Boston Challah-Off -> Credit to Josh!

Josh left a comment on my Rosenfeld entry which I found interesting. Anyway thought I'd post it to share with everyone so the info won't get hidden in the comments. Thanks Josh!

Boston's Best Challah Bread Bakeries
All accessible within Newton Center ...


Cheryl Anne's Challah
The bread here is sweeter and more brioche like. You can also purchase this at JP Licks.

Cheryl Ann's of Brookline
1010 W Roxbury Pkwy
Chestnut Hill, MA 02467




Andrew's (Catering by Andrew)
You can get Andrew's Challah at the liquor store on Beacon Street in Newton or at the place itself. They have raisin and whole wheat challah.

Catering by Andrew
402 Harvard Street
Brookline, MA 02446
(617) 731-6585

Rosenfelds
One of the few whole wheat challah producers!

Rosenfeld Bagels
1280 Centre St
Newton, MA 02459

Pastiche Review - Again ...

I'm a broken record but I can't help it. Pastiche Fine Desserts is better than any pastry shop in Boston! You have to visit to believe me. The best time to go is in the afternoons when it isn't so crowded so you can savor your dessert and coffee or tea.

Pastiche is a must visit cafe for me in Providence regardless of the time of day or how full I am. On this visit, we got the plum frangipane tart (daily special), a key lime mousse, and a raspberry chocolate cake. They were all superb but the absolute BEST was the plum frangipane tart with a creme anglais sauce. I don't know how they do it but the plums were cooked yet slightly crisp and not too sour. This went nicely with the almond flavored filling. Wow!

All the fruit based dessert I've had at Pastiche is fabulous. I swear they must taste every berry and make sure it's just ripe before serving.

No fancy photos this time and no prizes for guessing which is which:


My 2006 Pastiche review with more photos is here.

Chomp Meter:
Enough said!

Pastiche Fine Desserts
92 Spruce St
Providence, RI
401-861-5190

Back to Oga's for Sushi

I realize I have said this many times before, so what is another time? Oga's in Natick ( Metrowest ) is one of my favorite Japanese restaurants in the area. It serves well cut, fresh, traditional sushi in a nice restaurant setting.

We were craving sushi and headed there last weekend. Parking is easy at Oga and it beats navigating the traffic in Boston. We stuck to our tried and true strategy. Ask the waitress what sushi specials they have and order them. Here's what we got: abalone sushi ( awabi ), california uni, wild yellowtail, and a different type of japanese clam (help I don't remember the name!). We also got our staples, natto maki, Oga's makes the best, and a spicy tuna roll.

I thought the abalone was cut very well this time. Crunchy and with a mild flavor, similar to mirugai (geoduck). The clam was extremely chewy and I'm not sure I liked it. The uni and yellow tail were very good too. I like the way sushi is cut at Oga's. The grain of the fish is right so you don't have weird cartilage. The slices are just the right size and you can actually eat it in 2 bites if you want (though I know this is not how it's eaten).

The spread:


Close up of the clam. Looks amazingly fresh and succulent!


For appetizers we got fried oysters and hotategai.

I loved the fried oysters:


The hotategai was delicious. It reminds me of "Japanese Western" food since it's made with scallops, mayo and a layer of cheese on top. I wish there were Japanese Western restaurants in Boston, though I suppose the food stands at Porter Exchange may be considered western.



Here is a tomato appetizer we got from the fusion menu from another visit. Isn't it pretty?


Oh yes, and we spied Mr Oga working the sushi bar today! Perhaps that's why the sushi was particularly good that day.

Chomp Meter:
My staple Japanese sushi place. In my opinion, one of Boston's best. The menu's changed a little since we last visited. The hot appetizers weren't as varied as before and some fusion dishes were added as well. I've had the fusion dishes a couple times. In general, they're good but not phenomenal.

Here are my other recommendations for Oga's:

* Salmon Avocado Salad - The Oga's version is excellent.

* Lunch sushi or sashimi special - Great value for money at $12 per set. It comes with salad, soup, a dim sum item, and fruit. This value and price can't be beaten.

* Natto Maki of course

* Sushi Dinner

Oga's Japanese Cuisine
915 Worcester Rd
Natick, MA 01760
(508) 653-4338

Best Dim Sum Restaurants in Boston

Boston isn't really the place to go for exquisite, high quality dim sum so we have to make do. Go to NYC for your dim sum fix if you have the option. So here are my picks for Boston.

Hong Kong Style Dim Sum

Hei La Moon - This is the new favorite. The restaurant is huge with lots of seating so the wait may not be as long. You can also stop by C-Mart after for groceries. Validated parking is available in the garage next door.

China Pearl - This was the old staple till Hei La Moon came around.

Gitlo - I recently discovered this place. Finally, a restaurant with authentic, finer dim sum. There isn't much variety to the dishes but they make whatever they have really well.

Taiwanese Style Dim Sum

These 2 are complimentary. Shangri la has some dishes that Chung Shin Yuan does not.
Chung Shin Yuan - Don't fret even if you don't get seating the first round (see original post). They are very efficient and the food is all prepared before hand.

Shangri La - At this point I like Shangri La a little more ...

Let me know if there are new and good dim sum restaurants I've missed.

Chocolate and More at L.A. Burdicks

I've recently become obsessed with this place. I was at Burdicks in Harvard Square with a couple friends last week for dessert and hot chocolate and somewhat guiltily headed there again this afternoon, on my own, for cake!

It seems they've renovated the place recently because the layout is reversed? I didn't take a photo this time, but here's one from my last visit (before the renovation). The finish now is more of a pine wood color.



Burdicks is known for its decadent, rich, death by chocolate, kind of hot chocolate. I also like their selection of cakes and this is the only place I know of in Boston that makes decent macarons (they call them Luxembourgers). I got the raspberry, pistachio, and lavender. Not Pierre Hermes but still pretty yummy!



We also shared some of the chocolate lemon cake. This wasn't really my favorite because the lemon was really bitter. Too much zest perhaps?



Today I had the Zuger Kirsh. I love the taste of their butter cream and the sponge cake was moist and well soaked in the alcohol.

L.A. Burdicks
52 Brattle St
Cambridge, MA 02138
(617) 491-4340
(Harvard Square)




Chomp Meter:
I adore this place. Way better than Finale, wine pairing or not. Head here for breakfast, mid morning sugar fix, tea, mid afternoon sugar fix, dessert, coffee, anytime!

Shangri La - Another Dim Sum Gem

P and I headed here for brunch on Sunday after walking the dog. We usually go to Chung Shin Yuan which is closer but Shangri La has Kua Pao which I love. They don't serve kua pao at CSY. Both Shangri La and CSY are Taiwanese / Beijing style dim sum restaurants so not your typical cantonese dim sum.

The quality of dim sum at Shangri La is comparable to that at Chung Shin Yuen. I've tried all the items on the menu at CSY so going to Shangri La is more exciting for me :)

I love the salty soy bean milk at Shangri La. It's kinda curdy and has a little vinegar in it, not doing a great job describing it here but IMO it's better than what they have at CSY. Yum!


The pig ears here are really good. It's sliced really finely and nicely seasoned. I know it sounds scary but doesn't dim sum always sound strange but taste so good? =)


And the highlight of my meal, Kua Pao. It is like a sandwich with a piece of sliced pork belly topped generously with pickled vegetables and sweet crushed peanuts on a bun. The salty taste of the pickles balance the sweetness of the peanuts. Trust me, it is SO GOOD.


I prefer Taiwanese style dim sum to Cantonese style dim sum in Boston. The cantonese style dim sum here is not as refined and very greasy.

Shangri La
149 Belmont St
Belmont, MA 02478
(617) 489-1488




Chomp Meter:
One of the 2 best places in Boston for Taiwanese dim sum. The place is usually packed during the school year but it's easy to get seats in the summer. Definitely try the beef sandwich (nu rou jia bing), salty soy bean milk (xian dou jiang) and the kua pao!

See my review for Chung Shin Yuan.
See my review for Hei La Moon.

Take Out from Oiishi

We did dinner and a Stephen Chow movie last night. Picked up some sushi from Oiishi Sushi which is round the corner from us. The place was packed but not as crowded as before with only 2 parties waiting for a table. The restaurant is a hole in the wall place with maybe 15 seats at the most. Remember to write your name on the white board to get in line for a table.

The menu at Oiishi Chestnut Hill is different from the one in Boston. We tried to order things that don't have to be warm. We got yellow tail, uni, and oyster sushi, 2 hand rolls and a tokyo soft shell crab maki.

I loved the oyster sushi best. I haven't seen it at many sushi places here. It's garnished with a little tabasco sauce, and scallions. This was my favorite of the night! You have to try this.

Check out the oyster sushi!


The tokyo maki was good too. Radish is used to wrap the roll adding a nice crunchy texture:


One disappointment was the Uni which was unfresh. My sushi pet peeve is bad uni grrr. Couldn't send it back since we were already home :P

Oiishi
612 Hammond St
Chestnut Hill
(617) 277-7888




Chomp Meter: Oiishi's was one of those restaurants with a cult following a while ago. However with so many new entrants to the scene, this reputation may be hard to up keep. Personally, I'm not really inclined to wait for a table at Oiishi (Chestnut Hill location) these days. But if you haven't tried their torched makis or other specials I would recommend heading there. The food there is really GOOD, inventive rolls, and I wouldn't hesitate to get take out again. Have to add that this is more of a "maki" place than a "sushi" place.

(For sushi connoisseurs this is a non traditional place with larger slices and sauces etc. My Japanese friend didn't like it.)

PS: Don't go to the one in Sudbury. It's no where close to the Chestnut Hill one.

See my recommendations for the Best Japanese / Sushi Restaurants in Boston.

Annarosa's Bakery in Newburyport, MA

We chanced upon this place on our way up to Maine and wow the bread here is amazing. I am so glad we stopped here. I got 2 mini brioches (one wasn't enough!), a rosemary French loaf (promptly finished before the end of the day) and a mozzarella panini (delicious).

Not a good excuse, but the bread and coffee was so good I didn't get photos of what we ate :( The brioche was perfectly light, sweet and buttery. The french loaf tasted like it'd been dipped in olive oil and rosemary but it wasn't!

Here are the photos I managed to get:





Annarosa's
50 Water St
Newburyport MA
(978) 499-8839

Chomp Meter:
Annarosa's is just an hour away from Boston in Newburyport, MA. The bread is so good, Apparently the croissants are delicious too. I am already plotting my trip back next month. Wouldn't it be nice to get some bread and cheese and have a picnic by the beach on Plum Island?