Boston Restaurant and Food Blog » Cheap eats

Should Cafes Ask Customers to Leave?

Lingbo Li — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 06:04:28 +0000

My favorite cafe asked me to leave last week. For the second time.

I’ll tell you why I feel sad: when I first found Crema Cafe two years ago, I fell in love. I spent so much time there, my sweaters absorbed its scent, an inexorable melange of lattes, carbs, and indie-pop Pandora playlists. The owners described it as a place between home and work; I took that quite literally. I proudly told my friends I was considering moving in.

Over the past two years, I’ve spent so many happy hours in that cafe. I love bringing my laptop to do work on the upstairs level. I’ve forcibly dragged friends there and bought them my favorites, just so they could be converted. I’ve blogged about them, plugged them on Serious Eats, posted photos to various food sites. When I signed up for Mint.com, I budgeted a very liberal portion for “coffee.”

If you ask me for restaurant recommendations, you’ll likely hear raves about their turkey-avocado-jicama-slaw sandwich or their baked-fresh-from-scratch pastries.

So I disappointed when I was asked to leave during a busy Saturday afternoon to make room for other customers. I’d been there for a little over 2 hours with my laptop, and had planned on taking a seat closer to a wall outlet when one of the owners stepped in. (I had polished off a medium coffee and a chicken sandwich.) He had promised that table to another customer; since I had headphones on, I hadn’t seen the line forming behind me.

He was apologetic. As I was leaving, he apologized again. And this was the second time – a month before, a different owner had asked me to leave, but relented when I bought another sandwich. I’ve generally tried to share my table or buy another pastry during marathon study sessions, but I know I’ve overstayed my welcome in the past.

And I understand why they’re taking a more aggressive tack. Mostly. They charge reasonable prices for freshly made food. They have high labor costs and rent; they depend on table turnover and volume to pay the bills. I ended up chatting that owner for about an hour about the trials of the business world and how to solve the problem of being too popular.

I’m happy Crema has done well. It clearly has no problem attracting loyal customers and long lines. But I’m disappointed that the same place that I cheered for and championed feels that its success is dependent on asking me to leave. Are the two really at odds?

Perhaps this Seth Godin (a well-known marketer) post about “best customers” summarizes some of how I’m feeling:

If you define “best customer” as the customer who pays you the most, then I guess it’s not surprising that the reflex instinct is to charge them more. After all, they’re happy to pay.

But what if you define “best customer” as the person who brings you new customers through frequent referrals, and who sticks with you through thick and thin? That customer, I think, is worth far more than what she might pay you in any one transaction. In fact, if you think of that customer as your best marketer instead, it might change everything.

If you’re a cafe lover, do you think cafe owners should ask customers who have finished eating to leave?

Cafe owners, how do you deal with slow table turnover?

Zinneken’s in Harvard Square Brings You Belgian Waffles

Lingbo Li — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 16:19:50 +0000

This exclusive tip just in: Zinneken’s, a Belgian waffle shop, will be opening in about four months in Harvard Square.

Zinneke in Brussels dialect means someone of mixed origins, which not only represents the founders, but also their ambitions to introduce authentic Belgian food to Bostonians. They promise that Zinneken’s baked-to-order offerings will to put your standard Americanized “Belgian waffle” to shame. Zinneken’s signature showpiece is the Liège waffle, aka sugar waffle, which is sweeter, smaller in size, and denser than their conventional brethren.

But it gets better!

All photos courtesy of Nhon Ma.

These sugar waffles ($4-6) are named for their caramelized sugar coating and will be served with everything from Nutella to Chantilly cream. I particularly like the proposed “Oreos Freakin’ Party” (no joke) special which involves a grind-tastic blend of Oreos, strawberries, and whipped cream. See the menu from their brochure below.

Harvard Square’s Waffle Pioneers

Who would chase the perfect waffle recipe across continents? One founder, Nhon Ma, is a Harvard grad who jumped from the corporate world to pursue his true passion: food. But it wasn’t a random coincidence, by any means. In fact, his mother was the only Asian chef to ever get a coveted Michelin star in Europe. After spending his childhood taste testing her creations, Nhon cut his teeth by working for her.

He met his business partner Bertrand Lempkowicz in high school, who’s leaving behind his Brussels communication company to join the venture. They’re still in the process of signing the lease, but envision the shop will be “a cosy European atmosphere” that serves up authentically light and fluffy waffles to passing crowds.

Photos from their Facebook page and Twitter show a test run of snackers munching on waffles with a variety of toppings.

Beyond waffles, Nhon promises that Belgian chocolate, French macarons, flourless fudge, Belgian chocolate brownies, and sweet crepes are also in the works.

Their retail space will be at 1 Mifflin Place, #400. Looking on Google Maps, it looks like it’ll be near FedEx and Harvest. Actually, this is their administrative space – the actual location is under wraps. Nhon reveals that it’ll be closer to Harvard Square, not far from Tommy Doyle’s andUpstairs on the Square.

Can’t wait! Look forward to an interview with Nhon Ma coming soon.

Their tentative proposed menu – with delicious photos! – after the jump.

Kickass Cupcakes to add ice cream cupcakes

Lingbo Li — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 18:14:35 +0000

kickass cupcakes

Kickass Cupcakes, the Davis Square cupcakery (which famously abhors Yelp) is announcing a new line of ice cream. The inaugural flavor is vanilla with chocolate chunk – with the added kick of choco and vanilla cupcake bits. One cone is $2.99, 3.99 with frosting, and a pint is 5.99.

I always liked their Cupcake happy hours on the last Monday of the month when they give out free mini cakes. And I give them major points for flavor creativity. However, they’re not noted for excellent service (as Yelp will attest) – I remember trying to buy 5 separately boxed cupcakes for a friend’s birthday present last year to um, mild hostility. Hopefully, the sugary addition of cake bits in ice cream (frosting is over-the-top) will go far to redeem them.

Are you going to try these out?

13 Idiot-Proof Honey Recipes

Lingbo Li — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 18:11:32 +0000

Little critters I caught on camera last year when I visited an apiary.

These micro-recipes I penned were originally published on GoodEater.org (which has since undergone a facelift).

They’re the kind of recipes that are most useful for kitchen-retarded, time-strapped people like me – minimal equipment, dining-hall-able ingredients – more conceptual starting points than formulas.

If you’re a Bostonian looking for a local variety of honey to try, I highly recommend Mike Graney’s Eat Local Honey. I went through an entire jar in a week. Once you taste this stuff, it’s like the difference between Megan Fox on a magazine page and Megan Fox across the dinner table.

On second thought, maybe keep her on the magazine page.

Sweet deal - Mike Graney's Eat Local Honey

Local honey boasts flavors unique to the region it was produced in. Complexity like this deserves the simplest of treatments. Here are a few options.

1. Stir into yogurt. Add granola. Inhale.

2. Peanut butter and banana, on toast. Drizzle with honey. Sprinkle with sea salt.

3. From the bottom up: bread, sliced apples, paper-thin sweet potato, aged cheddar, drizzle of honey, bread. Put in sandwich press. Consume.

4. Alternatively: bread, sliced pear, toasted pine nut, gorgonzola dolce, drizzle of honey, bread. Press.

5. Or: bread, cream cheese, toasted walnut, sliced apple, drizzle of honey. Press.

6. Stir a teaspoon into two tablespoons of good, softened butter. Spread on toast. Or muffin. Or pancakes.

7. Thick slice of gruyere on crusty sourdough, under the broiler until melted. Drizzle with honey. Eat with napkins

8. Straight up, with cut fruit and croutons.

9. Mix with equal parts water and a good squeeze of lemon juice, freeze into ice cubes. Suck.

10. Gratuitously on top of breakfast cereal.

11. Equal parts with dijon mustard. Serve with everything grilled. Or fried.

12. In your tea and lemonade (or margaritas).

13. Sesame honey dressing: one part cider vinegar, one part honey, sesame seeds, slowly whisk in three parts oil. Add a touch of some sesame oil. Serve with spring greens.

What do you like to do with your honey?

Finding Vietnam in Dorchester: Boston’s Best Banh Mi?

Lingbo Li — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 06:03:37 +0000

There are some corners of Boston that I don’t often explore – they lie like stark question marks on MBTA maps with line colors and station names that are as exotic as Tosci’s curry apple ice cream.

So when the literal fork in the road came up as Lipoff (of Chowhound contributor fame) steered the wheel of his Peugeot one Saturday afternooon, I decided to go with a bit of gritty urban color over a sweet suburban afternoon. Dorchester it was.

Banh mi is like a cultural and historical study packaged as a sandwich and wrapped in French bread colonialism. It typically contains some kind of protein – cold cuts, pork pate, BBQ beef, sardines, etc. – along with slivered cucumbers, bean sprouts, pickled carrots, daikon, cilantro, fish paste, chili peppers, and mayo, all on a halved crusty French baguette.

It’s also dirt cheap. At New Saigon in Chinatown, I remember they were around $3. At Ban Le in Dorchester, Lipoff’s first stop (after we feverishly consulted our respective smartphones for recs for the best), they were a mere two dollars and three quarters. In deliciousness per dollar terms, that’s a mathematically impossible to reproduce ratio.

Basil seed drink - looks like millions of fish eggs...

There was no seating inside, just a glass-paneled counter, dry goods packed high in cardboard boxes, and a somewhat-suspect looking hot buffet. Lipoff decided to throw in a basil seed drink, and the woman behind the counter composed our meal in slow, deceptively simple strokes – a smear of yellow (butter? mayo?), cilantro, beef, a squirt of sauce, the usual accoutrements. Then she wrapped it in wax paper, secured it in a red rubber band, and sent us on our merry way.

We hunkered down in the car and whipped out our cameras.

Lipoff is as equally excitable as I am about food, and even more enthusiastic. We are equally complementary as dinner partners as cultural self-descriptions: he is an egg, and I am a banana.

The consensus on the Ban Le: friggin’ delicious.

The crusty French bread enveloped fresh, crunchy vegetables, deepened by the slighty-sweet chew of BBQ beef and laced with a zip of spice and cilantro. Warming up the beef and the bread a bit would have made it even better, but even so, orgasmic in how every element and flavor – sweet, salty, savory, crunchy, soft, spicy – worked together.

Ban Le banh mi, sitting pretty

I left a bunch of crumbs in the car.

So how do you get to sandwich nirvana?

If you take the Ashmont-bound Red Line train to Fields Corner, you’ll be dropped off in a neighborhood that seems rather unlikely. Due to a highly concentration of Vietnamese, walk up and down the street to see nothing but restaurants full of pho-slurping locals and groceries stocked with glutinous rice snacks and chili paste.

“How does this place exist?” I asked in awe. My wonder was confirmed when I saw a rare sight: a pay phone in 2010.

Since my iPhone was stolen, I kind of wish these were still around.

geological cross section of sardine banh mi

Then it was off to King Do to try another round of banh mi. We decided to give sardine a try, since it was neither pork nor shellfish (Lipoff is kosher) and it seemed like the most exotic option.

Less success. The sardines were cold, mushy, flat, and tasted like they came straight from the tin. Extra cilantro perked things up a bit, but things just weren’t quite as crunchy or revelatory as our last sandwich. I blame part of it on poor selection – clearly, sardine might not have been the best choice.

Finally, the last stop was a bit of warm liquid to soothe our wind-battered souls. A big bowl of pho had to cure Bostonian ills. Pho 2000 served us a decent, gargantuan bowl of soup that I quickly laced with plenty of Sriracha, basil leaves, and lime juice.

a platter of accessories

surface tension

After toying with the cameras a bit more, I buttoned up my jacket and hit the cold winds again. How had I lived for so long without knowing the wonders of east-meets-west fast food? Hopefully, you don’t do the same.

For students, keep in mind this is truly dirt cheap: two giant sandwiches plus an enormous bowl of pho came out to less than $7 per person.

Where’s your favorite banh mi?

Photos courtesy of Lipoff’s much better camera

Find it!

——–

Banh Mi Ban Le

1052 Dorchester Ave
(between St William St & Pearl St)
Dorchester, MA 02125
(617) 265-7171

King Do Baguette and Pastry

1225 Dorchester Ave
(between Greenmount St & Dewar St)
Dorchester, MA 02125

Pho 2000

198 Adams Street
Dorchester, MA 02122
(617) 436-1908

A few of my guilty pleasures in Boston.

Lingbo Li — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 04:10:52 +0000

We all have our weaknesses. Some are innocuous, like a love of Lady Gaga (nearly universal), and some a bit more questionable. Whether it kills your diet, your skin, or your dignity, here are a couple of ways to add some happiness and subtract a few years off your life.

>> A list dirty, dirty pleasures on Citysearch

Piattini Gelateria and Match mini burgers

Lingbo Li — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 07:01:36 +0000

It’s Reading Period! I granted myself a free day wander down Boston’s beautiful Newbury Street, visit some fabulous friends, and eat some junk food… because I deserve it.

I have a good relationship with gelato. We’ve gotten along thus far – I had some truly makes-your-mouth-sing gelato on my brief stopovers in Rome and Paris. (Not as glam as it sounds, I was on a rowdy Topdeck tour that produced utterly cookie-cutter photo-op travel experieces.) I still fantasize about those heavenly fig and honey concoctions that I ate two years ago. So I was looking forward to some inventive varieties.

I saw recently opened Piattini Gelateria and Cafe and decided to give it a try. The super sweet waiter patiently explained every single flavor on the menu (rosemary honey, turkish coffee, fior de latte, thai coconut milk, chocolato scuro, frutti de bosco. And the sorbets were grape, mojito, limone, and pesca).

I sampled a chocolate with hazelnuts that wasn’t on the menu, which was so intensely rich that I decided on spoonful was enough. Rosemary honey felt like chugging floral-scented lotion, so that was a pass. Fior de latte (Amish milk) had the “lightness of vanilla without the vanilla flavor” – it seemed more like a fluffy absence of flavor than a flavor.

At an impasse, I gave thai coconut milk and mojito sorbet a go.

I think the major weakness of the gelato was that it wasn’t very cold – by the time I ate it, it had become soft and a bit melted. It also had a lot more air that I would normally expect. It seemed that chocolate flavors are you best bet here. I had been hoping for something deliriously coconutty, but rather, it was seemed more like run of the milk coconut ice cream.

The mojito had a nice sour, puckery note and icier, grainier texture of sorbet worked well with the flavors.

The bill for this small dish came out to $4.82. Plus tip, this ended up costing me about $6. My credit card felt a little sad.

I wish you had been a more transcendental $6 spent.

Afterwards, I hopped by Lena’s apartment on Newbury. I ate some of Lena‘s tasty homemade key lime pie while she looked pensively at a barking Hamlet.

“Was that a fart?” I asked when I heard something whiney come out of his furry body.

“It’s very possible,” she replied.

After a bit more chit chat, we hit Match for $1 mini burgers and onion rings. Unfortunately, they make you buy a drink, so I bled $3.50 for a small glass of diet Coke… but I got to sample the lamb and turkey burgers. I think they had a big of a heavy hand on the pepper in the lamb burger, but it was cooked well. Overall, kind of greasy and not too remarkable, but tasty nonetheless.

The onion rings are greasy good (with potent BBQ), but I wish the batter on the onions wouldn’t break apart so easily. A bit of cohesion would make it feel like eating onion rings, rather than your mouth trying to make harmony as the batter portion threatens to abandon onion ship. Ahh! Naked onion center!

You know what I mean?

$0-5 Boston dining deals in STUFF

Lingbo Li — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:23:18 +0000

I once had a Bostonian consultant friend (salary: around $50k a year) who went dumpster diving. He would take the castoff loaves from nice bakeries rather than purchasing them – he was very proud of this fact. When I asked where this dumpster was, he got smug and said it was a secret. Apparently, I was welcome to snack on morsels of his spoils but to steal the bounty before he got his hands on it wasn’t cool.

He would also do things like go with me to cafes and not order anything. Then eat my food.

It was part of his entire lifestyle: he had a horrible, scratched up old car. When it was ruined in an accident, he cheerily biked and took the T to work instead. “I didn’t like the car anyway,” he said, and never replaced it.

It is to him that I dedicate this blog post in STUFF magazine’s website on Boston’s $0-5 dollar cheap dining deals.

$5 appetizers at KO Prime

Lingbo Li — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:05:16 +0000

In the theme of trying out economically-priced bar specials, here’s a tasting of KO Prime‘s Prime Time menu of $5 appetizers. Friend Crystal and I tried out:

Pressed Prime Rib Sandwich Secret Sauce	5
Steak Taco Cola Marinated Skirt Steak, Radicchio slaw, Avocado	5
Calamari Shishito Peppers, Yuzu Aioli	5

The prime rib sandwich was by far the winner – great, dressed up comfort food. The the citrusy yuzu aioli and katsuobushi (dried fish flakes, common in Japanese cooking) were a nice touch to the calamari, but I wish they’d been fried to a crispier finish. Coming in last was the steak tacos, which yielded mostly radicchio slaw, very little steak.

If you like offal, they’re known for having great odds and ends… so be sure to check that out. Oringer also owns Toro, which I am dying to go to so I can give their pig ear’s terrine a try (recommendation courtesy of Boston food writer MC Slim JB) and their crispy veal sweetbreads.

Cheesey, greasy Poland: review of Zaps in Allston in the Crimson

Lingbo Li — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 17:59:47 +0000

Read my review of Zaps in the Crimson’s Fifteen Minutes (plus some bomb recs for Allston eats)… I also took a bunch of video footage, but we’ll see if I actually get around to editing it.

In the meantime, enjoy these supplemental photos.

The Farmer – Corn, ham, dill, mushrooms, cheese

The Caprese – mozz, basil, tomato, pesto, mushrooms, cheese

photo credit - Terrell Woods, The Crimson

And here’s the attached photo from my older ‘Meals on Wheels‘ review of HUDS food carts… bread from the dhall, not the food truck, haha.

HUDS food cart column in the Crimson

Lingbo Li — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 14:27:28 +0000

Check out my review of the HUDS food carts in the Crimson’s Fifteen Minutes today… the print version is accompanied by a smiling photo of me cluthing two desecrated halves of whole wheat bread.

Anyway, in the spirit of supplementary online content, here are the photos taken of my two meals.

Probably more entertaining would be the outtakes for the column’s photoshoot, where I start snarling as I rip apart bread and throw it up in the air, all expertly captured by photog Terrell Woods. (Who is great! Go see him give a tour with Unofficial Tours sometime.)

So yeah, moral of the story is: eat a wrap, or better yet, walk a little farther up Oxford and get some greasy Chinese food. Seriously.

The site of the unholy chicken salad sandwich…

It seemed ok at first glance.

Don’t be fooled by this photo – that bread is sawdust.

I fared much better with this tasty beef kebab wrap.

Some food porn from Harvard Square

Lingbo Li — Wed, 06 May 2009 23:01:57 +0000

Sometimes a foodie has to write a lot of papers (churned out 35 pages of writing, only another 20 to go by Friday!) and she just wants to post some photos… so here are some I’ve taken in the past few weeks.

$1 Oyster Mondays at Rialto in Harvard Square, best with a squeeze of lemon

I adore oysters, the aftertaste of sea, the freshness and briny goodness cut through a zingy squirt of lemon. Add some good company, and it’s a party.

A turkey/avocado sandwich from Cafe Pamplona - so so

Also posted to the lovely 3 Buck Bites awhile ago.

I thought this was funny.

Found this on the walk between Central Square and Mulan, a great Chinese restaurant I ate at recently. Apparently they make candy.

Butter in Iceland, for real.

But of course!

Delightful, delicious Veggie Planet Pizza

Lingbo Li — Mon, 04 May 2009 01:03:25 +0000

Vegan Peanut Curry - with butternut squash instead of broccoli

Veggie Planet has made me sing songs of joy ever since I first visited a few months into freshman year and tasted the sweet revelation that is Lunch for Henry. Whenever people ask me my favorite restaurant in Harvard Square, the answer is invariably Veggie Planet… I prefer the cramped climes and uneven, sometimes crappy service to slick bars and charming beverage directors. It is the most dollar per happiness that you can find in Harvard Square, and being a poor student, that kind of economic calculation is irresistable. Veggie Planet is the kind of secret that I constantly push new people to discover – it’s the place I drag new and old friends to, and yes, I do judge people based on what they think of the food here. Which I don’t do so much. Or try not to, at least.

A few of my favorites:

Portabello Redhead: mushrooms, red romesco sauce, feta cheese, caramelized onions
Lunch/Dinner for Henry: butternut squash, goat cheese, caramelized onions
Caesar on a Big Cheesy Crouton: Caesar salad with chopped kalamata olive and fried tofu croutons a cheesy flatbread crust
Vegan Peanut Curry: a spicy curry on coconut rice with a smattering of peanuts, broccoli and fried tofu croutons

Roasted vegetables with brown rice - I killed this baby with a heaping of Sriracha hot sauce, and immediately regretted it... my taste buds are out of practice.

I tried this dish for the first time… was not too enthused about it. I also overloaded on the hot sauce, which was completely my fault. Too much hubris after writing this column for the Crimson.

Tiny tables, small stools, music fliers everywhere... Veggie Planet makes me extra happy and Asian.

Cafe Pamplona

Lingbo Li — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 13:52:52 +0000

Cafe Pamplona, a charming, yellow-painted cafe in Harvard Square, is the kind of place where you read your literature coursepack with a tiny cup of coffee (try the shot of espresso, shot of condensed milk combo). Due to its small space and close tables, this is a poor place to have a serious conversation or first date if it isn’t crowded enough and every awkward revelation is made very, very clear.

The food was pretty average to mediocre cafe fare, with a few pleasant surprises like a guava and muenster grilled cheese. Stay far away from the desserts, which were not worth the calories. The fruit tart was a hard, tasteless shell filled with a pedestrian vanilla pudding and topped with so-so fruit. 3.95. I’d rather have a Frapp.

The rum cake did a little better, but was nothing to blog about. Except for the fact I already have photos, so here they are.

in cambridge, spring has sprung!

Lingbo Li — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 01:55:43 +0000

a hopeful bud near Yenching Auditorium, probably later wrecked by day of whipping gales and pouring rain.

Ratatat performed at Harvard's Yardfest on Sunday to much crowdsurfing failures. I enjoyed "el pico" "wildcat" and "seventeen years" immensely.

then i ate a vegan brownie at veggie planet to celebrate the rainy doom about to hit the city.