The Critics Ate Ramen, Pizza, and Cheese Plates This Week

Ramen Done Right

Catherine Smart visits Amateras for her latest piece in The Boston Globe. The ramen-focused restaurant has a simple menu with soup, cold appetizers, and mini rice bowls. “What’s surprising is Amateras serves several styles of ramen — rather than specializing in one — and does each of them justice,” Smart writes. The Yokohama Tonkotsu ramen is rich and porky, with springy noodles and a toasted nori flavor “that sets it apart from any we’ve had,” according to Smart, and the “golden broth is deeply savory and leaves you sticky-lipped from the porcine fat.” The Nagoya Maze Soba, a brothless ramen, comes with garlicky ground pork, and the Tanrei Shio (salt ramen) is “the perfect bowl for when you’re under the weather.” Bowls are customizable with assorted toppings, and Smart recommends the Kewpie broccoli side dish that comes with Japanese mayo, sesame seeds, soy, and pakchee salad. Overall, Smart writes: “Ready or not, build a bowl of ramen this good and they will come.”

Fresh Pasta and Prepared Foods

The Boston Globe’s Kara Baskin pops into Semolina Kitchen & Bar in Medford for a “Quick Bite” overview of the new spinoff of Dave’s Fresh Pasta. The restaurant serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner, including baked goods (like Iggy’s mini pecan sticky buns) and coffee in the morning. Just like Dave’s, there are pantry items and to-go prepared foods (like spinach lasagna), along with wood-oven pizzas, pastas, and cocktails to consume in-house, with table service for lunch and dinner. There are also a few sandwiches, plus specials. Cocktails include Negronis and Pimm’s cups, and there are other non-alcoholic options.

Bright Boneless Pork Chop

Marc Hurwitz visits Atwood’s Tavern in Cambridge for his latest Dig Boston review. He tucks into the cheese plate, which comes with sourdough bread, quince jam, and dried apricots, and he writes that the hummus plate (though heavy on the garlic) comes with house-made pita chips. Fennel and ginger brightens the grilled boneless pork chop, as bacon does for the creamy mac and cheese. He writes that the grass-fed burger with local beef is “juicy,” and the “Taza chocolate pudding [is] almost too rich (if that’s possible).” There’s also a solid local beer list, plus wine and cocktails, and a surplus of live music to go along with the menu. “Atwood’s Tavern may not be a crazy place or a meat market, but there are few better options in the Boston area for food, drink, and music,” he writes.

• Ramen Worth Seeking Out at Amateras [BG]
• Semolina Kitchen & Bar [BG]
• Atwood’s Tavern, Cambridge: Food, Beer, and Music in a Rustic Space [DigBoston]