Sweet and Sour in Boston

When I lived in Cambridge, we would always order take out from Montien in Inman Square. It was always good and consistent and never a bad meal. We were in the mood for some sushi and maybe some Korean or Thai and decided to go to Montien in Chinatown. We got there to a somewhat busy dining room, with the windows near the bar open. While we waited for our buddy Joey to eat, we looked over the menu. There are a lot of sushi rolls, from the basic Philadelphia and Spicy Tuna ranging from $4.50 to $6.95, to more special ones, like the Dragon or Montien Rolls that were pricier.



There was a special appetizer going on, a curry puff. Abby, who has an obsession with all things curry, wanted them so we ordered that to start. It was...ok. Joey and Abby didn't seem to enjoy them too much, but I thought the pastry tasted similar to something my mom makes, but the curry/meat inside wasn't anything special. The sweet and sour style dipping sauce that accompanied it seemed out of place, I would have preferred a saltier dipping sauce.



Our sushi came next. We got: Philadelphia roll, tuna sashimi, white tuna sashimi, crunchy tuna roll, spicy tuna roll, and salmon nigiri. All were fabulous and my favorite was the tuna sashimi and the crunchy tuna roll. I've read reviews online of Montien with critics complaining about how a Thai place should not serve sushi, that a restaurant should not be "pan-Asian" but stick to one's roots and somehow this makes the sushi suffer. I'll agree slightly to this...I don't ever want to see a Vietnamese place serve sushi ever. But, that being said, I've never, ever had a bad sushi experience with Montien and tonight was no difference.



We also ordered the Mango curry, knowing sushi wasn't going to be enough. Joey has a mango fetish and whenever mango is on the menu he has to get it. It was very good. I've never had mango curry before, usually getting yellow or massaman curry, and it was really good. A nice refreshing curry that still had some kick to it. The salad and rice side were good as well. We ordered extra rice on the side that never came, but the waitress took it off the bill at the end when we told her about it.



For our drink, we all got the big Chang beer. Not a bad beer.

I'll be back to Montien. I like the food and I think the prices are fair for what you get. I give Montien a very strong 3 1/2 out of 5.