March 21, 2025 | Vol. 54, Issue 6

The only bilingual Chinese-English Newspaper in New England

Food

Cavendish Game Birds

Balut brings business to Cavendish Game Birds

On a recent journey to southern Vermont, I visited Cavendish Game Birds to tour the facility and learn more about their captivating success story during this pandemic. Cavendish was established in 1988 by Bill Thompson, a chef who initially started raising pheasants, selling them to local restaurants. His brother, Rick, was convinced to join his brother’s endeavor, and in 1998, they purchased a 75-acre farm in Springfield, Vermont.  They started selling other game birds as well, from quail to ducks. Over the […]

Special Bootleg Benedict

Cajun comfort comes to South End: Bootleg Special

High School friends and co-owners Chris Young and Stephen Chan opened their South End eatery Bootleg Special, a southern crawfish joint with a nod to the French Quarter. We went there to check out their dine-in only weekend brunch, available on Saturdays and Sundays from 11am to 2:30pm. Located at the edge of South End by Mass Pike, upon entry you see a large, deep dining room. The setup transports you into a New Orleans-like space with chandeliers and a […]

Chinese restaurants in Cambridge

The first Chinese restaurants in Cambridge

The first Chinese restaurants in Boston’s Chinatown appeared during the 1880s, but when did the first Chinese restaurant appear across the river, in Cambridge? It appears their first Chinese restaurant was not established until June 1902, with the opening of the Harvard Chinese Restaurant. It was located at 527 Massachusetts Avenue, on the second floor of the building, and employed only three people: a Chinese cook and two Chinese waiters. The Cambridge Chronicle, June 28, 1902, noted that it possessed two dining […]

Crepe at Cafe Phinista

Café Phinista review

Owners Yeanie Bach and Phi Pham started out with a dream: to share the beauty of Vietnamese coffee with Boston by doing a few area pop ups, before finding their dream home in Fenway last summer to open Café Phinista. A month earlier they also opened a bánh mì shop, Bánh mì oi, in West Roxbury. At Café Phinista, they only use coffee beans in their Vietnamese Coffee from a farm in Vietnam (they are the world’s second largest grower […]

Underdog Hot Chicken drumstick and wing

Underdog Hot Chicken

Underdog Hot Chicken (first location with another in Fort Lee, New Jersey) is a recent entry in the former Kim Tofu’s space located in Allston to serve hot chicken. They have a simple menu of three kinds of combos: Hot Chicken Sandwich, Chicken Tenders and the 3 wings and 3 drumsticks all come with one side and a drink. They do have a simple array of sides. They take inspiration from the Nashville Hot chicken which gets their spicy heat […]

wakuwaku food

Tradition meets Innovation at WakuWaku Ramen + Saké

A phoenix is rising from the dust of the old Suishaya restaurant in Chinatown. Closing in March due to the pandemic, Suishaya was in many locals’ Chinatown rotation for Korean staples and sushi. Henry Wong, owner of Hong Kong Eatery, took the opportunity to reimagine what this space could be.  The new ramen and sake restaurant is in its “soft opening” phase, giving the manager, Dixon Leung, the opportunity to hire and train staff to run the sleek new concept. […]

Ten Second Noodles restaurant in Chinatown

Slurping south of the clouds: Shi Miaodao Ten Second Noodles comes to Chinatown

Photo courtesy of Ten Second Noodles As Chinatown begins reopening, we’ll visit restaurants who are shaping Chinatown’s future. This is the first installment. In a food-obsessed country, Yunnan is a destination. It is tucked in between enormous mountains, and many rivers flow through it. It’s home to a number of indigenous populations unknown to most Boston diners, possibly even to many people in China. Twenty-four distinct peoples live in Yunnan. The characters for Yunnan include the “South of the Clouds” […]

Larb at Laos Thai Kitchen restaurant

Food for Thought: authentic Lao and Thai gem in Lowell

While visiting Lowell, we went to the cozy and casual dining spot Laos Thai Kitchen in downtown Lowell. They do take out and have six tables available for dine in service.  We started out with Thai Iced Tea ($3), the classic  black tea drink made with sugar, condensed and evaporated milks. Then came the Beef Jerky  (Lao marinated beef strips, $8.95) a popular snack and food with refrigeration not widely available in Laos. This sweet and savory jerky version came […]

Tora Ramen croquette

Tora Ramen

(請點這裡閱讀中文版。)  Tora Ramen 99 Harrison Avenue Boston, MA 02111 857-233-4860 Last fall while in the pandemic, the team of Kenix Wong and Patrick Zhong who brought Tora Japanese Restaurant to Boston  bravely opened their second Chinatown restaurant called Tora Ramen. This new hole in the wall ramen joint sits on the corner of Harrison Avenue and Kneeland Street. COVID-19 protocols were observed but there was limited dine in seating. For starters we got the Tofu in Goma Shoyu $4 which […]

Chop Suey Sundae dessert

What’s A Chop Suey Sundae?

(請點這裡閱讀中文版。)  The most popular item in the earliest Chinese restaurants in the U.S. was chop suey, a mixture of meat and vegetables in a brown sauce. The origins of chop suey are murky but the dish certainly had a strong impact. It was such a popular term that it was even co-opted by others, to apply to non-Chinese foods, such as the Chop Suey Sundae.  A Chop Suey Sundae? Meat, vegetables and a brown sauce over ice cream? No, this […]

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