New England Food Critic

This restaurant has permanently closed showing once again that poor service, expensive food, and limited menus are not welcomed in any city!

The Holy Grail can be found in an unusual location of Epping, NH. Epping has always been a poorer part of NH (though some people will disagree, especially those that live there) and very few choices for places to eat. Enter the Holy Grail; this restaurant - and now adjacent function hall - is located inside a renovated church with amazing picturesque displays, paintings on the wall, and comfortable furniture.  The service from the hostess, to the waitstaff, to the bartenders is always pleasant and attentive. I recently stopped by here for a drink and a salad but have been here a number of times. They make the best Dark 'N Stormy around! Happy Hour has 1/2 priced appetizers, they serve Guinness on draft at $4 and even hold a pretty competitive game of Trivia on Tuesday nights. Their salads are enormous; I had the Cobb salad is definitely "piled high" as their menu reads and there is no lack of meat in it either.  Their french onion soup is never too salty and has

Chef Barbara Lynch and her vision never fail to impress me. My companion and I decided to pop into The Butcher Shop on Tremont Street in Boston one night for some steak and wine; we actually had a gift certificate and wanted to use it up :) and we are sure glad we did! I am a steak and potatoes kind of gal and this restaurant was right up my alley. My companion and I were seated immediately upon arrival on the high top bar stools facing the wall of windows that overlooks the streets around Tremont - perfect for people watching and ambiance. The restaurant is absolutely perfect - white linens, sparkling glasses, clean bar, and attentive servers that knew the menu through and through. Our waiter started us off with water poured AWAY from us (something all restaurants should do!!!) and made some comments on the weather and the beautiful night. He recommended a wine and explained his favorite starter. Once he was finished we had to have it -  the artisan cheeses and accoutrements. Th

Cremeland (as the name states) makes you think of ice cream but this place is a lot more. Yes, they have ice cream. Homemade in fact (none of that Blake's crap that some, no names mention GoldenRod, try to pass off like their own homemade ice cream) made by one of the owners himself; the recipe created and followed since the day they first opened more than four decades ago. The flavors change, sometimes based on customer or employee suggestions, and sometimes just with the freshest ingredients that are available when a new batch is ready to be made. And yes, this is the same Cremeland that you may have seen on TV when a show was done about the unbelievably delicious fried dough ice cream sundae. But this review is more than about their ice cream. This small drive-in restaurant is not in the best part of Manchester, NH. Yes, the outside is not always clean and easy to look at but the owners of Cremeland are constantly washing down the order windows, the outside eating tables, and e

Before heading to a game at Fenway, my friend and I decided to stop into the Yard House for a few drinks and apps beforehand. She had heard reviews about the YARD of beer and of course, I am game for that! We arrived and were seated right away at a table near the bar even though it was quite busy because of the game. Then it dawned on me, this was the same Yard House as the one in Dedham (sometimes the alcohol does me in!). The menu was a bit different as was the basic set up of the restaurant but the vibe and the bar were still the same. I liked it! My companion and I ordered the beer (of course!), the Moo Shu egg rolls, and the chicken tinga street tacos. Though the picture on the website and the menu show this:  What was actually delivered was this: Still excellent flavor and great combination for a taco but as you can see, very different. There was definitely no condiments or rice served with it and though they were not needed, to display something different than wha

Location: Legacy Place Dedham, MA W ebsite: http://www.yardhouse.com/menus/snacks.aspx Items Ordered: Sweet Potato Fries, Moo Shoo Egg Rolls, Parmesan Crusted Chicken, Mac & Cheese2, and the Mini Trio Sampler Upon entering the Yard House, I was genuinely surprised to find the environment that I saw around me. The Yard House is situated as part of the Legacy Place shops near PF Chang's and a number of other cookie-cutter type of places and shops. Though the Yard House has numerous locations,it feels anything but.  A fancy bar sits in front of the entrance with a TON of beers on draft and friendly bar service. You can choose from a variety of martinis too (which my date and I did of course!). We were seated in an extremely comfortable leather type covered settee and table near the kitchen. Our waitress was very knowledgeable of most of the menu items and could recommend her favorites. Though I did feel she was flirting a bit with my date, she tried to hide it nicely with so