Gourmet – Hands down our favorite restaurant is The Castle Restaurant in Leicester, MA. We had our wedding reception and several events there with excellent banquet pricing and we generally attend several wine dinners over the course of the year. The Castle has one of the most extensive wine cellars in Massachusetts – possibly in the country – with hundreds of vintages available for selection to pair the perfect bottle with your meal.
Poke – that not using your finger to prod someone, it’s a Hawaiian style of preparing seafood… generally raw fish. We fell in love with Poke on our last trip to Hawaii and were happy to see that a few restaurants serving Poke were established in the Cambridge area. We tried Manoa in Somerville and left very satisfied and determined to return frequently.
Steak – Our favorite place for steak is Prime 131 Steakhouse in Wayland about a 20 minute drive from our house. The quality of the meat there is generally excellent and the wine selection is good but not extensive
Asian – Our favorite asian fusion restaurant, Samba Asian Fusion, is happily a short walk down the road. The food is excellent and the owner, Joe, supports the community through various fund-raisers. When I’m working from the house I like to drop in occasionally for the Oyster Happy hour during the mid to late afternoon hours.
O’Connor’s Restaurant is one of our favorite Irish Restaurants, but it’s a bit of a drive, being out in West Boylston. This restaurant has solid fare and a fantastic beer selection – although the Yard House in Dedham has the most impressive beer selection I’ve seen in the area
We’re a bit undecided on Pizza – Gianni’s is Chris’ favorite but they don’t deliver – Pizzeria Uno – Framingham and Bertucci’s are generally good choices and don’t disappoint.
You can’t beat Welcome Indian Restaurant for good authentic Indian food – reminds me of my trips to southern India. Now I don’t have to miss the food any longer! Rasoi Indian Restaurant is also very good for people in the area, but does not spice the same way as southern indian cuisine.
Great Thai cuisine can be found at Krua Khun Yah (Thai) in Ashland, a short 15 minute drive from the house. We were missing good Thai food for a while after Thai Orchid closed down and are very happy to see Krua Khun Yah is thriving in the area.
Framingham is not a big barbecue community, but we’re happy that Tennessee’s BBQ has a franchise here in town to provide good barbecue at a reasonable price when we have a hankering for such fare.