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

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]