Little Big Diner Review

Little Big Diner: Asian-inspired food in Newton Center

Overall rating: 76

Food rating: 80

Little Big Diner is little, but it isn't really a diner in any common sense of the word. This recently-opened restaurant from the Sycamore folks mainly serves ramen and rice bowls, along with a few appetizers. The overall menu is quite small. A few reviews have called this "Asian fusion", but that's really no more accurate than it would be for Strip-T's. And, more so than for Strip-T's, much of the food at Little Big Diner is fairly Asian, more than being American food with Asian flavors.

We went there for the first time last night for dinner. They do not take reservations or call-ahead, but when you arrive take your cell phone number so you can wander elsewhere in Newton Center. The wait was about 70 minutes.

The space is small, cramped, and loud with pulsing music. The wait staff were young, friendly, and welcoming, and reasonably helpful in selecting dishes. We were seated near the door (hard not to be), and so it was drafty on a cold night, whenever anyone entered or left.

We ordered a "Hawaiian Style Burger" appetizer that was really very good. Steamed dumplings were fine and had a somewhat unusual spice mixture, but weren't anything remarkable. The spicy miso ramen had very tasty corn and spiced ground pork. I'm in no sense a connoisseur of ramen, but the noodles seemed very standard to what you  might get in a noodle dish at any Asian/Chinese restaurant, and the dish as a whole wasn't really very spicy. The big bowl (rice bowl) with chicken was fine as well, but also less interesting that it might have been.

We ordered a cold sake that was recommended and was good.

The meal came to $63 before tip, so a reasonably inexpensive dinner.

Overall, the lack of reservations, noise, draftiness, and cramped space means we're unlikely to go back very often unless the food gets substantially better. Strip T's is somewhat less cramped and less noisy, and the food is better. That said, the owners' nearby restaurant Sycamore has improved more since it opened than any other restaurant I've encountered, and so I hope they accomplish the same with Little Big Diner.

The Bench Review

The Bench: Surprisingly good

Overall rating: 84

Food rating: 84

The Bench lists itself on its web page as "Vermont Comfort Food", which makes it an unusual restaurant to review on this blog. We were in Stowe for a ski trip and came here one night, and then came back the next night just to get drinks and small plates.

From the outside, it has a typical Stowe-overpriced-pub look -- not particularly inviting. Inside is quite different. It's spacious with lots of wood, an open kitchen with a large wood fire, and is set up nicely to accommodate families or people returning from the slopes.

The Bench seems to have opened about 18 months ago. Over two nights there we had several different drinks, all of which were excellent. These included a vodka and ginger beer concoction, a vodka drink with roasted pear liqueur, a take-off on a margarita, and a Whistle Pig bourbon variation on an old fashioned.

Maple butternut squash soup is a fairly common soup in Stowe, but this one was delicious and pretty different, with lots of unusual flavors, and topped with pumpkin seeds. A warm sweet potato salad was excellent, with feta melting from the warmth over kale and topped with additional sweet potato chips. Mussels fra diavolo was delicious as was scallops with a curried cauliflower puree. Asparagus wrapped in prosciutto was tasty. Buffalo wings were very good but not great. Also very good but not great were a lamb burger and the house hamburger. We did not eat any real main entrees, but they have them and they sound interesting.

A wood-fired served-in-the-pan chocolate chip cookie was an excellent dessert but too large for three of us.

The service was warm and welcoming, with the wait staff knowledgeable and helpful in making choices and accommodating requests. Prices were quite reasonable for Stowe.

All in all, this is a remarkably good restaurant for the price in Stowe, and we hope they maintain their quality, ambiance, and value in the future -- a hard thing to do in a tourist town.

Il Capriccio Review

Il Capriccio: A restaurant in decline

Overall rating: 78

Food rating: 75

Il Capriccio, like La Campania, provided a chance to eat Italian food in Waltham that was as good as all but the very best restaurants in the North End. It was expensive but elegant and had a number of signature dishes, such as their porcini mushroom souffle, that were spectacularly good. It was a place we would go for anniversaries, birthdays, and other celebrations, and to take visiting family out for a great meal.

I hadn't been there in a couple of years. My last visit was with a large group and the food was only okay, but it was hard to judge given the difficulties in serving such a group at once.

This week I went again, and was sorry to find that the food and atmosphere have both declined.

Service was pleasant but inattentive. For instance, we had to ask for bread to be served, though when it came was perfectly decent crusty bread served with good olive oil.

A glass of pinot grigio was fair at best, though admittedly not very expensive. An appetizer of Gorgonzola and pear ravioli was overly salty, overly rich, unbalanced (there was no taste of pear), and overall very mediocre. For a main, I had the chicken schnitzel, which was also oversalted, had a mustard sauce that overwhelmed the dish a bit, and was only okay.

You can get food of this quality or better at Sweet Basil or Fiorella's, both for less money. The atmosphere isn't as elegant at either of these, but Il Capriccio is feeling worn and tired. It's no longer a place I could imagine taking someone for a marvelous romantic dinner, either for the food or for the atmosphere. I'm sad about that.