641384 Sun Aug 02 10:28:37 -0700 2009 8 12 Boston Area 0 4910803 I'm surprised I don't read more about them here. I've never been disappointed there and their prices are very reasonable. Last night i had duck confit in a chocolate sauce, with asparagus, wild rice gnocchi, and celeriac. Odd choice for a hot August night, but I have no regrets. DC got gnocchi with wild mushrooms and we split a fried oyster app. They were done right: not greasy at all, and coated in panko, so they were light and crisp. I also hesitatingly got a caipirinha. I was skeptical because they add muddled fresh strawberry and I'm not a fan of sweet fruity drinks. But the strawberry added just enough flavor to make it interesting, not overpowering at all. Their $25 prix fix menu (which we didn't order from this time) is one of the better deals in town. I think they've lowered the price since last winter. Sun Aug 02 10:28:37 -0700 2009 106030 nightsky 1 4911341 Had another very fine dinner here recently. We were remarking at how consistent Pops is. We're a little tired of South End places that can't deliver at the same level every time. Give me a place like Pops that can deliver a steady B performance every time; it's the restaurants that do an A one visit and a D the next that drive me bonkers. We've sworn off a few of those. http://mcslimjb.blogspot.com/ Sun Aug 02 15:17:33 -0700 2009 4910803 10143 MC Slim JB 2 4912260 Slim, as someone who doesn't get a chance to eat out that often, I'm curious about which places you feel vary from A to D. I'd much rather go somewhere expecting a B and get it, than to go somewhere expecting an A and get a D. Sun Aug 02 23:27:35 -0700 2009 4911341 105892 pollystyrene 3 4912949 Places that have recently disappointed me from a consistency standpoint: Rocca, Banq, Gaslight. I don't know what Rocca's problem is, but I just can't seem to get two good meals in a row there. I got served the grossest salad the other night, a tomato/fennel number with the kind of pale-pink, hard, flavorless freightcar tomatoes I associate with supermarkets in January. And they substituted dried tomatoes for fresh on the pizzetta without notice (probably a blessing, but still, tell us). If you can't get great tomatoes because of the blight. take the tomato salad off the menu. This was not helped by a server who was generally terrible: served drinks ordered when we sat down after the appetizers hit, never checked back, numerous other rookie blunders. This hapless kid clearly noticed that the salad was largely untouched, sort of froze in a panic moment, and then rather than address the obvious problem, hid from us the rest of the night. Awful. We left steaming. A shame: I love their patio, am a fan of a lot of the food there, and find the front of the house generally well-run -- we usually get fine service -- but some big kitchen misstep seems to happen every other time we go. http://mcslimjb.blogspot.com/ Mon Aug 03 08:40:43 -0700 2009 4912260 10143 MC Slim JB 1 4912452 I really like Pops as well. I find that their service is always attentive, timely and friendly and my favorite is their Kobe meatloaf. Ofcourse the meatloaf would be a little much for the summer but it really hits the spot during the cold months! Mon Aug 03 05:45:25 -0700 2009 4910803 429926 CreativeFoodie42 2 4913707 That Kobe meatloaf WAS my favorite - until the last time I had it, one raw night back in March, when instead of the petite mound of crisp beefy goodness I'd come to love I got served a larger version, loaded with fillers and smothered under a mass of sauteed onions and barbecue sauce. Which for me makes Pops one of these spotty venues that MC deplores above. Mon Aug 03 12:11:17 -0700 2009 4912452 14386 BobB 3 4914152 Ach, bummer, dude. I hate when they change the formula of a beloved dish. I tend to avoid anything labeled as Kobe. It seems that unless you're ordering something that costs north of $100 (at a place like O Ya or Mooo....), it's misleading: you're likely getting some American-raised hybrid of Wagyu, not the real Japanese deal at all. The exception I make in this case is the Kobe hot dog at Audubon Circle, which is a very tasty dog, but a hot dog nonetheless, and all of four bucks. Tough to be disappointed there. http://mcslimjb.blogspot.com/ Mon Aug 03 14:10:09 -0700 2009 4913707 10143 MC Slim JB 1 4912641 I'm also a fan of POPS. Although I think Coda executes this genre -- moderately priced comfort food -- more successfully, fortunately there's plenty of room in our collective eating schedules for both! Mon Aug 03 07:04:46 -0700 2009 4910803 10820 Blumie 1 4912747 Does anyone know if they are still doing the Monday night sandwich menu? I remember some mouthwatering descriptions of the sandwiches and we are thinking of heading there tongiht. Mon Aug 03 07:34:51 -0700 2009 4910803 11251 mapgirl