Favorites, to start out, are the samosas or the vegetarian Shanti Platter, which incorporates scrumptious and filling pakora — our toddler, particularly, appreciates these chickpea battered-and-fried delights. For a extra adventurous opener, attempt considered one of their styles of chaat, an Indian road meals. We lately loved the Papri’s steadiness of taste (candy, however not too candy, tamarind) and crunch (selfmade chips), with medium spice.
Saag Paneer is in practically each order we’ve positioned with Shanti: These roughly reduce cubes of the specialty cheese, immersed in a aromatic spinach sauce, are each good that night and for lunch a couple of days later. For vegetarians and vegetable lovers alike, the Aloo Gobi — a dish full of cauliflower, potatoes, and peas — can be value your whereas.
For meat-based dishes, we lately loved the Shrimp Rogan Josh, with its pungent cilantro and creamy tomato sauce (you’ll be able to order it with out cilantro). However once we’re feeling decadent or celebratory, we go along with the Shrimp Korma — a preparation that, just like the Rogan Josh, can go along with any protein, and options cream, ginger, and cashew for a richness and crunch. We’ve additionally liked the Rooster Biryani, although we spherical down on the spice degree and use ample yogurt sauce to chill the warmth.
When you can’t go improper with any of the naan choices, the straight-up garlic selection by no means disappoints, and it’s particularly helpful for choosing up the leftover sauce of the aforementioned Korma dish. On a extra adventurous kick, we’ve additionally tried the Peshawary Naan, a sweeter selection with raisins and coconut.
And no Shanti takeout meal is full with out their sauces, which add a lot to that meal and past: The combined pickle is totally different and scrumptious, however the first container to empty at our desk is all the time mint chutney. We’ve used the remnants in these little plastic containers to boost our personal meals, comparable to common rice and beans.
It’s value noting that Shanti lately introduced they’d add a 4 p.c “kitchen appreciation charge” to spice up the back-of-the-house workers — an more and more widespread addition to the tab at many eating places in Jamaica Plain or Roslindale. And preserve a watch out for his or her specials, that are extra like culinary programming than blue-plate dishes: We liked their Diwali Feast To-Go, and now in addition they supply DIY meal kits.
Shanti Restaurant, 4197 Washington St., Roslindale, 617-325-3900, www.shantiboston.com. Appetizers $6-$12, soups and salads $4-$8, roti $3-$6, entrees $14-$23.
SHIRA T. CENTER
Shaking Seafood, Roslindale
Typically it takes an outsider to introduce you to the culinary delights in your individual yard.
When my niece from Arkansas was right here over the vacations, she requested if we may have a seafood boil for New Yr’s Eve, and a bit of Googling led us to Shaking Seafood in Roslindale. Out of the blue, our takeout world bought much more thrilling. This New Orleans-style boil is nothing just like the corned beef and cabbage number of New England. That is Cajun meals, with crawfish, crab, mussels, or virtually any sort of shellfish you want doused in garlicky, buttery, salty, Previous Bay-y goodness, cooked with corn on the cob and potatoes, and delivered in a giant plastic bag.
It’s not glamorous, however it’s gooood.
So who’s making Cajun meals in Boston? A Chinese language household, it seems — one which fell in love with Cajun meals after transferring to the US and utilized it to their seafood experience. They reside in Boston and Philadelphia, and function Shaking Seafood eating places in each cities.
For New Yr’s, we bought a combo of snow crab legs and shrimp with sausages and boiled eggs, all drenched in Shaking Sauce, which mixes all of the sauce choices: Cajun, garlic butter, and lemon pepper. I can’t think about having to choose only one. We had been skeptical of the eggs, however my niece insisted, and we had been gained over after only one chunk. They’re smooth and creamy and take up simply the correct amount of that addictive sauce. We dumped every little thing in a single huge bowl, cooked up a pot of rice, and chowed down. It is a messy, eat-with-your-fingers affair, although we largely ignored the bibs, plastic gloves, and moist naps in our takeout bag.
After we ordered once more lately, we handled ourselves to a lobster and shrimp combo, once more with sausages, and further eggs this time, together with corn, potatoes, and broccoli. The broccoli appeared like a wholesome addition on the time, though it was swimming in a lot sauce it hardly appeared like a vegetable — and we didn’t thoughts in any respect. Our 6-year-old went for the eggs instantly, however fortunately she wasn’t within the candy, meaty lobster.
A seafood boil is a good celebration meal, supplied everybody likes Previous Bay and doesn’t thoughts getting a bit of messy. The restaurant doesn’t ship to us, so we went by means of Grubhub, which meant not solely increased costs however a restricted menu. Sometime I’ll get to attempt the frozen mango smoothie and limoncello cake. However for now I’m content material to show the leftovers into an amazing shrimp po’boy lunch — one other perk of our fleeting work-from-home world.
Shaking Seafood, 19 Poplar St., Roslindale, 617-553-2751, (additionally 1616 Dorchester Ave., Dorchester, 617-506-8823) shakingseafood.com. (Shaking boil baggage, with three forms of seafood, $23-$49; fried baskets $12.95-$20.95; desserts $6.95)
KATIE JOHNSTON
Metal & Rye, Milton
A seemingly lengthy, very long time in the past, my husband and I ventured south from Cambridge to the wilds of the Dorchester/Milton border to attempt a brand new restaurant we’d heard raves about: Metal & Rye. I wandered into the retrofitted ambulance storage, ordered the bucatini, and have been raving concerning the place myself ever since.
Flash ahead seven years, and Metal & Rye is now considered one of my neighborhood eating places, however it nonetheless feels particular, even perhaps moreso now because the pandemic pushes on into its third yr. Within the hotter months, I’ve lingered for hours out on the patios co-owners Dan Kerrigan and Invoice Scannell have expanded out into the car parking zone. However when the temperature drops and I really feel like staying in, I’m pleased to go ham on their take-out menu, understanding it’ll feed me for days.
That’s thanks partly to the truth that within the spring of 2020, Kerrigan and Scannell made the good transfer to open a bakery and cafe contained in the restaurant, which for me signifies that any takeout order additionally includes a loaf of crusty lemon, rosemary, and garlic flecked sourdough. And possibly some pizza dough, too.
However I’m hard-pressed to try to recreate what they’ve mastered. Their margarita pies have a superbly charred skinny crust, and are spiked with garlic and a tomato sauce so candy it appears like dessert. My children devour it immediately, so I’m fortunate if I get a chunk.
Fortunately, the pizza serves to distract them from our grown-up fare. I nonetheless go weak within the knees for his or her pastas, so for me it’s the crave-worthy lobster cavatelli, blanketed in breadcrumbs and with chunks of lobster mingled all through. My husband caves every time gnocchi is on the menu, so he geese into the pillowy potato dumplings luxuriating in Bolognese and mingling with swiss chard. The Caesar salad we ordered to be “wholesome” comes with a superbly sunny soft-boiled egg, and is studded with thick parmesan shavings. Scrumptious, all of it.
Did I point out the chips? The thick-cut, salty potato slices are so good we all the time order two baggage, with the pimento cheese dip, after all. And a part of the enjoyable of getting Metal & Rye takeout can be tacking on one thing stunning for the remainder of the week. Perhaps it’s a six-pack of ginger molasses cookies, a bottle of Vietnamese chilly brew espresso or pre-mixed Negronis, or a container of house-made lemon bucatini.
I can solely hope to attract a few of the identical raves at residence.
Metal & Rye, 95 Eliot St., Milton. 617-690-2787, steelandrye.com. Appetizers $3.25-$16, entrees $15-$38.
JANELLE NANOS
