If you’re headed to Little Big Diner for lunch, I highly suggest you get there early. They open at 11:30. I showed up at 11:15 and by 11:20 there were people starting to get in line, so I jumped out of my car and got in line – good thing too, because by 11:30 the line was about 20 people deep. I was one of the last people to get a table and since I was the only on there in my party of four, you can imagine the dirty looks I got from the people who didn’t get a table.

The shop has a handful of seats and a few spots at the counter – it’s run by Dave Punch, who owns the nearby restaurant Sycamore.

The menu ranges from little plates to sample a little of everything to big plates if you’re feeling like a full meal.

The steamed cabbage and pork dumplings ($9) with black vinegar, chile crisp, and scallions. The vinegar was so delicious we wanted to lick every last bit of it off the plate!

We all split the cauliflower bahn mi sandwich which was delicious. The key to the perfect bahn me is the bread – not too crunchy not too soft. The filling has to be flavorful, and this did not disappoint.

The shrimp buns were tasty as well, with  pressed cucumbers, lime, and mayo – a perfect three bite treat!

I had the shio chicken ramen ($15)  with grilled thigh, ajitama egg, shaved cabbage, funny daikon, and schmaltz. The perfect thing on a chilly day!

Next time, I definitely want to try the forest mushroom ramen ($14) that my friend had, heiwa tofu, watercress, sesame and marinated shiitakes – it smelled delicious!! Ramen not your thing? Don’t worry, they have brown and white rice bowls and some tasty sounding small plates!

Little Big Diner

1247 Centre Street, Newton, MA

http://www.littlebigdiner.com/

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I love any place where you can get breakfast all day! And they are open 7am-9pm Sunday – Thursday and 7am-10pm Fridays and Saturdays. Leah and I met for a breakfast meeting one morning and it was so hard to choose just one thing from their extensive menu. We decided not to pick just one thing!! We started off with the apple cinnamon babka French toast ($6.75). Yup, you read that right! Start drooling now. The thick slices of babka are lightly battered and served with cinnamon and nutmeg. It’s sweet, but not overly so.

And to balance out the sweet, I had the Western omelette ($11.50) with ham, onion, peppers, tomato and swiss cheese. All the omelettes are served with your choice of toast and either home fries or a mixed green salad. The portions are generous and I seriously had to waddle out of there! As I mentioned before, they have a large menu, so there is something for everyone – whether it’s chicken tenders, hummus, salmon, turkey tips, burgers, salads, sandwiches or omelettes.

Deluxe Station Diner

70 Union Street, Newton, MA

http://www.deluxedinerbrands.com

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Blog and Tweet Boston organized a #SundaySupper at Fiorella’s in Newton. Other bloggers in attendance were: Gourmet Pigs, Kerrie Urban, Dave and Emily Dudek, Janelle Suckley, Kristin Amico, Lei Ann and Erica Thomas to name a few. The Italian restaurant was opened by Remon Karian over a decade ago when he was just 23 years old! (Remon was the former co-owner of The Breakfast Club in Allston.) The space has been newly renovated with a great addition in the front room.

We were greeted at the door with a Blueberry Smash (Blueberry simple syrup mixed with bourbon, over ice and garnished with mint). General Manager John Gallagher has been working on ways to introduce bourbon to the menu in an accessible way.

The breadsticks here are amazing, and paper thin…so you can have double right? They are served with Fiorella’s signature marinara dipping sauce. (Watch out Olive Garden )

Our server brought out apps for the table to share. Antipasto Board Salami, pepperoni, parmacotto~ham, imported prosciutto, provolone cheese, marinated long stem artichoke hearts & mixed kalamata olives ($13). The parmacotto ham is a hybrid word…let me just tell you that it was like butter melting in your mouth.

Arancini A large crisp risotto ball stuffed with mozzarella cheese & served with their signature marinara sauce ($7). Ok, large is the understatement of the year – enormous is more like it – it was the largest arancini I’ve ever seen.

Misto A sampling of three appetizers ~ Toasted Ravioli, Stuffed Peppers Parmigiana & Calamari Fritti, served with a side of their signature marinara sauce ($13). While this was a plate of salty goodness (who can turn anything fried down?), I preferred the other appetizers.

I could probably have stopped there, but then the server brought out pizza and flatbreads to share. Arugula Pizza Delicious pizza crust with garlic & olive~oil, caramelized onions & mozzarella cheese, topped with fresh arugula & diced tomatoes tossed in a lemon vinaigrette dressing, sprinkled with pecorino romano cheese. How fresh does this pizza look? If you don’t dine in, you can get one to go!

Fiorella  Imported prosciutto & fresh mushrooms over our pizza sauce & mozzarella cheese ($8). Probably my favorite pizza of the bunch – prosciutto and mushrooms are such a great flavor combination.

Fiorella’s Neopolitan style pizza is cooked in a 700˚F wood burning brick pizza oven. The dough can make or break a pizza (all pizzas are not created equal) and this is delicious – thin and light but still chewy.

Bolognese Braised ground beef, veal & pork simmered with diced carrots, onions & crushed tomatoes in a red wine tomato sauce, tossed with fresh fusilli pasta ($11). Really quite good, I loved the fresh pasta. I was so full at this point that I took the majority of the dish home – and let me tell you, just like meatballs, it was even better on day 2!

Short Rib Milanese Boneless short ribs braised slowly to perfection with pearl onions, carrots & celery, served with mashed potatoes & seasonal vegetables ($23). I had just a bite of this and it was delicious. The meat was tender and flavorful – definitely going to get this next time!

Meatball Calzone Homemade meatballs, mozzarella cheese & our pizza sauce ($11). This was delicious, the meatballs were really flavorful, maybe they will tell me their secret? Or I can just head over to one of their express locations (Belmont, Brighton or Cambridge) and pick up some and pass them off as home made

Tiramisu Soft sponge cake soaked with vanilla & espresso coffee, layered with sweet mascarpone & dusted with cocoa powder ($7). At this point I was so stuffed I could barely get up from my chair!

Cannoli

Disclaimer: I was invited as a guest to Fiorella’s Sunday Supper. My meal was complimentary. All opinions are my own.

Fiorella’s

187 North Main Street, Newtonville, MA

http://www.fiorellasnewton.com

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The Local is a bit noisy, it is after all a bar. There is a good mix of people here, friends catching up, families with young children, and people coming in to watch the game at the bar.

We start off with the hummus plate ($9) which comes with grilled pita wedges, carrots and cucumber.

We also start with the fried pickles ($5) that are lightly battered and fried with a tart kick and a spicy dipping sauce (mayo).

Two of us get the burger ($11). The prime beef is sourced from the “Godfather of Beef”, John Dewer and comes with a side of hand cut fries. The burger and fries are both really dense, we can’t even finish the whole meal. You can add bacon or an egg for $1 more.

And here is the burger plain.

We also order the special flatbread of the night, with sausage, kale and tomato ($13). The flatbread is thin and crispy and came drizzled with a spicy aioli that was a little much for me.

We ended the night off right with a cookie sandwich tower ($7). A chocolate chip cookie and a white chocolate cranberry cookie sandwiching 2 scoops of vanilla ice cream on top of hot sauce and drizzled with caramel sauce. I loved the caramel sauce and the cookies were pretty darn delicious, with a nice crisp to the edges but soft and chewy on the inside! Yum!! The service was very good, our waitress was attentive and close by most of the night. We weren’t rushed, even though the place was pretty full, which was nice.

The Local

1391 Washington Street, Newton, MA

http://www.liveeatlocal.com

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There were a lot of young couples, high school kids after sports practice, and young families.

Bill’s is a casual place, order at the counter, grab a seat in their dining area and they call you when you’re ready. We grab takeout and are in and out in under 10 minutes. The place feels very homey – very “Vermont” like.

The menu is written on large chalkboards – they have an endless amount of choices. They make all their own dough and even give you the option of only cooking your pizza part way so you can finish cooking it off when you get home.

The pepperoni calzone was delicious. The crust was so good, you’ve got to love those end pieces. The sauce on the side was a little thin for my liking, but I would definitely go back for more calzones!

The steak and cheese can be ordered on s soft roll or a toasted one, I opt for the soft. The meat was a little under seasoned and there wasn’t a lot of cheese. The calzone stole the show for sure!

Bill’s Pizzeria

753 Beacon Street, Newton Centre, MA

http://www.billspizzeria.com/

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We went on a Sunday night, and it was pretty empty. It was hard to get a feel for what this place was like without having a “typical crowd” there.

If it were busier, people would have to wait at the bar, as the host stand is in the back and there is no place in the front to wait.

We start with the ham and cheese board $16, that came with three types of cheese, serrano ham, blueberry marmalade, candied walnuts and toast. The board was well plated, and looked (and tasted) delicious. It came with one hard cheese, one soft cheese and a blue.

We also had the quesadilla $13, with short rib, cheddar and cotija cheeses, house salsa and crema. A really appealing dish to look at. Again, well plated and throw some greens on top and it even looks healthy!

Mushroom bolognese $22, came topped with pecorino and tuffle oil. The mushrooms were a bit on the rubbery side, but the dish was pretty tasty. While I like the spin on bolognese, I think you really miss out on not having the meat in the sauce.

The burger $16, came on an English muffin with cheddar cheese, served with skillet potatoes and chipotle ketchup. I love burgers on English muffins, this was no exception. Really tasty burger, well cooked and flavorful.

Dessert $9, was a lemon tart with blueberry whipped cream. I felt so so about the dessert. While I loved the blueberries folded into the whipped cream, the lemon tart below tasted store bought – and there was just too much whipped cream on the plate so you were overwhelmed with blueberry – the lemon flavor was lost.

The service was good – our waiter was attentive and friendly. We want to go back and try their brunch, the pictures I’ve seen look amazing and the menu sounds delicious. Certainly worth a second try.

b Street

796 Beacon Street

Newton MA 02459

617.332.8743

http://www.bstreetnewton.com

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Buff’s pub is located in Newton, on a small strip of retail space near the onramp to the Mass Pike. We dropped by on a weekday for some owings. Make sure you stop at the ATM before you go, because they are cash only.

The place was pretty crowded when we got there, but we were able to grab a seat by the window. I opted for the chicken tender plate ($10.95). They were pretty tasty, although they were drenched in sauce. I can only imagine how messy my meal would have been had I ordered the wings.

We also had the chicken wings – looks pretty good right? They won Boston’s Best Wings in 2010 and the Improper Bostonian’s Boston’s Best Wings in 2009.

Buff’s is a casual place, and while it is a bar, there were plenty of people there with their families. This place gets packed on the weekend during game time – so plan accordingly. The service was good, they were on top of our order and around when we needed more napkins and more drinks. Where’s your favorite place for wings?

Buff’s Pub

317 Washington Street

Newton, MA 02458

(617) 332-9134

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The menu online is just a sample menu-it changes daily. I had the “special”, which was a rib eye steak with exotic mushrooms and asparagus. The waitress claimed that the marbling on the steak was excellent, which prompted me to order it…when in fact it was just fatty-not marbled. The flavor of the meat was good-but it just wasn’t a great steak for me. It came with a basket of french fries which were delicious, light and salty.

For dessert we had the chocolate souffle cake with milk chocolate ice cream, whiskey caramel and candied hazelnuts. You could certainly taste the whiskey in the sauce! I love how the flavors all melded together. The cake was moist and a little on the dense side, which I like. The ice cream was quite delicious and the candied nuts added some great texture to the dish. The service was good-average. We had a coupon that gave us $50 off our meal, and it was still $60 per person-it seemed like city prices for a suburban restaurant. I wanted to be blown away for that price point, and left with an ‘eh’ feeling instead.

Lumiere

1293 Washington Street Newton, MA (near the West Newton movie theater)

617.244.9199

http://www.lumiererestaurant.com

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We are greeted by the host, who promptly thanks us for calling and telling them that we were running a few minutes late. We get sat at a two top against the wall, ironically the same place I sat the last time I was here. The dining room has a cozy feel to it, like you are dining at a friends house. They have some great artwork on the walls!

Love the bread basket, a little something for everyone. I personally love the corn bread. The bread was accompanied by two spreads (see below)

A red pepper and tomato spread with olive oil (top) and the hummus (bottom).

Polenta, isn’t it all the rage these days? We order a side, the polenta fries with truffle Parmesan dip ($6), as an appetizer. They are light and crisp on the outside, nice texture to them, and they come with a lovely salty butter, which is good, but I’m not sure I like it with the polenta fries. I would have liked to have seen something tomato based with it. Meanwhile, the salty butter was excellent on the bread!!

I had the bolognese last time, so I wasn’t sure I was going to get it this time. I got the full sized portion ($23) but you can get a half sized portion as well ($14). The pasta was perfectly al dente and the sauce was very light, and the meat was excellent…a little gamier than other bologneses that I have had recently, but excellent. And they certainly don’t skimp on the meat!

We also ordered the corn tamale ($22). Such a beautiful presentation! Really nice bold flavors and the masa was quite moist. An excellent dish.

We end the night with the apple fritters ($8) which came with lemon ricotta (underneath) and brandied apricots. The fritters were just ok for me. They were warm and light and sugary but there wasn’t enough apple for me. The apricots were good but didn’t wow me.

We also had the banana flan with toasted walnuts, cinnamon sugar tostones ($8). Tostones are basically friend plantains. Flan is one of those desserts that just creeps me out a little, its a consistency thing for me. I thought it was tasty, but I wouldn’t crave it. We thought that the meal was much better than dessert. We are sure to go back as the menu changes regularly! Service was good-she was friendly but not memorable. Our water glasses were always full and our meal came out in a timely fashion. No complaints here.

51 Lincoln

51 Lincoln Street
Newton, MA 02461-1519
(617) 965-3100

http://www.51lincolnnewton.com/

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It is pretty crowded for a late lunch on a weekday afternoon-mainly seniors and moms with young kids. We seat ourselves in the back at a table by the window.

There are booths on either side of the ice cream counter, stools at the ice cream counter, and tables around the perimeter.

Their menu is as lengthy as the Cheesecake Factory. They serve breakfast all day and a variety of other options. We opt for a lighter lunch. I get the grilled cheese with bacon- as long as I’m feeling nostalgic, might as well go all out! It comes with a generous portion of fries which are delicious. They taste very light-crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside, just the right amount of salt.

Mom gets a chicken salad sandwich that comes with a slice of cantaloupe on the side. Just what we were looking for-a really light lunch.

And finally, the star of the show-the sundae. You can make your own with over 70 flavors to choose from. I love peanut butter sauce, and it can be hard to find these days-but Cabot’s has it!! Vanilla ice cream, peanut butter sauce and mini Reeses Pieces. It is messy-and far from pretty, but boy is it delicious! I highly recommend checking them out for a snack or just a sundae. Don’t forget to stop at the ATM before you go because they are cash only-they do have an ATM outside, but it’s a no name bank. They have a small lot out back but it’s mainly street metered parking.

Cabot’s Ice Cream

743 Washington Street, Newtonville MA

617.964.9200

http://www.cabots.com/

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