I’ve been to a few more places since I started this, and have repeat visited some others. Might as well do some updating to keep this thread alive, if there’s any other new intel please do let us know.
Did get to both Cafe Sushi and Santouka finally, and was largely happy with both. I went to Cafe Sushi before the renovation, but my lunch there was pretty great. Santouka I thought was respectable for ramen, though I’d rank it well below Yume Wo Katare and Tsurumen and it’s usually pretty crowded. Still, a good bowl of noodles and a worthwhile stop as they are well run and super efficient.
Cilantro and Dumpling House have proved steady if not spectacular. Good offerings to be had at both, though. Grafton Street (a work fave) is the sort of place you might take your parents to and get a nice meal. It’s y’know, fine, and they get bonus points from me for opening early for World Cup games this summer, though their coffee was terrible. They do make a perfectly good lunch sandwich, on the other hand.
Bonchon Chicken has ok Korean wings for a chain and I do like it once in awhile. Their daikon is way too sweet and the basement atmosphere plus the 57 JFK construction makes it kind of uninviting though, I’ll admit.
The Chik Chak truck only comes Mondays now, so I keep missing it–I always have my own lunch after the weekend. There’s one new truck this fall that’s called The Pull Up that does latino food that looks kind of promising.–will try and report back.
Lastly, the new Smith Center at 1350 Mass Ave has debuted some food options. (Aside: the redesign of this space is an architectural triumph, imo). Pavement Coffee is middle of the road and I have not gotten good reports on Swiss Bakers. But then there’s Blackbird Donuts. I’m mostly not all that excited about dessert, but I have to say that the donuts here are top of the line. On the yeasted side, the lemon coconut is aces and the Boston creme has an amazing interplay of just-on-the-borderline-of sweet layers of chocolate, donut and creme filling. As for the cake donuts? The chocolate old fashioned here is about as good as a donut gets, again treading just along the edge of the right amount of sugar. A dense, concentrated flavor of chocolate as well. Sublime.
I probably will try the Saloniki outpost that opened this week in the near future, so I’ll let you know how that goes!
I don’t love the air circulation at the Harvard Square location though (much better with their Beacon St location).
Many of the restaurants are small family owned businesses so a hit like this, even for short-term, can be tough.