Joyce Chen's
500 Memorial Drive
Good Chinese food requires hours of preparation, and as fewer smuggled-in aliens find their way to restaurant kitchens, lovers of Oriental cuisine can expect their eating expenses to skyrocket--and even achieve parity with the prices of a less-interesting European diet. Joyce Chen, who long ago began providing Chinese food to Cambridge students wary of a venture into Chinatown, is leading this drive to respectability and the higher prices that come with it.
In short, the food is consistently good and the prices are just as dependably painful. Genuine Chinese delights can be found under Westernized names--"Peking Ravioli" is a delicious appetizer difficult to find outside New York. For a sampling generally satisfying to the most American of palates, the buffets are good occasions to run wild (Tuesday and Thursday nights and Sunday afternoons). Unfortunately, they will set you back $4.75 a head.
Underdog
6 Bow St.
If its only distinction were that Underdog is the only place nearby where you can get a Hebrew National hot dog, that would be enough. But there's more: a wide variety of excellent sandwiches--including such delicacies as hot New York pastrami, corned beef, and combinations thereof--homemade desserts and other nasherai.
Prices may seem high at first glance, but your taste buds will overrule your wallet by a longshot. The people are unusually friendly, and Underdog's pinball prices are lower than most places in the Square. (It also has the distinction of having a copy of Outer Space undoubtedly the best machine ever made.)
If you're passing by, you might also check out the Underdog cart in Forbes Plaza--regular hot dogs only, but the same high quality.
The Blue Parrot
123 Mt. Auburn St.
For a lunch of reasonably good taste and moderate expense try The Blue Parrot. The Parrot is a hang-out for artsy types who linger over their meals, and if you don't mind waiting for a table or sharing your table with an artsy type this is as nice a place as any to get a sandwich or a snack of cheese and crackers. The luncheon menu is varied--the offerings range from a simple BLT sandwich to Hungarian goulash. Beer and wine is served, but the coffees are your best bet. The Parrot Viennese Velvet (coffee with ice cream, brazilia, and whipped cream) is the best of them. The Parrot stays open at night with a slightly more expensive version of the lunch menu.
La Crepe
1274 Mass Ave
Only a chain restaurant like La Crepe would promenade its waitresses in French costume and headdress to impersonate an intimate cafe. The effort, needless to say, fails miserably.
La Crepe's specialties are limited to crepes and omelettes, which are not well-concocted, not satisfying, and not cheap--considering the $2 to $3 a la carte price. If you find yourself trapped at La Crepe, take refuge in the onion soup grotinee and be sure to get a table in front so you can watch people walking to better restaurants in the Square.
These reviews were edited and compiled by Dwight L. Cramer, and written by the Crimson staff: Amanda P. Bennett, Andrew P. Corty, Lewis R. Clayton, Robin S. Freedberg, Geoffrey D. Garin, Jeremy L. Halbreich, Thomas H. Lee, H. Jeffrey Leonard, Steven M. Luxenberg, Richard J. Meislin, Peter I. Shapiro, Charles E. Shepard, and Emily Wheeler.