We ordered the chicken vindaloo and lamb khorma, both of which were super flavorful and the protein…read morewas tender. The garlic naan was delicious too and perfect for soaking up the remaining curry sauce. Service was attentive and very welcoming. It was surprisingly very empty inside when we went, but the inside of the restaurant was clean and the interior decor was well-done. Overall, an underrated spot and also a solid place to get takeout from.

Went to this restaurant as in walking distance in Brookline. This is an apparently elevated Indian…read morefood restaurant. The food was interesting, the saag was blended to smoother creamy sauce with a hint of mushroom or truffle which was unexpected. The food was generally too spicy hot for mild. We are glad we didn't order spicier. naan was delicious. Salad was huge - enough for four to six people. Food tasted good. Good presentation. Staff could work on clearing plates earlier or using smaller plates. The table was absolutely cluttered unnecessarily. A few things stood out as questionable. Our waiter seemed a little spacy. Order didn't go in on time and then also forgot details. So maybe our food was spicier bc he forgot that we ordered mild. Also, I noticed water dripping from the kitchen ceiling and this kind of took away my appetite. Staff very apologetic for delays in our food order.

Hidden Gem!! Amazing food and great prices, everything was so fresh. My friend also had their green…read morepapaya salad and it was so fresh and so delicious, caught us off guard. Service was great too, server was super nice. Will be back!

Came to Esmai's for an early dinner with my boyfriend and sat on the outdoor rooftop (we made a…read morereservation). The Highlights: Blush Hour cocktail & Shrimp baos: Easily a 10/10! Absolute must-trys. Calamari: Pretty good, but the sauce really made the dish. The Misses: The Pasta (2/10): Neither of us enjoyed this. The sauce was very watery and lacked flavor--it seemed like it relied on meat juices for flavor, but it just didn't work. Smash Burger: Just an average burger. Hard to mess up, but nothing to write home about. Vibe & Service: The rooftop ambience was nice with staff playing music on a speaker. Wait-staff were very attentive! A huge plus was the owner coming out to check on tables and joke around with guests! Note on space: Upstairs indoor seating seems okay for private events (there was a bridal shower happening while we were there), and downstairs has a classic sit-down/bar feel. Verdict: Total came out to $171 (including tip) for 4 drinks, calamari, baos, pasta, and a burger. If we return, we'd definitely stick to drinks, shrimp baos, and hanging out downstairs!

Went here the other night for an anniversary dinner. Very nice restaurant, feels relatively high…read moreend without being imposing or intimidating. We were walk ins, service was very quick. Lots of good options for vegetarians. Main courses are large, and come with small plates and tongs so you can share with others at your table. Will definitely return to try more of their stuff.

Went in for lunch with my friend and really enjoyed the food here. I enjoyed the noodle dish I…read moreordered and my friends pepper shrimp dish was also very delicious. They are not cheap with the shrimp, they give really large shrimp that are well seasoned. Fried to perfection. Drinks were cute and tasted good. The service was quick and servers were professional. Hope to go another time during their lunch specia

Visited twice during the week of August 3rd. Why twice you ask? Because my kids loved the food so…read moremuch, we had to go here twice in the middle of our vacation. I do not like eating the same place twice during a vacation but the kids insisted. Pork Xiao Long Bao is as advertised. Juicy an moist in the inside, chewy and soft on the outside, kids could not stop eating it. My personal favorite was the House Special Hand Cut Noodles w/ Soup. The broth with the texture of the handout noodles was a match worth eating. The restaurant did do last calls from food 20min before closing time which was a surprise, but we were already done eating by then so did not bother us but do be aware.

I've been to KungFu Kitchen two times now and it's been consistently great. I've ordered the Pork…read moreXiao Long Bao, Pork and Shrimp Wonton Soup, Scallion Pancake with Sliced Beef, Shanghai Pan-Fried Pork Buns, and Cucumber Salad - all were amazing and would order again. The pork and shrimp wonton soup was brought a perfect balance to the flavorful meal and it's broth was super yummy. The cucumber salad was seasoned perfectly and was a nice balance to the otherwise heavy meal. My favorite is probably the pork xiao long bao, but honestly, you can't go wrong with anything you order. Service was great. Both times we were a party of two and were seated quickly, if not immediately. Food came out very fast. Will 100% be returning.

Dictated from my 11 year old nephew: "The tonkatsu ramen 3.0 had an excellent, complex blend of…read morespices that went really well with chashu and noodles. Everything else was magnificent!" From the others at the table: Good spicy red oil dumplings! Small but tasteful beer selection and excellent cocktails. The mushroom dumplings were really interesting, super savory with a paté-like texture. The paté was well made. Very yummy.

This is the place to go for asian food that is on the more unique side. Beer selection is good, can…read moreorder in large quantities. Dishes are very well thought out, generous portions. Great flavor. The service is overall poor. It often takes very long to be greeted by a waiter after being seated. It is strange how poor the service is considering how small the place is, not to mention the abundance of staff. The takeout has never been ready when promised. The ramen for takeout is poorly executed, a problem similar spots don't have.

I love this place…read more Such good unagi don. I haven't tried a lot of places for unagi, but so far Maguro takes the cake. Idk what they do to make their eel but the flavor is fabulous and the meat is so tender and soft. Their AYCE menu is pricey and I wouldn't suggest everything. Typically, I'm selective to premium cuts when I try to "make up" for the cost at an AYCE. Their uni was good when I ordered it, not necessarily top notch stuff but I've had inedible uni before and Maguro gave me good uni in comparison. The point of the AYCE is to stuff yourself with fancy fish!!! Skip the ramen and wagyu. Their wagyu wasn't melt in your mouth like legit wagyu should be, but if I wanted steak, I'd go to a churrascaria. Really nice servers! I enjoyed their mango sticky rice too!

Have been hearing about their Mon & Tue AYCE, so went on to try it a month or so ago. With what…read moreseems to be a recent price increase, now $50++ allows access to a good variety of sushi/sashimi, on top of apps, ramen, poke bowls, and cooked rice/noodle dishes. Whereas $80++ offers diners a set of amount of uni, plus unlimited amount of everything else, wagyu included. Sounds like a good deal, especially when one can eat a lot. Even as we are no longer Team Eat Till You Burst, we went for the premium, mainly for the nicer cuts such as toro and wagyu, and because uni!! Jumping in shortly after 5pm, we were promptly seated, marked a bunch of stuff on paper, and soon after submission, we got food brought to our table. It was a decent meal overall, so why 3 stars? Let's recap. Menu variety is fantastic, though of course we didn't get "one of everything", coz that's simply impossible. While the premium did cover a lot of grounds, it would have been nice if they also included anago (sea eel) which is currently only available on the a la cart menu, and maybe even offer couple lesser-known items such as monk fish liver app, sea grapes, off-the-beaten-path fish cuts, what have you. Would be happy even if we only get an allotment of those like we do with the uni. Now, service - great overall. Servers circulated around and were alert of customers' needs. Approached at appropriate times to take our order sheets, refill water, provide new order sheets, and ask if we wanted more food. So kudos on that. Their denotation of serving "regular portion" of cooked food had us hesitant in ordering, since we didn't want to be wasteful (or use our limited stomach space for dishes we can easily get elsewhere). But from other tables' orders as well as the one noodle dish that we ended up getting, it seems that the portion size was what I would like to see at AYCE places -- about 50-60% of regular Asian dish size, where 3-4 people can each have a couple bites "just to try". However, to think if that is what they call "regular portion", then it is definitely "Brookline pricing" on a la carte, which I would not recommend one to do such things on these items. Food is fantastic in general; we got a variety of stuff, and everything was really of top quality and taste. The meal would have been a "highly recommended" if they didn't serve the uni that we got. Out of the 12 pcs of uni sushi, all of them were... while not "foul" to a point where one cannot safely consume, they were definitely more sub-par than "ok but not great". Colors aside (which I understand there can be a range depending on origins and such), the uni was a "splat" of yellow stuff on rice, without distinct shape of the flesh. On top of the fishy smell (I'm talking about slightly ammonia-ish), the presentation and taste-texture upon them hitting our tongues... really left the ENTIRE room to be desired. In retrospect, we should have sent them back even if they weren't going to replace them. But instead, we stupidly forced ourselves to shove them all down in cowardly silence, then ordered another round of wagyu just to make us feel a little better about it. Yes, we weren't smart as customers. But if the restaurant is going to charge $100++ per person (after tax and tip), someone from the kitchen should have known better than pushing this thing out for customers to deal with. In their defense, yes, the uni itself was still "edible" in a sense that it didn't make us sick, but I'd maintain that better judgment should have been made. Once the shell was cracked open and you see this pale-gray yellow mush, it should have been decided that it is better repurposed, than be served straight to your customers as your star/featured product. As seen in other diners' experiences, it could just have been a one-off mishap, so I'm not knocking them entirely. But I do hope the restaurant would improve on their QC accordingly. It was such a disappointing low point in an otherwise wonderful meal.

This is our second time coming to Merai and it's still such a stellar spot. I absolutely adore…read moretheir Taro Fries and Hot Dog! They are both unique and executed well. It's very impressive how easily they can elevate bar classics. The staff are also very sweet and professional. They are always willing to provide concise explanations of the menu and their own personal recommendations that never fail to impress.

Nice dinner, pleasant ambiance, overall fine experience!…read more We came here with reservations for an earlier dinner and were seated quickly. The space is small, but quaint. Menu has a good mix of sharables, albeit pretty expensive. We got a few to share amongst the 3 of us and appreciated the variety. Portions however were quite small which had us leaving not super full. Food itself was solid - on the higher end in terms of quality, but due to the lacking size, it was a bit disappointing. Their drinks were fantastic though - I recommend trying their cocktails. Overall, we had a nice meal, but I won't go out of my way to come back.

I've been to Genki Ya a few times, and it's one of my favorite sushi places in Brookline. The fish…read morealways tastes fresh, and I've never had a bad meal there. I usually try a different roll when I go, and everything I've had has been really good. The restaurant is clean and relaxing, and the staff have always been friendly whenever I've visited. I also like that the menu has a lot of options, whether you're really into sushi or just looking for something simple, you'll find something. I've ordered both takeout and eaten in the restaurant, and the quality has been consistent every time. There are a lot of sushi spots around Boston, but Genki Ya is one that I keep coming back to. I'd definitely recommend checking it out if you're in the Brookline area.

I have been a die hard fan for several years now and order from here at least twice a month. But,…read morethere have been a few instances that are getting hard to look past. I ordered from there last night and ended up having some leftovers, pulled it out of the fridge to see GREY tuna (see below). I regularly cook sushi and work with raw tuna myself and not once has this happened. I did also have an incident a few months ago where there were small bits of hair in my roll. It's so sad because I genuinely love it here and it's so close to me but I can't bring myself to keep testing faith if they're keeping their quality so low.

This restaurant has EXCELLENT Sichuan food. We got the ma-po tofu, lotus fries, signature Dan Dan…read morenoodles, pork dumplings, and osmanthus honey sponge cake, and I've been thinking about all of them ever since! Our drinks (I got the Oishii) were all wonderful too. The ma-po tofu had the delicious mouth-numbing Sichuan peppercorn throughout. The signature Dan Dan noodles were flavorful and multilayered. The lotus fries had a garlic powder and a little sweet touch to them, and stayed perfectly crispy for the entirety of our meal. The pork dumplings were fluffy and satiating. The sponge cake was a little lacking in flavor but we appreciated that it wasn't too sweet. This place gets packed even on weekdays, so keep that in mind - it did get a little hectic and hot inside because of how busy it was. Service was still lovely despite how busy it was. This is definitely a place worth returning to. I'd like to return with an even bigger group so we can try more things!

Girls night out at Noah's Kitchen!! Definitely make a reservation this place gets packed--luckily…read morewe had one! Expect to be in close proximity to other tables too, not a large restaurant and very crowded. Noahs Kitchen offers elevated Sichuan cuisine. Definitely recommend coming here with a group of people and sharing dishes. We started with cocktails which were very good, and they have cool mocktails too. Everything our table ordered was delicious. We started with the lotus root fries which were delicious and a generous portion. I loved the flavors and perfect crunch with each bite. Then we had our main entrees, the pork bao, mapo tofu, and the dan dan noodle. We also ordered enoki mushrooms but they forgot to bring it to our table--unfortunately we only noticed after we left and had already paid for it. We ended with the honey steamed sponge cake which was nice! Not what I was expecting but I liked it. There were 4 of us and the plates were sized enough to share. I will say maybe we could've ordered one more dish to really fill us up but I think we all left happy! Definitely recommend! What we ordered: --Chengdu Braised Pork Bao --Sautéed Salt Yolk Lotus Root --Traditional Mapo Tofu --Teppanyaki-Style Foil-Baked Enoki Mushrooms with Golden Garlic --Signature Dan Dan Noodle --Osmanthus Honey Steamed Chinese Sponge Cake

Quite tasty! You will enjoy it if you love sushi that is fresh and affordable. Would have again!read more