After my Yume Ga Arukara post in the Asian Noodle thread, I realized that I’m sitting on a few things that I have not really gotten to writing up because it’s summer and taking the time for proper reviews seems to be escaping me lately. So I thought maybe I’d put up some quick capsule reviews instead, just to get them out:
Ebi Sushi–I admit, I’ve always been a little lukewarm about this place. My visit on a Saturday after visiting the farmer’s market confirmed this view–my lunch chirashi thing wasn’t bad at all, but in a half full restaurant the food getting to our table took forever. Adequate, but not impressive.
Reliable Market–have mentioned this before, but dang–if you’re in Union Sq. and you get lucky enough to go in when the older lady is putting out kimbap and scallion pancakes from the back, then they are really worth picking up. Buy a nice beer to go with them from the singles case.
The Tasty–my Harvard Sq. Friday lunches have sort of devolved into going to the Tasty every week with the gang (we did go to Cilantro once and it seemed sort of promising) and it’s usually quite good. The hot dog combo is a nice change once in awhile, too. Burgers are usually on par, though there is occasional inconsistency–one week my burger was crispy and hard.
Bagelsaurus–went when Vinal Bakery has the english muffins there (I think it’s Tues-Thu). The Hot Smoked on an english muffin I think is superior to the bagel one, though the constitution of the ingredients were a bit different from the last time I got this. The Vinal wares are pretty darn good.
Sarma–my birthday dinner choice. Fine overall, with reservations. Loved the fried pickles, seven layer hummus and the meze that came around that was a stuffed eggplant sort of thing. Quail skewers were good and so was the Geatland Smash cocktail. On the down side were the weirdly textured fava bean puree and the overcooked octopus savoro. Service was top notch and the space is cool, though I have been here when it was The Paddock so it seemed a little odd to me!
Wafu-ya Japanese Kitchen–apologies to @fooddabbler who has a thread where he talks to himself about this place. I really meant to do a full reply there! Skipped Yume one night to go here for some food and a beer. Got the omakase kushi-yaki and an order of okonomiyaki (and a Kirin). The skewers were mostly really good, though there was one that was overcooked some. It took a bit longer for the okonomiyaki to come out, but it was excellent when it made it, loaded with pork and somewhat greasy in the right way. (Free idea: they should buy one of those other stalls and turn it into an okonomiyaki stand!) A good meal, would go back.
