Kala Thai Cookery Is ‘an Oasis of Electric Flavors’ for One Critic

An “Oasis of Electric Flavors”

MC Slim JB reviews Kala Thai Cookery for the Improper Bostonian. The newer restaurant from Cha Yen’s Manita Bunnagitkarn bears some similarities to her original Watertown spot, but Slim calls special attention to the “wonderful” corn cakes, the “superb” tod mun, and the fried kapow dumplings to start. More highlights range from a mango salad to an “above-average pad Thai,” as well as the char kway teow with wide, stir-fried rice noodles, shrimp, and pork sausage. The stir-fried garlic “delivers a boatload of garlic beautifully balanced with some sweetness,” while the central Thai coconut milk curries are well-represented, Slim writes, by both the massaman version and the red curry. Overall, Slim calls Kala Thai Cookery an “oasis of electric flavors, a major-league outpost of a budding empire we hope keeps expanding.”

A “Mind-Blowing” Polenta Twinkie

Marc Hurwitz pays a visit to 753 South in Roslindale for Dig Boston, where he finds some “interesting twists on comfort food items.” He writes that “one of the most mind-blowingly delicious” items on the menu is the polenta goat cheese Twinkie, where the outer polenta layer balances with the tangy goat cheese and marinara, as well as with the pesto served alongside. Hurwitz also calls attention to the roasted Brussels sprouts with pancetta, the “terrific” chicken under a brick, and the Cuban sandwich with slow-roasted pork.

• More Manita [IB]
• 753 South in Roslindale [Dig Boston]