of restaurants.

While we would love to be restaurant reviewers "in the real world," we both have our own ways of life (i.e. we have other jobs). So, the only realistic thing we can do is to start a blog.

In this blog, we will discuss our experiences at restaurants. Our discussions will be as close to the God's-honest truth as possible. We will comment when we think others might have a differing opinion. We will try to give as much of a variety of restaurants (cuisine, location, price-point) as possible, but this cannot be guaranteed, since most of the time, our stomachs and wallets do the talking.

Please feel free to ask questions if you want more information about a particular restaurant. However - be aware that if you post anything like "Restaurant X is the greatest restaurant ever!" or "How could you say such negative things about Diner Y? I had the greatest experience there!" - it will be deleted! Why? Because this is rabo's blog - not your blog. If you have such strong feelings, you can start your own restaurant review blog.

Well, actually - it's more because we don't know whether or not you are trying to promote or put down any particular restaurant. We are up-front in saying that we don't (I'm sure you'll see that soon enough...), but we want to avoid all of the issues that we find in other restaurant review postings.

So, that's our introduction. We'll begin blogging soon....