Seasons 52 - Burlington, MA

★★★★½

Sarah and I went here for lunch, and I loved it! My sea scallops with butternut squash risotto was perfectly prepared, and utterly amazing! And the espresso I had with my dessert was delicious and remarkably smooth.

Still, I give this place 4 1/2 stars, instead of 5, for two minor reasons.

First, I think they messed up my drink, but they did make it right when I asked them to. I had ordered the Mango Jalapeno Crush cocktail. I really enjoyed the jalapeno kick, but I just could not taste any mango at all. Sarah convinced me to say something, so giving the bartender the benefit of the doubt, I asked the waiter for "more mango" in my drink. The original drink I got was perfectly clear, but the new drink I got back was light yellow. I'm convinced that the bartender forgot to put the splash of mango in my original drink, so it's good Sarah encouraged me to speak up.

Second, I wish the portions were a bit larger. :P Sea scallops usually tend to be smaller-portioned than other entree dishes, so this critique may be out of line. Still, I actually left the restaurant feeling like I could have eaten more, and that shouldn't happen.

I did order one dessert, a Mocha Macchiato. Their desserts are miniature versions of regular desserts served in small glasses about the size of shot glasses. It was delicious, but I wish I had known that I ought to have ordered two or three different kinds. As I said, small portions!

Masa - Woburn, MA

★★★★½

Steve introduced us to Masa, and we loved it! We didn't order entrees, though, so my rating may be skewed. (There are always "those" restaurants that have excellent appetizers and desserts, but only mediocre entrees.) We knew we wanted to try their tapas, which are only served at the bar, so we waited around for bar seats to open up. Someone who might have been the manager saw us waiting, surveyed the dining guests, and gave us some tips on where we might want to hover in order to get the next available seats. Once we found seats in the bar area, he quickly brought us some menus. The bartender was pretty friendly, too; by the time our dinner was over, Ken had developed a rapport with him. Ken thought our mojitos were perfect (lots of fresh mint), but I thought mine was a little dry; I think I do like my mojitos to be just a little sweet. We ordered the combo platter of 10 different tapas, and 7 out of 10 were really fantastic. The remaining 3 weren't bad, they just didn't stand out as being as interesting or as flavorful as the other 7. We also got 3 out of the 4 available small dishes (I forget what they called them, they were somewhere between tapas and appetizers.); I loved the BBQ mac 'n cheese with chorizo, and Ken said the tuna tartare was great. For dessert we got the two menu items with chocolate; the "chocolate truffle tamale" (kind of like a molten chocolate cake) was yummy, and Steve said the bourbon pecan pie had a good filling, but a weak crust. (I'm not into nuts, so I don't think I can judge nut-based desserts fairly.)

Nava - Atlanta, GA

★★★★½

Ken and I first ate at this restaurant about 10 years ago, when we had just started dating in Atlanta. Being back in the ATL for the holidays, we finally had a chance to go again. We loved it! It was actually better than we remembered. The decor is trendy in a southwestern style, but not overdone. The service was excellent, from our friendly waiter to the bartender and manager, both of whom offered to run out to feed our parking meter for us. My mojito was one of the best I've ever had, and the chocolate mud pie with Kalua ice cream we had for dessert was dee-lish. No complaints about our appetizers - fish tacos with a spicy sauce, Yucatan tortilla soup (very fragrant, poured at the table so the tortilla strips don't get soggy!), and baby mixed green salad (fresh, fruity, and light). The only thing slightly lacking about our experience had to do with the main dishes. Ken ordered the scallops, which he said were great, but not the best, though I thought his side of smoked tomato grits were fantastic. My jumbo shrimp were nicely cooked, but didn't really seem to go with the beans-and-cheese enchilada.

China Pearl - Boston, MA

★★★★½

Still better than the Woburn location, even when factoring in Woburn's shorter commute (for me) and free parking. More selection, and turnip cakes and some other dishes are fried on the carts so they are hot and fresh on your table. I gave it the same number of stars as the Woburn location, though, because it was so warm inside the restaurant, it made the dining experience a little uncomfortable. So it all balanced out.

China Pearl - Woburn, MA

★★★★½



Hadn't been in several years, and was pleasantly surprised by what I found. For dim sum at noon on a Saturday, we waited about 25 minutes; after the first 20 minutes, the maitre d' (who was also the owner, I learned later) approached me and asked our name, so he could double-check on our seating. While waiting, my parents ran into two friends, not together, both Cantonese - a good sign of endorsement! Dim sum carts offered a wide variety of expected dishes, all tasty and still hot when they reached our table. Twice we asked for dishes we couldn't find on carts, and someone delivered them to our table. While $10 per person is a good rule of thumb for dim sum, we paid $15 per person. To me, the extra cost is more than made up for by the convenient location and free parking; a great alternative to Chinatown.