Munch Madness 2011 (Boston.com)

[Gabatta]

http://www.boston.com/ae/restaurants/...

Somewhat fun and interesting.

[kimfair1]

I can't believe Stella beat Bergamot in round one. I know Stella has its fans here, but the one time I went, I had one of the worst meals I've ever been served in Boston (pounded veal in the worst red sauce I've ever had the misfortune of eating, the only good thing was there was hardly any of it on the dish). They also have the singularly most uncomfortable chairs I've had the misfortune of sitting in any establishment I've ever dined in. Blech! Of course the first comment I see under the brackets today is pro-Stella "Big portions of good food." Ah, I see, the portion size is soooo more important than quality food. I'll take smaller portions of excellent food any day, but then again this isn't a Chowhound game.

I had one of my favorite meals of the year at Bergamot last year, even though it was miserably hot in the restaurant.

[yumyum]

Agreed. Some of the picks were pretty random. Friendly Toast beat out Journeyman. Huh.

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The Friendly Toast
1 Kendall Square, Cambridge, MA

[kimfair1]

At the risk of sounding even more of a food snob than I already am, I think the winners of some of them would be different if it were Chowhounders voting instead of the general public. I told my buddy at work today that Vinny Testas would win against a good restaurant because you could get 10 pounds of crap pasta for $10.

[Alcachofa]

Right. Stella has a very solid B&T-crowd following. I am guessing most of them have never even heard of Bergamot.

[csammy]

Some omissions!
No Michael Schlow restaurants: Tico, Radius, Via Matta?
No China town restaurants?
No Columbus Group restaurants Mistral Teatro Mooo…L’Andana
Abe & Louis
Pigalle
Troquet
Oishii

I understand that they don't want all high end restaurants or all low end restaurants but why include Deuxave and Linage over any of the above and why do we need 11 "Gastropubs"?

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Teatro
177 Tremont Street, Boston, MA 02111

Pigalle
75 Charles Street South, Boston, MA 02116

Troquet
140 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02116

Via Matta
79 Park Plaza, Boston, MA 02116

Tico
222 Berkeley St, Boston, MA 02116

[Gabatta]

Sorellina is a Columbus Group restaurant.

[jgg13]

I'm pretty sure at least some of those were on the initial voting round

[jgg13]

Did anyone else notice that Phantom Gourmet is pimping their own "munch madness" - albeit something completely different.

[robwat36]

I'm hoping for a first-round upset by Cutty's over Flour. Not that Flour doesn't have tasty sandwiches, but they have so much more visibility and Cutty's is amazing.

[MC Slim JB]

I like both those place, and think Cutty's deserves and needs the attention more than Flour, but I sure wouldn't bet that way.

http://mcslimjb.blogspot.com/

[Bob Dobalina]

Tough second round matchup likely between Craigie and L'Espalier.

Also unfair inter-conference first round matchup between No. 9 Park and Butcher Shop.

And Blue Ribbon BBQ is a one seed? Please!

[hckybg]

I agree, the logic behind many of the seeds is lacking, meaning that there are some unfortunate first round matchups--like East by Northeast versus Island Creek Oyster Bar, which will eliminate one very good place way too early.

[yumyum]

It's a fun little game guys. Relax.

It's not like KICKING DUKE TO THE CURB or anything. ;-)

[itaunas]

And while the free PR of doing well doesn't hurt, I don't think Globe readers really use this to make a dining decision. If they were going to IC already they are going to go, but they aren't going to choose it over East by Northeast based on the "munch madness" rankings. Like 'all star ballots' and so on, its something where people vote sometimes based on an agenda, sometimes just for fun (even w/o information).

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East by Northeast
1128 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, MA 02139

[hckybg]

Of course, of course this doesn't merit seriousness. But I have seen the "Munch Madness 2010 winner" boast many times at East Coast Grill, and it sure doesn't hurt as PR. But I realize this isn't actually a big deal (I am just tired of seeing the self-promoting posts from certain restaurants-that-already-get-all-the-attention and wouldn't mind seeing David beat Goliath :).

[Kinopio]

The seedings were determined by readers last week. They had a poll and you clicked on what was your favorite restaurant. The top 4 vote getters are now the four 1 seeds.

[MC Slim JB]

I'm hoping for a Speed's vs. Menton showdown. Could a Chowhound-/amateur-driven voting campaign outstrip well-funded Barbara Lynch's PR operation?

http://mcslimjb.blogspot.com/

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Menton
354 Congress St, Boston, MA 02210

[Gabatta]

Menton may not make it out of the first round.

[MC Slim JB]

Menton vs. Toro? I think you're right, would bet big on Toro. I was just hoping for the unseemliest high-vs.-low matchup.

I wonder how many readers could actually vote in all these matchups based on experience? I can't imagine Bondir has done that many covers to date; ditto Journeyman.

http://mcslimjb.blogspot.com/

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Toro
1704 Washington St, Boston, MA 02118

Menton
354 Congress St, Boston, MA 02210

Bondir
279 Broadway, Cambridge, MA 02139

[yumyum]

I did really well in my munch madness brackets last year. But I didn't "vote" on places I'd not been. I did coin toss. Luckily this year I have fewer that I've not been to -- and only one (rhymes with pritiken bublic mouse) that serves bad food, IMO.

[robwat36]

I've liked everything I've had at Citizen so far except for the too-salty tuna burger. What did you have that was bad?

[yumyum]

Ooof. The food I had there was just terrible, starting with the schrapnel-laced oysters and continuing on to the greasy pig foot schnitzel and the bad bad bad lardo. They comped us dessert, which was actually quite good, but really I'd eat across the street at Tasty ANY day of the week.

YMMV.

[MC Slim JB]

I've had better luck with the food at The Citizen, but I haven't had any of those dishes. Clams a few different ways, a terrific cod dish, meatballs, the root-vegetable salad, beef jerkey (amazing). Strong bartending, great whiskey list, that cool ice-ball thing.

http://mcslimjb.blogspot.com/

[jgg13]

I've had good luck there but not so much that I'm going to go way out of my way and fight the crowds. If I happen to be in the area on an off night, I gladly pop in though.

[jgg13]

That's an issue in my voting. There are places that I'm sure I'd vote for more than others if I had managed to go there a few times and get a sense of the place, or heck, get there at *all*.

[kimfair1]

Our oysters were shell free (and quite good), the meatball was amazing. The rosemary whipped lardo and ricoota and honey toast were just OK, the cassoulet hearty and quite good. My wife had a special of braised veal breast that was good (though the brussels sprouts were undercooked). I have to disagree with MC on the bartending, though. I liked the drinks (we sat at the bar), but I had 2 of the Ideal Manhattans, and my wife had one and all three tasted slightly different due to the free pouring. The first was markedly darker than the other two, and was the best of the three. I love the ice ball thing, and will stick to bourbon over the ice ball in the future. If I'm paying you $10-12 per drink, I expect them to taste consistent from one to the next, and that's really hard to do while free pouring.

[maillard]

Are there any restaurants that cook brussels sprouts properly? I find them really gross when undercooked, but have had way underdone sprouts at Green Street and Highland Kitchen.

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Highland Kitchen
150 Highland Ave, Somerville, MA 02143

[tysonmcneely]

I had Shredded Brussels sprouts at the abbey that was pretty good. They slice them thin and then roast them.

[maillard]

Oh yeah, the shredded brussels sprouts at Washington Square Tavern were probably the only good brussels sprouts I've had in a restaurant... I'll have to check out The Abbey sometime.

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Washington Square Tavern
714 Washington St, Brookline, MA 02446

[mkfisher]

Coppa had baby brussels sprouts with pecorino that we really enjoyed

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Coppa
253 Shawmut Ave, Boston, MA 02118

[yumyum]

Second the baby brussels from Coppa. They can be a little al dente though, and they have a tendency to roll onto the floor.

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Coppa
253 Shawmut Ave, Boston, MA 02118

[Madrid]

back in December had some great ones with Manchego as a special at Neptune Oyster.

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Neptune Oyster
63 Salem St Ste 1, Boston, MA 02113