Highland Cafe

By Sacha Pfeiffer, Globe Staff, 8/31/2003

Highland Cafe
156 Highland Ave., Malden
781-324-2266
11:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 11:30 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday
Handicapped accessible
Smoking permitted at bar
Reservations accepted
Major credit cards accepted

It's not easy being a restaurant that resembles a gin mill. The keno parlor, the crowded pub, the off-key din of karaoke - that's what people see and hear when they drive by the Highland Cafe. None of which inspires passersby to stop in for a meal.

Even John Puleo, who owns the Highland with his brother, David Angelo, realizes that the restaurant's homely facade hardly evokes images of fine dining. ``People ride by and say, `Jeez, it looks like a bar,''' says Puleo, whose mother, Anna Puleo, began waitressing at the Highland nearly 50 years ago, and still answers the phone on Friday nights.

But here's the surprise about the Highland: This is a real restaurant, and a good restaurant, and one that serves impressive home cooking with - no exaggeration - artistic flair, such as a stylish dusting of dried parsley atop pan-fried veal.

The menu has a something-for-everyone quality, but its broad theme is Italian, including quick, casual foods, such as great pizza ($7.75-$12.75) and huge calzones ($7.95) with interesting toppings and fillings. Among them: the garlicky ``broccoli bianco'' pizza, sans sauce, scattered with florets of crunchy broccoli and diced Roma tomatoes, and a chicken calzone with roasted red peppers. The homemade dough becomes a nice, light crust with a crunchy bottom.

There are lots of pastas, cooked expertly al dente, supplied by several area businesses, including Lilly's in Everett, La Bella's in Medford, and Serino's in Hyde Park. Lasagna and manicotti are made in-house, and the specials when we visited included outstanding smoked chicken ravioli ($11.95) with mushrooms and prosciutto in a light tomato cream sauce.

Fish is also plentiful, from mainstays such as baked scrod and shrimp scampi to a very good grilled salmon filet in fra diavlo sauce ($12.95), another special. I doubted the wisdom of pairing salmon with spicy tomato sauce, but the combination worked well, and the sauce didn't, as I had feared, mask the fish's distinctive taste.

That parsley sprinkled veal ($15.95) is tender and comes with a delicate garlic white wine sauce that nicely complements the meat. Chicken Florentine ($12.95), which matches chicken breast with ham, spinach, and ricotta in a tomato-basil sauce, bursts with competing tastes.

The restaurant's interior, like its exterior, is nondescript and slightly worn. The main dining room (there are three, totaling 160 seats) has lumpy vinyl booths and baskets of fake fruit plunked here and there. The bar is nearby, but we hardly noticed it; the karaoke was barely audible, and we smelled not a whiff of smoke. Meanwhile, we adored our waitress's frank recommendations, so we pass along a few of Peggy's tips: Try the pork chops and pan-fried veal (they're her favorites, and her husband loves the ribs), but skip the lamb, which can be inconsistent.

From the list of desserts ($2.25-$3.50), most of which are from Hoff's Bakery in Medford, we devoured a wedge of decent frosted chocolate cake, a slice of key lime pie that struck a fine balance of sweet and sour, and a custardy grapenut pudding with mellow sweetness. We would have tried the strawberry shortcake, too, but Peggy broke the bad news that the shortcake biscuits had been awfully hard that day, so the kitchen tossed them out. With standards like that, the Highland Cafe wins our lasting loyalty.

SACHA PFEIFFER