Francesca R.'s Profile

"Simplism: Continuous efforts resulted in a good success.  Give it the old college try."  So dictates the cute little notebook I picked up at Every Little Thing the other night.  I am a sucker for Engrish, particularly that of the inspirational variety.

When I lived in Taiwan, stores like ELT were a dime a dozen.  One could never have enough stationery, clothing, bags, toys, or accessories depicting bizarre English phrases and unbearably cute little characters.  This store doesn't pull any punches on that front--you will be assaulted by adorableness the second you walk in the store.  Hello Kitty is here of course, but there are also more fun and perverse little cuties like Moshimoro with the plunger on his head and Afro Ken with his psychadelic afro.

In addition to the bevy of cartoon-adorned items, there are also some cute little accessories and beauty products of Asian origin.  This store takes me right back to Fengchia night market in Taichung; stop by here for a true taste of Asian culture and all the Sanrio products you can carry.

I've been staring at this little white box where the text goes trying to decide how to explain how good the food is at Punjab.  Let's start with appetizers--we had vegetable pakora and vegetable samosas.  The former had been deep fried but somehow tasted really light and fresh.  The latter was a.maz.ing--amazing!

For entrees, we shared Shrimp Curry, Chicken Tikka Masala, Chicken Korma, Dal and a Masala Dosa.  Five people.  Five entrees.  Five different kinds of happiness.  The naan bread was light and fluffy.  The raita was tangy and sweet.  And we were happy.

The decor succeeds where so many other Asian joints fail--the lighting.  The ambiance is warm and low-key.  Service was attentive and efficient.  They have a good beer and wine list with some great cocktail options.

Overall--amazing food in a pretty nice environment.

Jane Jacobs referred to the North End several times in her seminal work "The Death and Life of Great American Cities" as an example of a vibrant urban community that planners should seek to emulate:

"The streets were alive with children playing, people shopping, people strolling, people talking. Had it not been a cold January day, there would surely have been people sitting. The general street atmosphere of buoyancy, friendliness, and good health was so infectious that I began asking directions of people just for the fun of getting in on some talk."

This is the North End of 1959, and due to the artificial seclusion engendered by the elevated central artery of I-93, remained that way into the 90s.  I remember going to the North End back in the day and it being teeming with Italian immigrants who didn't speak a word of English.  They would be out on their stoops or in front of the cafes or just standing on street corners nattering away about whatever amongst themselves.  It always felt like such a real community where the neighbors knew about and cared for each other.

Shortly before the Big Dig was finished, this rapidly started to change.  As it became easier and easier to get from Haymarket and Fanueil Hall to the North End, real estate started booming.  Property brokers caught on that this was prime real estate--kitty corner to the financial district and the seat of government, and utterly charming to boot.  The first people to start creeping in who weren't Old World immigrants were the gays (I partied with some of them on their tiny balconies in the late 90s), and the gentrification of the North End increased exponentially from there.

The North End still has a lot of charm.  The windy, cobbled streets, jumble of architectural styles and bevy of pretty historical sites make this 1/3 square mile of land a real pleasure to traverse.  Coupled with the host of wonderful eateries and regular festivals, it's always a great stop on the tourist trail or night out.  But the sense of community that used to elevate this little piece of Boston to a truly unique urban enclave is rapidly dissipating.  I think this area will retain it's inherent allure--no one would be so foolish as to repeat the mistake of tearing down vibrant area like they did the West End.  But the days of immigrants flocking to the densely  populated, central city of Boston to make a new life are long gone, and the North End will increasingly find itself with an anonymous population of wealthy urbanites and the children of wealthy suburbanites.

This is a very easy and pretty bike ride, walk or run.  We rode our bikes here, rode around and rode home which should be doable for other non-Cambridge bikers.  I don't think it's such a nice spot that you should make a special trip, but if you do keep in mind that parking is for Cambridge residents only.

There is a bathroom on site, which I always appreciate since I have a bladder which would be more appropriately sized for a hamster.  The facilities overall are clearly marked and explained.  It's very, very easy to navigate and makes for an easy and charming little afternoon.

As to the dogs--there are a lot and I almost ran over about three or four.  But there's not so many that you can't cycle or jog at a comfortable pace.

Everyone loves BJs.  Well, men particularly.

That's right--I went there.

Thanks!  I'll be here all week.  So, the restaurant--solid three stars.  Good pub grub, good beer, great happy hour, friendly service.  Nothing out of this world but a reliable place for a night out.

The pros:

* Great outdoor dining.
* AMAZING happy hour pricing.
* Hot waiters.  Seriously, they were everywhere, sexing up the place.

There is only one con, but it's a big one.  The food is terrible.  The sushi--which is supposed to be their thing, right?--is inedible.  If you stick to regular bar food, though, this is a great spot for a night out.

OK it's official.  I don't like the Cheesecake Factory.  I've tried it a few times, and I'm not a chain snob.  Bring me some Bertucci's and I'm happy.  But here?  No.  Just no.  I don't get it.

The food is utterly mediocre (I suppose what does one expect, from a *factory*), and personally I find the portions an affront to good taste.  They are disgusting!  It's like a trough.  Anyone who can eat a whole plate of their food in one sitting needs to get help.  It's also waaaay overpriced.  I guess you're paying for quantity, not quality?  I mean you get enough food to feed yourself for a week.

The decor is so confused and charmless.  I feel like I'm on an acid trip when I'm in there--an acid trip that's gone very, very wrong and you've forgotten that life isn't a Lewis Carroll-ian hellscape.

One extra star for good service and good cheesecake.  But overall I can definitively say I won't be back to this particularly wretched chain.

Oh man, I have a huge soft spot for restaurants with crazy over-the-top decor.  The place looks like Africa threw up on it.  Leopard-print carpet (nice!), giant elephant & giraffe statues, piles of old-timey traveling trunks--Elephant Bar has got it all and more.  

Service is fantastic--very friendly and cheeky.  The food is pretty good--nothing special, but reliable.  You go here to revel in the gleefully cheesy decor and knock back a few, not to have a mind-blowing dining experience.

I have mixed feelings about Allpro.  For one, I really hate when people incorrectly use quotation marks to emphasize.  Don't you realize you sound sarcastic?  But it's there on the business card so I'm transcribing it.

For two, I wanted to kill our driver.  He would not shut up and was a bit...well, *racist* frankly about the area taxi drivers, most of whom are middle eastern.  My colleague and I were thinking we'd prefer someone who didn't speak much English (as our driver alleged would happen) because then at least the ride would be blessedly quiet.  But it's not fair to extrapolate about all the drivers based on one dude, so I'm going to bump my rating up to four stars.

Here's what's good about Allpro--for airport shuttle service, they cost the same as the taxis and you get personalized pick up service at the airport.  There will be someone waiting for you with a sign.  This is nice because it can be a little bit of a wait for taxis.  You can also tip on your credit card, which is nice if you're expensing everything.  And because it's a scheduled service they will already know the route.  The taxi drivers often didn't really know the area we were staying in--they are more used to ferrying tourists into the city as opposed to business travelers going to ugly sprawl suburbs.  The car was also really spacious and comfortable.  

Take the veiled racism chat and the quotation marks out of the experience and it's a five star establishment!

I stayed at the Spring Hill Suites as part of a large group of managers in town for a training.  I think for the purposes of business, this was a great choice.  The hotel was located close to our head office and also right across the street from the Chandler Fashion mall, which has plenty of (admittedly only chain) dining options.  In terms of location for tourism, it's definitely not a good choice.  All of our colleagues who live locally complained that the area where this hotel is located is the ugliest, most boring part of Arizona.  It was definitely just a lot of bland, soulless sprawl for miles.  It's fairly close to the airport but not close to anything that would be interesting or pretty to look at.  

The service at the hotel was great, except for a weird moment the morning I left when the person at the registration desk shouted, "You ain't oriental!!" when I went down to get my cab.  (The room was under the name of my roomate, who has a Korean name...she was not with me as she'd checked out separately).  Has no one alerted the people of Chandler that "Oriental" is a tad pejorative?  I told my roomate and we had a good laugh about it, but still.  Dude, learn to hold your tongue.

Other than that, however, everyone was very friendly and efficient.  There is a computer with free internet and a printer and paper, which was so useful--we all printed out our boarding passes before going to the airport.  There is a fitness center with two running machines and an elliptical machine, and an outdoor pool.  The free breakfast was pretty good, but sometimes they'd get a bit slack about refilling.  Also, the sausages they serve are heinous.  Stick to the bacon!

The room was really nice.  There is a little living/lounge area with a bed, coffee table, desk, chair, and kitchenette.  There is a TV there and one in the bedroom.  However the room is all open so it would be a bit tough to have both TVs going at once.  The bathroom was spacious with the sink and mirror area separate from the toilet and shower.

I wouldn't necessarily choose to stay here myself but for the purposes of business it was very convenient and the staff generally made life easy for us.