i've been back to great bay several times in the past few months (6/2004). one time i had a vegetarian plate, which consisted of four sides. one was a sort of asian-esque vegetable mixture which was okay. another was just roasted vegetables (zz). the really good one though and which was definitely worth getting was the pasta (gnocchi i think) w/ morels. mm. we got the chocolate plate for dessert, which consisted of various bits, including some mousse type of thing and such.

the last time i went to great bay i had the seaweed salad again (which is still good), and then i thought what the heck why not try the mushroom risotto. it was good but didn't bowl me over, prob. due to the fact that it's mushroom risotto and every other place in the world has it these days. the rice beer we got was good.

dok bua (harvard ave). def. get the tofu gra prow. it's soooo good. it's this textured bean curd and looks kind of like beef.

comments from other visits: the pad thai is a little sweet, but good. their vegetables are always nice and fresh. for lunch you can get combinations. i had the red curry w/ tofu and andy had the pad kee mow. both of our dishes came w/ two appetizers. the main dish was about 1/3 the size of a dinner portion, but in total it was a nice amount for only $6. ridiculously cheap. the thing about this place is that the food usually isn't incredibly different than stuff you might get elsewhere in terms of how they put it together, but the end result is -good-. i don't know what little things they do differently, but their food is definitely better than any other thai place around. for dessert they gave us this funny gloopy, gelatinous thing that had bits of corn and chewy bubbles that tasted like sweet rice. no idea what the heck it was, but geez, asian desserts are definitely not asian food's strong point.

chilli duck (on boylston directly across from the pru): americanized for the most part, but better than most. also has a separate authentic thai menu; andy likes crispy pork with peppercorns.

bangkok blue (boylston across from the BPL). they have this spicy tofu dish there that i quite like, although it has quite a few things i gen don't like, inc. bamboo shoots, cashews, and baby corn. but in this dish i like it all. so far this place is near the top of my fav thai places, more out of default than anything else. need to try more outside of my 1 mile radius. not sure how authentic it is, but a thai guy i knew said he thought pad thai on boylston near mass ave was the most authentic. i think that place is pretty good, but it's rather fast foody. a big menu, though.

speaking of thai places, i have a tendency to revisit places i didn't like before to give them a second chance, but when i go i'm usu reminded of why i didn't like them in the first place. case in point, thai dish on newbury close to deluca's. i mean, there's nothing extraordinarily bad about it, but it's quite mediocre. bangkok city on mass ave near berklee has a better than average decor, but the food itself is about as mediocre as thai dish. also, the thai place in central square (i forget the name) is bland, but if you can get past thinking of it as really americanized thai it's actually pretty decent.

buddha's delight (chinatown). this is the place that is completely vegetarian and serves mock pork, chicken, beef, pretty much everything you can think of. last time i went i got the "chicken fingers" as an appetizer which consisted of regular tofu in a corn dog-like fried batter with a sweet and sour sauce that strangely tasted like applesauce. that wasn't so good, but the entree made up for it; it was "spicy beef" and reminded me a lot of the tofu gra prow at dok bua (see below), but with less depth. still, it was a decent meal and better than the average chinese restaurant in boston (not sure about in chinatown though). it's nice to be able to order anything on the menu although the place was a tad pricey.

hsin hsin (mass ave near beacon st and the harvard bridge). recently (2005) renovated and now under new management. unfortunately, now it's pretty much completely generic and although less greasy, much more bland. i'm going to have to go to pu pu hot pot (in central square near tosci's) now to get my greasy chinese goodness fix.

king fung garden (chinatown on kneeland st). aka brezhnev's. this is a popular TEP eatery. they specialize in northern chinese food, so it's mostly noodle-based. super greasy, but not bad. their scallion pancake is quite good.

the tibetan place (central sq on pearl st). this was my first time eating tibetan food and i found it to be quite bland, and the cilantro was a little too pervasive for my taste. even though my dish was spicy (a tofu vegetable dish), it was the kind of spicy where they just throw in some really hot peppers, i.e. it didn't really penetrate the dish. we also got some fried potato/mushroom balls (w/ cilantro) which were pretty good, some steamed buns (which catfoo says is very chinese), and our food came w/ a little plate of oiled halved cherry tomatoes with onions and a little plate of cucumbers lightly covered in a sort of creamy sauce. catfoo had noodles (i forget what kind) with vegetables, but the noodles were really rather tasteless. she said the other type of noodles they have are better. all in all it was interesting, although i prob. won't be trying tibetan food again for a while.

buddha's delight (in chinatown, also one in brookline on harvard ave): all vegetarian w/ many vegetarian meat substitutes. has novelty, but in general the food's not that great and it's more hit or miss than average.

mary chung's (on mass. ave. in central square): mediocre, but okay every once in a while.

MIT food trucks: super cheap, although not particularly distinctive food. i lived off of this stuff for almost four years. i'm kind of surprised my arteries survived it.

best: the only indian restaurant that really deserves to be in this category is *** himalaya, which used to be on the corner of mass. ave and newbury st. but unfortunately is no longer around. the food there was fantastic; it always had distinct and fresh flavours and never felt heavy or greasy.
india samraat (on mass. ave. near beacon) was an early favorite when i first came to boston with its mid-priced food, although it's a little heavy. overall i think i prefer this to most of the other places in boston because it's good, solid indian food but not overpriced. the flavors aren't as distinct as bhindi bazaar, but they're more savory, and the ambience is much better and the waitstaff are very attentive.
diva (davis sq) is near the top of my list, out of default. i've been a few times now, and the first time i was really impressed with the flavours of the two dishes we tried, malai kofta and a spicy bengali (?) vegetable dish. very spicy, but very good. the appetizer we got, which was chopped up bits of the potato patty appetizer in a yogurt sauce wasn't really to my liking, but not b/c it was poorly prepared. since then i'd say that in general the food here isn't spicy enough and the food tends to be mushy and the flavours rather indistinct.
bhindi bazaar (corner of mass ave and newbury st) took over the space my beloved himalaya (see above) used to be. the okra dishes tend to be good, but about 1/2 of what i get there in general is not really to my liking. the malai kofta is nice and spicy, though. i find the decor to be annoying in the same way that island pacific is, which is next door and possibly owned by the same people.

average: kashmir, on newbury st. and gloucester, is probably one of the better ones, but it's pretty mediocre and it can be hit or miss. for example, one time i got the malai kofta and the vegetable balls were nice and dry inside, and the next time i ordered it and it was mushy all the way through and tasted like it had too much tomatoes. (andy said it tasted like campbell's soup to him.) the bhindi which was -really- greasy. the service was really subpar for a place charging $15 for an entree, but the main drawback here is that it's really over-priced, so you might as well go somewhere like samraat that costs 1/2 as much and tastes about the same.
kebab 'n kurry, closed recently. it used to be across the street from india samraat (see below) and also on mass. ave and was marginally better than the other indian restaurants in the area.

the rest of the restaurants in this category are about on the same level.
shalimar (central square): heavier than samraat, but maybe stronger flavors. border india near the central square tosci's got a glowing review from nadeau in the boston phoenix, and apparently it specializes in the bengali region, so maybe i should try it again.
despite its name, india quality in kenmore square is near the bottom of the bunch in terms of quality, although it's cheaper and the quantity per dish is greater than average.

don't bother: ragtoni near brighton, was really not worth going to again and prob. gets my pick for the worst indian restaurant of them all. one of the rare times i didn't like the indian food i was served. ajanta (145 first st. in cambridge, near the cambridgeside galleria) was also low quality. although it specialized in southern indian food, the food was surprisingly unappetizing.

verdict pending: i enjoyed tanjoor in h square the first time i went, but the second time i went it was definitely below average. bombay club, also in h square, was also pretty good, although not really memorable -- should prob. try that one again as well.

note: these commentaries are a little stilted b/c i'm vegetarian. i.e. i make no comparisons about any of these places' korean bbq, etc. generally i order a pajeon (korean scallion pancake) and bibimbap (mixed vegetables w/ hot red sauce). i also generally know what the chopjae (clear noodles with stir fried vegetables), deokbeokki (spicy rice cakes), sun dubu ch'igae (spicy tofu stew), and such are like.

compared to the 3 places i've been in new york (all of which were quite good), i'd have to say that boston's korean eateries are generally on a lower level. one last comment, for korean groceries, check out lotte in central square (297 mass ave) which carries some fresh made panchan (side dishes). now, on w/ the reviews ...

best:
*** suishaya (chinatown, 2 tyler st): surprisingly good. i've been quite a few times now. the first time wasn't so memorable, but i went again recently and it's prob. my fav. of the korean restaurants i've been to lately. one of two korean restaurants in chinatown.

good:
koreana (inman sq, 154 prospect st): just reopened. the interior is nicer than it was, although our group of 4 ended up being seated right next to another group of 4 in an adjoining table, which was sort of annoying. o/w pretty good, although i found that i preferred suishaya. need to go again since they reopened.
buk kyung ii (allston): relatively new (opened around the fall of 2003). owned by the same people who own the "hometown" restaurant in somerville. when andy and i went to buk kyung ii i got something that was vegetarian but very close to jjajjangmyeon and it was huge and good. andy had cheopjae which was about average.
wuchan (union sq): usually near the top of most people's list. went recently and was not overly impressed. the bibimbap i got was sweet and didn't have anything particularly interesting in it. the kimchi was sweet as well. not cheap either.
hometown restaurant (next to wuchan, in union sq): people call this the jjajjang myeon place, b/c they're one of the few places in boston that serve the korean (via china) black bean noodles. not bad, but need to go again.

average:
choe's cafe (957 comm ave): nothing special, but the waitress was better than average.
kaya (581 boylston st + 2 other locations): average. pissy waitress. andy sez that kaya has one of the best renditions of stir-fried kimchi in town. not very authentic. once i went w/ someone who got the mandu and it looked nothing like korean mandu, it looked much more chinese. similarly, the ch'igae there tastes right more or less, but the vegetables it has in it are odd.
apollo (chinatown, 84-86 harrison ave): a little less than average.
shilla (harvard sq): a little less than average.

not bad (cheaper alternatives):
seoul food (porter sq, 1759 mass ave): i think this place is cheaper than average. the panchan (side dishes) were really subpar, but the food was good.
super 88 (1095 comm ave): in a food court, so it's fast foodish, but it's good.
porter exchange (porter sq): not bad. recently rehauled their menu, and now has box dinners. about the same as the restaurant at super 88.

eh:
q-vin (545 boylston st): def. below average. the deok beokki and their kochujang (red bean paste) were really really sweet, i.e. not very good.
jae's (locations on columbus and also in inman): okay for what it is, i guess, which is overpriced, uber-americanzied generic pan-asian food. but why bother when you can get the real thing?

a month or so ago andy and i checked out cambridge, 1, the gourmet pizza place that recently opened near the border cafe in harvard square. this is the place that's owned by the same people who own the miracle of science and audubon circle. (i got tired of not knowing their names, so i found a review from the globe of the pizza place .... their names are chris lutes and matthew curtis.) the decor is definitely very similar to the miracle and audubon, lots of wood and dark walls. this place only had pizza and salads (i.e. no sandwiches or pastas), which i find a drawback although i suppose that's a matter of opinion. andy liked that the back faces a cemetery, although i think that's a little on the weird side. the pizza we got was pretty good but not extraordinary. also, i find it annoying that they have a comma in their name, heh.

all in all going to both of these pizza places just reminded me of my preference for a nice greasy slice of american pizza from a place like nicole's on tremont. also, worth mentioning, although i hate bertucci's pizza i have to say their bruschetta is tops and i'd go back there just so i could have it. they put together a plate with six pieces of bread, three different toppings, one eggplant based, one tomato based, and i forget what the third one is. yummmm.

miracle of science (mass ave between central square and MIT): good veggie burger. comes w/ these really good fried potatoes.

other side cafe (newbury st, corner diagonal from virgin records): open until 1 a.m. ... aw, yeah ... they have a vegetarian chili i like

bread and circus: has two pretty good salad bars, although pricey, and some other portable foods, inc. decent sushi.

cafe jaffa (gloucester st in between boylston and newbury) one of my favorite middle eastern places in boston (much, much better than steve's down the street). the falafel is nice and crunchy on the outside which i like. the grape leaves are also nice and lemony, although their hummus wasn't garlicky enough to our taste. also has these things called bourekas which are bready on the outside and a mashed potato mixture on the inside, which are all right.

nicole's (tremont closer to mass ave): has a decent vegetarian plate with hummus, baba ghanoush, falafel, tahini, and a salad

burrito max (kenmore square). they have a pretty good "barbeque tofu" burrito. last time i went though (6/2004) i forgot to ask for salsa. grr. also, the sweet potato fries i got were totally soggy. good every once in a while.

casa romero (gloucester st in between comm ave and newbury) ): overpriced mexican place. last time andy and i went it was one of those "let's check it out even though last time we went it was really mediocre" kind of occasions. it was better, although i'd forgotten how way overpriced it is. we started w/ the guacamole which was quite bland. then we had three appetizers: a cactus/mexican mushroom (i forget the name) dish in a tortilla; a poblano quesadilla which had a nice zing to it; and the chile relleno. all three were fine although none of them were amazing. the service was definitely subpar, but that might just be the "latin way".

red sea (tremont in the south end near metropolis etc.): one of the few ethiopian restaurants in boston. it's called i've been to the other ethiopian place in central square and from what i remember from the other place i liked this place marginally better b/c the bread was less sour. andy and i agree that ethiopian food just isn't that interesting. some of the spices are tasty, but everything has the same texture, sort of pureed and only slightly chewy.

sultan's kitchen (in the financial district): per winnie's strong recommendation andy and i checked out sultan's kitchen. i had the artichoke fritters, andy had some falafel and hummus. the flavors were quite good, although with all fried food that's not directly out of the fryer, it was rather too greasy and dense. i like my falafel to be crunchy on the outside, and so far cafe jaffa in the back bay is my favorite in boston, although there used to be a food truck that served similarly good falafel. went to cafe jaffa this week and although their falafel is pretty good i feel there must be better out there ... their grape leaves though are still the best i've had in boston, although their baba ghanoush is curiously without a strong taste.

metropolis cafe (south end on tremont st): 9/2004: went after a fairly long hiatus. either they were having a really off night, or they've gone really downhill; i'm inclined to think the latter. i can say w/ out reserve that our meal at metropolis was one of the weirdest meals i've ever had. weird as in not in a good way. andy started with an arugula salad that for no particular reason came shredded and molded in a circular shape reminescent of dog food just out of a can and had what appeared to be a canned piece of mandarin orange and a half-frozen hunk of goat cheese on the top. meanwhile, i was puzzling over the asparagus "tartare" which didn't taste much of anything let alone asparagus and which also inexplicably came molded. andy's rabbit was prepared like chicken and was dry and overcooked. it came with the weirdest gnocchi i've ever encountered. engorged, mushy, and unappetizing. i hate to say it, but it strongly called to mind fat, old maggots found under a damp log. also devoid of taste. my "napolean" was described as being "like a lasagna but with bread instead of pasta". it came w/ a squash puree, but like pretty much everything else we'd gotten it was similarly tasteless, although every once in a while i would come across a bit of olive. it's kind of sad when the only good thing you can say about the food is, "well, the bread and the olive oil were pretty good."

2003: the first time i went andy got a simple salad and the veal scallopini, which he said was pretty good. it came w/ this vegetable gratin which is what i had. i'd get it again. it had potatoes, leeks, and cauliflower w/ asiago cheese on top. very filling and nicely done, not heavy. i also had a terrine which came with a salad. the terrine was mostly artichoke, goat cheese, and spinach. it was good, but i didn't find it to be particularly noteworthy. the wait for our food was -really- long, but it must have just been the time we were there (prob. got there around 7 on a sat.) b/c the people who came after us seemed to get their food pretty quickly. the second time i went i got the potato dish again but found it much less interesting the second time around.

thai village (592 tremont st): a last resort place (b/c the south end doesn't have that many asian places), but avoid if at all possible b/c to be quite honest it's really horrible horrible. boston has a lot of thai restaurants, and i can say that honestly i've been to most of them. this has got to be the worst place for thai food i've ever been. that includes any mall food court thai food i've ever had. now there are certainly a lot of thai restaurants in boston that offer mediocre food, but i think thai village is one of the few eateries in boston, thai or no, that has food that i can hardly finish. i've been there twice, both as a last resort, and both times the food i got was really terrible. the curry i got most recently was absolutely devoid of flavor, and it was watery. as in watered down watery. as in, am i eating colored water or is this supposed to be a curry? avoid at all costs. the weirdest thing is that i checked online out of curiosity to see what other places thought of it, including citysearch, the phoenix, and boston.com, and they all gave this place average reviews. are they crazy?? maybe the reviews are all outdated. anyway ...

trident's (on newbury st): has more of a wider menu than the other side, but the food here is pretty inedible. you'd be better off making mac 'n cheese from a box.

mike's city diner (washington st., south end). i agree w/ winnie on this one. it had an odd mix of people when andy and i went on a saturday morning, but the food was pretty mediocre. i had the blueberry pancakes which were fine but the home fries were pretty tasteless. the waitresses there are quintessentially diner waitresses though, which is always cool. makes you feel like you're in the middle of nowhere in idaho.