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ROBERT NADEAU

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Review: BonChon

The real KFC (Korean fried chicken)
What am I doing in this basement in Harvard Square, reviewing the second location of a multi-national franchise chain?

By: ROBERT NADEAU | August 10, 2012

Old-style North End meets new-style cheffery
After a good run with "Italian tapas" under the name Damiano (a play on the given name of chef-owner Damien "Domenic" DiPaola), this space has been rechristened as Carmelina's — after the chef's mother and his first restaurant, opened when he was an undergraduate in Western Mass — and the menu reconfigured to feature more entrées.

By: ROBERT NADEAU | July 25, 2012

Review: Tonic

JP’s brilliant but erratic new bistro
Bad restaurant idea number 16: let's do a neighborhood bar-bistro where there already is one.

By: ROBERT NADEAU | July 06, 2012

Review: Happy’s Bar and Kitchen

The retro diner gets a little lost
In a year of bad restaurant ideas, one of the better bets is to have a successful fancy-food chef try a downscale restaurant.

By: ROBERT NADEAU | June 20, 2012

Review: Gennaro's 5 North Square

A daughter of Italy conquers the North End
In year of bad restaurant ideas (often done well), this the worst idea — and best meal — yet.

By: ROBERT NADEAU | June 18, 2012

Review: Moksa

Asian-fusion takes on tapas
Moksa, or moksha, is the concept in Buddhism and Hinduism of enlightenment by way of release from the mental bonds of reality.

By: ROBERT NADEAU | May 30, 2012

Review: Vapiano

A dining hall with food not worth fighting for
In a year of bad restaurant ideas done surprisingly well, Vapiano is a mediocre idea done disastrously.

By: ROBERT NADEAU | May 25, 2012

Review: Thelonious Monkfish

Sure-handed sushi, all jazzed up
The name bit flipped all the cats and kitties and the squares and the cubes, but it ends up jive; don't jibe with the vibe.

By: ROBERT NADEAU | May 16, 2012

Review: Sabzi Persian Chelow Kabab

Persian classics and outstanding kebabs
From the point of view of fine dining, a key benefit of America's foreign interventions is the stream of incoming refugees and immigrants with slow-food-cooking skills.

By: ROBERT NADEAU | May 11, 2012

Review: First Printer

Southern success via strong statements
First Printer is located on the site of the former home of Stephen Daye — reportedly the first printer in British North America — and commemorates the craft with a wall of old type cases and some framed historic newspapers.

By: ROBERT NADEAU | April 23, 2012

Review: Vito’s Tavern

A sports bar grows in the North End
This column often deals with good ideas gone wrong. Vito's Tavern, in yet another proof of subatomic symmetry, is a cascade of bad ideas gone largely right.

By: ROBERT NADEAU | April 10, 2012

Review: The Cottage

Cal-Mex meets New England in Chestnut Hill
So what makes a one-star restaurant?

By: ROBERT NADEAU | March 28, 2012

Review: Area Four

All-day delights near Kendall Square
Area Four's Web site describes it as "Coffee, Bakery, Bar, Oven."

By: ROBERT NADEAU | March 14, 2012

Review: Pho Hoa

Another worthy take on Vietnamese beef and noodle soup
Dorchester's Pho Hoa offers quite a lot on the menu besides the eponymous soup, and no one should miss the roasted quail appetizer

By: ROBERT NADEAU | March 12, 2012

Review: Trade

Ride the energy and go with what works
What works at Trade is the hard part: transforming a difficult industrial space on a street without foot traffic or parking into a lively dining room that lightly alludes to the mercantile past of Boston's Waterfront area, and invites the chatter of the marketplace.

By: ROBERT NADEAU | February 22, 2012