For my money, Garlic n’ Lemons had the best showing at Taste of Allston today, dishing out this ridiculously tasty chicken shawarma/hummus/tabouli thing. I heard some votes for YoMa (who had an enjoyable if homogenous potato curry) so let’s put them in second place. The ceasar salad from Big City was rather good, and Fish Market had a bunch of interesting rolls.

I’m inclined not to speak negatively about any of the restaurants that came out for this event so let me just say in a semi-oblique manner that I’d still like to try Grain & Salt in a more controlled environment at their place. Serving hot food outdoor works better for some items than it does for others.

I kept looking around for Mt. Everest Kitchen, since I read in that piece I linked to yesterday that they were coming. But, they weren’t. Turns out that article was from last year, and (surprisingly) none of the restaurants mentioned there (Dawat, Gitlo’s, Bravo, Lilly’s, Buk Kyung and Camino Real) came this year.

I put a couple photos in a set here, or you can check to see if others will find their way to the ACL pool.

I’ve been completely remiss not to mention that Taste of Allston is tomorrow, June 27th. It’s still possible to get discounted tickets ($15 rather than $20) tonight, and through tomorrow morning until 9am. I’m taking both my parents since I didn’t manage to get it together to get either a father’s or mother’s day present on the appropriate day. Two late birds, one tasty stone.

Oh and look, there’s booze.

Past festival venues have not allowed alcohol to be served, but this year’s Taste, held at the Murr Center at Harvard’s Athletic Complex, will give attendees even more bang for their buck, with sponsors Presidente Beer and Sam Adams handing out free samples along with El Mayor Tequila and Pearl Vodka, Reed said.

I for one am legitimately grateful towards Wicked Local (& Rachel Weiner) for doing on the ground reporting on The Taste of Allston. Re: Sunset’s booth -

For event volunteer Diane Williams, a self-proclaimed “Internationalist,” her love of the ribs was surprising to her — she even turned down a picture with the mayor in order to ensure she got her second helping!

A note – the above photo is not meant to imply that the right-most person in it (jrob) would rather have a mayoral photo-op than eat ribs. I would not even begin to make predictions about the meat eating habits of anyone who is “the only one there bike as fuck”.

Brad (of Almanac fame) was apparently the only person on flickr to photo document the Taste of Allston with this past Sunday with this single cell phone shot. My favorite part (of course) is the person being resuscitated in the foreground presumably due to too many potstickers. All in all a controlled, modest amount of fun was had by most (surmisedly).

When contemplating the exotic ‘otherness’ of meats, perception is all relative to your normal dietary interactions with friendly planetary fauna. So the potential to try some goat at the Taste of Allston (this Sunday!) might not measure up to a fricasseed wallaby, it’s still (somewhat) noteable.

Muhammad “Pasha” Nurpasha, manager of two-month old Dawat Indian Cuisine, is planning to highlight several dishes, including a goat dish, since he said they’re the only Indian restaurant in the neighborhood to serve this meat.

“We are fresh and people need to know us. Some of our specials are things people don’t find,” Nurpasha said.

Dawat will also be serving chicken tikka masala (chicken in a tomato sauce) and palak paneer (homemade cheese in a spinach sauce), though this selection doesn’t come close to representing the extensive menu Dawat offers daily.

Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 day of.