Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Three Latest and Best

Cocktails at Agio: The food may be off its mark these days, but Ron at Agio on Mass Ave is still one of the best bartenders in town. When I say "extra lime" with my G&T, Agio is a place that consistently gets it right.

Fish Tacos and King Crab at The Oceanaire: Yesterday for lunch, I went in for the fish tacos, but came away wowed by the fennel and smoked salmon salad piled high with juicy, piping hot chunks of Alaskan King crab claw meat. Why don't we eat crab hot more often? So sweet and good -- and perfect with the salty smoked salmon and spring crunchy freshness of the fennel. And yes, the fish tacos were great, too. (But why is it the Valrhona chocolate mousse that keeps me coming back? Why, why why?)

Pork Belly at Shanghai Lil: Monday, a few of us food folks popped in to Shanghai Lil to preview a few new menu items and get an updated take on the place. My biggest problem with this northside upscale Asian restaurant? They don't market themselves more! We had a family style feast including a wide range of new dishes owners are likely to try as specials. For dim sum you can't go wrong here with the buns, dumplings, and cakes. Don't miss the seafood "puffs" -- possibly the best version of crab rangoon I've ever had. (Next time, I'd skip the wasabi shu mai, though. I love wasabi and these were a bit much even for me.) The best of the new offerings? While the fried whole fish in a traditional sweet and sour sauce was great, the star was the pork belly braised "clay pot" style in a thick, rich broth served in shell shaped envelopes of Asian dumpling dough. Fantastic!

2 comments:

Levi's Momma said...

I craved the seafood puffs with that wonderful sauce almost weekly throughout my entire pregnancy and ate the hot & sour soup THREE times trying to induce my labor during the 8 days extra my son decided to hang out in my womb. It is the BEST and it drives me nuts when I see their empty parking lot right across the street from an overflowing PF Changs.

Anonymous said...

One of the best things Shanghai Lil could do for itself is either tear down that god awful addition on the back of the building or spend some coin and fix it up. When I go to the Keystone area I almost always come in the back way and every time I see the back of that building it makes me wonder what goes on inside. How can they put care into the food if the exterior of the building looks so shabby.