Whether you ask for ...Wet or Wat or Wot...you are in for a treat!
Blue Nile is a quaint, lowkey, authentic Ethiopian fare bungalow. Nestled in a perfect nook of blended ethnic foods, Blue Nile doesn't quite stand out on the strip in Hyde Square unless you are a restaurant competing for patrons or this is a neighborhood you walk through often or reside within; but once you walk through the doors, Blue Nile stands out as the warm, cozy, blog-worthy restaurant you realize you've had the good fortune of noticing and venturing through the doors.
There are 9-10 tables within this super small space, yet they are placed smartly where patrons' conversations are not intrusive, but simply chatter amongst the small crowd. This place could easily provoke uncomfortable moments of tapping elbows or rolling eyes at a the loud-talkers one table over, but the music and the smiles upon the faces of your servers and fellow diners quells those tendencies.
I recommend not arriving with hunger pangs that may lead to crankiness...these meals from the starters to the entrees are made to order and if you sneak a peek into the kitchen as the swinging door is slightly ajar, you can read "passionate, hard-at-work chef" on the faces of these cooks.
Since I didn't notice a traditional honey wine on the drink menu, I did have a couple of glasses of Cabernet. The wine list was significantly inexpensive with glasses going for $3.50 and bottles for $19.99!!!
I love the communal eating style of Ethiopian cuisine. We stared with a spinach sambusa, served piping hot; fried perfectly golden brown. The filling was rich and spiced well...the perfect starter.
Blue Nile's injera was wonderfully tangy and moist. We enjoyed ours with Doro Wet...tender, moist chicken leg and pulled pieces stewed in traditional, spicy bebere chili sauce and herb butter (not overdone), accomanied by a hard boiled egg, yellow peas, and chilled potato.
The derek tibs were cooked nicely.
Can't wait to try the vegetable sampler next. It looked amazing!
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Felt, 533 Washington St, Boston, MA (Downtown Crossing)
I FELT extreme disappointment with my experience dining here (corny pun, I know).
Service:
Our server was flighty and clearly inexperienced in the industry.
I ordered sauteed mushrooms as a side dish with my chicken and mash entree...she proceeded to bring them out as an entree. Her pacing was awful to the point where the 'manager' began to help out with our table and the other FOUR (yes, only FOUR) other tables.
We were enticed into Felt with a BuywithMe certificate and the online menu looked decent enough. The server was not sure what to do with the certificate...ok, fair enough, maybe she's never processed one before (but I'm a veteran with these things and have never experienced that before) it was as if I handed her some old school foodstamps as payment....deer in the headlights!
The manager eventually comes over and tries to convince us that Buywithme defrauded the company and sold certificates without their consent....hmmmm, that's a new one.
He decided to 'honor the certificate anyway'. Oh, gee, thanks!
Anywho...the food:
The stuffed mushrooms tasted like canned 'shrooms and were over-salted, as was my chicken, and the other entree which consisted of some type of goat or feta cheese and crostini creation. The mushrooms were not actually stuffed since they were small and still had the stems (not stuffed caps) with tomato and other stuff dumped on top. The mash that came with my chicken entree was thin and tasted like watery boxed potatoes. My dining companion said his chicken sandwich was dry...overall, the quality of the meal was amateur at best. The velvet seats in the dining booths were dirty and stained (wish I'd wished I noticed before sitting down to eat). This place is just gross!
Thank goodness we didn't pay full price for this disaster of a meal!
I contacted Buywithme regarding Felt's accusations. They investigated and found this to be a false claim and refunded my money spent on the certificate.
Service:
Our server was flighty and clearly inexperienced in the industry.
I ordered sauteed mushrooms as a side dish with my chicken and mash entree...she proceeded to bring them out as an entree. Her pacing was awful to the point where the 'manager' began to help out with our table and the other FOUR (yes, only FOUR) other tables.
We were enticed into Felt with a BuywithMe certificate and the online menu looked decent enough. The server was not sure what to do with the certificate...ok, fair enough, maybe she's never processed one before (but I'm a veteran with these things and have never experienced that before) it was as if I handed her some old school foodstamps as payment....deer in the headlights!
The manager eventually comes over and tries to convince us that Buywithme defrauded the company and sold certificates without their consent....hmmmm, that's a new one.
He decided to 'honor the certificate anyway'. Oh, gee, thanks!
Anywho...the food:
The stuffed mushrooms tasted like canned 'shrooms and were over-salted, as was my chicken, and the other entree which consisted of some type of goat or feta cheese and crostini creation. The mushrooms were not actually stuffed since they were small and still had the stems (not stuffed caps) with tomato and other stuff dumped on top. The mash that came with my chicken entree was thin and tasted like watery boxed potatoes. My dining companion said his chicken sandwich was dry...overall, the quality of the meal was amateur at best. The velvet seats in the dining booths were dirty and stained (wish I'd wished I noticed before sitting down to eat). This place is just gross!
Thank goodness we didn't pay full price for this disaster of a meal!
I contacted Buywithme regarding Felt's accusations. They investigated and found this to be a false claim and refunded my money spent on the certificate.
(Now Closed) Mantra (Indian Cuisine), 52 Temple Place, Boston, MA (Downtown Crossing)
I usually have decent things to say about Mantra, but on Tuesday night (3/1/2011) I had a reservation via opentable.com at 7:30, was not seated until after 8:00 and the service was extremely slow with poor pacing between courses. We did not receive our food until almost 9:30 and the appetizer order was incorrect. Even my side dish came after I was halfway done with my filet mignon. I'm not sure if I will return or recommend Mantra again as I have so many times in the past.
If anything, I'd recommend having dinner at the bar.
7/2011:
I had a friend visiting from Turks & Caicos and we were milling around looking for lunch on a Saturday in Downtown Crossing since Kingston Station was not open at the time. So, I decide to head into Mantra.
My new recommendation is that the lunch buffet is THE best time to go to Mantra! The spread was pretty great and there's no need to worry about receiving poor service! The price was decent at $12 from 11:30-2:30 daily.
The buffet has okra dishes (masala and fried), chicken tikka masala, vegetable fritters,vegetable biryani, tandoori chicken....all the favorite staples.
If anything, I'd recommend having dinner at the bar.
7/2011:
I had a friend visiting from Turks & Caicos and we were milling around looking for lunch on a Saturday in Downtown Crossing since Kingston Station was not open at the time. So, I decide to head into Mantra.
My new recommendation is that the lunch buffet is THE best time to go to Mantra! The spread was pretty great and there's no need to worry about receiving poor service! The price was decent at $12 from 11:30-2:30 daily.
The buffet has okra dishes (masala and fried), chicken tikka masala, vegetable fritters,vegetable biryani, tandoori chicken....all the favorite staples.
Victoria's Diner, 1024 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston, MA (Newmarket Square)
On weekends, the crowd waiting usually looks more intimidating than it really is....likely because I usually only go with one other person and the other parties are waiting for a 4 top. The omelets are the best! The Italian, the Spanish, the Florentine, Lumberjack...I love them all. The fillings are not sparse in the least. Their french toast is pretty good, the pancakes (or as they are annoyingly misspelled on the in-house menus "Pankakes") can be a bit too dense for my liking.The homefries are to die for!!! Victoria's serves chunky, soft, and buttery skin-on potatoes!
If you care to imbibe with your meal, Victoria's has a decent bar selection as well. Super late night hours are a pretty awesome plus as well! Great for late night cravings!
Their service is always prompt and polite, the location may cause parking to be an issue, but it's survivable.
Quick Tip: If you are dining with 2-3 other people, there's a wait, and there's space at the bar, simply walk in and grab those seats; they are self-seat only!
http://www.victoriasdiner.com/
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