Ken Oringer Clueless About Boston Resto's [moved from Boston board]

[StriperGuy]

http://jamesbeard.org/index.php?q=new...

Sapporo Best Ramen on East Coast - Wrong Try Ken's in Allston or a 1/2 dozen places in NYC

Teatro Great for Kids - Love the place but noisy, busy, not at all kid friendly WRONG again

Blue Ginger Best of Boston Special Occasion, Just plain wrong

Locke Ober Quintessential Boston okay I'll give you that

Late-Night Dining Peach Farm Restaurant
“It’s a very unusual, eclectic new restaurant located in the heart of Chinatown.”
New (around for 10+ years) Wrong
Eclectic, No actually pretty traditional Chinese Seafood Wrong
Unusual - Not for Chinese Seafood places Wrong Again

I hope that it was just a really bad writer on this piece.

[meuri]

He gave Sapporo a shout out because it's a favorite of Ming Tsai's - this was mentioned in an interview of Ming Tsai published a few years ago. Clearly Oringer doesn't do his own research.

[yumyum]

Aaaahhhh ... so this is actually Ming's list. That would make sense. KO would need to borrow some kids to take to Teatro. Ming has his own.

[Gordough]

How are someone's opinions on something as subjective as food "WRONG" or "Just plain wrong"?

And Teatro is actually extremely kid friendly. Have you been with young children? They bend over backwards to accommodate children.

[StriperGuy]

Sapporo Ramen is mostly mediocre.

Teatro I like but feel claustrophobic in there as an adult. I wouldn't want to bring kids there regardless of how nice they are.

Shilling for your friend's Suburban resto, Blue Ginger, which get's decidedly mixed reviews is just plain cheesy..

I certainly believe taste is subjective, but when three of four calls are so wide of the mark it is just plain weird.

[Alcachofa]

I don't know if it is necessarily 100% shilling. When Ming sees KO walk in the door, you know he gets in the kitchen (instead of talking to everyone out front) and brings his A-game. Under those circumstances, I'm sure that Blue Ginger would actually produce "special occasion"-caliber food.

I also suspect bad writing/editing, especially about the Peach Farm bit. No way is KO *that* clueless.

[hotoynoodle]

i have worked events where ming was a guest chef. the guy can absolutely cook.

the fact that he isn't in blue ginger all that much because of his tv commitments is something else.

ken is also quite friendly with jaime mamano, the chef for the columbus group, which owns teatro.

[StriperGuy]

Whoa, I never doubted Ming could cook. It is just that he doesn't. Even when he is "in da house" at BG he is more likely to be working the room then paying attention to the food.

Knowing KO is friends with Mamano it becomes clear the piece was mostly an opportunity to pimp for his homies.

Too bad Ming himself doesn't get out more and try some decent Ramen at Ken's.

[Alcachofa]

Is there any decent ramen on the Cambridge side of the river?

[yumyum]

The ramen at Sapporo is decent. But it sure isn't the best on the East Coast.

Does Toraya do ramen?

[StriperGuy]

Sapporo and all the places in the Porter Exchange are OK (not KO ;-) in a pinch, but they are all pretty murky and heavy handed.

Toraya does a pretty amazing Udon, but no Ramen.

Once I started going to Ken's I really never hit any of PE places more. Ken's id just do much more tasty, subtle, and nuanced. For a real treat sit at the bar and watch the care with which he does his magic...

[yumyum]

"murky" is the perfect description.

Must try the udon at Toraya.

[BarmyFotheringayPhipps]

Well, his take on Peach Farm is factually incorrect. It's not a subjective issue at all. Peach Farm is awesome -- one of the best place in Chinatown, which makes it among the best places in the city -- but as SG notes: it's not new, it's not eclectic, it's not unusual (to be loved by anyone...sorry, force of habit...). Those are disprovable statements, even though I agree that Peach Farm is great.

And yeah, I'll chip in to buy KO a gift cert to Ken's so he can learn what real ramen tastes like.

[Blumie]

I've brought kids to Teatro on numerous occasions. It's a GREAT place for kids.

[yumyum]

I thought it was odd too. He's buds with Ming, so that explains the BG shout-out. But the rest of them are totally mystifying. Sapporo Ramen isn't even Best in Boston, let alone the whole East Coast.