You’re right that it’s a “light meal” place in that they don’t offer anything huge. But, now that we have, say, Little Donkey down the road whose menu also features small plates, not big, it’s worth considering Cuchi Cuchi.
We thought CC superior to LD as a dinner place on several grounds:
(1) The pacing was more precise and they understood the idea of moving from light dishes to heavy. At LS it’s all slapdash, and – personal preference – while slapdash is faintly, barely OK at brunch, it’s not at dinner.
(2) The sound level, while high, was lower than at LD.
(3) The prices were “reasonable” – the cost, with two negronis and a beer was $85. Were I paying, I’d have kept the total cost within two figures. But my wife, far, far nicer than I, felt sorry for our wait person – I had stepped out to feed the meter – and gave him 20 bucks. She imagined he’d spend it on don’t-drop-things therapy. I’m sure it will go to weed.
Our second visit here was less successful. We now notice a bit of a theme – there are chopped mushrooms in very many dishes. We had perfectly cooked scallops on a bed of chopped mushrooms, “gobi manchurian” (which, really, would be more accurately described as cauliflower pakoras) with chopped mushrooms stuffed into the crevices of some florets (but not all), inedibly heavy and gluey yucca fries, and an unusual beef stroganoff. There was a noodle base in a meat sauce that suggested bolognese more than stroganoff with three tenderloin medallions perched atop. We were puzzled when they asked us how we wanted the beef cooked, but cautiously said medium rare. They emerged well done, but not to the point where they were too tough to eat.
The pacing is still precise (lighter dishes first, the stroganoff at the end), and they did not screw up my negroni this time.
^ If they did, this would be a deal-breaker for sure. The rest of the experience doesn’t seem great, if I read you right. Would you go back at this point?
I was wondering that myself. Probably not for a while, but we have a bit of a dining problem. We have subscriptions to the Central Square Theater and like the idea of eating dinner then gently strolling to the play. That reduces our options (among places that take reservations) to Cuchi Cuchi, Craigie, Viale, and Little Donkey. We like LD, but it is very loud even at early dinner. Craigie has gone tasting-menu, and that’s more food than we want before a play. So we may return to CC, sooner than we would under normal circumstances, or we’ll have to change our dine-and-stroll approach.
Edited to add: On purely food grounds we’d go to 5 spices, but they do not take reservations, and can be packed.
Totally can relate to the “having an on night” comment up thread. I will use that!
Personally, in your stated area, I’d be gobbling up dan dan noodles and suan la chow show at Mary Chung’s (forgive the horrible misspelling) before a play.
How did I not chime into this thread in real-time? Central Sq was my professional/personal stomping ground for a decade, starting in 2002. Cuchi-Cuchi was my office’s 2nd office, especially when we were toasting beloved colleagues’ departures. Food? Do they serve food?!
Pre-Central Theater, how about Pagu (never been)? Or Central Kitchen (frequented a lot eons ago when B lived around the corner…sitting at that tiny bar is such a good memory for me)? ETA: Wow, completely different feel to the website. I wonder if that’s the same for the actual place? And I used to also love Green Street Grill. Sigh.
And like @Parsnipity, I love Mary Chung. Maybe it doesn’t have the date night type of feel to which you are aspiring, but if that place ever went away, I would be inconsolable.
I got Mary Chung takeout for a friend recovering from surgery and snagged some for our house. It had been too long…it really hit the spot. It never changes.
Oh no. I have nothing against folks who use, but it’s not my cup of tea and to see them displacing other more useful (to me) businesses is a bummer. It’s like when I see vaping shops - I cringe.
and Mary Chung is lovely with children. We went in with our newly adopted 7 year old and they said it was fine for him to eat McDonald’s from across the street while we ate our favorite dan dan noodles, etc. They weren’t just fine, they were very welcoming and warm. I’ll never forget that since it was back in the days when we could never get out without him and he had (still has) a number of food issues from his days before and during foster care.
When I see hospitality like this, the business wins my heart. This is one of the very kindest things a restaurant can do.
I saw something similar unfold at a local pho place—the young son wanted to eat McDonalds food he brought with him, not pho—and the staff did not even bat an eye. Lovely, yes.
ii[quote=“digga, post:14, topic:18097”]
how about Pagu
[/quote]
Had a few business dinners there and it was OK but not something I would choose for a family dinner - it felt more like food to not offend somebody and that’s not why we go to restaurants. (And even the company felt the same after a while and business dinners are now often at Catalyst and Commonwealth (and unfortunately a few times at Glassdoor)
Thanks @digga. I’ve eaten at Pagu, but it’s fallen off my radar. Everything we has was decent enough, but I come away feeling that the food read better than it tasted. Still, worth trying again. I like Mary Chung, too, but as you say it’s not exactly festive (or it is, but in its own way). Don’t know if they take reservations, either, my reason to not have 5 spices on my list.
Returning this thread to “initial impressions”, I’ve had lunch at Base Crave the restaurant that has taken over the old Full Moon space at 344 Huron Ave in Cambridge. There’s a curious back story, but here I just want to talk about the food.
Initial impression, and all that, but I thought it quite good. We had the following:
Gundruk soup with mustard leaves and tomatoes, and finely chopped tofu that gave it the texture of a loose chili. I it was satisfyingly sour and spicy and I’d go back just for that. ($8 for decently-sized bowl.)
Lamb momos. These were very juicy, and, as the menu helpfully suggests, are best “hot and whole.” They come with a chili sauce of moderate heat, but were tasty in their own. The menu also has buffalo and wild boar momos that I’d like to try. ($11 for 8 momos.)
Shrimp bhuteko. This was shrimp panfried with onions and chilies, and was my least-favorite dish. The shrimp weren’t the most pristine, and the overall dish was oily. The puffed rice (an accompaniment in other Nepali dishes as well) provided a nice contrast. ($15.)
Salad with tofu, ordered by my daughter and not shared with me. She wolfed it down, if that’s an indicator of how tasty it was. It’s an oddly priced dish, though. The base salad is ten bucks but the add-ons are slightly pricey: $7 for either tofu or chicken, $12 for shrimp.
They’ve kept much of the Full Moon look (the room has always been light, airy and pleasant), except for a wall hanging here or there, and a mirror on one wall.
They also use nice dishes and nice bottles for water.
There’s a lot I’d like to return there to try. The menu for now is here.
Wait, is that a +$7 for chicken or tofu on top of the $10 base salad?! That better be a BIG salad (apologies to Seinfeld). That is majorly pricey IMO, unless they are giving you a whole quarter of a chicken at least.
The momos look fantastic though, and buffalo and wild boar sound intriguing.
There’s a picture of the salad above with a tofu topping. As you can see, it’s not huge. And, yes, the price for the topping is, so to speak, on top of the base price, so that salad did indeed cost an expensive $17.
