(no subject)

[jodi.livejournal.com]

Restaurant help:
I have a rather specific restaurant request. We are looking for a sit-down restaurant that serves vaguely healthy food that's not just a salad. Does anyone know of any restaurants that list calorie content on their menus (even part of their menus)? Any restaurant that is simply more health conscious overall?
Bonus for multiple vegetarian options. Double bonus for T/bus accessible.

Comments

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

Mostly you'll only find specific nutritional stats at chain restaurants, which pretty much eliminates non-fast-food restaurants in the square.

I'd recommend Snappy Sushi. Miso soup, seaweed salad, edamame and sushi are all quite healthy, and they use brown rice instead of white. Their food is very tasty as well. When I'm strictly sticking to Weight Watchers, I find I can get a good, substantial meal at most sushi places that fits very well into my diet.

Are you looking for JUST in the square? Or elsewhere as well? If you want to go to Harvard Square, Fire & Ice is a great choice. There are multiple lean meat and seafood options as well as a ton of veggies and tofu, and you can put as much or as little sauce on your stuff as you want. Plus, YOU control your portions. Again, another place I love to go to when I'm dieting strictly.

[jodi.livejournal.com]

elsewhere is fine!
there are several places around the square that we haven't tried yet but we have no qualms about going on adventures around the city.

[chenoameg.livejournal.com]

What are you looking for in a healthy meal? Low fat? Low sodium? Lots of vegetables? Small portions?

[jodi.livejournal.com]

accountability.

[latvianchick.livejournal.com]

Martsa on Elm in the square has lots of vegetarian options and offers brown rice instead of white if you're so inclined. They don't offer calorie counts (honestly, I don't know anyone who does other than McDonalds), but if you steer clear of coconut milk you'll get a healthy meal. The portions are rather large, but who says you need to finish them.

Les in Harvard Square - Vietnamese, get vermicelli and you'll have a bowlful of veggies and herbs and rice noodles and fish sauce to dress it all with - tons of flavor with no fat. You can get it with various toppings, most of them meat but some not.

Actually, now that I think about it it's possible that b.good in Harvard square list calories. But they serve burgers.

[jodi.livejournal.com]

martsa on elm has been crossed off of our list since we both got sick after eating there. its always packed and i just assume everyone thinks that its trendy to support tibet or something.

[doogly.livejournal.com]

Up in Teele there is House of Tibet Kitchen. It's quite awesome, and they have the nutritional information for yak posted, if you want a lean meat option. There's also plenty of vegetarian dishes. It is not so much trendy as it is delicious.

[jodi.livejournal.com]

we don't go to teele square nearly enough considering it such a short stroll away

[latvianchick.livejournal.com]

Aw, sorry to hear that. I actually really like them. Well, I don't like the space - it feels like a cafeteria - but I get take out from them quite a lot.

[syntheticnature.livejournal.com]

If you're thinking Vietnamese, there's also Pho'n'Rice on Beacon St. in Somerville - walkable from Porter Square T station, and I'm sure there's a bus that gets you there too.

I can't vouch for the pure vegetarianness, though. Fish sauce is ubiquitous. They do have a vegetable noodle soup in vegetarian broth, and you could get tofu with vermicelli and not put the fish sauce on.

[syntheticnature.livejournal.com]

P.S. http://www.phonrice.com

[o0dano0o.livejournal.com]

Boloco (http://www.boloco.com) used to be in Davis. They list nutrition facts on their website. (http://www.boloco.com/nutritionbuilder.php)

[jodi.livejournal.com]

we get boloco all the time; we're looking for something more

[coeceo.livejournal.com]

Blue Shirt Cafe?

This place has a sit down area, and the menu looked pretty healthy from what I saw, lots of vegetarian options (which I tend to associate with a healthy joint).

[jodi.livejournal.com]

i can take or leave blue shirt. i've had horrible tasting food there and i've had delicious food there.

also, vegetarian does not mean healthy just as omnivorous does not equal unhealthy. you can make delicious veggie food either way.

[coeceo.livejournal.com]

Yeah, its an unfortunate stereotype to which I subscribe.

[bobobb.livejournal.com]

I'm on a restricted diet and I've been very satisfied with the selection at Christophers in Porter. The portions are huge though so plan to split a meal or take something home with you.

[intuition-ist.livejournal.com]

i'll second the yummy Christopher's food...

[secretlyironic.livejournal.com]

If you go into town, consider Grezzo in the North End (high end, raw, vegan, surprisingly delicious for something that's not technically *cooked*). Or Grasshopper in Allston (is that still around?)

To get specific nutritional info, it's a little trickier. Specific counts are hard to develop for smaller joints - you need a lab, basically, if you want to be really accurate. Or at least highly standardized recipes that don't change much.

If you want estimates, consider getting a pocket reference like the Calorie King book (I'm sure there's similar things for the iPhone, etc.) which lists the calories, fat, carbs, etc. in a huge variety of foods. And be prepared to ask for specific sizes of things (nicely) -- the chefs probably know about how many ounces are in each portion of meat, for example. (If they don't, they could be losing money on it...)

[kidsmokes.livejournal.com]

Grasshopper is still around :)

[nomacmac.livejournal.com]

How about The Summer Shack in Alewife?

vegetarian options

[halfline.livejournal.com]

One of the best places to get vegetarian food is Allston (at the other Union Square). They have a Burmese place called Yoma that has a vegetarian menu available upon request, there's grasshopper which is a chinese place, and TJ Scallywaggles, which is a vegan pizza place. That area is a moderate walk from the green line or a short ride from harvard on the 66 bus.

There's also a vegetarian area in brookline on harvard street. There's a restaurant called "My Thai Cafe" which is a vegan thai place with good food and great bubble tea.

Perhaps more interesting for you, there is a sushi place next to it called "Genki Ya" that uses fresh organic ingredients and has two full pages of vegetarian sushi options.

Both of these places are also directly on the 66 bus line. Or they're a short walk from coolidge corner.

Another healthy restaurant is the Buddist Cultural Center in between harvard and central. They have a limited menu that primarily consists of a vegetarian "lunch special" which changes from day to day. It has these basic components though:

- Soup
- half cup brown rice
- 4 prepared vegetable dishes. Examples include steamed nappa, marinated sesame tofu, crispy steamed yuba with mushrooms and spinach, spicy tofu mushroom and edamame, steamed root vegetables.

they also have a few other side options like steamed custard buns, dumplings, savory pancakes and a moderate tea selection.

In central there is a Tibetan place on Pearl St. called Rangtzen. They have a number of healthy vegetarian options beside steamed momos (and a number of high calorie vegetarian options as well, so watch out).

[red-liner.livejournal.com]

No calorie counts, but the Qingdao Garden on Mass Ave in North Cambridge (easy walk from Davis, and several bus/electric bus routes go right past it) has some of the healthiest-feeling restaurant food I've ever eaten . They always have several kinds of greens on the menu, some tofu dishes that even I like (the black bean tofu is elegant), and exceedingly tasty dumplings, including a couple of veg ones. And excellent homemade pickles. They also have some delicious unhealthy things, too, like the Zhongqing Hot Fried Chicken, but we won't go there.

It's not the nicest dining atmosphere; we usually get takeout. But it has a nice, straightforward feel and you get the sense that you're dealing with people who really give a damn about what they're doing, and the food has that life-giving feel to it.

[laynamarya.livejournal.com]

Is Veggie Planet in Harvard Square still around? I love that place.