Two Reviews for the Price of One!

Before I get to the restaurant review, I’m going to give you a movie review.  Go see Searching for Sugar Man.  It’s a documentary about a musician from Detroit in the early ’70’s  whose name is Rodriguez, poised to be the next big thing a la Bob Dylan, putting out beautiful music but he never did become the next big thing.  Instead, he disappeared and became the biggest rock ‘n roll star in South Africa without his even knowing it.  A lot of legend surrounded him and I won’t give anything away but can tell you, that you’ll be applauding at the end of the movie, I promise.  Two thumbs up from 2 at the bar!

East by Northeast is a tiny storefront restaurant in the Inman Square neighborhood of Cambridge, MA.  It’s got all the hype, it’s on everyone’s “Best Of” list and it was noted in the New York Times “36 hours in Cambridge” article.  All for good reason. It’s putting out big flavors.  It’s Chinese fusion; everything is locally sourced.  And, there’s no white rice so don’t ask for it!  It’s tapas-like, small plates meant to be shared.  Everything is made from scratch and that includes the most delicious noodles.  On our table were:

  • scallion pancake, roasted garlic chili sauce, pickled onions
  • smoked pork confit, mantou bread,cucumber,  plum sauce
  • crispy pork belly, mantou bread, pickled melon rinds, sweet bean paste
  • stuffed littleneck clams, bacon, black bean, herb relish
  • pork and zucchini shaomai, carrot puree, black vinegar reduction
  • Summer stew with marinated chicken, corn, squash, zucchini, xo sauce, house-made togarashi and the most beautiful hand-rolled short rice noodles that were like gnocchi
  • homemade thick cut noodle with pork ragout, napa cabbage, marinated radish, corn, chili vinegar

Does that sound good?  It was!  The food is delicious, the sauces are rich and it’s not terribly expensive.  But be prepared, if the restaurant is crowded, it’s really, really loud.  At the table with us our pals B and G and the four of us loved the restaurant (and the movie!)

We topped the evening off  with a walk down the street for ice cream from Christina’s which has some of the best ice cream around and that’s saying a lot for a city that takes it’s ice cream seriously.  We begged for them to please let us in because they were just closing up.  Lucky us, they did open their doors and we finished off the evening in ice cream heaven!