A couple of dine in experiences this February.
My youngest and I headed in to Lowell not too long ago. Sat inside, tables were all very well spaced and clean. We did the usual soup dumplings and an order of pot stickers and he added the beef soup and I added the chive pockets.
Dumplings were outstanding as usually and we both really enjoyed the soup and chives.
It was not a spicy soup, it was one of the best broths I’ve had in while. There was a lot going on there, and the beef was perfectly cooked, there was bok choy and noodles. Just a good dinner on a cold February night. He finished it off.
The pockets were really interesting, looked liked a big empanadas with lots of chives, scrambled eggs, noodles and shrimp. Very good, took 2 home and had one for breakfast. Even better reheated. We also took a fair number of dumplings/pot stickers home as well as a mapo tofu for DH, we ate well for another day or so. Definitely one of our favorite places.
DH and I had tickets to PEM on a Sunday afternoon. Recommend the Salem Witch Trials exhibit to any local history buffs. We also enjoyed the Each/Other installation. Focus is indigenous people and the challenges/bias/racism they have encountered (and I’m not sure that really explains it at all!) Worth a trip, entry is timed and it was not too crowded.
So, our dinner was at Nightshade Noodle Bar in Lynn. A little spot in downtown Lynn, proof of vaccination required for entry. A bar and maybe 6 high tops. Nice selection of beers, cocktails and wine, small menu. They are focusing on a range of tasting courses but we went with menu items.
Crab dip with house made chili crisps was hot! but good, warm baguette slices. Shrimp toast was salty but in a good way. DH went with the East Coast/West Coast oysters. 2 WC ,2 EC .
He remains an East Coaster fan.
We split the cabbage salad and homemade egg noodle with braised beef and mushrooms.
The cabbage was crisp and light. The egg noodles were delicious, spicy again with the crisps, chewy and cooked nicely. The salad was a good balance to the spice.
We split a cookies & cream panna cotta and brought home a container of the chili crisps for our own use. The service was really good, and it sounds like the chef/owner takes good care of her staff.
There was a 20% “tip for the entire” staff added to the bill. Which we were told about and is what we would of left.
We would return, but I think we’ll watch the menu to see when it changes. https://tastydumplingslowell.com/
I forgot to mention that our waitperson told us the space next door would be a superette, SinCity is the name. They’ll stock to-go items like bahn mi sandwiches, sushi, noodle dishes etc.
Not sure of the opening.
Good stuff. Enjoy reading your reviews as always, @grumpyspatient.
After all, you were the one that got us off our duffs to try Tasty Dumplings. Now you’ve piqued my interest in Nightshade Noodle Bar even though that’s not in our orbit.
Thanks for your post. The PEM exhibits sound very interesting.
We have gotten take out from Nightshade a few times since the pandemic began. We live in Somerville so it’s quite a drive but so worth it! We absolutely love the food and the story of the restaurant and the chef and the soon-to-open Sin City Superette next door.
We adore the homemade egg noodles with the shredded beef and garlic. I don’t even like beef much and I insisted my husband get it for my birthday. Also love the cabbage salad and the eggrolls and the lobster roll that used to be on the menu and we got a couple of amazing takeout cocktails.
I’m not sure how the takeout is working now. You can sign up for the newsletter on the website and get news about takeout situation and menu changes. If we were within delivery range, we’d have ordered many more times.
Interesting stuff going on in Lynn now. Including One Mighty Mill. In East Somerville, we live very close to Central American restaurants that serve pupusas and related foods. When we get pick up at Nightshade Noodle, we also get stuff at Estefani’s, where the pupusas are the best I’ve ever tasted and everything is high quality.
Thanks for the leads, we are closer than you (North Andover) and while there is never an easy way to get to Lynn we do try. We will check these out.
I had wanted to try the salt & pepper clam roll but currently off the menu. May back this summer.
We found pretty respectable pupusas at the Coop Rotisserie in Amesbury.
And new to us, coxinha, a dumpling which is quite good. We’ve enjoyed all we have had there too.
Have not visited in person, but I’ve been ordering online seafood from Wulf’s Fish. They will occasionally partner with a local restaurant to offer a special box. Normally, much is lost in translation for me from these boxes, so I haven’t tried many but the Nightshade box sounded so yummy! It was a Vietnamese fusion seafood/crawfish boil, softshell crabs, and also had garlic noodles and the crab dip. Despite my lack of skill and full commitment to recreate the recipes exactly at 100%, it was a very tasty box. The fusion of the Vietnamese ingredients really worked for the seafood.
My son and I were back at Tasty Dumpling this evening. A delayed Mother’s Day dinner.
Too cold to sit out side but we did get a nice window seat overlooking the Fireside Pub across the way.
Dinner order included spicy mini chicken skewers, scallion pancakes, crab and pork soup dumplings and the braised beef shank noodle soup. Oh and Fanta orange and a ginger ale.
All very good, as we expected. Just what we needed on cool (cold?) June evening.
