Deluxe Town Diner - A Modern Take on Diner Fare

Hey, the weekend is almost here! One of my favorite things to do is head to Deluxe Town Diner in Watertown for breakfast. They serve diner food that's definitely less greasy (a big plus) and a lot more creative than most.

In fact we were just there last weekend. I so greedily dug into my meal that I forgot to take photos until the end, then gasped in horror when SO reminded me.

This is no substitute for food photos but here's the inside (we sat at the counter):



I highly recommend the potato pancakes here. They are crisply fried and thin, served with a generous portion of sour cream and apple sauce. The ployes are very good too. I haven't tried many of the items, since I usually stick with the eggs. For lunch I am fond of the Apple Curry Turkey Burger that has apples yogurt and spices and feels healthy. Not sure if it actually is :P

Deluxe Town Diner
627 Mount Auburn Street (East Watertown)
Watertown, MA
Phone: (617)926-8400
Open daily from 7am-10pm



Chomp Meter:
This is a great place for breakfast: pancakes, eggs, omelettes, french toast. There's also a variety of other foods from sandwiches to meatloaf for dinner. Traditional American style diner food but lighter and with a "city dweller" twist. There's also an assortment of teas if coffee is not your thing. Get here early though, there is a line on weekends.

La Casa de Pedro ... es su casa

This restaurant in Watertown serves great Spanish/Venezualan food! Even though this is the only time we've been there, I'm already really liking the place.

Not wanting to battle the crowds in Boston, we decided to head down last Friday evening. I hate circling for parking and liked that we were able to find parking quickly. The place was busy when we got there but it wasn't packed so we were able to get a seat right away. A rather prime seat on the patio if I might add.

We started off with some sangrias which were perfect. Not too alcohlic and not too sweet. For our appetizer, the waiter recommended Arepes with chicken and avocado. There was this glimmer of excitement in his eyes as he described it so of course we had to get it. They were delicious!

We saw another couple (they looked like they knew what they were doing) order the Paella as an appetizer. It was packed with seafood and looked so good that I almost wanted to ask if I could take a photo of it :)

Next came our main courses. The Pedro's Birthday Dish for Pacman. It's really steak, chorizo and blood sausage. Can I say heart attack on a plate? We devoured most of it except for the blood sausage. Perhaps I'm not used to the taste, but it wasn't flavored very well causing my imagination to run wild with thoughts of assorted animal parts! *gulp*



Here's my Kristofer's Camarones Tropical. The shrimp even came in a coconut which was cute. The sauce was delicious as well. Sweet and coconuty. Yum!


And here's a bonus photo of the patio with Pedro himself!




See La Casa de Pedro and other foodie finds on a map at Chompster.com

La Casa de Pedro
343 Arsenal St.
Watertown, MA 02472
Phone: 617.923.8025

(They are now near the Panera Bread in Watertown.)

See their menu



Chomp Meter:
I love this place! Great quality food without the hassle of going into Boston. There's also a good variety of entree's so there's bound to be something for everyone. Possibly one of my favorite Spanish places in Boston.

Russo's Fresh Produce

We found a new favorite grocery store today! After hearing alot about Russo's and Sons in Watertown, we finally had to see what it's all about. Fresher than Whole Foods? Cheaper than Shaw's? Take us there!

When we got to Russo's, the parking lot was pretty crowded but we managed to find a spot quickly. The outside was promising with lots of perennials and trays of herbs and vegetables you can grow. We picked up a little pot of italian parsley and one of rosemary for only $2.50 per pot. I'm so excited to grow my own herbs! In addition to having them fresh, it's economical too since a small package of Rosemary costs like $4 at Shaw's!

What's Available?
I wasn't quite sure what to expect when we stepped into Russo's. It isn't your typical chain grocery store since it doesn't have the usual canned and packaged products. It does however have a huge selection of fruit and all kinds of vegetables imaginable. They also have a wide variety of asian vegetables (Goodbye Super 88!). Asian eggplant, bok choy, baby bok choy, baby dou miao, and other exotic ones we didn't recognize.

As they say, a photo is a worth a thousand words:




There is also an extensive cheese selection, deli, and freshly made pasta. There was a small case that sold some meats such as chicken and steak, but they didn't look very appealing to me. I still prefer to get my meats at whole foods. We picked up some proscuitto which was amazing with cantalope ($1.99) also bought at Russo's.

Prices?
This place is definitely cheaper than Whole Foods. Many items are also generally less expensive than what you can get at Starmarket or Shaw's. Red peppers were only $1.99 a lb, this is usually $3.49 at Shaw's! Super 88 may be slightly cheaper, however, the quality of the produce there is sub-par. I also picked up a box of Mademoiselle De Margaux chocolates for $7.19. We later saw the same box, apparently on sale, at Whole Food's for $8.49!

I love these chocolates btw:


Purchases?
We left with two pots of herbs, oranges, asian pears (yum!), watermelon, a cantalope, blueberries, baby bok choy, spinach, red peppers, an avocado, prosciutto, balsamic vinegar, chocolates, and walnuts. We had to restrain ourselves from getting even more stuff, since we're only a two person + 1 dog household. :)

The herbs in our kitchen:



Russo's
560 Pleasant Street
Watertown MA 02472


Chomp Meter:
We will be going to Russo's for fruit and vegetables from now on! I am so glad we live close by in Newton ;) ... too bad we might be moving soon. I will miss this place.

Chomped! Lunch at Cafe Cakes

Cafe Cakes on Chompster

Pacman and I finally made our way to Cafe Cakes after walking the dog this morning. We ate, she waited in the car :) For those of you that are driving, there's parking on Aldrich street behind Cafe Cakes. Cafe Cake certainly lived up to it's reputation. I haven't been to the old location but the the new place was really bright with lots of windows. It reminded me of cute little cafes in Asia.

Note: If you look at the large sized image on flickr you can actually read the menu.

When we got there, it was fairly busy. I absolutely had to try the caramel milk tea while Pacman got the Cafe Au Lait (how boring right?!?). The milk tea was really delicious, and a nice change from boring ol Chai at Starbucks. It had hints of caramel which reminded me of Creme Brulée. Perfect for afternoon tea!



We also got the Curry Chicken Panini Sandwich. The bread wasn't the typical panini bread but it was tasty nevertheless. The sandwich was also unique since the curry used was the sweeter Japanese curry. Very delicious overall!

Looks good doesn't it?


Of course since this is Cafe Cakes, we had to finish off with cakes. We got the Strawberry Shortcake and a Chocolate Cake (I forget the name). The shortcake was yummy! The strawberries were sweet and the cake was light without too much sugar, just the way I like it. The chocolate cake reminded me of Blackforest cake since it had berries in it. We devoured it too quickly to figure out what exactly was in there! Ooopsie.



The owner, Noriko, was really sweet and allowed us to take photos for my blog :) I'm always impressed by entrepreneurs, and she sure has a lovely place. Thanks Noriko!

The address once more:

Cafe Cakes
51 Galen St
Watertown,MA02472
617-923-1894
mon-fri 7am-8pm
sat 8am-8pm
sun 9am-3pm

Chomp Meter:
Yes yes yes! I want to try the Strawberry Latte next time.