The Critics Ate Lobster and Oxtail Bolognese and Cambodian Sandwiches This Week

Surprising Sourdough

The Improper Bostonian’s MC Slim JB visits North Square Oyster for his latest review. The restaurant serves 12 kinds of oysters each night alongside a variety of sauces, of which Slim liked the mignonette sauces the best. There is a “very fine” version of a lobster roll and a surprising sourdough boule with the clam chowder. Slim writes that the fish and chips “might be the best rendition...we’ve ever had” and adds that the lobster-and-oxtail bolognese is “staggeringly delicious.” Overall, he writes, North Square is “too earnest, too delicious and too good a value when it hits its marks to be deemed a tourist trap” in the North End.

Delicious Sandwiches

The Boston Globe’s Ellen Bhang visits Num Pang Kitchen in the Prudential Center, where she digs into Cambodian sandwiches. The ginger barbecue brisket version “is a delicious example of the signature item,” she writes, and it’s reminiscent of “a saucier version of Vietnamese banh mi.” Menu items are mostly pre-set, with the exception of the grain bowl, which offers a choice between brown rice, jasmine rice, or a blend. She recommends the roasted seasonal vegetable bowl and writes that the Cambodian slaw is “terrific,” with a “refreshingly tart dressing,” while the Cambodian coffee is a “sweet, caffeinated jolt — perfect fuel for your rush back to the office.”

• Ye Olde Moderne [IB]
• At Num Pang Kitchen, a Snappy Take on Southeast Asian Flavors [BG]