Take-out from Anise
-Sichuan flower tofu - Survived the trip home to Somerville; nice custard-like texture to the tofu. Honestly, I wasn't too crazy about the soybeans. Yummy spooned over rice, though.
-Spicy cold whole wheat noodles with shredded chicken - As reported by my DC, "it was adequate. Classic peanut sauce." Nothing special, though, according to him. I did not have a taste.
-Spicy shrimp with dry peppers - Very nice, but didn't travel well. Shrimp were a bit rubbery by the time we got home. Nice heat level, although surprisingly small portion. I imagine that if we had eaten in, I would have been taken aback by the portion size.
Sat at the bar while waiting for our order. Bartender (neither Frankie, nor Cedric) was a nice young guy who clearly loves to make a drink. Had a pleasant conversation with him and another fun-loving couple at the bar who declared themselves tequila fans (he ordered a snifter of the ginger-infused tequila, which sounded sooo good but I had to drive). I think it would be most fun to sit at the bar to eat-in (which we will do next time...I think the food suffered from the traveling). Again, as previous posters have noted, it was dead quiet at 7:30-8 pm on a Thursday night.
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I liked the pork cheeks and the rabbit with tangerine at Anise. But if you are looking for less expensive and maybe more homey, try Szichuan Garden in Brookline on Washington Street. Their rabbit with chili is one of the single best chinese dishes I've ever had. the service is very good also - However, the bar may need help making your drink! they have the best will in the world but not much knowledge -
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One night when we were at Anise for dinner, we decided to have an extra order of the spicy wontons and the flower tofu to take home for brunch. Admittedly, we had the food several hours later and reheated, but both held up pretty well, except for the sesame seeds in the tofu dish, which had become completely soggy.
I'll second the ginger infused tequila (which I've only had in the margarita). Another drink I like is the sake martini.
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yumyum
Oct 20, 2006 04:03 PM
I liked the food at Anise a lot. We had the flower tofu, the spicy dumplings and the pork belly. What I liked was that while spicy, the food was nuanced because the heat came from sichuan peppercorns, not just plain old chiles like some other places. We went at lunch -- I bet at dinner it's always going to be a ghost town.
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re: yumyum
a l i c e
Oct 20, 2006 05:42 PM
It was depressingly empty in there - man, was I glad we were doing take-out. And I'm not one of those people who expects portions as big as my head, but I thought all three dishes were downright stingy. Particularly for the price point - $15, I believe, for the shrimp dish. Got about 7 of them and the veggies that came with the dish were laughable, there were so few of them. Sounds like the chef's tasting menu for $25 might be the way to go.
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Surprised you found the food even as good as you felt it was. Experience at Anise have been very bad, although sitting at the bar, sans food, can be fun, if you do not mind talking to yourself or one of the bartenders.
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re: clairelawlessboston
Actually, the experiences at Anise have been mixed in the past, and the hounds who've eaten there recently have all said good things about their meals (including me). Yes, it's pretty empty, but both the food and service have been outstanding. According to the wait staff they do a pretty good business at lunch, but not at dinner during the week.
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