Dining Out Boston

I reviewed Green Street a few years back before it changed management and subsequently morphed from "Green Street Grill" to its sleek current moniker. And although the menu and venue have not changed considerably, I'd have to say I liked the old Green Street Grill better for its laidback local patrons and friendly, attentive staff.

Green Street doesn't take reservations unless you're in a party of 6 or greater, an annoying practice that necessitated my early arrival at the restaurant. Fortunately, we were seated relatively quickly; unfortunately, it was exceedingly close to a large, obnoxious party of birthday revelers. At multiple points throughout the meal, I, the Quincy posse, and many other diners actually held our hands to our ears in an attempt to block out the sonic boom of their squeals. Before you peg me as a total Grinch, I will admit that restaurants may not have control over the behavior of their patrons; however, they can control where they sit them. In this case, I would have preferred it was not at the table at the very center of the restaurant.

Our pig-tailed waitress greeted us kindly, swiftly took our drink orders, then seemed to forget about us. Half an hour later she had not returned with our drinks nor had she taken our orders and although we had tried unsuccessfully to flag her down, it took literally grabbing the manager to order our food.

Green Street's menu is priced for a Cambridge crowd but does not offer a fitting selection. Most dishes, while well-prepared and delicious, come with a combination of a limited number of underachieving sides like rice, beans, and plantains. Furthermore, the dishes themselves are missing that je ne sais quoi that really sells them to the diner. My entree, Catch of the Day (mackerel; $21), was pleasant enough, but the chef relied too much on the fattiness of the fish to supply flavor and skimped a bit on the seasoning. In the end, the sweet and crispy fried plantains stole the show even if they were overpriced. It's very possible I ordered the wrong thing; I originally intended on braving the Coconut Goat Stew ($17) but chickened out after my friends related to me how wickedly spicy the dish actually was. Feng, however, also gave mediocre marks to her assorted barbeque plate, which, according to her, which was too much meat and too little anything else.

Dessert was fine, just fine, but all I could remember was the Grill's version of banana pudding, a thick, chunky concoction generously drizzled with caramel that appropriately soaked the moist bread. Green Street's take ($6) was a smaller, soggy square that almost floated in a dish of egg and cream sauce. The strawberry and rhubarb tart ($6) was far more palatable, sporting buttery crumble crust and a pretty little scoop of strawberry ice cream.

Green Street amazingly managed to become both trendy and boring with the change of ownership. I miss the old days of the affordable menu and less stylized American dinner options. I'd gladly give it another try, but someone else needs to pay.

The Info
Green Street
280 Green Street, Cambridge
www.thegreenstreetgrill.com