Reviews for Porter Cafe, Five Horses Tavern, Storyville, Stone Hearth Pizza and the Porter Exchange

Globe food critic Devra First dines at Porter Cafe in West Roxbury and declares it a standout among the others in this neighborhood's restaurant row. "He has the touch," she says of chef Jimmy Whelen, who "makes simple fare that is consistently tastier than you think it could be." Typically ho-hum mussels in a Thai-ish coconut broth "transcend the ordinary" and an in-house sausage is something sausage rarely is: "light." Why only two stars? A bland pork shank, a too-salty chicken, and First sounds satisfied but not wowed. [Boston Globe]

Brittany Jasnoff of Boston Magazine sups at Five Horses Tavern in Davis Square, a funky-rustic-sporty spot that "seems to have an identity crisis." Jasnoff prefers the large plates to the small and suffers through a too-large, pre-fab tortilla and "too-doughy" pizza and perhaps appreciates the beer list more than the menu, which "packs a bit more punch than your average pub grub." Number of times the article mentions pork belly: 3. [Boston Magazine]

Robert Nadeau of the Boston Phoenix reviews Storyville and gives the Back Bay restaurant two stars. The cocktail program outpaces much of the dishes though there is "some fine eating around the bar." Nadeau's favorite snack is the chickpea frites, "classic French-fried Lincoln Logs of creamy garbanzo puree" and a goat cheese mousse is "like the world's greatest cream-cheese-and-jelly sandwich" when spread on the accompanying sourdough. Other dishes are "a hazard to nightclub clothing." Not a bad thing for green bean casserole, but a bit odd for chocolate chip cookies. [Boston Phoenix]

Cassandra Landry of the Boston Phoenix visits Stone Hearth Pizza in Allston (there are several) in the latest installment of On the Cheap. The menu is "extensive" and the beer selection passes the Pretty Things test. Arugula and portabella mushroom salad with Chardonnay-tarragon dressing lacks Chardonnay-tarragon dressing. [Boston Phoenix]

The Tufts Daily declares the Porter Exchange "a mecca of Asian restaurants" and finds that "the ramen noodles that you can find at these restaurants are very different from the dried, pre-packaged variety that most college students are familiar with." [Tufts Daily]