Three Gorges

Well, we're still working our way through the restaurants close to the Arlington reservoir. This week we opted for Chinese food at Three Gorges (not to be confused with Three Gorges part 2 by the DQ in Natick). We knew this restaurant had to be good after one step inside - they had so many plaques and awards proudly displayed on the walls. Even "Voted Number One" printed on the menu! Number One what was a bit ambiguous.

They had some sort of lunch deal - your choice of soup, a spring roll or crab rangoon, and a main dish for about $7. I ordered hot & sour soup, crab rangoon and sweet and sour chicken. Ray got the same soup, two spring rolls and Kung Pao Beef.

Our food was ready amazingly fast (~3 minutes). Then we headed out to our classic lunch bench on the reservoir. I didn't think the soup was that great, Ray finished his, but said it was very different than hot & sour soups that he's tried elsewhere. I enjoyed my crab rangoon, it had a very crispy shell with a pleasantly creamy filling. I enjoyed the flavors of my entree, though the chicken was definitely covered in way too much sauce. The to-go containers fortunately separate the rice from the main course, so if you aren't as stupid as I am, the sauce wouldn't be overwhelming. Yup, I stupidly dumped my rice in with everything else and stirred.... Ray seemed like he enjoyed his meal a fair amount, but I can't remember what it was so I can't comment much on that.

I would definitely vote for them to win the Honrable Mention for best Chinese food in Lexington again....

We don't have to come back here, but we wouldn't mind.

Mandy

Carey's Catch

This place is a small little fish market right on the edge of Lexington and Arlington. It was a little hard to find but was SO worth it. Definitely one of my favorite meals so far -- maybe even my favorite. Walking in, you'll notice fish fillets from a bunch of different fish laid out in a refrigerated case, plus a big tank full of lobsters. And as Mandy said, "This place smells legit." I had a very good feeling about the place.

We both got the lunch special, which included a fried fish sandwich, french fries, cole slaw and tartar sauce. It took a little while to get the food (about 15 minutes maybe), but that was because it was all prepared fresh right in front of us. Looking around at all the things on the menu and in the case already got me wishing I could come back, and then the smell of our lunches being cooked just added to that. It was hard to wait, but we took the food to-go to the Arlington reservoir for a little picnic. When we opened our boxes, we were both surprised by how much fish there was. Looked like there was actually too much to fit in the sandwich, but after sufficient squishing and squeezing I was able to get all the fish between the two perfectly-toasted buns. I added some tartar sauce and was prepared to dive in. My first bite told me that we need to go back there -- and soon! It was delicious, so delicious. I was in heaven for about 15 minutes. The batter on the fish was unlike any I'd had before. Usually you'll get a heavy, greasy fried batter that'll get you feeling full and sick halfway through your plate of full-bellied clams from Woodman's clam shack. But this fried fish was perfect -- I wanted two or three sandwiches by the time I finished mine. Fries and cole slaw were good; it's hard to mess those up. The tartar sauce really added to sandwich, too. It had a little garlicky kick to it. I think it was the final touch that made the fish sandwich so fantastic. Great work, Carey, if that's your real name. You've got yourself two new loyal customers. I know I'll be back soon.

We definitely have to come back here. Definitely.

- Ray

Ixtapa

The plan today was to go to Nick's Place, a deli, and then picnic by the Arlington reservoir. When I got there Mandy said she wasn't in the mood for sandwiches, though. Fortunately there were like 5 restaurants in the plaza, and I was feeling Mexican food, so we decided on Ixtapa. One of the first things we noticed was the plaque on the wall, declaring Ixtapa Lexington's best Mexican restaurant. Possibly their ONLY Mexican restaurant too ;).

They had a bunch of specials there, but one caught our eye. Being the little piggies we are, it was the "Choose Tres" special, which allowed you to choose three items (burrito, taco, enchilada, chimichanga, tamale, or chile relleno) and also included rice and beans. Mandy went with a burrito, taco, and enchilada, while I went with a chimichanga, tamale and chile relleno. We knew were getting a lot of food when we saw the size of the take-out trays they brought us. In addition to our meals, they gave us a brown bag full of tortilla chips and little containers of salsa (both seemed homemade). It was definitely a great little feast we had put together for ourselves. Mexican is Mandy's favorite "genre" of food, and one of my favorites too, so we were pretty excited. We were let down a little.

The food wasn't bad, but you could tell it had been sitting for some time and was reheated for us. I still enjoyed it -- it was tasty, though the quality declined as the food cooled off. We think the reason we enjoyed it probably had more to do with the type of food than the actual quality of the food. I don't want to put Ixtapa down too much, because it really wasn't that bad. I think the meal just didn't meet our high hopes. The tortilla chips were good, and the salsa was too -- though it was a little more watery than we would've liked. Overall, I'd give em a B.

We don't have to come back here... unless we're craving Mexican and then it's our only option.

- Ray