This week I did try to keep up with my project, planning to meet a friend at Le Mirage on the corner of Chandler and June streets. Sadly, they have closed. A friend in the neighborhood thought the owners moved away.
So, comfort food fall-back option just down the street was in store: Nancy Chang's. I didn't have the stamina or the funds to search out someplace different on another day, sorry. Nancy Chang's is definitely not new-for-me, and also not the best Chinese food. It makes one feel like home, though, and that's what we needed on a rainy, pitch-black November evening.
Sunday, November 22, 2015
Sunday, November 15, 2015
Oishi Japanese Restaurant 8 Franklin St. (Nov 12)
Overall impression: Tons of veggie sushi options.
https://www.facebook.com/OishiJapaneseRestraunt/?fref=nf
Downtown Worcester isn't someplace we go to a lot for dining, I really need to explore more. Sure, there is the Armsby Abbey for fabulous beer and cocktails (though I'm not a beer drinker), but I have a hard time getting my husband to dine there. Ritual we liked for a while, until we had such horrible service last year that we gave it the final cross off of our list. But both those places are on the upper end of style and kind of "chi chi". Most places downtown are fewer frills, and that is really fine. (See last week's post on Addie Lee's... though Addie Lee's has more ambience than Oishi).
So, I went to the rather small kind of hole in the wall restaurant, Oishi, on my friend Nadine's recommendation. I just got take-out to have for lunch at work. The people working there were very friendly. They pointed out the delivery option and also gave me a frequent-eater card (5th meal and free stuff!). It really is small inside, but dining in would be fine if that's your desire. The restaurant is right by the common, and I didn't have any problem finding street parking on a Thursday at 11:30.
There are several veggie sushi options, which is great for me (no meat, no fish). I got a mixed veggie roll and an avocado roll. I decided to also get Maguro (tuna) sushi a la carte for my friend Sarah to taste-test. I thought mine was yummy. However, with veggie sushi I don't think there are the great differences in quality as there can be with regular sushi. (I don't consider vegetarian sushi "regular" as there was none to be had in Japan when we visited.) Sarah liked hers, but said that the tuna was very thin-sliced. She would have there food again.
There you have it, a perfectly fine place downtown for sushi. Pop in if you are around!
https://www.facebook.com/OishiJapaneseRestraunt/?fref=nf
Downtown Worcester isn't someplace we go to a lot for dining, I really need to explore more. Sure, there is the Armsby Abbey for fabulous beer and cocktails (though I'm not a beer drinker), but I have a hard time getting my husband to dine there. Ritual we liked for a while, until we had such horrible service last year that we gave it the final cross off of our list. But both those places are on the upper end of style and kind of "chi chi". Most places downtown are fewer frills, and that is really fine. (See last week's post on Addie Lee's... though Addie Lee's has more ambience than Oishi).
So, I went to the rather small kind of hole in the wall restaurant, Oishi, on my friend Nadine's recommendation. I just got take-out to have for lunch at work. The people working there were very friendly. They pointed out the delivery option and also gave me a frequent-eater card (5th meal and free stuff!). It really is small inside, but dining in would be fine if that's your desire. The restaurant is right by the common, and I didn't have any problem finding street parking on a Thursday at 11:30.
There are several veggie sushi options, which is great for me (no meat, no fish). I got a mixed veggie roll and an avocado roll. I decided to also get Maguro (tuna) sushi a la carte for my friend Sarah to taste-test. I thought mine was yummy. However, with veggie sushi I don't think there are the great differences in quality as there can be with regular sushi. (I don't consider vegetarian sushi "regular" as there was none to be had in Japan when we visited.) Sarah liked hers, but said that the tuna was very thin-sliced. She would have there food again.
There you have it, a perfectly fine place downtown for sushi. Pop in if you are around!
Sunday, November 8, 2015
Addie Lee's Soul Food 596 Main St. (November 5)
Overall impression: Yummy food in a comfy environment
https://www.facebook.com/Addie-Lees-Soul-Food-580869232039716/
This was a week for me to lunch out, away from the work break-room. Sometimes you just need to change it up. I had been trying to get to Addie Lee's with a colleague from New Orleans for a long time - I figured he'd have more insight into soul food than me, given my midwestern upbringing. That never worked out, so I decided to just set a date and go. Lucky for me my friend Nadine was able to come along. I not only got a second opinion, but also had a fabulous dining companion.
We were among the first customers at 11:45 on a Thursday (they open at 11:30). We ordered and then grabbed the one table that had semi-shade. The dining area is lovely - windows on two sides as the restaurant is on a corner. Unfortunately, the first week in November was disturbingly hot, and the sun pouring in made it feel about 80 degrees inside (it may actually have been 80 degrees). I ate in a tank top. Of course, in mid-winter I will be happy to eat in a pool of sun.
I had mac and cheese and collard greens, which came with corn bread. All was good, and the corn bread was especially nice in that it wasn't overly sweet. Nadine had the lunch special with baked chicken, mac and cheese as her side. She liked everything very well except the chicken, which was a bit dry for her taste. Her plan is to next time try the fried chicken.
Nadine and I had a lot of catching up to do and were engrossed in conversation. So honestly I didn't pay attention to other diners, how full it got, what seemed a popular dish, etc. (The people who worked there seemed nice, and our food arrived quickly, that I can report). I'd go there again anytime for food and chatting, though, even if I wasn't "paying attention" for a review I felt very much at home and appreciative of the cooking.
(Sorry no pictures).
P.S. My friend Melissa says the Friday night catfish is excellent!
P.P.S. According to Facebook Nov. 7 was their one-year anniversary!
https://www.facebook.com/Addie-Lees-Soul-Food-580869232039716/
This was a week for me to lunch out, away from the work break-room. Sometimes you just need to change it up. I had been trying to get to Addie Lee's with a colleague from New Orleans for a long time - I figured he'd have more insight into soul food than me, given my midwestern upbringing. That never worked out, so I decided to just set a date and go. Lucky for me my friend Nadine was able to come along. I not only got a second opinion, but also had a fabulous dining companion.
We were among the first customers at 11:45 on a Thursday (they open at 11:30). We ordered and then grabbed the one table that had semi-shade. The dining area is lovely - windows on two sides as the restaurant is on a corner. Unfortunately, the first week in November was disturbingly hot, and the sun pouring in made it feel about 80 degrees inside (it may actually have been 80 degrees). I ate in a tank top. Of course, in mid-winter I will be happy to eat in a pool of sun.
I had mac and cheese and collard greens, which came with corn bread. All was good, and the corn bread was especially nice in that it wasn't overly sweet. Nadine had the lunch special with baked chicken, mac and cheese as her side. She liked everything very well except the chicken, which was a bit dry for her taste. Her plan is to next time try the fried chicken.
Nadine and I had a lot of catching up to do and were engrossed in conversation. So honestly I didn't pay attention to other diners, how full it got, what seemed a popular dish, etc. (The people who worked there seemed nice, and our food arrived quickly, that I can report). I'd go there again anytime for food and chatting, though, even if I wasn't "paying attention" for a review I felt very much at home and appreciative of the cooking.
(Sorry no pictures).
P.S. My friend Melissa says the Friday night catfish is excellent!
P.P.S. According to Facebook Nov. 7 was their one-year anniversary!
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