The Food Post

I must say that the eating scene in Boston is not too bad. It is quite varied, with American pizza restaurants and cafes, Italian restaurants and (surprisingly) a fair number of Asian restaurants – Thai, Indian, Vietnamese (Pho Pasteur was mentioned in an earlier post), Chinese (guess what- haven't stepped in a Chinese restaurant yet!).

There is also “Penang” in Chinatown and its sister restaurant “Rendang” just a stone’s throw away from KSG. These Asian restaurants offer good lunch deals. Rendang, for example, gives soup, appetizer, main course for US$7.50 (a little more than S$10). I had such a large serving of pork ribs today at lunch that I got a doggie back to take some back for dinner! (BTW, Rendang does quite nice chicken satay, even though the rendang flavour doesn’t quite come out of the beef rendang.).

Opposite KSG is a Thai Café, “Smile”. We went there together with the Singaporeans in the Mason Fellows programme to get to know each other. It is the same set lunch type of package. Had the chicken with cashews which could be a little more spicy, but still the good stuff.

One thing to look out for in the US is that for groups beyond a certain size, the service charge is automatically imposed (no tip) and it is a pretty hefty one too. In such instances no tip is expected, unless of course you don’t realize and tip anyway. We were caught once in NY and the Masons Fellow who paid by credit card in Smile got caught too. So it was a more expensive lunch than we expected.

I should add that we have been eating American food. The big local restaurant chain is Legal Seafood (mentioned in an earlier post). It provides the clam chowder soup for Presidential Inaugurations. The seafood is fresh (scallops were very good!) and the servings are generous. They are also trying to do a little “fusion” food. For example, they have a “Rasam Seafood Soup” which does act have the cumin seeds in it. Yum.

Finally, supermarkets. I go to Star Market, which is pretty big. There are also a number of smaller organic markets (Harvest, Whole Food). There is also a Farmer's Market next to KSG every Friday. They sell huge bunches of herbs for fairly good prices (far less than the supermarkets) - basil for US$2, cilantro for US$1.50.

We have been inviting each other over for dinner on weekends, when there is no reception provided. Have had good Indian vegetarian food (including chapatis!) and adobo chicken (Philipino). What did I cook? Tomatoes with basil, olive oil and vinegar (Italian) and broccoli and carrots in oyster sauce (at least that is quite a Singaporean dish). I look forward to more international cooking nights :-)