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Reviews for Artisan Bistro, Trade, Towne, Habanero Mexican Grill, East Ocean City, Taberna de Haro, Stoli

Photo: Picasa Web/Zagat Buzz

Globe food critic Devra First finds some dishes like chicken with licorice-honey glaze appealing at Artisan Bistro but smacks the Ritz-Carlton restaurant with but one star. It seems the location is a mark against it for First, who notes other, better restaurants in hotels like Clio and Uni, Eastern Standard, Island Creek Oyster Bar, and Scampo. The service and decor are appreciated but cocktails are better elsewhere, lobster risotto is "gummy, heavy," a salad lacks flavor and salmon is "a bit dry." [Globe]

MC Slim JB likes Trade. He reviews the new waterfront Jody Adams restaurant for STUFF and is pleased with the layout, "friendly, unpretentious" service, "five impeccable roasted littlenecks" and menu differentiations from Adams' Rialto. "If successful expansion is a matter of timing, Adams appears to have chosen her moment perfectly." [STUFF]

This was a big week for Boston burgers. Tufts revealed its list of the city's best (Radius) and burger maven Richard Chudy produced his own account of the top five, which climaxes with Craigie on Main. Chudy also discusses the burger at Towne, which he finds "properly cooked" but underwhelming. [Boston Burger Blog]

BU Today turns its gaze towards Habanero Mexican Grill and declares the spot superior in taste and cost to other chains in the area like Chipotle and Qdoba. The reviewer also somehow enjoys a taco despite the fact that it "contained some dark meat." [BU Today]

Wei-Huan Chen says East Ocean City in Chinatown is worth dodging bricks for. Business remained steady when the restaurant's street closed for an avalanche of building materials: must have been the "standout" clams with black-bean sauce and freshly killed barramundi that "falls slick off of its bones." [Boston Phoenix]

"The beauty of their food is in the great simplicity with which it is prepared," says a Boston Food Diary after visiting Taberna De Haro in Brookline. The blog praises the flavors of branada (bacaloa and olive oil) despite "a tongue feel similar to light sand." [BFD

The Globe's Steve Bradt considers it a strength that Zoe's Gourmet Chinese Cuisine in Somerville serves both American-Chinese dishes like pu pu platter for two and happy family as well as Chinese-Chinese dishes like dry diced chicken with hot chilies and ma po tofu. [Globe]

Is there any other restaurant in Boston where you can savor house-infused horseradish vodka, borscht "laced with caraway seeds and fresh dill" and homemade lamb dumplings while listening to live accordion besides Brookline's Stoli Bar and Restaurant? Nope. [Brookline Patch]

Uni Boston

370A Commonwealth Avenue, , MA 02215 (617) 536-7200 Visit Website

Scampo at The Liberty Hotel

215 Charles St, Boston, MA 02114 857 241 1150 Visit Website

Rialto

1 Bennett Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 617 661 5050 Visit Website

Craigie On Main

853 Main Street, , MA 02139 (617) 497-5511 Visit Website

Eastern Standard

528 Commonwealth Avenue, , MA 02215 (617) 532-9100 Visit Website

Trade

1410 14th Street Northwest, , DC 20005 (202) 986-1094 Visit Website

Taberna de Haro

999 Beacon Street, , MA 02446 (617) 277-8272 Visit Website

Stoli Bar and Restaurant

213 Washington Street, Brookline, MA 02445 617 731 5070 Visit Website

Island Creek Oyster Bar

500 Commonwealth Avenue, , MA 02215 (617) 532-5300 Visit Website

Artisan Bistro

10 Avery Street, , MA 02111 (617) 574-7176 Visit Website

Clio

370 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215 617 536 7200

Towne Stove and Spirits

900 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02115 617 247 0400 Visit Website