« September 2011 | Main | November 2011 »
Uncut, Central Bakery's Portuguese cornbread ($2.40) is the size and shape of a curling stone without the handle. The crumb is dense, engagingly chewy, slightly sour.
Central Bakery
732 Cambridge St. (Berkshire St.-Cardinal Medeiros Ave.), Cambridge, Massachusetts
617-547-2237
(From an August 2009 visit)
Overline: "The world's breakfast."
Quaker Oats
Surviving painted ad seen from Sidney and Main Sts., Cambridge, Massachusetts
(From a summer 2009 visit)
The notable name on this faded sign isn't Santoro, it's scali. This sesame-seeded, often-braided Italian bread seems to have been born in the North End of Boston; nowadays scali is found in the Midwest, too. Why the name, I don't know for sure. One thought on Chowhound, however, is that especially protuberant braids might once have been perceived as "steps" — "scali," in Italian. Perhaps the loaves in question were displayed standing on end.
Santoro Bakery
Surviving painted sign seen on Cambridge St. near 5th St., Cambridge, Massachusetts
(From an August 2011 visit)
Smooth enough for a shake, too thick for a straw: malted vanilla ice cream (about $4). Superb.
Flavors I've enjoyed on many other occasions: miso, star anise, lemon espresso, goat cheese brownie, and the best vanilla and strawberry in town.
Toscanini's
899 Main St. (at Sidney St.), Cambridge, Massachusetts
617-491-5877
www.Tosci.com
Savory, almost to a fault: roasted red pepper sorbet, fresh basil with sundried tomato gelato (specials, about $4). Afterward I still had a hankering for something sweet.
J.P. Licks
1312 Massachusetts Ave. (Linden-Mill Sts.), Cambridge, Massachusetts
(One of many locations)
617-492-1001
www.JPLicks.com
(From a summer 2009 visit)
Apple cider sorbet (about $3).
Christina's Homemade Ice Cream
1255 Cambridge St. (Prospect-Oakland Sts.), Cambridge, Massachusetts
617-492-7021
www.ChristinasIceCream.com
(From a September 2011 visit)
Mix nut pie (90 cents), melon cake with egg yolk (cutaway view, $1.10). For the variety of more-substantial pastries, the sort that travel well, this is my favorite bakery in Boston's Chinatown. For the price, too: If I'd forsaken the yolk, I probably could have kept the total under two bucks.
Ho Yuen Bakery
54 Beach St. (Harrison Ave.-Oxford St.), Boston
617-426-8320
(From a summer 2009 visit)
(This venue is closed.) Not a Newton: lotus paste roll (80 cents).
Hing Shing Pastry
67 Beach St. (at Hudson St.), Boston
617-451-1162
(From a summer 2009 visit)
Ricotta pie ($2.50).
Bova's Bakery
134 Salem St. (at Prince St.), Boston
617-523-5601
(From a summer 2009 visit)
One of the many Chinese-leaning dishes at this second-storey Tibetan restaurant, Lhasa fried noodles ($7) would elsewhere be called lo mein. "Mix spicy," the menu adds; protein is provided by beef and chicken, and heat, by whole chili peppers. More spice is your call.
The noodles themselves are on the stiff side — as I left, I saw another such batch emptied from a sealed plastic bag into a wok — but they do have a kiss of flame about them. To that point, the entire dining room, shared by a narrow open kitchen, smells of sizzle and spice. Whether that's an indication of good ventilation or bad ventilation is a matter of taste.
Phayul
37-65 74th St. (at 37th Rd., 2nd floor), Jackson Heights, Queens
718-424-1869
Thank you!
