Providence Dining Experiences and Reviews

[matt]

I don't really think of any of those as New York style, although I love Fellinies. Thankfully I don't work too close by anymore, I used to eat there far too often.

I actually prefer Greek Pizza, most of the pizza on the Cape is Greek (at least most of the good pizza), it's what I grew up on, so it's what I like best. Try Craigville sub and Pizza next time you're on the Cape.

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I'm a big fan of Fellinies, as well, and I too prefer Greek Pizza.

My favorite restaurant in Providence is still Cav. And if you can get there on a night when Joe Parillo is performing, its a fantastic experience. A little pricey, but worth it.

[Cotuit]

I've only been to Cav once and I had the whole meal comped because I's gots connections.

Needless to say, it was very good!

[Frankie811]

Has anyone tried A PRANO @ 385 Westminster St?

[Liamlunchtray]

I don't really think of any of those as New York style, although I love Fellinies.

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Have any of you tried Nice Slice? It's run by folks who used to work at Fellini's back when Fellini's was the hip place to hang out (before the remodel and whatnot). Its very similar - Super thin crisp crust. I dig it, although sometimes I want something that fills me up a little more and I grab a slice at Antonios instead.

Liam

[kinematix]

Just as a heads up, I know some people who are doing a new restaurant review book for at least Providence if not all of RI. Don't know when it's coming out as they are writing it right now but it'll be nice to have a new one.

[Cotuit]

Have any of you tried Nice Slice?

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They're pretty good, but it's hard to beat Antonio's.

[KRC]

The trip across the bridge to Maderia for Portuguese is way worth the trip. The place makes the best brown gravy and potatos you've ever had. Of course, these items come with your choice of a whole animal cooked to your liking! Also, they have some of the best seafood you've ever had.

[Recchia]

The trip across the bridge to Maderia for Portuguese is way worth the trip.  The place makes the best brown gravy and potatos you've ever had.  Of course, these items come with your choice of a whole animal cooked to your liking!  Also, they have some of the best seafood you've ever had.

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Not only is Madeira's food excellent, but the atmosphere there is awesome. A river and a boat--now that's atmosphere.

[megad]

I like the pizza at Jepetto's (right near Caserta's). Their grilled cheese pizza is great.

My type of food is really Japanese.

I think the best overall is Shogun in Warwick. Great experience... they specialize in steak and other grilled food, but their sushi is also exceptional. It's pretty pricey though. Average sushi meal will cost ya about $30.

My 2nd favorite is Sakura on Wickenden. The atmosphere is great and they are very friendly and have great service. I think Sakura has the best overall Sushi.

Haruki East Side and Haruki in Cranston are also very good... however I've noticed their sushi is inconsistent. Some days its phenominal, others it is piss poor. Maybe it's a specific chef that makes it good.

New Japan has amazing food but is pricey (all ala-carte).

Tokyo is good and gives you alot of food... (I often go on $50 lunch binges their and order 4 meals for myself ) However, their fish quality isnt the best. The other day I ordered sashimi and I couldnt really finish it because it really didnt taste good. But most days it is great.

I have yet to try Ren Zen... that will be my next stop.

In Boston though, you gotta try Fugakyu and New Ginza... those are my favorites.

[kinematix]

Sun and moon in East providence is about as good as it gets in my book for Korean. Its a husband and wife in an open kitchen and they cook the most amazing food and will even teach you the traditional way of eating certain dishes if you're interested. PS its BYOB

[Lova]

Yes, Pho Republique. I feel the love there.

Pizza: Pawtucket House of Pizza on Smithfield Ave, intersection of Mineral Spring. They're just-off-the-boat-Greek and have the best Special (everything) around. Piled high! You have to ask for anchovies.

For just the sauce I like Oli's Pizza, on the CF side of Pawtucket's downtown. I think it's on Broad St.

I don't like Twins. btw, the little Chinese place (Best Taste) across Mineral Spring from them is pretty good. And deliver.

Bedroom Bully (at Tina's) is made from Irish sea moss, peanuts, cinamon and misc spices, and Guiness. The beer adds an odd tang and mild fermentation that can be mistaken for a sour sample, but it's not the case. Also, there is a new Jamaican patty shop a couple blocks down Broad, across from the Duncan Donuts.

[Frankie811]

Yes, Pho Republique. I feel the love there.

I don't like Twins.

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You've got to be kidding!!!!!!! You don't like Twin's!!!??? May I ask why? I love their pizza and wished that I lived closer to them.

[Garris]

Sun and moon in East providence is about as good as it gets in my book for Korean. Its a husband and wife in an open kitchen and they cook the most amazing food and will even teach you the traditional way of eating  certain dishes if you're interested. PS its BYOB

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Absolutely correct. I think it was Gourmet Magazine that did a "best of" of each region, and the only two restaurants from Prov to be named were Mill's Tavern and Sun and Moon!

- Garris

[Garris]

I love Japanese too...

I think the best overall is Shogun in Warwick. 

Huh, I haven't heard of it... I'll have to try it...

My 2nd favorite is Sakura on Wickenden.  The atmosphere is great and they are very friendly and have great service.  I think Sakura has the best overall Sushi.

Agreed. Sakura is very good (for Providence)...

Haruki East Side and Haruki in Cranston are also very good... however I've noticed their sushi is inconsistent.  Some days its phenominal, others it is piss poor.  Maybe it's a specific chef that makes it good.

Also spot on... I think Haruki East (which is around the corner from where I live) has had sushi ranging from "good" to "poor." Never very visually interesting or imaginative... You're right about the inconsistencies, as one day I was there it looked like they cut their Maki rolls with a dull, dull knife. Really sloppy. They're also on the pricier end too...

New Japan has amazing food but is pricey (all ala-carte).

I haven't been for quite a long while... I don't remember them being very pricey. I'll have to go back...

Tokyo is good and gives you alot of food... (I often go on $50 lunch binges their and order 4 meals for myself )  However, their fish quality isnt the best.  The other day I ordered sashimi and I couldnt really finish it because it really didnt taste good.  But most days it is great.

I haven't been, but people I know who like sushi haven't liked it at all...

I have yet to try Ren Zen... that will be my next stop.

They're pretty good for a neighborhood place. I'd put them between Haruki and Sakura. I like the simple Japanese style, family owned atmosphere more than anything...

I'd also recommend, of all places, trying 10 Steak and Sushi downcity for sushi as well. Definitely pricey, but the rolls they give you are generously sized, taste really fresh, and are easily the most visually and compositionally imaginative in Providence. It's one of Prov's most underrated restaurants in my opinion. You never hear people talking about it, but the food is great and it's one of the few with that slick, NYC type atmosphere.

I do wish we had something like Fugakyu, though...

I really miss Japanese dining in, of all places, the Twin Cities. Forget the several amazing, high end sushi places. They also had not only one, but two outstanding restaurants that focused just on Japanese home cooking... Again, part of the Twin Cities trend towards hyperauthenticity. If you like Japanese, read the menu at this restaurant and weep that we don't have anything similar in the region...

http://www.floatingworldcafe.com

- Garris

[Lova]

I tried Twins twice. I like my "everything" pizza piled high, almost like a baked salad (Pawtucket House of Pizza style). I ordered the special and to be honest I forget the result but I wasn't impressed. Next time, I got a peperoni, onion and anchovie. They cut the anchovies into little pieces and placed them on the peps like little plates. It screwed up the flavor combo by keeping the fish out of the sauce and looked like the brain child of a... child. Pissed me off. It's been a couple years, so other than the fish-pep fiasco I cant give you details. Sufice to say I think the strength of their reputation is mysterious.

[Garris]

Inspired by the suggestions here, I felt like having Korean recently. I checked out the new place on Atwell's, but it looked full, I didn't have a lot of time, and I couldn't find parking, so I zoomed down I ate lunch at Cafe Yuni, tucked (hidden?) right across the side street from Adler's Hardware off Wickenden. Their nice seems to be a mix of primarily Korean and Japanese dishes. If you're thinking of going, do it soon, as they are closing for their "Summer Break" from, I think, July 30th to Aug 31st...

It was late lunch hour, and I was the only person there. It's a small, cute space, and two employees were there watching Seinfeld (they also do takeout, of course). I had the lunch special and took a spicy spinach maki roll home to my sister.

The lunch special started with Miso Soup, which was just fine. Suitably strong and with some welcomingly firm tofu pieces. The lunch special (sorry, I forget the name in Korean) was served in a sizzling hot clay pot and was essentially a standard Korean BBQ'ed beef over sticky rice with a mixture of pickled and non-pickled vegetables covered with an egg. Hot sauce was served on the side available to mix in.

In short, the dish was wonderful and everything it should have been. Simultaneously light, flavorful, spicy, and tangy (with the pickled vegetables). The rice and egg added nice density and were a good platform for the meal. I completely enjoyed it. The only potential nit was the beef itself. I don't know how prominent the taste of the beef was supposed to be, but it served more to add varied texture here than driving the taste, as it wasn't flavorful on its own.

The maki roll was decent. It looked somewhat sloppily done (some surfaces of the seaweed wrapper weren't covered fully with rice and it didn't look cut with painstaking care, something I've seen quite a bit around here), but it tasted fresh and flavorful. It (and the entire meal) was also quite inexpensive, with the maki roll probably being $1.25 to $2 less than buying something comparable but not as tasty for takeout at a place like East Side Market.

Also, of note, was that everything was done extremely rapidly, almost qualifying as "fast food." In the time it would take a pizza place to make a pie, they had everything out to me.

I wouldn't say it's a destination restaurant, but for a light, quick, very tasty, and cheap lunch that is a mix of Korean and Japanese dishes, it's a nice place to have around, and Dell's is only a half block away for a lemonade to wash everything down. Try to drop in when they're open.

- Garris

[megad]

Ya Garris,

I hadn't heard of Shogun either until I saw a billboard for it on Route 10 (and I live in Warwick). It's right on Jefferson Blvd near Bugaboo Creek.

Its apparently a pretty popular place. The 4 times I've gone there, (all on weeknights), I had to wait 20 minutes to be seated.

You gotta try it... it's a great place.

[Garris]

A bit of a disappointing story here...

I was downtown (which is much cleaner and more appealing thanks to the DID) yesterday running some errands on a break from work, and I decided to swing by New Japan. I looked up their hours on the web, and it said they closed for lunch at 2:30. I arrive at 2:05 and find them closing up early . I know it's common for places to do that if things are slow, but it kinda ticked me off. I had a great Cuban burito wrap at Cuban Revolution to tide me over, however .

The worst example of this I've seen here was a Noodle place in Pawtucket. I called and asked what time they closed, and they said 9 PM. My sister and I drove there (about 15 minutes from where we are on the E. Side, a positive eternity by RI standards) and got there about 8:10, and they were closing up, saying, "Oh, we decided to take off early tonight." Well, that's great. I decided not to go back.

Going to the excellent Sunshine Creamery in Rumford made us feel better, however .

- Garris

BTW: Great tip about the Sandwich Hut on N. Main. I stopped by there the other day, and had a great lunch that didn't break the bank.

[EPBOY]

Hey, I got a $20 coupon from McCormick & Schmits in the mail yesterday (have NO IDEA where they got my name & address... which is somewhat disturbing).

Anyway... does anyone have any reviews of the place before I go?

Thanks

[Frankie811]

Hey, I got a $20 coupon from McCormick & Schmits in the mail yesterday (have NO IDEA where they got my name & address... which is somewhat disturbing).

Anyway... does anyone have any reviews of the place before I go?

Thanks

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Most of the people from this board give it a thumbs down. And so does the Providence Journal food critics.

[TheAnk]

Most of the people from this board give it a thumbs down. And so does the Providence Journal food critics.

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Not worth the $$ really.. I prefer Hemenways and Providence Oyster for seafood.. Although the crab cakes @ Mc & S are excellent... Best I've had

[Frankie811]

Not worth the $$ really.. I prefer Hemenways and Providence Oyster for seafood.. Although the crab cakes @ Mc & S are excellent... Best I've had

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The crab cakes at the Napa Valley Grille aren't that bad.

[Cotuit]

Hey, I got a $20 coupon from McCormick & Schmits in the mail yesterday (have NO IDEA where they got my name & address... which is somewhat disturbing).

Anyway... does anyone have any reviews of the place before I go?

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I'd certainly take advantage of the coupon. A new chef recently started there. It'd be nice to get your report of the new chef, as I don't think anyone here has been since he started.

[runawayjim]

NY style pizza... try rocco's on the corner of admiral st and river ave. that guy runs a great business and his pizza is awesome!

as for twins, while the pizza was good, it's pricey for the size you get. a large isn't very large in my opinion.

caserta's is good pizza, but i'm usually a fan of thinner crust pizza. the sauce at caserta's is really good though.

thai star is actually on chalkstone ave, not smith st. it's the best thai food i've had, although i have never asked for their "thai menu".

good sushi... 7 moons on route 1 in north kingstown. i'm not a huge sushi fan, but this place is good and i'll go back again. i know it's not exactly in the providence area, but it's not all that far to drive to...

my favorite italian food is cassarino's on the hill. it's probably some of the best italian food i've ever had (which includes new york's mulberry st and boston's north end, which i think is the most overrated "little italy" i've been to). the price is right and the portions are huge.

[Recchia]

good sushi... 7 moons on route 1 in north kingstown.  i'm not a huge sushi fan, but this place is good and i'll go back again.  i know it's not exactly in the providence area, but it's not all that far to drive to...

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mmmmmm....7 Moons is one of the only things the entire town of North Kingstown has going for it. Amaaaazing food. Best part is, when you order something like sweet and sour chicken, they give you a massive plate of chicken, instead of a massive plate with a little chicken and a ton of nasty rice.