Returning to boston after 3years away.

[pigletthepug]

We used to live in Boston before moving to Asia in 2006. Been back only once in 2008. But we will be back for 2.5 weeks and are very much looking forward to eating good food.

Places we loved (and continue to miss) were Lumiere, Craigie Street, Roddee, Dokbua, Brown Sugar, Uncle Pete's, Neptune Oysters, Daily Catch, Xinh2 vietnamese, banh mi in dorchester, 7 subs in brookline, bagels from finagle, Shanghai Gate, Tacos Lpita near Porter, Japonaise bakery, Clearflour bakery, and the fast food taco place that is not anna's taqueria....the name escapes me right now.

I know Uncle Pete's no more.

Any other recommended places for us to visit? We are big fans of Thai, Vietnamese, French, oysters in all forms, good pasta, and sandwiches.. Also loved Craigie for the chef's brilliant ways of combining flavors.

Places we did NOT enjoy were Hammersley's, Legal, Au Bon Pain. We are also not big on Spanish, Greek, Middle Eastern food. GoodJapanese and Korean are also very easily found in Jakarta so we wont go looking for these 2 when we ate in Boston.

We would also be in San Francisco for 5days if anybody has recommended dining experiences there.

Thanks so much in advance

[The Chowhound Team]

Please feel free to start a thread on the San Francisco board for dining recommendations in the Bay Area, here: http://chowhound.chow.com/boards/1 .

Discussion of San Francisco dining would be out of scope on this board.

Thanks.

[opinionatedchef]

piglet, welcome home for a visit! when are you coming? In San Fran, I have a few big recs:
Foreign Cinema for Brunch (my fav time, their balsamic glazed eggs) and/or dinner; Betelnut we always like; La Boulangerie on Pine at Fulton is my fav bakery in the U.S. Really top quality products and amazing variety. Caneles (sweet) a must + tons of other things. Get there early.

Here in Boston, new oyster /seafood place- Island Creek Oyster Bar in Kenmore Sq. maybe it was here before you left? do a search for recent raves. Alot of recent raves for Thai North(hot!) near Oak Sq. Brighton. For French, Aquitaine was here before ; we find the food, room and service consistently terrific. Hope your visit is a good one!

[justbeingpolite]

Also, ptp,
I think the whole Angela's craze hit after you left, so you might want to swing by East Boston for that some mole.

[lipoff]

Craigie is still firing on all cylinders, other places in Cambridge like Bondir, Ten Tables, Salts, Catalyst, Bergamot and Hungry Mother having a not dissimilar vibe and level of cooking. All are highly recommended.

I second (or third!) S&I Thai and Thai North (only for their chalkboard list of Northern Thai specials). Dok Bua is good too, but I would prefer those two.

Banh Mi Ba Le in Dorchester is wonderful for Vietnamese sandwiches.

You may also enjoy Strip T's in Watertown either for inventive lunchtime sandwiches or interesting dinners.

Biryani Park has incredible Sri Lankan food in Malden. Moroccan Hospitality and Fuloon are just as good Moroccan and Chinese in Malden as well. All are board favorites for good reason.

And if you like bagels from Finagle, please try Rosenfeld's in Newton or Katz' in Chelsea. Finagle makes fine rolls with holes, but they are not bagels. :)

[Madrid]

you might want to check out both Bondir and Evoo in Cambridge, here and on line...will appeal or won't.

[rknrll]

Tacos Lupita in Porter is also gone.

[pigletthepug]

What's a good substitute? Looking for lengua and carnita tacos, lots of cilantro and lime and chilli sauce Would like to avoid beans.

[gourmaniac]

Surprised you can't get good Thai in Jakarta. Wish we could get good Indonesian here. RE Thai. Favorites for me are S&I Thai and Thai North (for Chiang Mai cuisine). Oysters, Lot's of places now do Happy Hour $1 Oysters (e.g. Marliave). For non $1 places, Island Creek Oyster Bar joins Neptune Oyster for favorites. I don't think we do Vietnamese well here but the Dorchester places are your best bet. Recent sandwich places: Cutty's, MIke and Patty's Gustazo for a cubano.

[pigletthepug]

Thanks! Yes boca grande was the name. It was a 5minute walk from where we lived in brookline.
No good thai in indinesia because, honestly theres really no reason why thais would want to emigrate or work in indonesia....it's not a better country with better prospects thanThailand. Also, indonesians are like 90% muslm so its rather hard to find thai restos that serve pork. Our beef is also no good, so dishes like yum neua is difficult to get right. There are plentynof thai restos here, just nit many good ones.

Patdon the typos.....on ipad

[pigletthepug]

Due to religion, its also mpossible to find the classic vietnamese dish of pork chop with brokenrice here. To appeal to a wider audience, the pork is usually substituted by chicken ....eek!

[Aromatherapy]

Ditto on S&I and Thai North, and I would add Thmor Da for Cambodian (in the old Floating Rock space in Revere) which is back on my hit list these days. For pig and pasta, I recommend Coppa, nice and uncrowded at weekday lunchtimes. If Ethiopian interests you there are 2 good newish places in Malden Center, Habesha and Abiata; both have very good renditions of the buttery, spiced beef tartare. Try Cafe Jalisco or Angela's Cafe in Eastie for Mexican (the former would be a bit closer to the Lupita model). I like the taquerias in Waltham but they're harder to get to. And I can't believe no one has mentioned Strip T's in Watertown--see the long and active thread.

[Bob Dobalina]

the fast food taco place that is not anna's taqueria....the name escapes me right now = Boca Grande?