boston chow

i'm new to chowhounds... what a find!
i'm a los angeleno temporarily (dis)located in boston
for the past four years, and i'm still stumbling my way
through this city, foodwise. my two main cravings are
indian and mexican food -- though i've found a solution
for the former (udupi bhavan, way out in the suburbs),
i am still searching desperately for a mexican
restaurant/cafe/sidewalk stand that will satisfy my
strongest cravings. any suggestions for the cambridge
area?

The HUGE new Austin Grill in Central Square is Tex-Mex and decent. There is a new little place near the T stairway in Central Square called the Palenque. It just opened a couple weeks ago. I went in and asked for a chilli rejeno --it was on the menu but they didn't have any --not did they have a mole sauce dish that looked interesting. Its mostly a take out place and the staff barely speaks English --but they do make a good steak burrito for $5.95. It weighs in your hand. Two meals for me.
Tord

Try El Sarape on Rte 53 in Weymouth Landing which is
actually Braintree (don't ask me why). I'm told that
the food is "Mexico City." I recommend the
specialties, which tend to be Mex-Mex. I suggest
avoiding the Tex-Mex - these guys are Mexican. In
particular, I like the Mole Poblano, Pollo Naranja,
Guisados (both - and they're better with beef than
chicken). I've heard people talking about having come
a fair distance to eat there. I've been going since
the place opened 11 years ago.

There may be a wait on Friday and Saturday night but
it's not awful. Prices: very reasonable (dinner for
two with moderate alcohol: $30-40)

Phone: [phone]

For mexican, you might try Taqueria Mexico, in Waltham,
if you're in the neighborhood. It's close to Waltham
center on the street behind Main St.
If you wish Ecuadorean, try Pandorga, Willow St.
Waltham.
Both these are inexpensive, unfussy, welcoming, and
pretty good.

taqueria mexico! i've been there! i totally forgot to
mention it. yeah, they are GREAT. so authentic... and
they have really delicious shakes. can't beat the
mariachi hat decorations either... takes me back to my
homeland, definitely. but off in a corner (well, for me
at least, carless in cambridge :-).
i will have to see if i can drag a car-driving friend
to braintree to check out this other place tho...
thanks for the suggestion.

A. Rao,
forget about Mexican Food in the Boston area
(including Cambridge) since there isn't any!!!!
We are also new in the area, about a year and a half,
and big fans of good Mexican, but we haven't found
any. Specially for you, coming from the West Cost, is
going to be hard to be pleased with unauthentic,
boring, average Mexican. You be better off, buying a
nice cookbook and making mole at home!!!
About Indian, there is a nice, small, cute, cheap, and
decent Indian on Mass Ave, right before the Harvard
Bridge in Boston. The name is Kebab-N-Kurry. (30 Mass
Ave) Nothing spectacular, but worth trying. Good
luck!!

What is the address for Udupi Bhavan and what type of
Indian food do they cook? Thanks.

ahh, udupi bhavan... what a haven here in
massachusetts. they serve south indian vegetarian food.
their dosas are simply excellent. all their breads are
good too. the potato bhaji used in all of the dosas is
a little tired (could be spiced better, i think), but
the dosas more than make up for it. i like to order
their dal sometimes myself -- it's not on the menu, but
dal and rice is in my opinion one of the best indian
dishes ever.
i don't know the address, unfortunately, but i'll
attempt directions. it's located in ashland, ma, which
is south of framingham. if you can get yourself to the
intersection of routes 135 and 126, where the
framingham train station is located, then from there
you want to go south on 126 for about 5 minutes. you'll
see a market basket shopping center on your right, and
udupi is at the far end of the shopping center, near a
subway. the place is heaven. don't go friday or
saturday nights unless you want to wait in line for at
least an hour with the entire indian american
population of the 128 suburbs (and they don't take
reservations). weeknights are a good time to go.
also, i just heard a rumor that the udupi people have
opened a branch here in cambridge, near kendall
somewhere, but i haven't heard about how it compares or
what.

oh -- and in those directions -- i meant a subway
sandwich shop, not an actual subway station or anything
;)

Try the Iguana Cantina, in Waltham. Lots of
interesting-looking Asian restaurants in the
neighborhood, too.

i've been to the igunana cantina somewhere in
framingham, and i found it to be typical chain
restaurant mexican food, tho i guess a bit better
than what you normally get in the boston area...

just went to udupi's new sister resaturant, ajanta,
in cambridge near kendall (on first st) -- it's a
pretty darn good place. it's much more upscale than
udupi, catering to the yuppie cambridge crowd i
guess. the main menu is north indian, but they
do have a page of south indian stuff in the back -
dosas and stuff. a friend and i tried one dosa
(mysore style, with chutney on the inside) and
one kashmiri style chicken dish flavored with cori-
ander. the chicken was quite delicious. the dosa was a
bit tough, but the filling was flavorful, with
creamy spiced potatoes and hot hot chutney, and the
sambar was excellent, spicy and a bit tart from a good
amount of tamarind. another good thing -- the waiter
understood our instructions as far as the heat of the
dishes. :-)