BEST Summer Rolls in Allston

Besides Pho (Vietnamese noodle soup), Le’s Restaurant has the BEST summer rolls I’ve ever tasted in Allston!

Summer Rolls

Fresh Summer Rolls (GOI CUON in Vietnamese) have fresh and nutritious ingredients like “shredded lettuce, mint and rice vermicelli”, and you can choose either “sliced pork, shrimp” or “a traditional combination of sliced pork and shrimp”.

fresh ingredients

All the ingredients are wrapped into “a softened rice paper”, which is so delicately made that you can see the ingredients through the rice paper. The low-fat rolls taste so fresh and flavorful, with peanut dipping sauce.

transparent rice paper

Fresh summer rolls also have vegetarian options, served with tofu.

BEST Pho (Vietnamese Noodle Soup) in Allston

Foodies in Allston, if you are a fan of Vietnamese/Asian cuisine, you don't wanna miss Le’s Restaurant, which is my favorite Vietnamese restaurant in Allston. It is so great that I have to introduce it to you, although this blog is supposed to be about Chinese food… However, many Vietnamese actually speak Cantonese, because their ancestors were from Canton, which makes me feel home. Also, the Chinese concept of yin and yang—the balance of complementary opposites—has contributed to Vietnamese cuisine.

Le’s Restaurant, located at 137 Brighton Ave, Allston MA02134, has the best Pho (Vietnamese noodle soup), and summer rolls I’ve ever tasted in Allston! The atmosphere is super nice, services are great and the people there are friendly!

Le’s Restaurant in Allston

Pho, which is “SPECIAL (DAC BIET)” on their menu, is their “most popular beef noodle soup combining sliced rare eye round, well done brisket, flank, tendon and tripe”. The Pho also has scallions, onions and cilantro, but you could tell your waiter/waitress that you want your Pho without them when you order.

Pho (Vietnamese Noodle Soup)

They serve the soup with “a plate of bean sprouts, fresh basil, sliced lime and green chili pepper on the side.” You can add some or all of them into the soup according to your personal preference. Personally, I like to put a little bit of everything into the broth, and wait for around 30 seconds to let the broth absorb the essence of the herbs.

bean sprouts, fresh basil, sliced lime and green chili pepper

Traditionally, Vietnamese have a special way to eat the meat in the soup. They combine the sweet & sour sauce (the black sauce on the table) and spicy sauce (the red sauce on the table) at the proportion of 2:1, and dip the meat into the mixed sauce to make a more authentic flavor. The broth is clear, flavorful, and not oily at all, with smooth noodle and tender meat. BEST Pho ever!

They also serve the BEST summer roll, which I’ll talk about in the next post. So stay tune :)

Taiwanese food in Allston

One really good Taiwanese restaurant in Allston is Jo Jo Taipei (I had a post about its lunch special earlier). Today, let's explore some of its best authentic Taiwanese dishes. Hope you are excited like me!! :)

“Three Cups” Chicken is a very popular dish in Taiwan, and the name “Three Cups” is originally from the three cups of required sauce for this dish, including soy sauce, rice wine and sesame oil. It comes in small portion, but still a small pot of delicious chicken. Recommend it!

“Three Cups” Chicken

Pork Chops with Sweet and Sour Sauce is a typical dish from Southern China, tender pork chops perfectly seasoned with homemade sweet and sour sauce, yum!

Pork Chops with Sweet and Sour Sauce

Sauteed Pig’s Kidney with Chili Sauce: I know I know, it is pig’s kidney, but if you wanna try something new and authentic like several of my friends, I think there is a good chance that you’d love the perfectly cooked dish with onion, green and red pepper. It is mild spicy though.

Sauteed Pig’s Kidney with Chili Sauce

Salted Fried Jumbo Crab: the flavor and the seasoning were great, but the crab was not that jumbo… The crab was so skinny, and honestly I could get much meat from the crab… It should be a perfect dish during the crab season though!

Salted Fried Jumbo Crab

Bow Bin: snowy-like crushed ice with fresh, homemade, sweet toppings (including red bean, jelly, etc.), and dressed with corn syrup and condensed milk. It is just a perfect refreshing dessert to finish off a big and satisfying meal!

Bow Bin

Shanghai Brunch in Allston

In Shanghai, people there have their own brunch style, just like Cantonese have dim sum for brunch.

Shanghai Gate, located at 204 Harvard Ave, Allston, MA 02134, is the place that I’d go to when I crave for a Shanghai style brunch, not only because of its authentic Shanghai food, but also its decoration and setting that remind me of the old Shanghai.

Graphic on their wall, sooo Shanghainese!

For brunch at Shanghai Gate. I always order Dou Jiang (soymilk, and you can choose sweet or non-sweet) with You Tiao (Deep-fried dough sticks), which is perfect combo -- please see the reason as you scroll down :)

Dou Jiang (soymilk)

You Tiao (Deep-fried dough sticks)

The reason why they are perfect with each other is that traditionally, Chinese put the You Tiao into Dou Jiang, wait till You Tiao is soaked a little bit, and then eat Yao Tiao and drink Dou Jiang.

Xiao Long Bao (steamed pork bun/Shanghai soup dumplings) is something that you cannot miss. There is a special way to eat steamed pork buns:

Step 1: have a tiny bite of the bun peel

Step 2: drink all the soup inside the bun (be careful, the soup is HOT!)

Step 3: put some vinegar into the bun through the tiny bite

Step 4: enjoy your steamed pork bun!

Xiao Long Bao (steamed pork bun/Shanghai soup dumplings)

Chinese Lunch Special in Allston

For Chinese food lovers, one advantage of living in Allston is that you can easily find a decent, authentic and inexpensive Chinese lunch special around the neighborhood.

Jo Jo Taipei, located at 103 Brighton Ave, Allston, MA 02134, is one of my roomies’ and my favorite places when we crave for good Chinese food for lunch but don’t wanna spend too much money and time.

From Monday to Friday, each lunch special combo costs $6.99, including a soup, dish and rice. Pretty good deal! Here are four combos that my roomies and I had for lunch today. Yum yum :)

Shredded Pork with Garlic Sauce

Beef Sauteed with Long Horn Peper

Fish Fillet with Sweet and Sour Sauce

Spicy Szechuan Twice-cooked Pork