Tag Archives: Restaurant Reviews

Restaurant Review: Raising Cane’s

November 24, 2015November 2015Restaurant ReviewsHanadi Naji

On November 11th, 2015, members of the CELOP Sun went to Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers.

One great thing about Cane’s is that it is near CELOP. Just walk up Commonwealth Ave. past Agganis Arena, then cross the street and it will be in front of you. Cane’s has four major combos. All of them have chicken fingers, but you can choose a chicken sandwich.

The chicken and french fries are so much fresher than any fast food restaurant I’ve eaten in. One of the special things about Cane’s is their sauce. It is so delicious. You can eat it with chicken or with Canes’s bread. They also have cole slaw that comes with your meal.

There’s plenty of space if you want to go with a group of your friends. We enjoyed ourselves there and for me, Cane’s is the most delicious chicken fingers restaurant in the U.S.

Raising Cane’s is located at 949 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215.

Restaurant Review: BURGERFI

April 18, 2015April 2015Restaurant ReviewsRina Hirate

Do you want to eat a delicious burgers near CELOP? The CELOP Sun members recommend BURGERFI! This restaurant is on Commonwealth Ave, just a few minutes walk from CELOP.

This burger shop has enough seats to sit down, so you may visit there with a big group and I liked the restaurant's design. It felt fancier than Uburger or Tasty burger. We ordered BURGERFI, Onion rings, and Hand-cut fries.

BURGERFI - my first impression of this burger was that it's small... I thought it was not enough for me because I usually eat a lot . However, look at this Burger, it's double beef! This burger was really meaty. The beef was tender and the vegetables were fresh. I want to eat this again.

Onion rings - have you ever tried such big Onion rings? They are really big and delicious. Additionally, the fries are also very tasty. Not too oily or salty!

Overall, I would like to visit BURGERFI again, and try other burgers. Let's eat tomorrow's lunch at this burger shop!

BURGERFI:

961 Commonwealth Avenue

Boston, MA 02215

Photo credits: Felix Poon

Victoria’s Seafood

March 25, 2015March 2015Restaurant ReviewsHanadi Naji

Victorias Seafood

I would like to talk about a Chinese restaurant I recently visited. I went with the Celop Sun group members to the Victoria Seafood Restaurant. It's small and comfortable. I have tried many Chinese restaurants in Saudi Arabia but they were different. It's wasn’t exactly Chinese food. During our visit to Victoria Seafood, we ordered some chicken called "Soy sauce Chicken'. It was delicious. The other meal was broccoli. It's called " Chinese Broccoli". That was my favorite meal. It was cooked in a different way. As you know, broccoli is healthy. By the way it was very delicious. The third meal was called "Black Pepper Sauce Short Ribs". That meal was oily but still good. I advise to try this restaurant. We did have one bad experience however. One of the group members chipped her tooth on a chicken bone. Aside from that unfortunate event, it was a different and wonderful experience.

By Hanadi Naji

Roast Beast

February 20, 2015February 2015Restaurant ReviewsFelix Poon

(4/5 stars) $

Roast Beast Sam Five — The Sam Five, with a bag of "Dirty" kettle-cooked potato chips

Opened by a recent Boston University graduate, Roast Beast is a local BU/Allston favorite that specializes in one thing: thin slices of medium-rare roast beef served between lightly buttered soft rolls. When there's only one thing on the menu, it better be darned good. And Roast Beast's sandwiches are just that - darned good.

The menu is actually a bit daunting at first glance. "Step one" on the menu is to choose your size (Regular: $6, Large: $8, Mega: $10). "Step two" on the menu is to choose your roll (Deli, Onion, or Wheat). "Step three" on the menu is to choose your toppings - like lettuce, tomato, onion, cheese, etc., and sauce. Feeling indecisive? Don't know what combination to make? Choose from one of their combos, like "the Moondog", "the King Richard", or "the Sam Five". Like any sandwich shop, you can get extras like potato chips and a soda or juice.

You might notice the "thermonuclear sauce" on the menu. This sauce is made from one of the spiciest peppers in the world: the ghost pepper (which is more than 200 times more spicy than a jalapeño pepper according to this chart!). Try their "thermonuclear challenge" - two large roast beef sandwiches combined into one large sub with their thermonuclear sauce. You have to sign a legal waiver to eat this sandwich, and they give you gloves just to eat it. If you finish it in under 5 minutes, you win a free t-shirt. In the past, you would also get your photo posted on the "Wall of Beasts". When I visited Roast Beast earlier this month, the wall was depressingly barren. I asked what happened to the photos, and they said they were taken down because they weren't looking too good after being up for a few years.

Roast Beast-2

In any event, you don't have to partake in the thermonuclear challenge to enjoy this place. It is a tiny basement room with a lot of character. There's only a handful of wall-facing bench seats for those who wish to dine-in. Most folks come for take-out. You can find Roast Beast at 1080 Commonwealth Avenue on the corner of Naples Road, across from Star Market.

For more details and one person's account of the thermonuclear challenge, check out this article: peckthebeak.com/2012/03/roast-beasts-thermonuclear-challenge/

Restaurant Review: Boston House of Pizza

January 29, 2015January 2015Restaurant ReviewsFelix Poon

(3.5/5 stars) $

On the first day of classes, Spring 2015, the editorial staff of the CELOP Sun got together at the Boston House of Pizza, just a few minutes walk from CELOP, on Amory Street.

The best thing we found about this restaurant was the variety - Katja got a chicken cutlet sub, Maria got two slices of pizza, Rina got a chicken salad wrap, Sihun got a buffalo chicken wrap, and I got an oven-baked chicken broccoli and alfredo penne pasta.

The sub, although it was breaded, was very light, and not greasy. Katja especially liked it because she is somewhat lactose intolerant (cannot eat dairy products, like milk or cheese), but she loves Italian food, so this was a nice alternative to Pizza.

Maria's two slices of pizza were very large! In her words, "the slices are made for a construction worker or lumberjack." She could only finish one, and took the other slice home. The pizza was not too oily, and the sauce was not too sweet, "so, the pizza was good as American pizza goes."

The wraps were okay. Rina said she would have appreciated a hot food, rather than a cold food. Next time, she will try the gyro, which contains hot shredded meat, and a generous helping of vegetables wrapped within a pita bread.

Finally, the oven-baked chicken broccoli and alfredo penne pasta was excellent - the perfect hot dish for a cold snowy day. The chunks of chicken breast had a delicious grilled taste, and the alfredo sauce was sweet, savory, and creamy. The best part is that they melt a lot of cheese on top of this dish, which is served out of an aluminum container, which keeps it hot as you eat it. The garlic bread they give you is a hearty addition to this meal.

So there you have it. While the Boston House of Pizza is by far no gourmet food experience, it is close to CELOP, the food is good, and there is so much variety to choose from.

Photos by Felix Poon

Restaurant Review: Garlic ‘N Lemons

December 11, 2014December 2014Restaurant ReviewsKatja Alexandra Davidoff

Written by Katja Davidoff
Click here for the full review (a text only version of the review and a Google Map can be found below)

On Wednesday December 3^rd, three CELOP faculty and six students took the number 57 bus to Garlic and Lemons restaurant. I had not been there in almost a year and I was pleasantly surprised to see that the restaurant had expanded, allowing for lots of room to sit.

Garlic 'N Lemons offers an array of Mediterranean food that one can get in the restaurant or catered. The menu is a simple offering of large roll ups or plates with side dishes. The portions are generous and fresh. The service was very fast and efficient. If you are not already familiar with this type of cuisine, I suggest you look at the menu first, as the servers expect you to know quickly what you

want. They politely and efficiently expect customers to order as soon as they get to the server counter in order to keep the line moving.

One of my favorite types of Mediterranean food is a Shawerma. This is their specialty. It is a type of roll up with chicken and various spices and sauce inside a pita or another type of bread called Saj. One can get the Shawerma with chicken or beef, and spicy or not spicy. It is a great combination of meat and spices. Another offering is a Shawerma plate, which is the inside meat and sauce served Shawerma style without the bread. There are also meat kebabs and meat kebob roll ups.

The restaurant offers veggie roll ups with vegetables, Falafel, or Halloumi, for anyone who is vegetarian or does not desire to eat meat. Many dishes are sold as a combo where one can get garlic and rice pilaf, Tabouleh Salad, Greek Salad, Falafel Fatoush Salad, Cous Cous Salad Cauliflower, Hummus, Grape leaves, Rice & Lentils, Baba, Mousaka, Green Beans, French Fries, or Spicy Potatoes as a side dishes. The meat is cooked rotisserie style and cut fresh for each sandwich. In addition to my favorite Shawerma roll up, I love the Fatoush salad. The combination of the salad with the spices and the lemon juice make this one of the freshest salads I have ever had. The hummus is also creamy and fragrant. If you have room left for dessert, the Baklava is pure sweetness.

I was pleased that the students and the faculty seemed to really like the food. Maria Palermino ordered stuffed peppers, grape leaves and rice. When I asked her what she thought, her answer was “OMG, OMG”. Many of my students planned to come back at a later date. That was proof enough for me that they were not just being polite when they said the food was really good. The prices are also very reasonable for the generous portions. I hope to have lunch there again soon.

Restaurant Review: The Map Room Café

December 11, 2014December 2014Restaurant ReviewsFelix Poon

(3.5/5 stars) $$
Written by Felix Poon
All Photos by Felix Poon

Map Room Cafe Review-3

Students often ask me the question: where is the best place in Boston for clam chowder? There are a lot of places in Boston to get clam chowder, it's true. And depending where you go, you’ll get different chowder. In my opinion, the bigger and fresher the clams, the better the clam chowder. Extra points for chowder that is nice and creamy, and for restaurants that have good atmosphere. So what is my pick? The Boston Public Library.

“What? The Library?” you might ask in surprise. That’s right. The Boston Public Library has a small café called the Map Room Café. On their menu they have soups, salads, and “gourmet” sandwiches like garlic & herb-roasted sirloin, herb-roasted lamb, or apricot chicken salad. I always get the bowl of clam chowder, which is creamy, and rich in clam flavor. I also got the tuna salad, which comes with vine-ripened tomato, romaine lettuce, and an egg on rye bread.

The sandwiches always come with a dill pickle, and the chowder comes with oyster crackers. Sandwiches at the Map Room Café are good, but they are not great. It’s the chowder that I come for, and the atmosphere. This café has beautiful maps of Boston back in the old times, before parts of Boston Harbor and the Charles River were filled with land, and you could only come into Boston through Washington Street on the “Boston Neck”. So enjoy your soup, salad, and sandwich while gazing up at the history of Boston’s geography and urban development! Or, if the weather is nice, bring your food into the courtyard.

From CELOP, take the Green Line to the Copley Square station. The library is right at the T station exit.

Seoul Soulongtang

November 24, 2014November 2014Restaurant ReviewsFelix Poon

Written by Felix Poon
Click here for the full review (a text only version of the review and a Google Map can be found below)
The editorial staff took a 5-minute T ride to Soul Soulongtang, a Korean restaurant specializing in hot soups and other Korean dishes, located on the corner of Commonwealth Ave. and Harvard Ave.

Three of us ordered soup dishes with beef short ribs (kalbitang), while Sultan ordered the Dolsot Bibimbap (a hot claypot of rice mixed with a rich spicy sauce and generous amounts of vegetables like carrots, radishes, zucchini, mushrooms, bean sprouts, and an egg). We all shared side dishes including kimchi (spicy pickled cabbage), spicy pickled radishes, potatoes, and a slaw, as well as an appetizer of beef cellophane noodles (japchae). We all loved the food, including Sihun who is from Korea, and even Sultan who had never had Korean food before. The meat and vegetables were all fresh and delicious, and also healthy, with balanced portions of protein, vegetables, and rice. And the spices, oh the spices! They thrill and delight your tastebuds without being too much to handle. The japchae and all of our dishes were piping hot, perfect for the cold weather we are having now, especially the soups.

The only complaint that Felix had was that the side dishes took a long time to be served. Side dishes, called banchan, are usually served soon after ordering, and are enjoyed while you wait for your main dishes to arrive. This was just a minor complaint which does not stop us from saying that it was a wonderful lunch experience, and we all highly recommend Seoul Soulongtang.

From CELOP: take the Green Line B and get off at the Harvard Ave stop. Address: 1245 Commonwealth Ave. Allston, MA