Posts Tagged lunch
Eats: Mulan Taiwanese Cuisine
My foodie friend Rebekah was moving back to Buffalo from Boston and we decided to meet one weekday for lunch somewhere between my office and her apartment. We decided on MuLan. MuLan is located a couple of blocks up Broadway from The Garment District. It is located in the same building as Beauty’s pizza and the 2 places share a small parking lot with enough parking for about 5 cars. I was walking so I didn’t need to worry about parking… Good thing since the lot was already full.
After a small wait, we were seated and given menus and some pickled veggies and peanuts. It took some prodding of the waitress to get some water and tea. But, we finally got some. The menu contains some authentic Taiwanese dishes along with some dishes you may be familiar with from Chinese restaurants. We decided to order a couple of dishes from the lunch specials to share. We ordered the kung pao shrimp and the lamb in hot chili pepper sauce. Both dishes were $7.95 and came with soup and rice.
The kung pao shrimp contained chopped celery, water chestnuts, peanuts, dried red chili peppers and large shrimp in a mildly spicy sauce. It was very similar to kung pao dishes I have eaten at other Asian restaurants.
The lamb was our favorite dish of the two. Thinly sliced lamb was stir-fried with julienned chili peppers and green bell peppers. This was one spicy dish! I would definitely order the lamb again.
On another lunch visit, I had the shredded beef with dry bean curd. It was flagged on the menu as being spicy, but I didn’t find it that spicy at all. It was flavorful and filling.
The service was similar on both visits… friendly, but a bit frenzied. On both visits, we needed to request water and tea. On some weekdays at lunch, there can be a wait to be seated.
Their menu says they deliver so I will definitely have to order in some lunch with co-workers sometime soon.
Add comment February 8, 2009
Anguilla Eats: Barrel Stay
We were in Anguilla just before peak season started. One day we were looking for lunch and many places that the restaurant guide said were open for lunch, weren’t open. We went from place to place and finally landed at Barrel Stay. Barrel Stay is located right on the beach at Sandy Ground in Anguilla. The area around the restaurant is a bit beat up, but the restaurant itself is clean and inviting. The dining room is casually furnished with rattan chairs topped with floral & tropical patterned cushions.
The dining room opens onto the beach with a view of the ocean and boats anchored just offshore. One of the boats, was not a very picturesque one. There was a giant freighter loaded with gravel docked next to the pier and all through our lunch we watched as dump truck after dump truck got loaded with gravel from the ship. It was a source of entertainment but perhaps not what one would consider an idyllic tropical island view. At night the location is probably much more charming as it looked like they had Xmas lights strung about the railings and the trunks of the nearby palm trees.
Barrel Stay is owned and operated by a British couple and specializes in French & Creole cuisine. I ordered the “Famous Barrel Stay Fish Soup”, with crispy croutons, Rouille, and Swiss cheese. It was a pureed soup that contained tomato, fish, and herbs. The soup was good, but not my favorite soup that we had on Anguilla (an honor that goes to the pea soup at Veya).
Since he was so impressed with his fish burger from the Dune Preserve, my husband ordered Barrel Stay’s fish burger with fries and salad. As you can tell from the picture, he was so hungry he didn’t allow me much time to take a picture of his meal before he started tearing into it. He liked his burger but in his opinion it didn’t quite measure up to the one from Dune Preserve.
Overall, we enjoyed our lunch at Barrel Stay, but I wouldn’t say we were wowed. I would definitely give them another try during dinner hours.
Rating for lunch: 3.5 out of 5 mangoes
1 comment January 16, 2009
Anguilla Eats: Dune Preserve
The Dune Preserve is located on Rendezvous Bay next to the Cuisinart Resort. It is owned by musician Bankie Banx. The Dune Preserve is constructed mostly from driftwood and other objects that have washed in from sea. It consists of several different levels with covered decks, stairs, balconies etc all combining into a truly unique structure. It is decidedly fun & casual. The Dune Preserve often has live music either from Bankie himself or other performers.
The Dune Preserve was damaged by Hurricane Omar in the summer of 2008 and they’ve done a good job of rebuilding since then. There is a sign hanging over the bar that says “Omar Wrecked Bar”.
We stopped in one day for lunch and we both ordered he fish burger and a rum punch. The service was very friendly and our drinks arrived almost immediately. Our burgers took a bit longer to arrive but we kicked back and enjoyed the view. There was plenty of things to keep us entertained while we waited: watching the waves crash on the beach, staring at St. Maartin across the water, exploring the Dune Preserve, spying random cats & dogs strolling through the bar…(beware: they may beg you for a bite of your fish burger!)
When our meals arrived, they were worth the wait. The red snapper fillet was well-seasoned and topped with creole sauce and fried plantains. It came with a side of fries. It was a perfect lunch served up in a fun environment with a stunning view of the beach.
rating: 4 out of 5 mangoes!
Add comment January 15, 2009
Anguilla Eats: E’s Oven
E’s Oven
Rendezvous Road
South Hill, Anguilla
264-498-8258
For those who’ve never been to Anguilla, it’s not a very big island. It is only 16 miles long and about 3 miles wide at its widest point. There are no highways, and you can probably count all of the traffic lights on 2 hands. There are several main roads on the island, with one lane of traffic going in each direction. It is pretty easy to find your way around. That being said, for all of the restaurants I wanted to check out there, I didn’t have a real street address for them… not a house number to be found. But, we were eventually able to find everyplace that we were looking for. The people of Anguilla are really friendly and were great at giving us directions. One thing you see A LOT of as you roam around Anguilla are goats. Goats aren’t very good at giving directions though. 
Our first day in Anguilla, we had a late lunch at E’s Oven. I selected E’s Oven based on recommendations from Chowhound. E’s Oven is located on the same main road as the hotel that we were staying at. It’s a bright red & yellow building nestled into a curve in the road in the South Hill area of the island. E’s Oven is run by an Anguillan named Vernon Hughs, who gained his cooking skills by working at other restaurants on the island. E’s Oven is located at the site of his mother’s old stone oven. The cuisine has some upscale Caribbean dishes with some pastas and grilled seafood thrown into the menu-mix as well. the vibe is nice, bright, and casual. They have a full bar so that you can enjoy a beer or rum punch with your meal.
We were seated in a covered porch area at the front of the restauraunt. The mister got a beer and I got fruit punch.
1 comment December 31, 2008
Eats: Izzy’s Sub Shop
Izzy’s Sub Shop
169 Harvard St.
Cambridge, MA 02139
617-661-3910
This week I met my friend Rebekah for lunch at Izzy’s in Cambridge. I walk there from my office in Kendall Square proper, and it was about a 10-15 minute walk. It was a really nice day out and the walk helped me release some work related stress. I had read a lot about Izzy’s on Chowhound.com in the Kendall Square lunch thread.
Izzy’s is a small corner mom & pop sub shop that serves standard subs along with a number of Puerto Rican specialties. There are 10 or so tables to dine at but you place your order at the counter. Its very casual and the tables have Puerto Rico place mats under a layer of lucite and there are other homey, ethnic touches on the wall.
We opted to share a number of the side dishes. We got the beef turnover, Jamaican patty, fish cake and sweet plantains. We also tried to order the cassava with garlic but they were all out. The order plus 2 soft drinks cost us under $10.
Beef Turnover and Jamaican Patty
Izzy’s is not the place to go for a healthy lunch, but if you are looking for stick to your ribs comfort food, this is your place. All of our food is a bit on the greasy side, but I had the walk to and from work to burn some of it off, so why not??
Our favorite was the Jamaican patty, which was a flaky crust filled with spiced ground meat. The beef turnover was quite similar but smaller. The plantains were nice and sweet, but also on the greasy side. The only dud from our order was the fish cake. Which was like fried dough with chunks of white fish in it. It was very oily and the dough was really crisp and the fish chunks were few and far between.
Fish Cake & Sweet Plantains
I will definitely be back, maybe dragging a couple brave coworkers who don’t mind a walk. Next time I will try their goat stew or tripe soup and a homemade ginger beer.
rating: 4 out of 5 mangoes
1 comment October 13, 2008
Eats: Sel de la Terre- Natick
Sel De La Terre
1245 Worcester St.
Natick, MA 01760
508-650-1800
website: http://www.seldelaterre.com/
I finally made it out to the new Natick Mall extension, The Natick Collection. The Natick Collection is an upscale shopping mall anchored by Nordstroms and Neiman Marcus. It connects in to the Natick Mall across from Lord & Taylor. The Natick Collection has several dining options one of which is a branch of the Boston restaurant Sel de la Terre.
We decided to lunch at Sel de la Terre, which is located between Nordstroms and Neimans. There was no wait for a table for lunch so we were seated immediately. The space is beautiful. The bar area is bright and sunny with lots of windows. The main dining room is a little darker but is still lovely. The walls are painted a creamy white and there are leather banquettes and booths and blue-stripe upholstered chairs. This is definitely a more upscale dining option than California Pizza Kitchen or Friendly’s in the main mall. For one, there were no screaming kids.
One thing I’ve always loved about Sel de la Terre in Boston is their bread. They bake several varieties and even sell it in their Boulangerie area. The new Natick location is no different. Our waiter brought us a basket with 4 varieties of bread in it, including an olive bread, a honey brown bread, and one dotted with dried fruit. All were delicious, but the olive bread is still my favorite.
Sel de la Terr bills themselves as serving rustic country food of Provence and southern France. Their lunch menuconsisted of several types of sandwiches, salads, hot entrees, and starters. They also have a 3 course prix fixe lunch for $21. The 3-courses for the prix fixe change daily.
I ordered the Duck confit on multigrain with sautéed cabbage, carrots, black currant chutney and curry aïoli ($8.95). The sandwich was very flavorful and different than any sandwich I have had recently. The sandwich was served with a mound of homemade potato chips. The chips were really good and I got asked by the mister if I know how to make them.
He ordered the Grilled Angus burger with caramelized onions, Cabot cheddar, pepper remoulade and pommes frites ($11.95). He got it done medium well, which I think is where he made his mistake…because he later noted that his burger was a little too dry for his liking. The burger was served with a generous stack of pomme frites.
I give our lunch experience at Sel de La Terre Natick 3.5-4 out of 5 mangoes.
Sel de la Terre just opened a new location on Boylston St. in Boston by the Prudential Center.
Add comment October 10, 2008
Eats: Windy City Eats
Windy City Eats
407A Middle Street Weymouth, MA 02188
781-335-0023
Website: http://www.windycity-eats.com/
Windy City Eats opened at the Mini Plaza in Weymouth a few months ago. For years, I had heard about Chicago style hot dogs and was excited to see a place specializing in them opening so close to home. Most of the dining options in Weymouth tend to be pizza shops or Chinese take out joints. It’s always great to see something new and different open up. Windy City Eats has been on my to-try list ever since I first saw their sign and banner go up.
Windy City Eats is a small place tucked between Donut King and the mini mart. The interior of Windy City eats is small, bright and clean. You place your order at the counter and there’s not much of a dining space– 3 or 4 stools to sit at to eat. I imagine most people get their dogs to go, which is exactly what I did.
Add comment September 8, 2008
Eats: Caffe Tosca
Caffe Tosca
15 North Street Hingham, MA
Website: http://www.eatwellinc.com/caffetosca/
Last Saturday, Mister Mango and I met up mid-day to go to the Hingham Farmers Market. We picked up some peache and cucumbers and then headed up the road a bit for lunch at Caffe Tosca. It was a gorgeous day, so we sat out on the patio with most of the other patrons. Caffe Tosca only offers their lunch menu seasonally. Caffe Tosca is the sister restaurant of the more upscale Tosca, which is directly across the street. Caffe Tosca serves country Italian food. Their lunch menu contains a selection of soups, salads, pastas, sandwiches and a few entrees.
SmokeHouse Chicken Panini
Add comment August 31, 2008
