October 2018; Boston and surrounding areas. Openings and closings...

Our Zone opened in Brighton on Monday, in what used to be Chang’s House. A lighter but still flavorful take on Sichuan cuisine, with house made chilli oil using peppers they import from China. I’ve been following them since they did deliveries of chilled dishes via Wechat, with the pian fen (“noodles made with green bean and spinach” on the menu), which is similar to liang pi but with more interesting texture, being a particular favorite.

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I’ve had a sandwich and a slab of potato pizza from them. Both were fairly good, but not spectacular. The sandwich was mortadella and pastrami, but even though I asked them to omit the red peppers it would have come with, there was too much else going on (pickles, strong mustard, etc.) to be able to taste the meats properly. Plus the pastrami had been been heated to a crisp, and was a little burnt tasting. The potato pizza was sprinkled with similarly over-crisped, slightly burnt prosciutto, but the crust was chewy and tasty. I’ll go back, but not necessarily rush back.

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tawakal halal cafe on maverick street in east boston is officially open

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apparently a new restaurant opened in Waltham, haven’t heard or seen it but. . . . .

Balani - across the street from Moody’s in the old Raffaele’s space.

From the Patch:

If smoked meats, poutine, pizza and locally sourced foods and maybe a smashburger are your thing, there’s a new restaurant in town. Balani restaurant quietly opened last week on Moody Street, according to the restaurant’s Instagram page.

How to best describe the place?

“New restaurant on Moody Street in Waltham, making really tasty yums in a fun space,” reads the description.

Dave Becker has two other restaurants in the Greater Boston area. He opened Juniper in Wellesley in 2014 following success with Sweet Basil in Needham. Although Sweet Basil is decidedly an Italian restaurant and Juniper is Eastern Mediterranean restaurant, both focus on sustainability and local sourcing.

If anyone goes let us know!

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dear god, this is an awful way to put this. but the restaurant seems cool. thanks for the tip!

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agreed - here is a write up on Eater thank thankfully doesn’t include that horrible description and doesn’t make the offerings seem quite as random.

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I’m hoping they put a menu online soon, with prices. (or maybe I just missed it.) I think Becker was smart not to do more Italian since we have Brelundi, Charcoal Guidos, options at the Back Room, and Fiorellas just over the border. I’m sure I’m missing a few. The menu sounds pretty eclectic and will probably adapt depending on what the local diners want.

reminds me of my mother-in-law who describes food as “nummy” all the time. Makes me cringe and want to spit out whatever I’m eating.

Well I went to Balani this weekend . . . . . I need to go again to really make an educated judgement call but my first impressions . . . . . the menu is in fact all over the place but maybe that isn’t the worst thing??? I’m not sure really.

Cocktails -
“The Druid” (Rye, Pamplemousse liquor, grapefruit bitters) really enjoyed that cocktails, well balanced
“Indistinct Radio Chatter” (Rum, Cognac, Sherry, ginger and pineapple) a little sweet from the pineapple but a nice rum/fruit juice drink that was a little more sophisticated than many - the only complaint is that the garnish is a whole piece of orange that literally covers the entire glass making the drink undrinkable (physically speaking - there is a large ice cube under the orange slice so you can’t push it into the drink or anything - I don’t normally take my phone out at the table, but had to take a pic it was so strange)

Appetizer -
Duck Poutine - they weren’t as “duck-y” as I would have liked them to be given that the fries were supposed to be cooked in duck fat with a duck gravy - but the fries were cooked well and it was topped with a fried egg - all in all a satisfying poutine

Pork Belly Mandu - these were just okay, 5 small dumplings served over an apple butter that completely overwhelmed the flavor of the dumpling in my opinion. And for $12 for the small amount, get your dumplings at one of the many other places around that do great dumplings

Main -

Crispy Adobo Fried Chicken - very well fried chicken covered in a spicy chorizo gravy with 2 small biscuits - very tasty

All in all, someone at the bar described the menu as “international stoner food” which is probably not that far off. I think they are trying to be way to “worldly” with the menu and the descriptions and it comes off as trying too hard to me (the menu is also printed on metallic silver paper - odd choice). The space is divided essentially into two spaces, the front being the bar/casual area with long couch style seating and spaces that could accommodate casual group gatherings/drinkers and the tables in the back area.

I’m not sure if we will be back . . . but it wasn’t an experience where I’d not recommend it to anyone who wanted to try it out.

Edit: I will add that I was impressed that the bar staff was cleaning and wiping down surfaces almost the entire time when they weren’t making drinks - so someone has set some well appreciated cleanliness standards.

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