A Hot Tip! ... Muqueca in Inman Square

A Brazilian friend recommended this restaurant in Inman Square so we headed there promptly last weekend. If you're looking for the typical meat buffet this is not the place for you. :) Muqueca restaurant is named for the dish, moqueca, which is a traditional seafood stew from Northern Brazil. It consists of seafood, onions, garlic, and tomatos and is cooked slowly without water.

The restaurant is small and always packed even at 10pm but it is well worth the wait! This place is definitely authentic since everyone seems to speak portuguese. We ordered the seafood muqueca de paixe and the cod capixaba.

The fish,shrimp,mussel muqueca had generous servings of seafood.


My favorite however, was the cod capixaba. It's made from salt cod, and stewed in coconut milk. The stew also includes plantains, olives, and boiled eggs. A strange combination but DELICIOUS. It tasted even better after adding the hot sauce served at every table. Reminded me somewhat of Thai food, but not really. This is something you have to try...


Chomp Meter:
I have to go back. Just looking at the photos makes me want to jump in my car and head over. PS. And you can stop by Christina's later for homemade ice cream. What are you waiting for? :)

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Fast Food Indian Style - Punjabi Dhaba

I first heard about this place from my Indian buddy. He explained that a dhaba is a no frills place frequented by cab drivers and serving the most delicious food. And according to him (and several other co-workers), the quality of food at Punjabi Dhaba lives up to its name.

After reading eat and destroy's post on Chompster and remembering these recommendations, Pacman and I were inspired. We headed down to Inman square to check the place out. It was small, smokey, and very crowded. But hey, I subscribe to the theory that the more people there are and the dingier the place, the better the food.

We ordered the chicken biryani, mutter paneer (an all time favorite of mine), the dahi papri, and a plain lassi. All three dishes were excellent! Oh and for the uninitiated, the lassi is in the fridge :) ... I had to ask.

The inside with Pacman's shoulder on the right.



Check out the Bollywood MTV playing in the background.



The dahi papri. Damn this was good! It's fried crackers with tomatoes and chick peas in a yogurt sauce. Though I would have preferred it with more chickpeas and less of the fried cracker.



The chicken biryani and mutter paneer. Pacman says the biryani reminds him of food back home :) As for me, the mutter paneer reminded me of my ex roomie's cooking. Yum!




Chomp Meter:
It's definitely one of the best (and cheapest) Indian restaurants in Boston. Our meal cost us less than $20 and we were stuffed. Two thumbs up!