Marotta is wild about chicken shawarma from Reef Cafe (170 Brighton Avenue, Allston, 617.202.6366), served alongside its own creamy garlic sauce and pickle spears for the plate version ($9.95). Crisp cucumber, tomato and parsley salad counters the salty, marinated chicken.
“There's nothing like it in Allston, and that's saying a lot given the wealth of international food options,” he says.
Around the corner in the old Tokyo City spot is pan-Asian outlet Suvarnabhumi Kiri (90-92 Harvard Avenue, Allston, 617.562.8888), where Marotta calls spider maki ($10.50 for four pieces) “off the chain.” Satisfying pops of flying fish roe counter meaty hunks of fried soft-shell crab and creamy avocado, making this a wise stop.
Play a show at Great Scott and you'll learn soon enough why the club prohibits sound check before 7 pm: it shares a building with Shanghai Gate, (204 Harvard Ave, Allston, 617.566.7344) an oft-overlooked Chinese restaurant you might’ve missed while stepping off the 66. Hallelujah the Hills frontman Ryan Walsh is unfazed by the sound-check restriction, and said he's devoted to the restaurant's Paradise Mountain Chicken ($8.95), a dish of tender, stir-fried chicken amid dried chiles. Also take note of the Lion's Head Casserole ($2.95 each), which presents savory pork meatballs in broth, and green, garlicky pea stems ($10.95).
Walsh recounted a night before a show where the headliner began sound check on the early side.
“You could hear the bass drum endlessly thumping through the wall,” he said. “Our waitress apologized about the noise and, trying to quell any more complaints about sound check times, I got all creepy and over enthusiastic about the noise. 'It's amazing,' I declared, 'just like this noodle dish!'”
CLUB: The Paradise
FOOD: Brown Sugar Café, Sunset Cantina
Amble a few blocks up Commonwealth Avenue toward Boston University and you'll be well-placed to take in a show at the Paradise. That's next door to Thai stalwart Brown Sugar Café (1033 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, 617.787.4242). (The Fenway sister is located right near new venue Church.) Start with a bowl of sinus-clearing Tom Yum Goong ($3.95), olden triangles, crisped spring rolls ($5.95), or take on the flaming seafood volcano ($17.95), which brings together salmon, shrimp, scallops, squid, and mussels with vegetables and kiffir lime leaves.
Though the well-intentioned but occasionally spotty service at the Sunset Cantina (916 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, 617.731.8646) can tack a few extra minutes onto your trip, the Cantina specializes in shareable sizes. Like its Allston Village location's formidable beer list, this location offers a parade of premium tequilas. The smallest sized tower of nachos ($8.25 for the South of the Border Fiesta) can satisfy a pair, as can their leaning tower sandwiches (the Dagwood is turkey, ham and bacon on toast with cranberry sauce, and crisp red onions, $7.99).
CLUBS: Abbey Lounge, PA’s Lounge
FOOD: Punjabi Dhaba, Olecito, Taqueria La Mexicana
Before you see a West Coast power pop band and pick out your name on the bathroom wall of the Abbey Lounge in Inman Square, swing by Punjabi Dhaba (225 Hampshire Street, Cambridge, 617.547.8272) for a couple of pekoras. The creamy fried potato fritters come with a side of ass-kicking hot peppers, or, opt for a quiet break upstairs for a more substantial cafeteria-style platter of chicken saagwala or lamb curry ($6.95).
