totally asleep at the switch and a little busy these days, I once again totally forgot to start this thread. Please forgive me! Don’t kick me out!
Sooooo, any grand openings? Any fateful so longs?
They both go here.
el penol 2 on broadway in revere has opened
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Pepe Bocca appears to be closed in Davis Square. The signs says for renovations, but there’s no way with the constant re-jiggering they’ve been doing that their business model could be anything like sustainable. After my experiences there, I can’t say I’m all that sad to see them go.
They sure had potential, but it was a strange venue.
Yes, I’ve seen brown paper in the windows for weeks as I’ve driven by. Have had no desire to stop and look at the signs, given my own most-recent dismal experiences there.
It’s curious what makes a place work and what might not. The young couple who ran the place seemed nice, but not terribly focused. Perhaps that was it – perhaps not.
shangri-la on belmont street in belmont is temporarily closed due to a kitchen fire
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Oh no!
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A new dumpling stand has replaced the Beijing “crepe” and noodle place right at the entrance to the Kam Man grocery store . A sheet was taped up reading soft opening. The place specializes in dumplings like shui jiao (水餃) and sheng jian bao (生煎飽). They appear to be making them to order. While that sounds great in concept, I can see problems arising. They had limited items available even though their menu listed 5-8 varieties of each dumpling type, so we who wanted to grab and go had almost no options except for 2 items. There is still no place to sit nor much room to wait by the crowded entrance.
With that being said, the hot just ready sheng jian bao were yummy! I would have loved to try more, but too bad they didn’t have anything else. If they can figure out the logistics challenge of prep and still made to order (they need more than 2 sets of hands for sure), this place could have potential. I hope they can make this work.
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Inquiring minds want to know, what grocery store?
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Oh sorry! Kam Man… Thought I put that in.
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Thanks for taking one for the team - i went there last week and was so disappointed that IQ Kitchen place is gone (LOVE the main store in Newton). I wonder if the handmade dumplings justifies the higher price points instead of just picking up a bag of locally made frozen dumplings…
I liked what I tried from IQ Kitchen too, but they need a proper food stall and/or storefront locally. I hope they would reconsider finding a spot that would be better suited for take-away or even limited sit down. I think this corner unit by Kam Man is tough for any business to succeed.
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sunnyday, any particular recommendations for good dishes at IQ Kitchen in Newton?
Which Kam Man are you referring to? Quincy? They seem to have multiple locations.
Try a rice noodle soup - I am partial to the lamb but all the protein choices are excellent really. I think they all come with the standard pickled greens, blanched greens, herbs, and your requested level of spiciness. I also liked their Guiyang style fried rice with diced pickled green beans and chinese sausage and salted ham.
The mala pot was a recent addition to the menu (I think) but quite good if you like those. It came in a huge container and contained just about every item in the mala pot selection (tofu skin, wood ear mushroom, lotus root, tofu, beef, lamb, tripe, luncheon meat, and the list goes on…). DH and I got a side order of rice and couldn’t finish the whole thing.
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Yes, the Quincy location.
Thanks.
I have only gone to IQ Kitchen the once, but I got the beef noodle and really liked it. Also of note is that this place is tiny (like 6 seats) so it’s good to go at an off time or be ready to wait.
Thank you, sunnyday! (I love beef noodle but have to admit that I’m not a huge fan of rice noodles – much prefer wheat ones.)
I think you can sub wheat noodle for rice noodle there, although rice noodle was typically used in the region. I’m not a big fan of rice noodle either, especially when they get limp and soggy after a while - but the texture is quite good at IQ Kitchen. They package the noodle and soup separately for takeout, which helps tremendously.
