Leah introduced me to Praliné a while back, and I almost wished she hadn’t. The French bakery puts out some of the most amazing desserts I’ve had. It’s a good thing that it isn’t closer to me, otherwise I might be 50 pounds heavier and broke. The lemon tart is sweet and tart, a fresh clean citrus taste to it.

The chocolate caramel tart is decadent – made with sweet almond dough and chocolate custard filling.

The small bakery has pastries, cookies, macarons and delicious chocolates. If you’re not near the Belmont area you can also pick up their sweet treats at George Howell Coffee in Downtown Crossing in the Godfrey Hotel.

Where’s your favorite bakery?

Praliné

203 Belmont Street, Belmont, MA

http://www.pralineconfection.com

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Little Q Hot Pot is one of Leah’s favorite places to go with her family, so I was excited to try it out with her and have her show me the ropes of what they like to get when they do hot pot.

Not familiar with hot pot? They have special tables where they bring out a dish of boiling broth and you cook your own add ins. There are multiple flavors of broth to choose from and add in meat, seafood, vegetables, and noodles.

So the broths, here are your choices: Mala, Mongolian Veggie, Black Bone Chicken, Summer Cooler, Herbal, Seafood, Curry Beef, or Chinese Miso. Pick from USDA Prime Rib Eye, Boneless Short Rib, High Choice Lamb, Shrimp, Flounder Filet, Chicken Breast, Egg Dumplings, Fish Cakes, Mushrooms, Bok Choy, Asparagus, and the list goes on and on. The Chinese food is authentic and delicious. I pretty much ate myself into a food coma, you just don’t want to stop it’s THAT good. Not into hot pot? No worries, they have all your regular favorites on the menu as well.

Where do you love to have hot pot?

Little Q Hot Pot

196 Massachusetts Avenue, Arlington, MA

http://www.littleqhotpotma.com

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It was a dark and rainy afternoon and we had just been to a memorial service. For a gloomy day that meant we definitely needed carbs on carbs. We were in need of some serious comfort food, so we stopped into Za for a bite to eat. They have a location in Cambridge that I had been to years ago and really liked and they have a sister restaurant, EVOO. Za is a neighborhood pizza spot that uses farm fresh ingredients to make unique pizza combinations. Leah goes for something with salad on top…which I can’t even comprehend. At least there’s pepperoni on it, so I guess we can still be friends.

I get the mac and cheese pizza ($10.50), the definition of carb on carb comfort food. It has elbow macaroni, caramelized onion, cream sauce, four cheeses and toasted bread crumbs on top. Surprisingly not heavy and while the pizzas are 10″, on a bad day, you could certainly polish one of these off in one sitting. They have a number of specialty pizzas but you can also make your own with toppings like: black forest ham, kalamata olives, house made bread n’ butter pickled jalapeños, housemade Niman Ranch sausage, NH smokehouse bacon and pickled hot cherry peppers.

We didn’t have room for dessert, but they have some yummy sounding options: flourless hazelnut brown butter brownies, chocolate goat cheesecake, lemon tart with raspberries, chai tea creme brûlée, bourbon pedal pie, and a buttermilk wanna cotta with raspberry crush.

We were there at an in-between meals hour, so it wasn’t all that crowded. For peak times, they do offer call ahead seating or you can grab a pizza for take out. Service was excellent, our server was friendly and a little bit sassy (in a good way).

There is street parking available.

Za

138 Massachusetts Ave., Arlington, MA

http://zarestaurant.com/arlington

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The place is like an extension of a home – there are drawings taped to the register, photos and memorabilia.

We started off with some gyoza. Lightly pan fried, these dumplings were really tasty.

We also had the kimchi pancake. I wish that there was more of a bite to this dish, as the raw kimchi was SO tasty.

Korean meals come with complimentary little side dishes: tofu, anchovies, bean sprouts, tofu, kimchi etc.

The anchovies always freak me out a little….

Chicken Bokum- really lightly breaded and fried chicken, something like a General Gao’s chicken, with a sweet sauce.

The Okdul bibimbab- rice, veggies and some beef served in a hot pot-you mix it up with the house sauce, which isn’t too spicy, and I have to say that the best part of this dish is when you get close to the end and you have the crunchy rice that has been cooking away while you’ve been eating.

And the ever favorite of mine, bulgogi- marinated beef with a side of white rice- DELICIOUS!

At the end of our meal they brought these out with the check….not sure what they are, but they are so yummy. I was nervous to try it, but it ended up being this cold creamsicle flavored drink. Yum! This place is certainly worth the trip out to Arlington.

Manna House

9 MEDFORD ST, ARLINGTON, MA 02476 USA
781.648.8878

http://www.mannahouse-cuisine.com

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