It was packed when we first got there so we checked out the bar menu, lots of stuff we'd never seen before, everything we tasted was great.

When we finally got a table we met our waiter Brandon, who was fantastic. Even during some computer glitches (it was the very first night) he did his best to make sure we were having a good time.

The sushi quality here is great, some of the best we've had, stateside or in Japan. Overall a great time we'd recommend to anyone. Be sure to check out other BWP posts on Haru. (Like Puritan City's Haru Boston review)

There's a roof deck at the rattlesnake, but the view is only of the gross walls of the buildings next to it, and on the roof they have cheap plastic furniture. On a nice day, the roof is probably packed, so don't even bother trying to get upstairs. There's very often a line of 10 people or more just to go up the stairs. There's no point in hanging out up on the roof anyways, there are countless other places in Boston where you can eat and drink outside, like on newbury street. And at those places, at least you'll have a view and decently comfortable furniture.

There's nothing special about the food, drink or service at the rattlesnake bar and grill and one could even venture to say its kind of subpar. The crowd, especially right after work hours, sucks. Rude (and cheap) after work crowd, and again on a nice day it will be packed to the gills with these people and they're not nice to have to be pressed into. Unless you like cheap perfume and cologne.

So in conclusion, go somewhere else, like a real restaurant with patio seating, skip the rattlesnake.

Shawarma King's decor is as low-key as Rami's, with non-descript cheap tables and chairs and a smattering of Middle Eastern wall-hangings and doodads. Their menu, however, is far more extensive, offering vegetarian specialties featuring stewed eggplant and pumpkin.

My Garlic Chicken Shawarma Plate ($11) originally came with salad, tahini, rice, and pitab bread; a subtitution of hummus for tahini cost me a $1 extra. The fresh salad stood out as one of the better platter components, offering freshly chopped tomatoes, onions, and cucumbers in a peppery vinaigrette. The soft rice was a perfect bed for the shawarma, which was indistinguishable from run-of-the-mill boiled white-meat chicken, except when slathered with a garlic-yogurt sauce housed in a separate container. The creamy hummus was satisfying but lacked the kick supplied by that of Rami's, and the niggardly dollop was hardly worth the additional buck.

If I returned to Shawarma King, I'd try one of the intriguing vegetarian dishes or maybe one of their bite-size flaky pastries. However, it's doubtful these dishes would be much better, considering they're considerably more complicated, and the staple shawarma was so lackluster.

The Info
Shawarma King
1383 Beacon St., Brookline
617-731-6035

Located in the Ladder District, Ivy has the distinction of being owned by one of the youngest restauranteurs in Boston. Its menu is primarily Italian Mediterranean with an emphasis on small plates that allow the guest to have "more options and less boundaries." Ahem, I'm sure they mean "few boundaries". Anyway…

I would have liked to order champagne or least take advantage of the fact that Ivy offers over 60 bottles of wine priced at $26, but, alas, I was returning to the cubicle for four more hours of work.

The lunch menu was fairly limited: a handful of paninis, primi piatti (gnocchi sorentina, tiger shrimp linquini, charred tomato soup; $9-12), and standard salads. Feng and I were initially curious about the Crabcake Slide with Cucumber Creme Fraiche ($11), but rejected it after the waiter affirmed that it was one bite-sized crab cake on a miniature bun. We're growing girls and would have none of that.

The Kobe Sliders with Pancetta and Provolone (plural = two) seemed far more appetizing at least to Feng, who finished them in a swift succession of dainty bites. My disappointing Pollo Al Parmigiano ($9) was a tough breaded chicken breast housed between two equally tough pieces of grilled Italian bread and some gluey mozzarella cheese. Herbed French Fries, though a tad oily, were far more delectable.

During lunch on a Thursday, Ivy was quiet, but the downstairs lounge Cava supposedly sees substantially heavy traffic on the weekend. The restaurant is heavily promoting itself as an ideal private party space, and indeed the seductive loft area overlooking the main dining room would be ideal for a small rehearsal dinner or celebratory cocktail hour.

Downtown Crossing is hardly a hotbed of fine dining, so I gather Ivy has the advantage over Wendy's and Sbarro. Its lunch menu is lacking imagination and panini are questionable, but I'll reserve posting a rating until I've eaten there for dinner.

The Info
Ivy
49 Temple Place, Boston
www.ivyrestaurantgroup.com

Wyeth Lynch, owner and founder of Soul Fire, conducted in-depth research on the origin and variations of barbecue and it shows. Lynch graduated from Williams College, dabbled in VC, but found his true passion in smoking…meat. Lynch then toured the country to study up on sauces, dry rubs, and barbeque lore before opening Soul Fire just six weeks ago. Incidently, Lynch believes everyone should have easy access to good barbeque, and, as a result designed his restaurant to be exceptionally handicapped-accessible, with spacious aisles and wide front entrance.

When I visited, Soul Fire did not yet have its liquor license ("it's coming" I was promised), but a refreshing Arnold Palmer (half lemonade, half iced tea; $2.50) did wonders for quenching my thirst and not dehydrating me on the 80-degree day. To start, Bunches and I dug into some Fried Macaroni and Cheese Bites ($4), cheesy battered balls of elbow macaroni, and some sticky, delicious Honey Wings ($5). I experimented with Soul Fire's array of heated (meaning warm, as in temperature) sauces and found the Louisiana Sweet Barbecue sauce to be a perfect complement to the creamy, salty macaroni and cheese bites.

Twenty napkins and two handiwipes later, we were ready to get dirty all over again. The Sliced Brisket ($10) was bit dry but revved up sufficently with some vinegar and pepper sauce. The tender, battered Fried Catfish ($12.50), was wonderful as is, and only brightened when dipped into the southern tartar sauce. And the ribs, oh the ribs! Baby back ribs are dry rubbed and then smoked using a mixture of woods, which means the meat takes on a more subtle flavor (re: you don't feel as it you're chewing tender piece of mesquite). The serve-yourself sauce bar is made for the ribs and the sumptuous Hickory Roast Chicken ($8), which is a bargain at $11 for a whole. All entrees are served atop a piece of thick white bread, a vestige of an old-time barbeque custom which dictated you wipe your hands on a piece a bread, which you would then eat later.

Soul Fire's side dishes almost overshadow the entrees and should be sampled in in large quantities. The Corn Bread ($1.50) was light, moist, containing whole kernels, and the cole slaw crisp, fresh, and not overly mayonnaised. Unsurprisingly, I found the Mac & Cheese to be the show-stopper. A thicker, Cheddar-based cheese sauce coated the elbow macaroni and crushed potato chips formed a salty exterior crust.

By the way, Soul Fire resists being called a "joint", and rightly so, considering its aesthetic is more trendy, college town than country truck-stop. The long bar made of vintage album covers and all environmentally-friendly dishware certainly don't transport you to 'bama, but you'll hardly care when you taste what is indubitably good ol' barbeque.

The Info
Soul Fire
182 Harvard Ave., Allston
www.soulfirebbq.com

At one time the over-sized, underground brewpub offered half-price appetizers on Mondays after 10pm, drawing schmoozing business school grads and clamoring freshman. Now, however, John Harvard's seems to be striving for a more sophisticated feel. A bumbling, over-eager host sputtered out some nightly specials and crusty seasoned Italian bread and shallow dishes of olive oil were promptly served after drink orders. Appetizers like Pub Nachos ($8) and Spinach & Artichoke Dip ($7.30) are now referred to as "Tavern Tapas" and Surf & Turf ($18) and Mahi Mahi ($16) share menu space with classic burgers ($7.30-8).

Ariel and I had better things to discuss (boys) than the incongruent aesthetic and culinary renovations, and shortly after sliding in the dark wooden corner booth, we kicked back with some Original Sin Ciders. Had I not just recovered from a weekend-long hangover, I might have indulged in John Harvard's award-winning ales, stouts, lagers, which are best tasted in sampler form. In the past, the seasonal brews have proven to be better than similar varieties at offered at your average micro-brewery.

When my Meatloaf ($11) arrived, I noticed the grilled slices were propped up in a "V" over the creamy garlic mashed potatoes, and under-cooked asparagus spears, in an attempt to render my homestyle meal something artful. An overly-sweet red wine sauce moistened the uniformly dense meatloaf, which was satisfactory in taste and texture but hardly homemade.

In retrospect, I realize that by ordering an "entree" I fell for John Harvard's bid for unsuccessful sophistication, and therefore rightly suffered. Ariel knew better. Her Buffalo Chicken Sandwich ($9), a breaded, dripping chicken breast served with lettuce, tomato, and blue cheese, was oversized, greasy, and delicious: exactly what she paid for.

The Info
John Harvard's Brew House
33 Dunster St., Cambridge (and other locations)
www.johnharvards.com

Babak Bina and Azita Bina-Seibel, owners of LaLa Rokh, will be opening Bin 26 Enoteca, a wine bar serving Mediterranean fare, around Labor Day in Beacon Hill.

September will also mark the arrival of Copia, in Charlestown. Chef Anthony Caturono, owner of Prezza in the North End, will supposedly showcase similar Italian-influenced dishes at Copia.

Although the reduced price menus are generally not exemplative of the restaurant's full potential, they usually provide a pleasant taste (oh the puns!) of character of the restaurant and the virtues of the chef. And certainly, the $20.06/$30.06 meals are a better deal some places than others, notably The Hungry I, Mistral, or Radius, where entrees regularly lie in the $25-35 range.

Be warned, also, that not all participating restaurants offer prix-fixe menus for both lunch and dinner, and many have exclusions for Sunday brunch. On vacation for the next two weeks? Never fear, Restaurant Week returns to Boston in March.

or maybe this:

Bunches and I are going to Pizzeria Regina, and I have made him promise not to order the Giambotta, the standby pie that sinks from the weight of all the toppings.

What are you eating in this disgusting weather?

Despite the frequent showers, PICCO was hoppin' and we sat at the bar to avoid waiting for a table. After some flagging, a waitress distributed red-rimmed menus and told us she'd alert the ice-creamtender? to our presence.

It was just dessert for me and my friend, so no comments about the pizza, which appeared to be old-school style with greasy cheese and plentiful meat toppings along with some more creative gourmet pies.

The open kitchen and compartmentalized wine shelves of PICCO make you feel as if you've wandered into some fantastical, over-sized kitchen, where you could easily order a sundae made with eight different types of ice cream, should you desire.

The ice cream selection was suprisingly limited, however, with around dozen homemade flavors and standard sundae selections. J.P. Licks certainly has PICCO beat in terms of selection, though one option, the Toasted Gingerbread with a scoop of your choice of ice cream and hot fudge ($6), stood out.

I indulged in a Brownie Sundae ($6) with vanilla ice cream (for purity's sake) and my friend ordered a two-scoop hot fudge sundae ($5). The superior creamy quality of PICCO's homemade ice cream cannot be disputed and the strong, fresh vanilla flavor made me realize how manufactured and grainy cheapo supermarket ice cream really is. Even more delightful was the hot fudge, a thick, semi-bitter dark chocolate syrup that stood apart from other gluey, oversweetened varieties. Instead of just one brownie, PICCO layers its sundaes with several dense chewy chunks that you alternately encounter between spoonfuls of rich cream.

With pricy sundaes, sluggish service, and a smallish dining room, PICCO doesn't lend itself to being a premier sit-down destination location. There is also the option of ordering at the counter and perambulating on trendy Tremont on clear evenings.

The Info
PICCO
513 Tremont St., Boston
www.piccorestaurant.com