From X Sat Aug 20 11:38:33 EDT 1994 Article: 10125 of rec.food.restaurants
Massachusetts
(no subject)
Message-Id: To: [email removed]
_DISCLAIMER_:
There are many good restaurants in Boston I have never been to.
I write _only_ about those I have been to myself, or recommended
to me by my friend, who is picky enough to trust his choice. The
ones recommended by the friend will be marked "(F)"
Italian:
1. Michela's - Athenaeum Place in Cambridge, 10 min drive from downtown
or 10 min walk from Lechmere Station.
IMHO, the best italian rest. in Boston. Also, the most expensive.
Very untrivial dishes, such as rabbit with haselnut crumbs, and many
others. Excellent service, quite accomodating. Their desserts are
very unusual and a must try. Almost casual (no jeans)
2. Olives - Charlestown, 10 min walk from downtown or 5 min walk from
North Station. Crowded, noisy, excellent food and desserts, good
wine list. Yuppie hangout. Try their three little pizzas from
the sea - oh... Casual.
3. Massimino - outskirts of North End (Boston italian quarters), 3 min
walk from North Station, or Heymarket, on Endicott Street. Small,
unpretentuous, excellent food, especially vegetable dishes. Fast
service. Casual.
4. LoConte's - North End, 3 min walk from North Station, or Heymarket,
or Government Center. The best Spagetti Carbonara I ever tried
so far. Very good food, trivial desserts (non-trivial for those
who are not North End regulars, though, but I will give you the best
place for desserts below). Casual.
5. L'Osteria - see LoConte's - and located next to it. I have eaten at
L'Osteria in Utrecht - but as far as know they are not related despite
storefronts look very similar. Casual.
6. PapaRazzi - several locations, including Newbury Street, Chestnut Hill
Mall and other(s). Italian food with californian twist, limited wine
list, service varies. Casual.
Chinese: There are many that are good. Those are the best:
1. Sally Ling's - Commercial Street in Downtown and off Centre Street in
Newton Centre. The first one offers a better service and has the original
chef. Their lamb with scallions is remarkable. Do not fall for desserts
though. Te ambiance of downtown location seems to be better to me. Casual.
2. Bernard's (yes, chinese rest. Bernard's) - Chestnut Hill Mall. 10 minute
walk from T station Chestnut Hill. Very coldish ambiance. Outrageously
good food. Sesame Chicken is to die for. Casual.
There obviously are hundreds of others - many are very good, such as
Kowloon, Eastern Seafood (not to miss, on the fish pier), Golden Temple
in Brookline, Yangtze River in Lexington, some are not.
The ones that are to avoid, IMHO are Aku-Aku and Ming Garden - but your
mileage may vary.
Japanese: I do not like it, therefore all tree are (F):
1. Guyhama in Boston (Boilston Street)
2. Takeshima in Brookline (Harvard Street)
3. Bisuteki - Memorial Drive in Cambridge. I've been there myself.
Nice restaurant, tabletop cooking, juggling and all that jazz.
I cann not testify to the quality of food, since I do not like it
(Sake was good, though)
all - casual
Seafood:
1. Turner Fisheries is located in Westin Hotel on Copley Place.
Best elaborate seafood dishes you could find in Boston. Expensive,
no need to go there if all you need is just broiled salmon or somesuch.
The only place in Boston I have found so far to serve Bloody Ceasar's.
Jazz on Fri and Sat. Casual, but at dinner time jeans may be a liitle
out of that world. Have their salmon fennel soup and any poached fish
with tapenade.
2. Gourmeli's in the same building across the mall - very good seafood,
their clam chowder IMHO is better than Turner's. Cheaper, too. Casual.
3. Legal Seafood - notorious for fressnes, and that is it to mee. They are
more or less specialiazed in simple kinds of food - broil, braise, poach,
fish'n chips, etc. Service has gone downhill in the last 2 years.
Besides, I believe that the one who pays $25 a plate deserves a
tablecloth. They have several locations, including Park Plasa Hotel,
Chestnut Hill, Cambridge, Burlington Mall. The one in Burlington
is the best among those. Casual.
4. No Name - Boston landmark, located on Fish Pier next to Eastern Seafood.
Has veen known for years as cheap eat-in-the-rough freshest seafood.
Cooking and service have gone downhill lately, so seems cooking. Very casual.
5. Eastern Seafood located on Fish Pier next No Name - chinese and seafood.
very good (F). Casual.
Again, there are many others, like Anthony's Pier 4, Skipjack, Jonah's, Jimmy's - all are good to very good. Do not forget that we are in Boston after all. The ones I have mentioned are probably the best.
Mexican
1. Sol Azteca in Newton Centre and Beacon St in Brookline are unanimous
best, Cheap, too. Casual.
2. Runners - up are Cottonwood Cafe in Boston (Boilston St), Rattlesnake
- next to Cottonwood, Cactus Club - Boilston St.
Spanish
1. Dali in Somervile (F) said to be excellent
Thai
1. King and I (Charles St and Newbury St in Boston) excellent.
advise: try their pad thai first to know how you want your dishes
spiced.
2. Lemon Grass in Lexington is good too.
Greek
There are no good greek restaurants in Boston. All places you will hear about in Cambridge and Somerville - if you have ever tried good greek food - do not waste your time.
German
There are no good german restaurants in Boston. Jacob Wirth in combat zone is the only one I know of - no good.
French
1. Maison Robert - School Street in Downtown - one of the best. Very
expencive, excellent food, wine list and service. Have a cafe, prices
about 30% less. Also have Mon and Tue prix fix menu - cheaper, too.
Formal.
2. Bay Tower Room - 60 State Street, next to Faneuil Hall. Mix of french and
what is called continental here. My favorite restaurant in Boston. 32nd
floor of a biulding in downtown, terrific food, wine list, live jazz on
Fri and Sat, smashing view of Boston (contingent on good visibility).
Do not miss their escargot, lobster bisquie, swordfish with lobster-chive
vinaigrette and roasted tomato couscous - yummm (this dish is $28, BTW).
Formal.
If any questions - directions, prices, etc.. - e-mailFrom X Mon Jun 6 20:18:35 EDT 1994 Article: 8901 of rec.food.restaurants
From X Sat Jun 11 10:06:10 EDT 1994 Article: 8985 of rec.food.restaurants
Subject: Re: Best pizza in the word hands down!!!! Date: 9 Jan 1995 06:43:17 GMT Organization: University of New Mexico, Albuquerque Lines: 7 Message-ID: References: NNTP-Posting-Host: triton.unm.edu X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.2 PL2] There is no question that the best pizza in the world is made on Wooster Street in New Haven,CT by Sally's pizza. The pizza is thin crust, made in coal fired ovens in operation since the 1940's. There is no equal to their fresh clam red or white pizzas. People come from all over the world to savor them and are willing to stand in line for hours. I'm surprised that it has not been mentioned yet.
Mime-version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Lines: 15 Date: Sat, 31 Aug 2002 17:45:07 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 68.64.108.172 X-Complaints-To: [email removed] X-Trace: news1.news.adelphia.net 1030815907 68.64.108.172 (Sat, 31 Aug 2002 13:45:07 EDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Sat, 31 Aug 2002 13:45:07 EDT Xref: usenet.INS.cwru.edu ne.food:21449 Ok - it isn't Thai and I don't know what it really is! We went for lunch on Friday, my husband had the Pad Thai, my daughter the sate and fried rice and I had the Hot Basil chicken. The pad thai was more like lo mein with marianated chicken, tasty but not what was expected. The sate was more like leather - shoe leather in particular Mine was tasty, but the heat tasted more like red pepper flakes than anything else. We will not be headed back again! Cheryl
Mime-version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Lines: 27 Date: Fri, 03 Jan 2003 12:07:52 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 68.64.108.172 X-Complaints-To: [email removed] X-Trace: news1.news.adelphia.net 1041595672 68.64.108.172 (Fri, 03 Jan 2003 07:07:52 EST) NNTP-Posting-Date: Fri, 03 Jan 2003 07:07:52 EST Xref: usenet.INS.cwru.edu ne.food:22859 I've now had two meals at Siam Orchid - both were wonderful. Meal One - Winter Shrimp appetizer, Hot and Crazy Noodles, Yellow Curry and Pad Thai noodles (for the two children, aged 1.5 and 4). The shrimp, wrapped in a wonton style wrapper, were crispy and full of flavor. The two children loved them and would have happily eaten the whole order. The sweet and sour sauce was nice and light. The yellow curry was flavorful and vegetables were fresh. The Hot and Crazy noodles were spicy and the scent of the Thai basil drove me nuts. The Pad Thai is the best I've tasted in ages. Slightly to the sweet side, but it was known to be going to a child. Meal Two - Thai Shrimp, breaded and deep fried, were a huge hit. (My 10 year old son ate most of the order.) My husband had the Massaman curry with chicken, I had the Panang curry with beef. We got an other order of Pad Thai, but my daughter ended up eating her brother's beef Sate. (I got one strip, it was delicious.) I am very impressed all around with the Siam Orchid. First, the food is great, the food is fresh. High marks on presentation too. Second, the atmosphere is quietly elegant even for lunch. The location is a strip mall off Second Street in Manchester, but you forget that unless you look out the window. Finally, and most important, the staff is knowledgeable and friendly with out being in your face. They also deal well with children. Cheryl
Subject: Re: Portland, Maine eats Date: Wed, 02 Oct 1996 09:54:32 -0400 Organization: Biddeford Internet Corp. Lines: 17 Message-ID: References: NNTP-Posting-Host: brnpc15.biddeford.com Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In article , DeAnn Tabuchi Someone wrote: > Does anyone have any restaurants > in the Portland Maine area? > I'm looking for casual, inexpensive > seafood places in particular. May also > be up in the Camden area as well. > > Thanks a lot! In Portland, try Bella Bella, Street and Company (superb seafood, not so cheap though), Katahdin, or Pepper Club.
Subject: Re: Looking for a good seafood restaurant Date: Thu, 31 May 2001 12:35:57 -0400 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Message-ID: X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.72 [en] (X11; U; Linux 2.2.14-5.0 i686) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 References: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Complaints-To: [email removed] Lines: 53 Xref: usenet.INS.cwru.edu pgh.food:11933 Kate C. wrote: > > Adam F. wrote: > > > I miss Maine lobster myself. If any of you are ever near Bath, ME, head > > out to the Georgetown Fisherman's Co-op. I recommend two 1-1/4lb > > softshell lobsters with 1 lb of steamers and an ear of corn. (3 lb > > lobsters are for tourists, who don't know any better!) Wear old clothes > > and grab a seat at one of the picnic tables on the pier. This feast > > will set you back about $8 or so, but the real cost is that you'll never > > again be able to eat lobster anywhere else. > > Hey, Adam, > Let's hear more about these "softshell" lobsters. > Heard of softshell crab, never heard of softshell > lobster. So what's the deal? How do you eat > them. You don't have to eat the shells do you? > Yuck. :-) They're just lobsters that are molting, or whatever the equivalent is for crustaceans. They're not always available, and I've never seen them offered outside of Maine. They are less expensive than hard-shelled lobsters because they are slightly more water by weight when still alive, so you get a little less meat out of them than from a hardshell of the same weight. I think that the meat from a softshell is a little sweeter, and I actually prefer them in taste and texture. Also, you can open them up with nothing more than your fingers, which is convenient and psychologically empowering. ;-) No, the shells are still not edible, at least by humans. > Anyway, is this place this side of > Acadia Nat. Park? Yes, it's close to Bath, which is about 30-40 minutes north of Portland. Go across the only sizable bridge in Bath (where you can see them building the warships at Bath Iron Works), turn right, and try to follow the main, twisting road for around 2-3 miles. It's at the end of that road. If you end up in the Atlantic, you've gone too far. > I'll be going there this fall > and then driving back down the coast to > Boston. Do they serve 'em for breakfast? I have no idea, but if you're in Portland around breakfast time, go to the park at the end of State St. There's a restaurant in the park called The Barking Squirrel where they serve eggs benedict with lobster meat. Orgasmic!
Subject: Re: Good Resturaunts in MALDEN? Message-ID: Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) References: Date: Fri, 17 May 1996 17:35:40 GMT Lines: 18 Sender: [email removed] Gayathri wrote: >Fahim J. wrote: >>Please email me with comments. We're into all kinds of food. >There is an Italian place on Main Street in Malden, who's name escapes >me - its Very Good. Other then that, nothing of interest in Malden >except for my housemate's aunt who comes from Calabria, Italy and >makes Italian food that has to be eaten to be believed, tho.. sadly, >their catering business closed and Deli were sold. (They retired.) Don't know if this is the one you're talking about, but I had an excellent (albeit expensive) meal at Il Panino in Malden Center. [They also have a cafe-like place in Harvard Square which has excellent food, but mostly a take-out atmosphere.]
Subject: Where's the best pizza in Worcester / Shrewsbury? Date: Mon, 15 Nov 1999 14:49:05 -0500 x-disclaimer: these are only my opinions. treat them as such. X-Posted-Path-Was: g3pdm X-ELN-Date: 15 Nov 1999 19:48:27 GMT x-no-archive: yes X-ELN-Insert-Date: Mon Nov 15 11:55:05 1999 X-Face: PjGH5#`|x.E~sv;}``:r3Wo6t)tT*xVJS'S2>b^EQ~o&e},so~*U54 7cl*|:Ui%mm@Q>m`aQSuIm>>$|Kh\u,F\:=U Organization: Ministry of Silly Walks X-Newsreader: MT-NewsWatcher 2.4.4 Lines: 15 NNTP-Posting-Host: dialup-63.210.153.128.boston1.level3.net Message-ID: Xref: pale-rider.INS.CWRU.Edu ne.food:8647 Well, where do you go to avoid the chain pizza places? Also, how is East Side Mario's? BTW, I found a decent place for lunch: China King (on rt. 9 by the Worcester / Shrewsbury border). The atmosphere is low (looks like a refurb'd Burger King) but the lunch buffet is really good (and cheap). Not the place to take a date to dinner though. thanks, brian
Christine D. wrote: Hi everyone, I'm looking forward to a trip to Boston. From my last trip, I remember the Italian quarter in the North of Boston with lots of good-looking restaurants side by side. We choose one arbitrarily and were satisfied, but could someone recommend a special place? Thanks, Christine I liked Giuffre's on the corner of Cross and Salem, but they're under new management, so I don't know how/if it's changed. L'Osteria on Salem always gets good reviews. I've had lunch at Il Panino on Parmenter. I always get the gnocchi... it's quite good. La Famiglia on Salem is sort of the bellybuster bargain place. Not to put it down in the least -- the food's very good. But the emphasis is most definitely on quantity. Furthermore, it can be quite crowded at times...it's very popular.
Subject: Re: Best Chinese Restr. in Boston area??? Message-ID: Date: 25 Oct 93 14:08:39 GMT Article-I.D.: fripp.1993Oct25.140839.25209 References: Sender: [email removed] (USENET News Poster Account) Reply-To: Organization: Cadre Technologies, Inc. Organization: Cadre Technologies Inc. Lines: 16 Nntp-Posting-Host: smokey In article , [email removed] (Shun-Chang Tsai) wrote: > I've been around Boston for a while, and I've been to quite a few > Chinese restaurants here as well. Frankly, they're all horrible. > > Any recommendations? >Sure, Ming Garden on Route 30. The food isn't spectacular, but they have a grat >great buffet! >BTW does anyone know of a good barbeque restuarant in the Boston area? First of all Ming Garden is on Route 9 in Chestnut Hill across from Chestnut Hill Cinema. As for the many others who have reccomended Chinese restaurants in Boston - there are too many. Just keep on trying to you find what you like. As for barbeque - if you want ribs - try on Harvard Street in Brookline almost at interesction of Route 9 called Village Smoke House. They are reasonable priced, but make sure you leave you AMEX, MC and VISA home - they only take cash the last time I was there.
Subject: Re: places to go in Boston Date: 10 Feb 1995 15:15:56 GMT Organization: Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts Lines: 48 Distribution: usa Message-ID: References: NNTP-Posting-Host: fas-2.harvard.edu X-Newsreader: NN version 6.5.0 #3 (NOV) LisaBeth G. wrote: >My boyfriend and I will be taking a trip to the Boston area in a few >weeks and were wondering if anyone had any suggestions as to which >restaurants we should try. The only type of food we don't tend to eat Suggestions: 1. Check out Ellis Cohen's recommended Boston Restaurant List, which is on the World Wide Web at http://www.osf.org:8001/boston-food/boston-food.html The list contains pretty reliable reviews, and is searchable by name, neighborhood, and type of cuisine! The list is also available by anonymous ftp, but I don't have the address here, so email me if you want it. 2. If you are more specific as to price range and type of cuisine, I may be able to help you a little more. Anyhow, here are a few of my favorites in a variety of price ranges and styles: Elephant Walk--French/Cambodian (Union Sq. Somerville, or Beacon St. and Park Drive, on the Boston/Brookline line). Moderate. Alloro--New Italian/Mediterranean (Hanover St., North End) Expensive Olives--Mediterranean (Charlestown). Expensive. Figs--Unusual Pizzas and Pasta (Charlestown). Moderate. Il Panino--Pastas, Pizza, Subs (Mass. Ave., between Harvard and Central Squares, Cambridge, also in the North End). Inexpensive. Grand Chau Chow--Chinese (Chinatown). Inexpensive/Moderate Some Brunch suggestions: Blue Room (One Kendall Sq., Cambridge)--Unusual, creative brunch, focusing on grilled meats, really good vegetable and pasta salads, and great desserts. ($15pp). Turner Fisheries (Westin Hotel, Copley Sq., Boston)--very good seafood- oriented brunch (around $20pp). China Pearl and Golden Palace (both Chinatown)--Dim Sum. Other good places include: East Coast Grill (Grilled, often spicy, foods) and Jae's Cafe (Korean, Japanese, and other asian foods in a sleek setting) in Inman Square, Cambridge; Redbones (BBQ)--Davis Sq., Somerville; Japanese Food Court (Porter Sq. Exchange, Cambridge--the building with Cottonwood Cafe); Ho Yuen Ting, East Ocean City, Asian Garden (all Chinatown, again, ask what seafood is good; and at HYT, get beef ginger and scallion hot pot). There are many more. Let me know if you want more suggestions, or want some specific categories/price ranges. Hope this helps. Marcel
Subject: Review: Brunch at Tokyo (Boston) Date: 9 Apr 1997 14:22:28 GMT Organization: Municipal Power & Trust Lines: 115 Message-ID: NNTP-Posting-Host: shell1.shore.net X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.2 PL2] Xref: alexander.INS.CWRU.Edu ne.food:1856 alt.food.sushi:3002 Tokyo Restaurant 307 Fresh Pond Parkway (at the Fresh Pond Rotaries) Cambridge, Massachusetts Phone: (617)876-6600 The Boston Sushi Society met for the Brunch Buffet at the Tokyo Restaurant. There were 20 of us who ventured out on Saturday morning for the $12.95 all-you-can-eat (AYCE) buffet. The buffet starts at 11:45 AM, we arrived at noon and the place was fairly empty, but within about a half-hour the restaurant filled up. If you want to come later, it might help to make reservations. We were seated in one of the side rooms, which we had to ourselves to eat and carouse at our leisure. Decor Tokyo is a very pretty restaurant. The dark wood tables and comfortable chairs let you settle in and enjoy the indirect lighting, dark noren, pale shoji, and fresh flower ikebana - done by the owner's daughter, who was our hostess for the afternoon. There is a sushi bar across the back wall, a regular bar across the front, low tables along both sides of the main dining room, and private tatami rooms off to one side. (The tatami rooms can be reserved for an extra $25 charge.) If you sit at the western tables in the main dining room you keep your shoes on, but for the low tables and tatami rooms, you stow them in the small shoe cupboards by the stairs. (If you want to sit at one of the low tables, wear your sharp socks and leave the 30-eyelet Docs at home.) There is a coat check for the winter coats. The small parking lot next door can fill up, but there is usually easy, free parking either in the lot or on the adjoining street. Tokyo is definitely a place to eat and relax, as we found out when the last of our group left at 3:00. :) Service Although we were serving ourselves, tea was brought to our table as soon as we sat down. Water glasses were refilled fairly frequently, and used dishes were taken away quickly. When one of our group ordered Cokes, they came to the table fairly quickly as well. Service has been a real problem at the Tokyo, but the AYCE gives you the excellent decor and food without the usually slow, forgetful waitresses. We left about a 10% tip for the speedy busboys. Food The buffet was laid out on long tables down the center of the restaurant. A small table to the side held the soups. The soup table had a large pot of miso and a half dozen varieties of tidbits to add to your soup. There were fish cake slices, meatballs, dumplings, fish balls, and other bits, along with sliced scallions and crumbled nori to float on top. There were also pots of dobin mushi and cups of chawan mushi on the main table. I thought the dobin mushi was a little light on the tidbits of meat and mushrooms that are inside, but I still had two pots. The broth was excellent, although one pot was only lukewarm. None of our party had the chawan mushi, but it has always been very good at Tokyo. It's a very filling custard soup, and one at our table passed it by to concentrate on the rest of the offerings. The main table had cooked food on the near end and sushi on the far end. Among the cooked food was some tasty vegetable tempura. What I thought was onion rings turned out to be tempura squid, but I was pleasantly surprised. There were cubes of duck cooked in teriyaki sauce and later duck wings - sort of a Buffalo duck wings offering. The duck was quite fatty and had gotten a little cold, but had a good flavor. There were small dishes of rare beef slices on spicy bean sprouts. There was a cold noodle dish with carrots and bean sprouts that I didn't have, but my non-sushi eating Gentleman enjoyed. There were small skewers of beef and peppers, and crispy cooked fish (sprat perhaps?). There was also a dish of peanuts and anchovies that I normally would have loved, but I passed it by because I would likely gross out my dining companion. The was a big plate of pan fried shrimp in the shells, but by the time they came out I couldn't eat any more. There were fried dumplings that were quite good, and green salad with ginger dressing for the less adventurous. There was fried rice on the buffet, but if you want white rice, just ask. The AYCE buffet had plenty of great food to eat, but the most hardened sushi addicts are likely to be disappointed. The buffet included lots of maki, but few nigiri. All we saw come out was one plate of salmon nigiri, which we whisked away to our hungry hoard. There were, however, spicy tuna maki, futomaki (fat roll), kappa maki (cucumber), California maki (avocado, cucumber, crab), kampo maki (gourd), tempura shrimp maki, and a few others I didn't try. Dan thought that the spicy tuna could have been more spicy. I thought that some of the maki weren't rolled as nicely as they usually are, but they were still disappearing off the table at a fast pace. There was a an excellent kaisu of seaweed, thin sliced cucumber, and crab. Sliced, cooked salmon was served chilled and had a great buttery flavor. There were large bowls of gari and wasabi to help yourself to. Desserts included mochi balls rolled in toasted coconut and threaded on toothpicks, and a fruit salad of peaches, mandarin oranges, pineapple, and coconut custard that was good enough for two bowls worth for me. Overall Both sushi lovers and non-sushi eaters had a good meal. For $12.95 you can stuff yourself silly. I would recommend taking a small amount and going back frequently, as the maki were brought in small batches. That way you'll get the best choices. My one complaint: the cooked food could have been kept hotter while it sits on the buffet table. A few things had already cooled down too much when we were first there at noon. Beakman - our sushi loving, non-mammal, non-bird, eater - wasn't able to make it, but it seemed that there would be enough for him to eat between the salad, tempura, fish, and the maki. True vegitarians will have limited choices, but still should be able to make a meal out of it. Our thanks go to Karen for organizing a great weekend outing! Very truly yours, Ms. Margo
Subject: Re: Searching for Southern Food Date: 6 Mar 1998 06:00:09 GMT Organization: The Internet Access Company, Inc. Lines: 69 Message-ID: References: NNTP-Posting-Host: sunspot.tiac.net To: Lyman Morgan Xref: pale-rider.INS.CWRU.Edu ne.food:3590 Lyman M. wrote: > >My husband and I are living in Framingham MASS. > >I should say we are surviving here, in chain-restaurant purgatory! >We have found the Dixie Kitchen on Mass Ave in Boston to be a refuge, >but any pointers to southern style cooking would be appreciated. Well, as a Yankee I may not be the best judge, but the Blue Ribbon Barbecue in Newton has some good stuff, and I think the cornbread is probably a southern style. Texas style brisket and reasonable pulled pork. The ice tea is not presweetened. I like the collard greens. Haven't tried the pecan pie. Although you can eat in, this place is primarily take-out. There is a second one that the brothers that run the places just opened in Arlington. Blue Ribbon Barbecue Inc 1375 Washington St, Newton, MA 02165 (617) 332-2583 For fried chicken, I'd recommend Fontaine's in West Roxbury. It's on Rt 1 Northbound at Rt 109 at about the Dedham/West Roxbury border. I know that it's hard to say if this is souther style, but my friend from Alabama likes it although she says it isn't as good as her mother's was. :-) This place has other stuff, but I wouldn't call it southern cooking, but the fried chicken is good, and maybe what you're looking for. Fontaine's Topsy's Restaurant 1436 VFW Pkwy, West Roxbury, MA 02132 (617) 327-7600 Someone will have to comment on how southern these particular things are. I am not suggesting, that Fontaine's is a southern restaurant, just that the fried chicken is probably what you want. One advantage is that both of these places are very reasonable, and you can get a lot of food for two people for $20. One other small suggestion is that Chili's (there's one on Rt 9) has catfish. While I've never had catfish down south, but the catfish I had there, several years ago, was pretty good. I'm not a big fan of this restaurant, FWIW, but I liked the unlimited raspberry iced tea. Their chili is mediocre at best. >Also, I am looking for White Lily flour. Southern flour is softer >than Northern flour, and while y'all make some mighty fine breads >(Gotta love Iggy's) you can't make a biscuit worth writing home about >with anything I've found at the local Piggly-Wiggly, I mean Stop and >Shop!! I'd try Roche Bros. for the flour, or perhaps Star Market. One of the better flours up here is King Arthur Flour, which should be available at most places. I do think I've seen White Lily somewhere, I just can't remember where. Maybe Star Market in Wellesley? Could have been at my local Roche Bros. Hope this has helped a little. Chuck Demas Needham, Mass.