West Bridge in Kendall Square has made a strong impression on Boston diners and critics alike, and now The Improper Bostonian restaurant reviewer B.N. Lee weighs in with a similarly glowing assessment, giving West Bridge four out of five stars. But it's not the much-hyped egg in a jar that stands out. "Although indisputably delicious, a fancified egg doesn't compare to the calamari ($13), presented as a tangle of soft noodles mixed with yellow and red tomatoes, cockles and whelks." That dish tastes "like the apotheosis of pasta and seafood." But it's not a perfect score, in part because the chocolate-chip-cookie bread pudding gets that most damning of all food adjectives: "inedible." Still, four stars. [TIB]
Kaju Tofu House on Harvard Ave is "is a wondrous, fiery addition to Allston's restaurant stew" says MC Slim JB in the Phoenix's lastest On the Cheap column. The restaurant manages to fill a niche in a neighborhood that already boasts "a UN of delicious bargains within a square mile or two." And that niche is a restaurant specializing in the Korean sundubu jigae, or "spicy soft-tofu soup." It comes in five levels of heat and in fifteen possible combinations of ingredients. Even the rice, which arrives in "a very hot clay pot," makes an impression: "your server will scrape it into a separate bowl, leaving a layer behind to form a caramelized crust to be loosened with a pour of barley tea." [BP]
The Druid in Inman Square "brings to mind more than a few dining and drinking establishments in Dublin, Cork, Galway, and countless small communities scattered throughout the Irish countryside" says Boston's Hidden Restaurants. The Druid is not one of those pubs that "put more effort into atmosphere, entertainment, and alcohol than food," as evidenced by the potato leek soup, oxtail soup, mussels in garlic and wine broth, burger and fish and chips: "possibly the best this writer has had in the entire Boston area." And that's saying something, given this blog's breadth and depth. Heck, even the chicken fingers here are good. [BHR]
"Authentic" is a loaded word to throw around these days and seems to apply most often to Mexican food, but this Globe Cheap Eats column headline goes for it, proclaiming "Authentic burritos at new Belmont spot." Said spot is Cafe Burrito, and Katherine Hysmith has more to say on the matter of authenticity: "And while we would never say that cantaloupe-cucumber-mint salsa is authentic in Mexico, Cafe Burrito in Belmont is using local and simple ingredients to bring the burrito back to its humble street-food beginnings." [BG]
The barbecue hit SoulFire opened its second location in Brigham Circle back in July, but Chowder's Man Food columnist Richard Chudy is the first pro to give it a go. The verdict? "There's nothing out of the ordinary, it's just good barbecue fare with a side of smoke and sauce, precisely the way it should be." [C]