Jon G.'s Profile

I thought this place was just OK.

Pros: the mango smoothie was fresh and fantastic, and the atmosphere reminds me of the kind of place you'd pop into for lunch in London.

Cons: the noodle dishes were really so-so, and the meat in said dishes was a little sketchy/rubbery.

That said, it's pretty cheap, and there's a ton of other stuff on the menu that may be great for all I know, so all in all not bad.

I've been coming here for years, and I feel like I have to reiterate my 5-star rating after all these bad reviews.

I think I know what the stomach issues are about: It's not the sushi, it's the salad dressing. If you get a bento box or any dinner it comes with delicious miso soup and a side of salad. The dressing, while tasty, is OUTRAGEOUSLY garlicky. I mean, it's powerful. Just don't touch it! You will stink, and your stomach will squirm later.  Everything else I've tried is delicious, and the waitresses are wicked nice.

I've had my eye on this place ever since the sign went up about a month ago -- Thai food on my walk home from the T? YES!

I've now been twice, once to eat in and once for take-out, and the food is absolutely phenomenal. I'm a Thai food maniac -- I would eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner (like Homer Simpson during his Max Power phase, I guess) -- and I can safely say this is the best around right now. I love Little Duck in Quincy Center as well, but the food here is a notch above theirs and the dining area is cozier. I would also rank it above my other long-time favorites, Dok Bua and Brown Sugar.

In addition to all the usual fare -- their take on their namesake is terrific, not too sweet -- you can also get most noodle dishes with different types of noodles (like Pad Thai or Pad Kee Mao with udon noodles, for instance) and you can order most dishes with salmon, which I aim to try soon. The mango curry was amazing, with GIANT slabs of mango -- and cashews to boot!

I hope the honeymoon lasts -- that they're not going to start skimping on ingredients or something once they build their initial following. But for now, Pad Thai is the best around.

Not sure why more people don't love this place. The food is terrific. I especially love the chicken parm, which is pounded razor thin, on top of the homemade fusilli. (Make sure you spring for the homemade pasta, well worth the extra two bucks.)

There's a good wine list and they offer a small but very good selection of beers. On our last visit I got a bottle of dunkelweiss from the local Blue Hills Brewery. Prices aren't bad either. Actually (and I'm a little ashamed to admit this) we ate at an Olive Garden off the highway coming back from NY last week, and the food was about the same price as Basta Pasta's -- except, you know, totally mediocre and uninspired.

The atmosphere is really pleasant -- exposed brick, airy feeling, low lighting, just a tiny bit bigger than intimate so you don't feel crowded. Our waitress was wonderful, and honestly the bar is pretty inviting -- it wouldn't be a bad spot to watch a game as they have a couple of flat-screens. The only reason I won't 't give this place five stars is because it's on that stretch of Hancock St. that feels like you're at the end of the earth; if you're at a window table, you're not exactly gazing out over the verdant Tuscan countryside.  

Lastly, be warned that they use a LOT of garlic in some dishes, if that bothers you. (Though if it does, what are you doing at an Italian restaurant anyway?)

We've come back here a couple of times, and now I always get the risotto, it's really delicious. It makes sense, when you think about the chocolate theme -- they simply do savory/saucy better than anything else.

Also: when we brought our four-year-old niece to Max B's, she referred to it as "Funland." At one point she even said, "Who thinks this is the best restaurant in the WORLD? Raise your hand!" as she shot her arm up in the air. Solid endorsement!

I've been coming to Dali for nearly a decade now and it's never, ever let me down (knock on wood). It's not cheap, but it's always worth it; when we want an incredible dining experience, we come here.

Not every single plate is a guaranteed winner, depending on your tastes... but most of them are. Saffron scallops, fried goat cheese with sweet onions and honey, and gambas (garlic shrimp) are my perennial favorites. Last night we tried the churros and chocolate for dessert, and they were crispy, light, and fluffy, just like in Spain. And the sangria is of course phenomenal.  

If there were such a thing as the Academy of Boston Dining, and I was the head honcho of said institution, I would give Dali my "Lifetime Achievement" award!

I love CBC's Great Pumpkin Ale; I have for years. It's the reason I was so excited to try their Wilson spiced pumpkin porter, and their Belgian-style pumpkin beer.

It's the reason my buddy and I decided to brave a torrential downpour and haul ourselves over here through the muck.

But, as has happened before, we got there, and they were out of their own beer. Out of the porter. Out of the Belgian one. I mean, c'mon, did you honestly think people wouldn't like them? That we're all here for the food or something? (We were not. It's average.)

If you had asked me that night, I'd have given them one star, but I've cooled down a bit. And their beer, WHEN IT'S AVAILABLE, is fantastic.

But if you're looking forward to trying a particular brew, call ahead. (Their website is no help -- it said "available today on draft," which was clearly not the case.)

Found this magical place, with it's 700-foot-high chalkboard o' beer, after getting denied not one but two seasonal pumpkin ales at the Cambridge Brewing Company.

Somehow when searching for 'beer' near 'Kendall Square,' the Yelp app failed to call up this holy ground of taps. Shame! So it was by sheer luck that I got to have a delicious Cisco Pumple Drumkin on my way back to the T. We didn't eat, but who needs food when you can drink all those yummy beers?

Sorry CBC, but you may have lost me for good now!

The decor and vibe is great in here, the food can actually be quite good, and I usually enjoy myself, but I can't get past the fact that their Guinness just isn't very good (and it isn't even served in a 20 oz. pint). C'mon lads!

Plus, their Saranac pumpkin ale -- one of my favorite versions of the fall staple -- was sour and skunked the other night, and I'd had my hopes up for pumpkin ale all day.

Really loved this place, and I'm generally wary of North End restaurants. (So many times we've been too hungry to wait at a place we know and end up getting a lousy meal at a nearby restaurant with an open table.)

The shrimp and scallops in vodka sauce, with fresh homemade pasta, was just phenomenal. Prices were fair, atmosphere is 100% Italian -- not fancy, but not dingy or anything either. Like the Billy Joel song really. Service was great, too.

If you're stuck in line at Giacomo's right now, try walking around the corner to this little gem.