Bites

Recent Dining Out reviews

FULOON RESTAURANT 375 Main St., Malden. 781-388-3338. Chinese food is often lumped with pizza in our minds as cheap takeout. That does an injustice to one of the world's great culinary traditions, which is more about banquets than beef with broccoli. Fuloon offers real-deal Chinese food. Chef Zhang Wenxue used to cook at hotels in Beijing, and word of his cooking has spread via the Internet. The Shandong, Sichuan, and Mandarin specialties are the reason to come here.

BOKX 109 Hotel Indigo, 399 Grove St., Newton. 617-454-3399. A pool with tented cabanas, a broad-chested man draped in blondes - someone just dropped a piece of Miami on Newton, and the cultures seem surprisingly compatible. BOKX 109 is helmed by several Hard Rock hotel alums, and its rock 'n' roll steakhouse vibe reflects that. The food can be uneven, but steaks are often quite good, and the restaurant brings a little flash to the heretofore flashless junction of the Pike and 95.

CLAM BOX OF IPSWICH, 246 High St., Ipswich, 978-356-9707. If there is a fried-clam epicenter of Massachusetts, it is Route 133 in Essex and Ipswich. There, four places vie for clam lovers' hearts: Essex Seafood, J.T. Farnham's, Woodman's of Essex, and the Clam Box of Ipswich. Each has its own distinct charms. But which has the best fried clams? After an unhealthy sampling at each place, the verdict is in: the Clam Box.

CANTINA LA MEXICANA 247 Washington St., Somerville. 617-776-5232. OLECITO 12 Springfield St., Cambridge. 617-876-1374. Taqueria La Mexicana, a longstanding, mostly takeout joint in Union Square, annexed the next door space and turned it into Cantina La Mexicana, a pretty little restaurant. Meanwhile, in nearby Inman Square, the folks behind Ole Mexican Grill pulled the chair out from under diners with Olecito, a small, takeout-only space across the street from the original restaurant. Neither place is destination dining, but both are solid, inexpensive neighborhood options.

BLUE GINGER 583 Washington St., Wellesley. 781-283-5790. Blue Ginger recently turned 10 and underwent a renovation and expansion. Although the space looks different, eating in the dining room today tastes a lot like eating there 10 years ago. What really feels new at Blue Ginger is the lounge menu. The dishes are smaller, lighter, brighter in flavor. It's as if instead of opening a second, more casual restaurant, Ming Tsai simply incorporated it into the original.

ESTRAGON 700 Harrison Ave., Boston. 617-266-0443. Estragon has serious tapas bona fides. On the menu, you'll find plenty of Spanish classics, but also the likes of sea urchin and foie gras sliders. And then there are the garbanzos fritos, a.k.a. chickpea crack. These deep-fried legumes have extraordinary addictive powers. The restaurant is pleasantly low-key, which makes it a good place to come when you don't want to deal with the scene at that other tapas bar down the street.