Brookline Restaurants

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Orinoco is a Venezuelan restaurant that I've been riding by twice a day on my way to work and wondering about. Well, I finally got to find out and am happy to report that it's wonderful!

As I mentioned it's Venezuelan cuisine and having traveled to Colombia in my youth to visit my mother's family, the food was delicious as well as nostalgic for me.

Favorite Dish: We split a trio of empanadas, arepas with Venezuelan guayanes cheese, a salad with some amazing bacon covered figs (Once again, anything with bacon is greate!) and a mixed grill of meat and fried yuca.

In a word: delicioso! Oh, and we split a flan and a flourless chocolate concoction that even a non-chocoholic would love!

Can't wait to go back here... Volvere!

I've eaten at The Abbey a few times and have never been dissappointed. It's a beautifully decorated and well-apportioned small space with a pub-feel. You can stop in for a drink or have a meal. But you'll want to stay for a meal!

Favorite Dish: The food is quite simply delicious and prepared to perfection. I've thoroughly enjoyed each meal I've had here and can't wait to go back! They have a wonderful wine selection too including a marvelous temperanillo.

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Jimmy's opened in my neighborhood recently. It was, years ago, the B&D Deli and the space sat empty until Jimmy's opened. Its decor is very spartan and modern with exposed ceiling work and pipes, no wall coverings and metal and concrete surfaces everywhere. Plus, they play pulsating music so when it's full of diners it is a very noisy place. Just walking by it you can tell as they have garage-door style windows that create an indoor/outdoor area when opened. We were there pretty early but even then I found myself missing some of the conversation from the other side of the table.

Favorite Dish: We had to try the fried pickles because frankly, we'd never had them. I wasn't very impressed with them. I really only like half-sour pickles, which these weren't, and I'm not a huge fan of fried food. For an entree I had the baby arugula pizza. The crust was wonderfully crisp but, on a whole, it was too salty for me. This was due to the prosciutto on it, so maybe they should use a little less.

The pomegranite magaritas, however, were fabulous!

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The Roadhouse recently opened in my neighborhood after keeping it's residents wondering all summer. It used to be a Vinny T's which closed without any warning last winter. It was empty and quiet until springtime when the entire structure where it and a craft beer store stand, were painted jet black. Very Darth Vadar looking. Within the next few days, however, the tiled roofs were painted bright red with other embellishments of the structure painted red and bright yellow. It was at about this time that we started to call it "The Pagoda". It was also at around this time that signs announcing "The Roadhouse - A Craft Beer and BBQ joint" started appearing.

Work then seemed to either stop or take on snail's pace. This location has a great outdoor seating area that we were all hoping they'd be able to take advantage of during this past summer; but that was not to be. We all heard about how the Craft Beer store next door, which also belongs to the owners of the Roadhouse, had no liquor license. So that's what we assume was the problem with the Roadhouse.

Well, it finally opened a few weeks ago and they have been able to use those picnic tables on a more than a few occasions. If they last till next Summer they'll be rocking.

Favorite Dish: I think they will be around next summer. Whenever you go by on a weekend night, the place is filled with hungry grilled meat patrons. Last night I and a couple of neighbors joined in. We waited quite a bit for a table and let me just use one word to decscribe the place: LOUD.

Keeping up with conversations or hearing the waitress were a challenge. On the good side, the din actually drowned out the 2 screaming children that were seated near us. And they were probably screaming because the noise was too much for their little ears!

Now, on to the food which is the real reason we were there. Well, we were seated at 8ish on a Saturday night and they were out of two of the items we tried to order. Not good. But hey, the place is new and I guess they're still working everything out.

By now I'll bet you're expecting to read a scathing review of the food, right? Well, that's not the case. The food when it finally arrived was actually quite good. Truthfully, their bbq sauce isn't as good as the one at the Village Smokehouse but it is good. Two of us had a pork chop - which was my second choice - and the third had beef ribs - her first choice like mine had been pork ribs. We all got the bliss mashed potatoes and cheddar jalapeno corn bread. It was all really tasty and filling. However, they need to put paper towels on the tables, give patrons wet-naps and the bathroom, when I used it, was a mess. They need to pay attention to these details.

I did try some sort of lager, a pumkin ale and a trusted Duvel to wash my meal down and they were tasty.

Tamarind Bay opened about a month ago on the site of what used to be a traditional Indian restaurant. You know the kind, with traditional furniture, music and decor. I only ate there twice and I enjoyed both meals there. In fact, you can find a review for it here on my Brookline page.

Then it closed and was gutted and re-opened while it still looked unfinished to me. The bar is very pretty and along one wall. The other 3 walls, however, were painted to look streaky and silvery blue and left bare. I can't stand bare walls! And it was really noticeable because the windows were replaced with the large - almost floor to ceiling type - that can open to let the air in.

I guess the restaurant was opened while still a work in practice as far as the decor is involved. I'm happy to report that they've added some really interesting carved stone(?) panels along those walls so I was able to go there without feeling like I was dining at the asylum!

(They still need to add to their decor in my opinion and they need to get more air into the place when the windows can't be opened. For that reason only, I can't give this place the highest rating.)

Favorite Dish: The best news is, however, that the food is delicious! Some friends took me there for a birthday dinner and it was a very tasty experience. We had some coconut flavored nan bread that was light and fluffy and served hot. One of my friends had the tandoori salmon which I sampled and was wonderful. The other one had the crabcakes which I also sampled (Hey, I'm the birthday girl!) and there were also terrific. But my dish, the shrimp cooked in a coconut and onion sauce, was absolutely terrific. It was just so flavorful and spicy but not too much and it was a gorgeous pumkin color. I fought back the urge to eat the entire bowl of rice that it was served with, covered by the rest of the sauce. (I had to save room for dessert, didn't I?)

Who wouldn't want to eat at a restaurant's whose name is a Yiddish word for ripe or luscious? Oh sure, it could also be translated to meaning "fat" but let's not go there, okay?

It's a Deli restaurant with a nice large menu and a homey feel. It's one of those places where you love to go in on your own and sit at the counter during an off hour.

They serve breakfast all day and on weekends if you want to eat there, you need to either show up an hour before you really want to eat or just be prepared to wait and suffer. It's a VERY popular spot for this!

Favorite Dish: The sandwiches are great. They have a large variety of fun and funky combinations of which you'll wanna try every one. For breakfast, I once had pancakes made and topped with granola. (Don't order this if you're hungover, the crunching might do you in) And I just tried the Zaftig salad which is greens, feta cheese, black olives, pine nuts and raisins which I had with chicken. It was delish!

OH! And you get bagel chips and flavored cream cheese with every meal....

This is my favorite Thai restaurant. I've never had a bad or mediocre meal here. I don't live too far from here so and although there are quite a few Thai places in Brookline, I'll always want to go here if just for the food. Unfortunately, it's located in a really studenty area which doesn't hold much of an appeal for a person my age. It's also just about the only business in Cleveland Cirlce that I have any interest in patronizing so if I go there, it's not generally because of it's location. It's the food - definately the food!

Favorite Dish: Of all the dishes I've tried there my absolute favorite is the Drunk Noodles. This is my favorite Thai dish and I tend to order this a lot and theirs is simply great. I had the Tofu with Basil the last time I was there and my friend had the One Night in Bangkok with beef which I tried and quite frankly, gave me a bit of order envy!

It calls itself "A New England Grill" and I think that's a really good way to sum up the food here. Everything I've had here has been tasty and yes, their speciality is the grilled food and yes, there's a big fireplace which is lovely to sit by when it's cold out.

Aside from the food, the atmosphere is great too. The bar is welcoming and situated right by the windows so you can have a drink, chat, and check out the passerbys if you like. They also have wine tastings - I haven't attended any of those - and live musical performances. It's got a really nice neighborhood feel to the place.

Favorite Dish: I love going there for brunch and I always end up having the same thing! The French toast - whose preparation they vary from time to time - and the country sausage patty. Them is good eats.