Bites Nearby

Pizzeria Dante: The classics, with a bit of creativity

Why this Coolidge Corner pizza joint has a loyal following is in the name.

There are dozens of different types of pizza, and each with their own proponents, but there's one thing we can all agree on: a well-made pie is a thing of beauty.  And something beautiful can be found at Pizzeria Dante, a casual restaurant just outside of Coolidge Corner, with bright red walls and a checkerboard ceiling of emerald and mint green. A loyal delivery and takeout crowd means relative quiet, and seats available for the taking. The menu purports to offer "real New York pizza," those wide, thin-crust slices that almost require folding to allow a bite. As the restaurant's name implies, pizzas are the specialty here, and the Margherita is at the top of the charts. Legend has it that when Italian Queen Margherita visited Naples in …

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Osaka Japanese Sushi and Steakhouse: Hibachi-style Grill at its Finest

Playing with your food is encouraged at this hip Coolidge Corner spot.

It's eight-thirty on a Saturday evening, and the baseline of noise is high in Osaka Japanese Sushi and Steakhouse. Cheers erupt from the corner as one surprisingly sober diner catches a bite of grilled chicken in his mouth, slung across the grill by a chortling chef; from the next table comes a gasp of delight as four-foot high flames swoosh off of the grill. Meanwhile, across the dining room, a chef armed with a squirt bottle squeezes a thin arc of sake into the mouth of one grinning diner. Diners at the table take up the fist-pounding count of "One! Two! Three!" until, somewhere around "Eighteen!" the drinker begs off, wiping a wet dribble of sake from the corner of his mouth. Hibachi is a show, and these grills are the stage. This same …

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Corrib Pub: Simple Food, Among Friends

Find uncomplicated food and drinks at this comfortable Brookline spot.

In some ways, the Corrib Pub is the most old-fashioned place I've been to in a long while, a throwback to the type of bar where--please excuse me for this-- everybody knows your name. Here is a place where simple drinks are simply poured.  You won't find a frou-frou specialty drink menu; there's no pomegranate syrup or chocolate shavings.  What you will find, however, is an incredibly fresh and effervescent Guinness, or Harp, or Bass from the tap, perfect black & tans, and solid mixed drinks. There are clear upsides to the vintage vibe, beginning, first and foremost, with the prices.  It's the rare entree that tops $12, and the bill for a low-key date night could stay under $25, even with a beer or two.   Then there was our waiter, Rick, …

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Golden Temple: Dinner for the Lunar New Year

Beacon Street restaurant-cum-nightclub offers an enticing pan-Asian dinner, but a heavy hand with the oil

For many observing the Lunar New Year, the perfect way to ring in the year of the water dragon is with an enticing feast of Chinese food.  And Golden Temple feels like an inviting place to celebrate.  This is sort of a restaurant-cum-nightclub, one half resembling cruise-ship style opulence—perfect for the sixty-and-up crowd—and the other half a bar under a high ceiling that, architecturally at least, makes me think of dining inside a beehive.  The crowd here is a mix of teenyboppers and middle-aged folks lingering over their happy hour drinks, ordering everything from margaritas to sake to adeptly-mixed drinks with names like the Raspberry Retropolitan and the Suffering Bastard.  The menu's length approaches the overwhelming, offering a …

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Super Fusion Cuisine: A Perfect Balance of Quality and Value

Finally, a great sushi restaurant that I can afford, right in Washington Square.

It's not hard to find good sushi in Boston, this oceanfront seafood mecca, this polestar for fishermen and pescatarians alike.  But after dinner, I often find that I spent more than I intended on those perfect little strips of protein, and I still come away hungry.  It's a perpetual balancing act between fresh, good quality sushi and great value. Super Fusion Cuisine has that balancing act figured out.  I've driven past this closet-sized restaurant underneath its gaudy red awning dozens of times, wondering with every pass what the appeal could be.  Is it bigger inside than it looks?  What could set this place apart from the many sushi places in Brookine?  And what exactly is “super fusion” sushi, anyway? The answer to the first question is…

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The Elephant Walk: Plagued by Inconsistency

Brookline-area restaurant talks the talk, but do they walk the walk?

When a restaurant has thrived in Boston as long as the Elephant Walk, winning accolades and opening two new locations since opening in 1991, it earns a certain notoriety.  People talk about the Elephant Walk, and I’ve heard it all: the mix of French and Cambodian menus that reflect the owners’ international upbringings; the reputation for extensive vegetarian and gluten-free options; the amazing tastes of the food. But what I found, over multiple visits, was an inconsistency in food and service, and a startling duality between reality and a longstanding reputation. Here’s the rub: when the food is good, it’s really good.  Cambodian flavors dazzled in the Crevettes Amrita, shrimp in an extraordinarily complex sweet-spicy sauce, with hits of…

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La Morra: Flavors of Tuscany, from a Wood-Fired Grill

Brookline Village spot delivers some hits, a couple of misses, and one stupendous dessert

La Morra, it seems, is the little restaurant that could: back on its feet now after a kitchen fire in early March closed the place for several months. The Tuscan-style dishes, particularly those prepared on the restaurant’s wood-fired grill, are an appetizing homage to the time owners Jen and Josh Ziskin spent in Italy, while the chic bar, trendy exposed-brick interior, and attentive service can almost make you forget you’re staring straight out the window at Route 9. Stop in for a drink and you’ll find a parade of characters at the bar, where the colorful cocktails remind me of little society ladies, each with their own flair. Tall, slim Violette is a vision in lavender, a mix of Hendrick’s gin and crème de violet draped in a yellow scarf…

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A New Spot for Asian Cuisine Hits Mission Hill

Wok n Talk offers healthy and affordable Asian in a surprising location.

The intersection of Huntington and South Huntington Avenues, where Boston's JP and the town of Brookline meet, is a bleak one. It's most often a knot of aggressive traffic and busy public transportation lines. And with just a few specks of commerce—including a small pizza shop and a Subway chain—this part of town is hardly a culinary destination. So it was both interesting and exciting to see the promotional frenzy surrounding the opening of a new Asian fusion place here, Wok n Talk. It fills the spot of a former Ethiopian restaurant, Fasika, which moved to Broadway in East Somerville over a year ago. One couldn't help but wonder if this new place would survive. Turns out, they're doing just fine.  There's a lot going for this place beyond…

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MJ Ready: Mix of Italian-American and Thai

MJ Ready located in the Brookline Arcade in Coolidge Corner is a playful mix of various cultures and flavors.

A bit of innocuous "recipient design" seems to be a trend among some restaurants these days—an alteration of menu, message, or service based on the intended customer.  It’s a gentle, bright-eyed version of “give the people what they want,” a noncommittal way to cast the widest net possible. But it can also confuse customers. Is the restaurant Chinese or Korean? Cuban or Mexican? Or, as is the case with MJ Ready: Thai or Italian-American? If I ever feel like some Fettuccine Alfredo or corned beef hash alongside my steaming bowl of Tom Kha Gai, I guess I now know where to go. MJ Ready is a self-professed “International Bistro,” a tiny restaurant sandwiched between a watch repair shop and a threading salon inside the Brookline Arcade. The …

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Patch Passport

Patch Passport: Dining Around the World in Brookline

Did you know your town offers places to sample all the tastes of the world? The Saturday Patch Passport is a complete list of places to eat in your town organized by international flavor.

Do you want to get out of the kitchen, but are bored of the same old places you always go to? Want some fresh ideas for tasty meals? Then the Patch Passport can help. We have assembled a list of local places with international flavors. Try one out and let us know what you think. Bon Appetit!

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Grahame Turner

10:54 pm on Sunday, July 31, 2011

You raise a really good point, so thanks! I've added them to the captions. To answer your questions, you can pick up a breakfast quesadilla at Dorado, or the lobster tacos at Lineage.   more ›