spice & rice (cambridge)

What do you do when it's 96 degrees outside and you didn't bring a lunch to work? You order in! Yes, that's right folks, me and a couple of coworkers were too chicken to face the heat and humidity by getting in our cars to seek out food this afternoon so instead we had some delivered from Spice & Rice in Cambridge (Inman Square).

It was funny because after I dropped my husband off at work this morning, I thought to myself, "Hmmm, I could really go for some sushi today," but then I thought, "Gee, where can I drive to later on this afternoon to get some?" So then I kind of just let that thought pass through my head because I remembered it was going to be 1,000 degrees outside, and there aren't that many places near our office building that I could just stop in for a take-out order. And then later this morning one of my coworkers stopped me in the hallway and asked if I knew of local restaurants that delivered because she, too, didn't want to face the sun. Luckily, I convinced her to go with Spice & Rice so that I could [selfishly!] have some sushi. It was definitely worth the $2.00 delivery fee.

And yo yo, did I have some sushi! I ordered the sashimi special which came with 12 pieces of sashimi plus a little box of rice on the side. It was pretty good sushi for only $10.95! I also ordered some Negihama maki (yellowtail rolls, $4.95/6 pieces) thinking that the sashimi wouldn't be enough, but I was very wrong. It all washed down quite deliciously with some cold green tea, too.

One of my friends ordered the bulgoki special lunch box ($7.95) and man, that was a lot of food in one cute container! The marinated thinly sliced beef came with a California roll, shumai, yaki soba noodles, rice and a salad. She said it was good, but too much to finish in one sitting.

Our other friend had the vegetarian pad thai ($6.95) with tofu instead of chicken and said that it was "okay, not great". Again, a big enough portion for her to have leftovers for tomorrow's lunch too.

And what better way to end a lunch break than with some Kickass cupcakes, eh?! This was the August batch from my winnings. And of course, they had no problem disappearing by some obliging coworkers. :)



Spice & Rice
1172-1178 Cambridge Street
Inman Square
Cambridge, MA 02139
617.864.4500
www.spice-rice.com

samurai boston

We had dinner at Samurai Boston last night, and this was the second time I had been to the restaurant. It's a Japanese and Korean restaurant on Boylston Street that has a lot of great dishes and excellent sushi. It's a lot bigger than I thought with a private little room in the back of the restaurant, and it has nice decor. The sushi bar area is nice and bright, while the wooden bench seats have cute little butt pads to sit on.

The section we sat in wasn't full when we first walked in a little after 7:30 pm, but by the time I went to and from the bathroom it was completely full. It was great to see that the place was constantly busy - definitely a sign that other people liked the food too. It has a great atmosphere but can get pretty loud, but I guess that all depends on the people sitting nearby too. (Yes, we were quite happy when the table of young kids talking obnoxiously loud finally left - LOL - we're getting old!)



We shared an order of the shrimp shumai (steamed, $5.95) and the fried soft-shell crab ($8.95). Both were delicious, although we were laughing at how you only got 3 pieces of the shumai. The crab dish made up for it in portion though because they gave us so many pieces on the little plate. It was so yummy and had such a rich flavor. It was served on top of a light wasabi sauce and had a little pico de gallo on the side which, for an Asian restaurant did seem a little strange.


Actually, I really liked the fried crab, I have to admit it. It was so nice and flavorful, especially the crunchy batter on the outside. Mmmmm. What was even more surprising was that Tony liked it and had a nice portion of it even though he usually won't eat soft-shell crab because (as he states it) a) you're killing a little crab and b) the shell is still on there. Needless to say, we handed back empty plates.

And then we both had sushi. Tony had the White Dragon (I think?) roll ($12.95) which had spicy yellowtail on the inside of the roll with some avocado, and white tuna wrapped on the outside. I had my usual Negihama maki (yellowtail with green scallions, $4.95) and maguro maki (tuna, $4.50). Both were delicious and devoured alongside the fried crab. All were washed down with a nice hot cup of green tea.

This is definitely a great spot to get some really delicious sushi and other Japanese and Korean fare. There were two Korean girls sitting next to us and they got the kimchi soup that my mom and sister love to eat. I loved how the smell from their dishes wafted towards us and I could kind of taste the spiciness. Yum. Definitely somewhere I'd like to take my mom to the next time she's in Boston. :)