Here's a fun game:
Go to Red Lentil and order the Gobi Manchurian. Then sometime later go back to Red Lentil and try to *not* order the Gobi Manchurian. You won't be able to.
We heard about this place from a very picky friend.
We weren't disappointed!
Our waitperson was attentive tho all tables were occupied.
The food was well prepared and nicely flavored. Both the carrot cake and the apple & pear crisp were perfect.
We will be back!
This is one of my favorite restaurants. The food is very flavorful and delicious. I also love the carrot cake.
It's rare I feel compelled to write a review, and it saddens me I have to write a poor one. The food was really oily and greasy - gobs of oil all over the place and everything lacked flavor. We ordered 5 dishes and didn't care for any of them (daily special entree, daily salad, grilled tofu, seitan sesame, rice dish, side of miso-ginger dressing that didn't taste like ginger or miso?). Even my husband who generally likes anything was really disappointed. We didn't eat most of the food we ordered and left hungry. I really can't get over how all the food was swimming and dripping in oil. The waitress was nice and but she was also working the entire restaurant AND being the hostess, which means she never came by to see how our food was and after our initial order, we never saw her again until she dropped the check off on her way to seating someone else.
Pros: friendly staffWe went there on a Sunday night for dinner and had a wonderful time. The food was all very well presented, tasted great, and had lots of options, even for a vegan gluten free family. We were very impressed. Having recently moved to Boston from LA, we've been missing upscale vegan dining. While the Red Lentil atmosphere is fairly casual, the food was a couple notches higher.
Pros: tasty, presentationawesome food
huge plate
great and friendly service
My husband and I took our omni daughter here while visiting her in Boston. We and she thoroughly enjoyed our meals which included an appetizer with unusual spring rolls. The very hearty serving of shepard's pie was sublime, and the pizza hit the spot with omnigirl. Only wish we had room for dessert! Obviously a popular place as many people came in for takeout.
Pros: varied menu, great food, good serviceI've been here a few times on trips back to Boston and have always been pleased. For an appetizer, try the Gobi Manchurian - out of this world. The baby spinach salad is also amazing, as is the shepherd's pie and most of the desserts. Every time I've been here has been with family and someone has picked up the check, which is nice because price would definitely be a deterrent if I were to come here with other broke 20-somethings. Even so, I think I'd have to splurge once in a while though.
Pros: Entire menu vegan/can be made vegan, Gourmet food, Filling portionsHad dinner here on a weekday evening, no wait line, but it was fairly busy and customers kept coming in. I found the menu interesting and diverse; I really liked the fact that they use a lot of whole ingredients in their dishes instead of all that TVP/TSP fake stuff as do some other restaurants as if they couldn't cook without meat. Also, everything was clearly marked as gluten-free, vegan, or nut-free for those who have allergies. Many of the vegetarian items may be veganized too.
For appetizer my partner and I shared the eggplant caponata with crostini, scrumptious! For entrees we got the black lentil stuffed rice crepes off of the daily special and the pistachio crusted tofu with corn cakes. Both were very good. Then we got a piece of carrot cake to round off our meal. It was satiating, just the right amount of sweetness and frosting; that said I thought it would have been even better if it was spiced up a bit more.
Service was swift, our waitress very friendly and knowledgeable. If I had to nitpick I'd say the decor could use some touch-up. Not that it was dumpy or anything, was just rather dull for such good food that they serve; but this alone will definitely not be able to deter me from coming back.
Pros: great food, friendly staff, diverse menuI ate here for lunch with two friends, and as the we heard the server exclaim to the owner/chef after the meal, we "ate 4 appetizers, 3 meals, and 2 desserts, and finished it all!". She spoke the truth- we ate all the food that was brought out.
For starters we had the beet latkes (not my favorite but my friends loved them), the sesame seitan (very good), the cauliflower appetizer upon the server's recommendation (very good, especially when cooled a bit), and the crostini with various toppings (delicious).
For the meal we had the ceasar salad, the tempeh reuben, & portobello sandwich. You can choose sweet potato fries or salad with sandwiches, and because the sandwiches, fries & salad were all so delicious, I would opt for one of those the next time rather than the ceasar.
For dessert we shared the cheesecake & the carrot cake- the carrot cake was, as the server predicted it may be, the best carrot cake I had ever had.
We were there on a Monday around 1:00, and the restaurant was completely full. We waited 5-10 minutes for a table, and the service was as fast as it could have been given the occupancy. The servers were very friendly & helpful. As we were leaving we were already planning our next outing to the Red Lentil.
Pros: very good food, knowledgeable, friendly staff, varied menuWe arrived in the afternoon and saw they had a brunch menu available. We waited about 15 minutes. A server came over and told us that it would be about 10 minutes. There were 2 small groups of guests waiting to be seated and another employee came over about 5 minutes later asking how long we had been waiting, took our names, and told us approximately how long our wait would be. This just seemed strange. While waiting, I went to happycow.com and read the review about how the rug in front was dirty while I was sitting in front of the same dirty rug. We got our table and our menus, ordered our beverages, then a few minutes later our meals. I ordered the Banana Wanna Date? smoothie: banana, dates, and homemade cashew milk. Yum! For entrees, we had the huevos rancheros, grande nachos, and the tempeh reuben. Portion sizes are big and the food is good, but served in a slightly strange way. Here's why. The huevos rancheros was a plate of black beans, corn tortillas, avocados, eggs, and salad. No refried beans and no connection to the items on the plate. All of the items were there on the plate, but not as expected, and the expected salsa that usually unifies the dish was not there at all. The nachos are served on an unusually small plate and doused with sour cream. The good thing was the fresh jalapeños and the really good guacamole, but they easily could have put the nachos on the bigger plate and the huevos rancheros on this small plate. The last entree was the tempeh reuben with grilled onions, organic sauerkraut, and thick, crusty, toasted bread. This was really good and quite filling. My only suggestion would be for them to marinate the tempeh before cooking, but other than that, this was great. No one checked back on us or offered to refill beverages until we were completely finished with our meal. They have a strange set up with employees here. Seems like anyone can take the order and bring out the meal so no one seems truly responsible for service. The server who took the order did a good job although I suspect she could only do so much within this system. Looks like there are two cooks, possibly 3, two servers, and a busboy working this small restaurant. At times they were all standing around near the register. This restaurant could really do well with some fine tuning and a good scrubbing (windows, walls, floors). The food is good, but they can try harder. I will go back and I hope by then they are getting the hang of running this restaurant.
Pros: Parking, Vegan menu, Some of the serviceOh gosh as a longtime vegan was I dying to try this place after reading the Boston Globe review! Unfortunately I cannot review the food, only the service. These people were totally unprepared for a busy Saturday night!!
My friend and I got there this past Saturday night at 7 pm and were told there'd be a 30 - 40 minute wait. [I had checked their Web site about reservations and, I quote from it, "Please note: reservations are limited to parties of 6 or more."] Ahead of us in line was another party of 2, and a party of 3. Two more parties of 2 came in right after us, then more and more people crowded the small lobby. The hostess took some names but seemed to spend a *lot* of time in the kitchen.
After 10 minutes, the first party of 2 ahead of us was seated. A half hour later two people who had come in AFTER about 8 of us was seated (by the manager, not the hostess, who was still MIA) at the counter. This provoked much outrage and this couple was actually confronted by a long-waiting customer ... they said they had called ahead and made reservations (see above). WHAT??
About 10 minutes later (50 in total by now) we were still waiting ... a 4-top was empty and 8 people had just left one table, which was now being set up for a large party. ANOTHER COUPLE who had come in much later than a dozen of us was seated before both us and the party of 3 ahead of us (who were still waiting) ... guess what?? THEY had made a reservation too, said the hostess. "I thought you don't take reservations for less than 6 people?" I asked. "We don't, technically," she mumbled. Perhaps the owner/manager had taken these reservations, as he was escorting them to their seats, who knows. But not a WORD of apology from him or the hostess to the many outraged people in the lobby. My friend and I were told we'd be seated at the counter next, as soon as the people there finished with their dinner (they'd just been served!!). At this point my friend and I left and had a very nice meal at the Delux Town Diner across the street, as did several other would-be Red Lentil patrons.
This place was totally unprepared for a busy night. Avoid this place on Saturday night at all costs unless you call and make reservations even though they're not accepted, "technically!" Plus the rug in the lobby was filthy, as were the windows. I do feel bad for the hostess, probably overworked and very underpaid, but also very, very ineffective.
Pros: food *looked* good, generous-looking portionsThe menu contains a good variety of vegetarian and vegan dishes. The staff is helpful and very welcoming. This is a great addition to this area!
Pros: good selection, take out available, friendly atmosphereFour of us enjoyed a very good dinner at The Red Lentil. Really liked the cauliflower appetizer. Also like the portabello mushrooms strips. I had a mustard tempeh with which had just the right amount of tanginess. Portions are very generous and everything is presented in an attractive way. My only complaint was that the waitress didn't have timing down quite right. She asked us is we were ready to order about 2 seconds after we sat down. She later served us our main dishes before we had completed our appetizers. They take reservations on weekends which is a good idea as they have had long lines.
Pros: interesting menu options, large portionsThis was a very pleasant surprise during a recent business visit. This was not too far from Waltham. The vegetarian choices are great. I have tried the Millet Loaf and Nirvana Delight and they were both very good. The vegan Chocolate Cake was simply incredible. They were willing to make small changes to accommodate my dislike of bananas (in the smoothie)! The prices are a bit high but well worth it for a special treat.
Pros: great taste, friendly service
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