ALLSTON UNUSUAL

Syed Shabbir used to work at Bombay Club in Cambridge; now he's serving halal Indian and Pakistani dishes in his own Grain and Salt. You'll find the classics from that culinary tradition, as well as a nice selection of kebabs and ultra-fluffy nan. But the real object of interest is the Indian-Chinese food - basically the subcontinental version of chop suey. It tastes like Americanized Chinese food overlaid with a scrim of Indian spicing: intriguingly disorienting to the palate. Grain and Salt, 431 Cambridge Street, Allston, 617-254-3373, grainnsalt.com