Restaurant Review Wrap-up

New Year's Eve 2015 - I am sitting in a new recliner, watching football with my husband, eating Pringles (leftover airport splurge) and writing. Perfect evening!

My 2015 project was to try a new (for me) cafe/restaurant/bar every week. I did the blog to keep myself on track, and to share with friends. It turns out I didn't make it to 52 new places, only 44 of 46 attempted (Eric says this is totally not a big deal). I never blogged about the restaurants we regularly went already, besides mentioning them in my first explanation-post (in case you are wondering-  Volturno pizza, Wild Willy's burgers, Birch Tree Bread Co, The Smokestack, Bollywood Grill and Two Ovens in Shrewsbury, Meola's ice cream in West Boylston).  So... here is the wrap up. I have every place and every mini-review below. My favorites are El Patron, Fatima's Cafe, Basil n' Spice and Cafe Reyes I don't think I will keep up the blog, as I want to metaphorically take some things off my plate. But maybe I will just do it less often from now on, we'll see.

Happy New Year everyone, and happy eating in 2016!


**  indicates we've gone back

Red Pepper Chinese, 1083 Main St. (Jan)
Overall impression:  The best Chinese I've had in Worcester. Huge menu, great place to try new things. I will be going back, hopefully many times.

Straight Up Cafe, 795 Main St. (Jan 16) 
Overall impression:  Down to earth, non-pretentious, community-center feel, simple food cheap and good, not incredibly strong coffee. I would definitely go back again.

Helen's Bakery and Cafe, 246 Greenwood St.  (January 19)
Overall impression:  a local (place for locals and regulars), simple and good diner breakfast, fast, nice staff. Not sure I would go back to eat-in, but maybe to try breads or pastries.

The Compass Tavern   90 Harding St.  (Jan 22) **
Overall impression:  Very large bar is the main focus, probably better for drinks than dinner. Ok food, fine service

Fatima's Cafe, 37 West Boylston St. (January 25) **
Overall impression:  Awesome food, particularly the samosas. Bright, no-frills dining room, a family place. I will definitely go back.

El Patron, 192 Harding St (February 6)**
Overall impression:  Great fresh food, good location, friendly family place. I hope we become regular visitors. Along with lots of other people - go check it out!

Pho Sure, 84 Boston Turnpike in Shrewsbury (February 14)
Overall impression:  Hearty food, good service. Nice location for those on the east side or working at UMAss Med - just over lake Quinsigamond in Shrewsbury.

Livia's Dish, 1394 Main St. Worcester (February 22)
Overall impression:  Nice place for a lazy Sunday meal. Awesome breakfast panini, very reasonably priced.

The Urban, 225 Shrewsbury St (February, 24)  (Now Closed) 
Overall impression:  Sophisticated yet not pretentious. Excellent food, but pricey. Put it on the list for date night, a place to take guests and interview candidates, or to indulge.

Mare e Monti Trattoria, 19 Wall St (February 26)
Overall impression:  A little gem of an Italian place. Great atmosphere, delicious food. Mid-range prices, generous portions.

Joey's Bar and Grill 344 Chandler St (March 11)
Overall impression:  A slightly older crowd, good quality food, the service could have been faster. We probably won't put it on our list of regular places, but it may fit tastes different than mine.

The Breakfast Bar, 119 June St. (March 14)  (Now Closed) 
Overall impression:  Neighborhood diner, more interesting-looking on the inside than a lot of your average diners. Food was good but nothing top-notch. An option if you live on the west side, but likely not worth the drive from other areas, unless you are meeting west-side-friends.

The Eggroll Lady and Fish Shack, 608 W. Boylston St (March 21)
Overall impression:  Eggrolls + fried fish and seafood take-out from a teeny teeny tiny spot.  Very popular, run by a friendly family. Not for vegetarians, though.

Cafe Reyes, 421 Shrewsbury St (April 7) **
Overall impression:  Bright and happy atmosphere, awesome food. Unfortunately open only 7-3 on weekdays, but definitely worth leaving work for a lunch break.

Bay State Shawarma, 86 Water St (April 11) **
Overall impression:  Yum.
A direct quote from my husband:  "Ok, that was some amazing, amazing shawarma."

Salt and Pepper, 268 Lincoln St. (April 19)
Overall impression:  Good food, great space.  A nice option if you are in the neighborhood for breakfast or lunch.

Pepe's 274 Franklin St. (April 29) **
Overall impression:  Yummy pizza, but maybe a better place to have drinks than dinner.

Homestyle Cuisine, 82 Harrison St. (May 14)
Overall impression:  Seems a great place to grab lunch to go that can be taken to a park and enjoyed in the sunshine on a summer day. (Caveat: not for vegetarians).

Piccolo's 157 Shrewsbury St (May 21)
Overall impression:  Fabulous salad, good pasta, casual atmosphere. Perfectly lovely.

Tom's International Deli, 52 Millbury St. (May 29)
Overall impression:   The stuffed cabbage rolls were the big winner among my colleagues. And the chocolate selection was great!

Shangri La, 50 Front St. (June 3)
Overall impression:  I would really like a restaurant to succeed in this location. If you are downtown, stop for lunch. This isn't likely to be destination dining, though.

Bahan's International Market, 344 Pleasant St. (June 12)
Overall impression:  Delightful veggie kibbeh. Worth seeking out!

Food Truck Festival - Elm Park, June 21
Overall impression:  Only for rich foodies.
Alternate tag line:  $5 for the privilege of standing in line.

Basil n' Spice 299 Shrewsbury St, June 24 **
Overall impression: Tasty food and a lovely atmosphere in this newly-opened Thai restaurant.

Corner Lunch, 133 Lamartine St (July 3)
Overall impression:  A perfectly pleasant, sort of rundown-comfy, sunny diner.

Canal Restaurant & Bar 65 Water St. (July 15)
Overall impression:  Great place to go for drinks. Large and diverse food menu, attentive service.

Loving Hut Vegan Cuisine 415 Chandler St. (July 20)
Overall impression:   Good vegan Chinese and Thai-style dishes. Nice for lunch.

Pinecroft Dairy (West Boylston) (July 31)
Overall impression:  Like going back in time, but with modern ice cream flavors.

Chuan Shabu 301 Park Ave  (August 5)
Overall impression:   Go for sharing.

Sol of Mexico, 538 Pleasant St., (August 12 and 15)
Overall impression:   This place is fabulous!

Blue Jeans Bistro, 266 Park Ave (August 19)
Overall impression:  Lovely to sit outside on a summer night. Somewhat slow service, but fine food, including a large selection of appetizers.

The Bean Counter 113 Highland St (August 26)
Overall impression:   Great coffee.

On the Rise Bakery (Sept 6)
Overall impression:  Great for west-siders who have a sweet tooth.

Belmont Vegetarian Restaurant, 157 Belmont St. (September 9)
Overall impression:   Stick with it through the somewhat sterile atmosphere, the food is really good.

Wicked Wings, 321 West Bolyston St. (Sept 16)
Overall impression:  This very new place has a few kinks to still work out in service, but the food is promising.

Restaurant Pizza Works 456 Grove St (Sept 20)
Overall impression:   Good pizza, plus a large menu of non-pizza things. Ideal for multi-generational gatherings.

Sake Bomb 258 Park Ave (Sept 27)
Overall impression:  Reasonably priced sushi. I'd be happy to meet a friend there for lunch anytime.

Belsito's Deli 305 Plantation St (Oct 10)
Overall impression:  Good deli sandwiches to go if you are in the neighborhood.

Cafe Espresso 395 Chandler St. (Oct 20)
Overall impression: Excellent homemade pasta.  Simple fine dining.

Ciao Bella 402 Grove St (Oct 28) **
Overall impression:  Yummy comfort food, quick for take-out.

Addie Lee's Soul Food 596 Main St. (November 5)
Overall impression:  Yummy food in a comfy environment.

Oishi Japanese Restaurant 8 Franklin St. (Nov 12)
Overall impression:  Tons of veggie sushi options.

Padavano's Place 358 Shrewsbury St. (Dec 1)
Overall impression:   Great homemade ravioli.

Kenmore Diner 250 Franklin St. (Nov 28)
Overall impression:   A perfectly good diner, emphasis on large portions of potatoes.

Dell'Ovo's Kitchen 257 Shrewsbury St. (Dec 9) 
Overall impression:   A tiny place with awesome food.

Dell'Ovo's Kitchen 257 Shrewsbury St. December 9

Overall impression:   A tiny place with awesome food.

http://www.dellovos.com/

http://www.telegram.com/article/20151210/ENTERTAINMENTLIFE/151219940

I took myself out for lunch on a Thursday, trying to squeeze in a few more new places by the end of the year. (I don't think I will hit 52 this year, but I will have come close.) I had no idea where to go, really, but fortuitously read a Telegram review of Dell'Ovo's in the morning.  Honestly I drive by it every single weekday, but I thought it was only catering. Turns out there are about 5 or 6 tables and a counter, serving breakfast until 11 and lunch until 3.

They have lots of different Italian options, sandwiches and pasta. I went with the homemade cheese ravioli, with both oil and garlic and a little bit of marinara on top. I was served fluffy white bread while waiting, but saved it to dip in my pasta. Everything tasted really great. Fresh, hot, flavorful.

It was very quick (I was there maybe 15 minutes total) and reasonably priced. Lots of regulars, people on lunch breaks, people picking up food to-go around noon. It is very close to my husband's work, so maybe he can put it into his lunch rotation. I won't be able to go very often, as I'm usually too busy with work to leave at that time of day. But maybe during my slow times of year, or our next catering event. It was quite good.

Padavano's Place 358 Shrewsbury St. (Dec. 1)

Overall impression:   Great homemade ravioli.

http://padavanosplace.com/

Padavano's place is fairly new, and close to Eric's work. So he had tried it once before for lunch before we had dinner there on a Tuesday night (they aren't open for lunch anymore, though). It hadn't been at the top of my list to try, since there is already so much Italian food around, and close by on Shrewsbury St. However, I read about them in Worcester magazine (while waiting at the optometrist's office..) and was inspired to try the ravioli.

It was very quiet inside when we were there, hopefully it gets busier later (we ate early). We sat in the diningroom area rather than at a hightop at the bar - but I noted that the bar looked interesting for future work happy hours. The decor is nice inside, and they have the best fake-brick wallpaper ever (this is not your grandmother's fake-brick wallpaper). It was a comfy spot for dinner. My comfort was aided by a pistachio martini (super sweet, my sugar content for a month, but yummy!).

Eric had pasta with pink vodka sauce and sausage. He liked it and also took leftovers home. I had the ravioli. They were good, although there was more marinara sauce than I needed. Since they are huge I only ate maybe 4/6, and sent the other two home in Eric's to-go box. They refilled our bread (the fluffy white kind of stuff a friend refers to as "cloud bread") and drinks quickly, service was friendly and good.

Check it out for yourself!

Kenmore Diner 250 Franklin St. (Nov 28)

Overall impression:   A perfectly good diner, emphasis on large portions of potatoes.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kenmore-Diner/236681113030087

We were at the Kenmore the Saturday after Thanksgiving. It was busy at 9:30 am, but no waiting for a table. Our only slight confusion was where to park - Eric and I did street parking close to Pepe's restaurant, and our friend Melissa did train station parking. She would not have had to do station parking - there are meters along the Kenmore building. However, it is a bit tricky to figure how to get into for first-timers.

Luckily the food was good. I had eggs and toast and home fries, the others had eggs/bacon/kielbasa/homefries/french toast. The standout for me was the raisin bread toast with butter. I was working on potato overload though, having had mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving and potatoes in a stew of Thanksgiving leftovers.

Service was friendly and quick. This is a good breakfast option (or lunch - we didn't try lunch items) if you are near downtown or the train station.

Le Mirage closed - fall back to comfort food

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.

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!

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!