September 26, 2008 by Chinatown Blogger.

Peach Farm Seafood Restaurant
4 Tyler St
Boston, MA 02111
(617) 482-1116

Peach Farm is a small restaurant in a basement located in the heart of commercial Chinatown along Beach and Tyler Street. Translated into Chinese as “Small Peach Orchard”,  the Chinatown Blogger first set foot into this establishment 15 years ago. He asked his table-mates why they had chosen this restaurant? Their answer: “Simply the best,” and they added, “The owners takes care of their workers, also.” Since that time, the Chinatown Blogger has taken many others to this restaurant. Many left with satisfied stomachs.

Not the cleanest place to eat, but possibly the best chefs in Chinatown. Like all restaurants, every now and then the chef may have a bad day, but Peach Farm delivers consistently. The restaurant is typically packed with long lines waiting outside on the weekends. Typical of other Chinatown family-owned business, the dad, mom and son manage the restaurants and many of the same waiters and waitresses have worked there as long as the Chinatown Blogger can remember.

Peach Farm is not a restaurant one goes to order chicken wings, eggrolls and pork fried rice. In fact, if that is what you seek there are many other take-out Chinese restaurants that can do better. One goes to Peach Farm for the Cantonese-style seafood they serve. After all, the word “Seafood” is in their name. The following are the Chinatown Blogger’s favorite dishes:

1. Ginger Scallion Lobster, $30 single, $50 twin
If you need to ask why this is good, then you are in the wrong place - a must have Peach Farm specialty. The lobster is chopped into pieces and then placed into a huge wok and stirred fry with ginger, scallion and oil. The key is not to stir fry the lobster too much, but just enough for the meat to be still tender and juicy. The Blogger prefers 3lbs plus lobsters for a meatier taste, others prefer 2lbs or less.

2. Spicy Fried Squid $15 or Spicy Fried Freshwater Shrimp (charge by the pound)
Have you ever tasted the difference between frozen shrimp and live shrimp straight from the tank? Frozen shrimp tastes dry and pasty, whereas fresh shrimp when cooked properly retains a juicy and meaty taste. Try it. Ask the waiter if they have fresh water shrimp (not always available) and ask for them to be fried. The shrimp is fried along with the heads. For 2 people, one pound should be more than enough. If shrimp is not available, there is also the squid.

3. Stir-fry Frog with vegetables (or you can substitute with watercress) $16-$19
Frogs, yes!! (Froggy Frog) This is not on the menu so the price fluctuates between which waiter you get. You would have to ask. The Chinese waiter would probably be wondering: What’s with this gweilo ordering frog? (The Blogger apologizes if he offended any gweilos). In fact, if you don’t know how to describe this, print out a photo of blog and show it to the waiter. The Chinatown Blogger has visited MANY Chinese restaurants in search of the best frog and Peach Farm has the best, simply the best. Even Andrew Zimmer would appreciate. Hint: Ask the chef to lighten up on the oil.

4. Peach Farm House Special Flounder $35 (picture not available)
The flounder flesh is cut and diced and stir-fry with vegetables. The remaining head, bones, and tail are then dipped in oil and fried. The fried portion of the flounder is placed on the bottom, and the stir-fry portion placed on top. Just get this indulge yourself.

Dessert, On the House
For dessert, ask if the restaurant still has sweet tapioca taro soup and make sure you leave a tip. As a regular at the restaurant, the Chinatown Blogger doesn’t want to hear from the waiters he was sending cheapskates.

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June 17, 2008 by Chinatown Blogger.

The Chinatown Blogger has been wrestling with this question for a while:

“Why no restaurant reviews on the site?”

Answer:  “What if the food was bad?  Does the Blogger slam someone’s business just cause their sushi wasn’t good…”

Then one reader said: “If you don’t have anything good to say, then don’t say it…” 

So the Blogger diligently followed this advice. That is why the Blogger has never written a restaurant review, despite the fact that the Blogger eats at different restaurants and bakeries everyday. Then the Blogger thought, what if he just wrote about places and food that he thought was unique or good in Chinatown?

So now this site is starting a new section for readers: The Pu Pu Chatter — if the pu pu is good, then the pu pu deserves chatter. If readers think there is something worth mentioning here, send in your posts and pics if available.

The first one up is Bao Bao Bakery on 77 Harrison Avenue. Bao Bao has an assortment of fancy looking cakes and pastries, which is good to look at but not so much for eating. But the Blogger doesn’t go to Bao Bao for the pastries, his favorite is their hot ginger honey milk tea for $2.50. This is black tea mixed with milk, honey, sugar and real pieces of ginger. (The ginger is safe to eat). The Blogger has been drinking this as a substitute for Dunkin coffee.

Cakes for eye candy, but would advise passing.

These pastries are worth picking up.

The holy grail (hyperbole) — hot honey ginger milk tea.

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