Boston mag's top 25 new restaurants

not a lot of chatter about many of these. Whose been to any?

1- cafe du pays
2 - terra
3 - cultivar
4- ruckus
5- Benedetto
6- pagu
7- les sablons
8- pammy’s
9- oak + Rowan
10- ruka
11- mida
12- moona
13- prairie fire
14- north square oyster
15- sumiao Hunan kitchen
16- il pesce
17- French wine bistro
18- manoa
19- mooncusser fish house
20- automatic
21- yellow door taqueria
22- puro ceviche bar
23- buttermilk and bourbon
24- sulmona
25- publico

Haven’t been to any yet myself. Need to read all the summaries too, see which sound like they should be on my list.

1 Like

Ugh spell check.

Who’s = who is or who has

Whose - possessive form of who

Just for the record.

3 Likes

Thank you for sharing this list. I admire that you noted the usage of who’s and whose—1,000 points for that! :slightly_smiling_face:

Wow am I out of the loop. Not sure I have even heard of these restaurants, much less eaten in one. This is a list of NEW restaurants, correct?

1 Like

D’oh. Hard day. It says NEW right in the thread title. ::shrinking away now::

1 Like

Seems largely to be a good list. I think Laughing Monk, Brighton Bodega, and Sei Bar are the most glaring omissions. Possibly Amateras too, but I haven’t been yet.

I’ve been to:

2 - Terra
Everything grilled is just so satisfying, my favorites being the mushroom skewers and shrimp skewers. Enjoyable bruschette. Pasta can be hit-or-miss.

5 - Benedetto
Went a few days after they opened; very good but not as incredible as I imagined given the talent and the ingredient lists. However, the desserts are probably the best in Boston.

8 - Pammy’s
Beautiful room, thoughtfully put together. I found the food fairly interesting and well-executed but under-salted, but again this was within a week or two of their opening.

10 - Ruka
Only been for lunch (do they even still serve lunch?) but was pleasantly surprised by the amount of care put into my gorgeous mussels dish, which used luscious vinegared sushi rice when it didn’t need to.

11 - Mida
Went when it first opened so menu is vastly different; I recall good flavors but it can be too oily/heavy. I was surprised that I preferred the balance of flavors in a pasta dish they had at the time to a similar dish at Benedetto. They paired a complimentary splash of rose with our dinner which was a nice touch.

12 - Moona
Only went for their lamb dinner collaboration with Carl Dooley which had some genuinely outstanding highlights and a few less memorable dishes.

13 - Prairie Fire
Hard to go wrong with the creative pastas. Excellent hospitality. Not a huge fan of the pizza dough but the toppings are interesting. It had sizable shoes to fill with Lineage and I think it’s a more than worthy successor.

14 - North Square Oyster
The composed oysters are memorable. Our server was genuinely excited to recommend things and usually rightly so. Even dishes that sound pedestrian aren’t. I did find that some things on the menu taste surprisingly Asian, e.g. a tuna poke that reminds me of my own Chinese cucumber salad more than it does justice to its appealing list of ingredients.

19 - Mooncusser Fish House
One of my best meals in the past few months. Fresh, hearty, imaginative, and sophisticated.

23 - Buttermilk and Bourbon
Only had the beignets and pork belly cracklings, both competently done and indeed addictive, though former was not light and fluffy enough for my taste.

Was planning to go soon:
1- cafe du pays
3 - cultivar
4- ruckus
6- pagu (my friend who has discerning tastes dislikes it, so I’ll likely avoid everything she’s ordered)
7- les sablons
9- oak + Rowan (bought a good Gilt City deal that I’ve been planning to use)
17- frenchie
20- the automatic
22- puro ceviche bar

4 Likes

Awesome post, rosulate! Thanks for the on-the-ground reports.

1 Like

Let me ten-X tomatotomato, and give Thimes 10,000 points.

(And, yes, thanks for posting the list.)

1 Like

I’ve been to some of those on the list:

5- Benedetto: excellent, on par with Giulia but easier to get a reservation. their pastas are my favorite in the area. desserts stand out as well. i like that they kept the old bar from Rialto. As Benedetto opened nearly a year ago, I’m not sure I’d put it in a new list.

6- Pagu: we enjoyed our meal (Oh, right. March 2017, Boston. Openings and closings.) but found it a bit overpriced at the end of the day, and honestly haven’t thought of going back. i do need to stop in for a plate of their jamon though.

7- Les Sablons: i’ve heard people gush but they can never explain what they love about it. again good but overpriced. Les Sablons Harvard Square Cambridge MA

8- Pammy’s: probably my favorite I have tried from this list. it has become a regular in our rotation. the menu is small but well thought out. we honestly haven’t had a miss there. the wine list is well curated and reasonable as well. Cambridge is spoiled with outstanding Italian food, though Pammy’s isn’t straight Italian.

9- Oak + Rowan: meh. i often have this complaint, but the fish in their crudos was overdressed to the point where you couldn’t taste the fish. it was also poorly cut. if you’re going to come in from the suburbs, you need to bring more heat than this. one of the more disappointing meals I’ve had this year.

23- Buttermilk and Bourbon: we found the food here to completely lack subtlety. I eat plenty of rich and unhealthy food, however my wife summed the food up best when she referred to it as heavy for the sake of being heavy.

24- Sulmona: this was a pleasant surprise. with all the excellent Italian options in the area, we find our family here somewhat regularly. the food is consistently good, and it is a decent value which is rare for a new restaurant opening. their carbonara is one of the most authentic renditions around.

Friends have enjoyed Café Du Pays. Not on this list, we are eager to try Pabu (not to be confused with Pagu), Yume Ga Arukara (my kids love udon noodles), and Momi Nonmi.

3 Likes

I suspect that Momi Nonmi might be on next year’s list, similar to how Benedetto is on this year’s. Sounds like I’ll have to try Sulmona and revisit Pammy’s.

I recently enjoyed the happy spoon and mazemen at Pabu during their weekly ramen night, although I don’t think they use traditional ramen noodles.

1 Like

Only Terra and Pagu.

Terra is a nice way to experience Eataly without having roving hordes ogle your meal. Nice selection of vermouths. They are a bit wierd about water service, refilling after every sip. And occasionally topping sparkling with tap. Food was good but not memorable. We find Babbo Enoteca & Pizzeria more satisfying in every way.

Pagu - the cocktail in funky glassware was fun, loved the jamon Iberico and the pork bao.

1 Like

this is a great rundown, rosulate. thank you!

appreciate uni’s chime-in as well. really helpful all around.

1 Like

Yes, strange that Pabu is not on the list. Amazing (see Pabu Boston and sorry for messing up the OP).

I like Manoa and think they’ve got the closest product to classic poke so far in the area. Their kalua pig wasn’t bad either.

As a Hungry Mother (but not so much State Park or Mamaleh’s) fan I’m very curious about Café du Pays. Looks like good cold-weather food.

Semi-new as in the last year. At least two of them (Automatic & Benedetto) opened 11 months ago.