I had been to Takumi for dinner and evening drinks many times. They offer sushi and Japanese hibachi style meals. They also have a large lounge that makes for a decent meeting place to watch a game and have a drink. But this was my first try for them for lunch.

Not realizing it until we entered, Takumi offers a buffet for lunch. JP and I went over and took a look at the buffet before we made our decision to stay or go. In my book Asian buffets are where you go when you are 79 years old and are looking for the early bird special. But this one looked pretty good so we decided to give it a whirl. The buffet was filled with Japanese and Chinese dishes, like fried rice, lo mein, and steamed dumplings. But a few of the standouts were the shrimp tempura and chicken tempura. The sushi offerings were a little light with only California Maki on the buffet.

JP and I sampled everything (I know that is no surprise) and found it to be tasty and one of the better Asian buffets I have tried. In addition to the buffet items, we each got to choose a mini main course. I chose chicken teriyaki, and JP had salmon teriyaki. A side salad and miso soup also came with the meal.

All in all, we were in and out of the place in 35 minutes and were stuffed to the gills with a very respectable assortment of Asian foods. For two of us and a total bill of $25, it felt like a very good value.

As is typical of this bakery, there was a decent-sized crowd in line to purchase pastries. Seeing an open table, we decided to have a seat and enjoy our baked goods inside the bakery. Of course, before we could enjoy some decadent dessert, we would need to decide what each of us wanted, which is no easy feat!

Each of us took a turn squeezing through the crowd to view the huge assortment of baked goods. Among our choices were cheesecake, carrot cake, cookies, biscotti, cannoli, tiramisu, and gelato, to name just a few. With neither of us being big fans of chocolate, some of our choices were eliminated. Being in an Italian bakery, we decided to stick with traditional Italian treats and chose a cannoli and a piece of cheesecake.

However, ordering a cannoli has options also. There are different fillings, different ways of making the pastry, and plain or chocolate-covered cannoli. We asked our waitress about the Florentine cannoli, and when we heard her answer (honey and nuts added to the shell), knew exactly which cannoli we wanted.

Our pastries and beverages arrived in a very timely fashion for such a busy place. I had ordered a cappuccino, and my fiance had an espresso. Both were garnished with a sugar-coated stirrer and were hot and tasty. The pastries were exceptional. The Florentine cannoli was the best cannoli I have eaten, ever. The addition of honey and nuts to the shell made for a sweet, crunchy pastry. The filling was creamy and perfectly sweet. The cheesecake was topped with a strawberry glaze and had a melt-in-your-mouth texture.

As we sat at our table, savoring our hot beverages and incredible desserts, we noticed that the line for purchasing baked good had grown even longer. Obviously, Mike’s Pastry is known for its treats, and we can vouch for them now. If you are in the Boston area, it is well worth the drive to Mike’s (and the wait in line) for some of the best pastries you ever will have.

This cafe was visually appealing with hardwood floors and open air seating available. As it was fairly busy and we were hungry, we decided not to wait for a window seat. Once at our table, we were given water and menus immediately. The waitress appeared momentarily and asked for our drink orders. Having walked for a few hours, we chose to drink water but ordered Carpaccio as an appetizer.

While the waitress brought our order to the kitchen, we perused our lunch choices and wondered if we would receive bread. The appetizer was delivered within minutes of ordering, but we did have to ask whether bread would be served. The waitress assured us it would be coming, and a busboy brought it to us in short order.

The carpaccio was well-presented and tasty. Thinly sliced sirloin beef created a border along the sides of the plate. In the center was a bed of arugula topped with grilled asparagus and shaved parmesan cheese, all of which was drizzled with aged balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil.

For our meals, we each chose a pasta dish. I chose the Penne Campagnola, which had great ingredients but lacked in flavor. Served over perfectly cooked penne pasta, this dish had peas, onions, and prosciutto, all of which were delicious. However, the tomato cream sauce was extremely bland. Even after adding parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper, it was lackluster.

My fiance chose the Veal Alla Crema, which had a similar issue. Described on the menu as, “Veal scaloppine with shrimp, onions, mushrooms and roasted peppers in a sherry wine cream sauce over linguine,” it also had a sauce that was bland. The veal was excellent, making the meal worth ordering.

Comfortably full from this meal, we declined an offer of coffee or dessert and continued our return trip on the Freedom Trail.

Cooking tasty (but healthy) meals in the summer can prove to be quite the challenge, but it is possible! Remember, you don’t have to stand in a sweltering kitchen to make a good dinner. There are plenty of great meals that can either be cooked outdoors on a grill or require little cooking at all! Here are a few tips to keep you (and your family) fed during the hot summer months:

1. Invest in a raw foods cookbook. While these cookbooks are loved by vegans the world over, they can also be very helpful when you find that you can’t stand the idea of cooking or even eating food that is warm! The raw foods/no bake cookbooks will be full of healthy and tasty recipes that will keep your family fed and happy.

2. Let the grill do the work. Wrap your veggies in a tin foil packet and cook them over your grill! You’ll be amazed at how extraordinary the vegetables can taste when they are cooked over open (or propane) flames!

3. Sandwiches always are satisfying and often can be a meal all by themselves (depending on the sandwich toppings you like the best). Sandwiches are also a fantastic way to use leftovers from last night’s grilled dinner.

4. When all else fails and you can’t stand the idea of another night of barbecue, find an affordable restaurant and let someone else do the cooking for a night!

Boasting a tap list of over 60 beers, The Brew has the largest selection of beers in New Hampshire. The taps consist of craft-brewed beers and your assortment of Belgium, German, English and Irish beers. Nowhere on the beer menu will you find Budweiser or Miller on tap. You can have it in a bottle, but trust me when I say you’ll get evil glances from folks around you if you order one.

If you want more than a beer the food alone would be worth the trip. Appetizers like: Fried Pickle Chips, a Beer Cheese Platter, Buffalo Wings, or a Hummus Plate don’t sound like standard pub fare, but Strangebrew is better than your standard pub. Besides burgers and sandwiches, they offer salads, a weekend Prime Rib special, a selection of beer-battered fish, steak tips and a real meaning to soup du jour. There is certainly something for everyone’s taste at Strangebrew.

Besides food and beer, around 8:30 most nights, you can catch some great live local music from funk to blues depending on the night. Strangebrew offers nightly food and beer specials. Most notably: $2 Tuesdays when all beers are $2 a pint or bottle. I do my best taste testing on Tuesdays, since I don’t have to break the bank.

For some more research on this gem of a place, visit Strangebrew for a complete list of promos, beers, menu and directions. Maybe I’ll see you some Tuesday.

I had ribs from Stickyfingers and T-Roy’s. I’d have to say that I liked the way Stickyfingers used the wood grill and I liked their sauce better; however, T-Roy’s meat was grilled better.

It’s so hard to put everything about the Ribfest in this short article, but if you have never been, you should really think about going next year! Everything that goes towards the Rotary West club goes to charity, so you’ll be having fun while supporting a great cause.

I entered the ship, and the restaurant looked deserted except for a bachelorette/bridal shower party that was occurring. I asked the receptionist if they were closed for a private party, but she assured me they were now serving lunch. She took me up a glass staircase to the empty second floor, where you have unbelievable views of the San Francisco Bay and the SFO airport.

I took a table by the bow of the boat and settled in to enjoy the view. A helpful wait staff (I was the only lunch customer so I got the royal treatment of three servers), scurried over and delivered warm bread, water, and a asked for a drink order. I stuck with the water and looked through the lunch menu.

The lunch menu only had about 4 appetizers, 2 salads, 2 sandwiches, and a few entrees as choices (fairly light on the options). One appetizer caught my eye, the “Mango Crab Tower”, and when my waiter stopped back I told him I was having that and a soup, salad, sandwich combo: the salad was a Caesar (which I got with extra anchovies), the salad was a tomato-corn bisque, and the sandwich was ham and cheese.

While I waited for the food, I turned and tried to soak up the amazing view. It was a picture perfect, 90 degree day, and the bay was full of sailors. That made me think about the history of the ship I was in: it had been a military transport ship, a cruise ship and a showboat.

The food arrived in short order. The “Mango Crab Tower” was a wonderfully presented dish with an orange-colored mango sauce surrounding a layered tower of mango, avocado, and dungeness crab. Unfortunately, the presentation was the best part. The sauce lacked flavoring, and the tower was bland. This blah theme continued with the ham and cheese sandwich, which was deli ham and cheese on mediocre sourdough bread.  Sadly, the bisque was flavorless, almost not worth mentioning in this review. The Caesar salad, on the other hand, was a delight, consisting of a light dressing with wonderfully crisp romaine lettuce and fresh whole California anchovies.

After the meal I paused to get one last look at the view. This meal did not hit a home run for all three of my elements, but I still think it is worth a visit again when I have a companion. Given the mediocre food experience, you know the atmosphere is just that good.

Veggie Burgers: You can find veggie burgers in the freezer section of your supermarket or health food store, but the best ones are usually the ones you make from scratch. There are many recipes for veggie burgers on the web or in vegetarian cookbooks. Experiment with different recipes until you find one that you like.

Veggie Kabobs: Kabobs are a great way to customize your meal to each person’s particular tastes. Put out a variety of ingredients in different bowls. Some good ones to try include: mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, summer squash, bell peppers, tofu, and onions. Hand out skewers, and let everyone make his or her own kabob.

Teriyaki Eggplant: Slice eggplant thinly and marinate in teriyaki sauce. Grill on each side until tender. You can add green onions and peppers and serve over a bed of rice.

Grilled Pizza: You don’t need to heat up the kitchen to get a great homemade pizza – grill it! Brush your grill with olive oil and put your dough right on the grate. Watch it carefully and when one side is brown, flip it over to brown the other side. After you turn it, brush your crust with olive oil and add pizza sauce, chopped vegetables, and cheese. Lower the barbecue lid, and cook until done.

Grilled Corn on the Cob: You don’t have to be a vegetarian to enjoy grilled corn on the cob. Take off outer husks, leaving a few inner husks. Melt butter, carefully pull back the remaining husks, and brush each cob with butter, then cover again with the husks. Wrap the corn in aluminum foil, and cook on a heated grill until tender, about 20 minutes.

Located right at the inlet part of the boardwalk in Ocean City, Maryland, Thrasher’s has been serving up potatoes deep fried in 100% peanut oil since 1929. And what makes them doubly special is that is the only thing they serve. All you need to do is pick the container size you want. They will sell you a fountain soda to wash it down, but there are no other food items on the menu.

Another thing that you won’t find on the menu is ketchup. They don’t offer any, and all of the places around Thrasher’s have agreed not to give ketchup to people. As a matter of fact, there are signs that specifically mention not to ask for ketchup. Instead of the second most popular condiment in the U.S. (salsa is now #1), people pour malt vinegar and salt on top of the fries. For some in the reading audience this may sound odd, but I am here to tell you that once you eat fries this way, you may never use ketchup again!

As a kid, I remember going to Ocean City and seeing ridiculous lines of people waiting for their turns to order at Thrasher’s. Now there are multiple locations on the seashore, but the original location still draws a long line in the summer. I recently had the joy of taking my children (french fry connoisseurs that they are), and they also found them to be the best. But don’t take our word for it…. you have to taste the fries and smell the ocean air to get the full sensation.

Located downtown just off the corner of 3^rd and Burnside (on the southwest corner of the intersection), Voodoo Doughnuts is a Portland landmark! More than that, Voodoo Doughnuts is a Portland tradition—you must stop in and have a doughnut if you are in the Portland area.

What makes Voodoo Doughnuts so special? Is it the voodoo juice the owners claim to have shipped when they began their business? Maybe. Maybe it is their in-your-face personality and refusal to conform to the likes of chains like Krispy Kreme and Dunkin’ Donuts. You’ll find more than simple glazed confections here. You can get a maple bar with bacon on it, a doughnut topped with fruit loops, a doughnut in the shape of a voodoo doll, or their infamous pastry shaped like *ahem* certain parts of the male anatomy (one of their best sellers- go figure).

Portland’s motto is “Keep Portland Weird,” and Voodoo Doughnuts takes that very seriously. Not only can you get any kind of doughnut you want (if they don’t have it, you can call ahead and request that a special doughnut be made) but you can buy a variety of apparel and take Swahili lessons! For the extremely Voodoo Doughnut enamored, the eatery offers one hundred percent legal weddings!

Pricewise, Voodoo Doughnuts is more than reasonable. Prices start at eighty five cents and go up to five dollars, depending on the doughnut you want!

Situated between the Paris Theater and Berbati’s Pan, Voodoo Doughnuts can be easy to miss if you aren’t sure what you are looking for. Look for the red door in the brick wall and the small sign that says, simply, “Voodoo Doughnuts” above the door.