Thanks for your report. I like Pho Lemongrass and have eaten there a few times. Lineage is great too. Haven't tried Taberna de Haro yet, but that it awfully pricey for a pitcher of sangria.

You must have been staying at the Courtyard. All of the Harvard Street places are between our pied a terre and the Coolidge Corner T stop.

Also part of that row of eating places is Mike's Deli, a perennial winner of Best of Boston awards. In addition to the traditional specialties, try the chicken-mango salad. Yum!

Further down Harvard Street across Beacon is Regal Beagle, a gppd small bistro. In the opposite direction about two blocks on the Lemongrass side is Gari, wonderful sushi in a strip of small stores and tailor shops. Corrib Pub in the same strip looks promising but is reported to be dreadful by reliable sources unless you need a place to start drinking about 10AM.

Another possibility is Cognac Bistro on Harvard St., heading towards Cambridge. It's probably a 15 minute walk.

http://www.cognacbistro.com/

This is our last day in Boston. We might be looking for a dinner restaurant in Beacon Hill.

Any recs?

I wish I would have known you were in Boston and looking for tapas! Tasca on Commonwealth Ave in Allston (Brighton?). After 40+ years, I should know them apart and for the most part I do, just some areas are iffy as to which is which. Atmosphere is as if you were in Spain. We love it as do all the people we ever take there!

http://www.tascarestaurant.com

From their menu:
Sangria
Full Pitcher, 1 liter $ 18.00

and it is among the best I have ever tasted.

Peaceout - I've heard goog things about Beacon Hill Bistro but I haven't been there. http://beaconhillhotel.com/bistro/

Or Lydia Shire's Scampo inside the Liberty Hotel
http://www.libertyhotel.com/food_and_drink/scampo.html

Jon Hamm frequented Scampo a lot when he was shooting that movie in Boston summer before last. I have heard many good things about it!

For something a little different in a nice atmosphere, try Lala Rohk on Mt. Vernon St. just off of Charles St. http://www.lalarokh.com/ See if you like the Persian food menu.

I've had many lunches, but not dinner, at the Beacon Hill Bistro. It's always been fine.

Socialworker, thanks for the tip on Tasca. I haven't been and it looks very nice. And I think it's definitely in Brighton(!).

You are welcome, cw. Register with them w/an email address when you go (they give it to you w/the check) and they will send you occasional emails good for $5 bottles of wine and $5 pitchers of sangria. They also send their weekly $18 3 course dinner menu. Just an FYI, we took an out of town guest there on a week night a year or so ago and ordered from the $18 dollar fixed price menu (good Sun-Thur only) and the food was wonderful!!

Also the valet parking ($8) in that neighborhood is a godsend if you are not either on foot or coming by T or cab!!

Thanks again. I'll put it on the list. And, yes, parking is the big challenge in that neighborhood. I actually lived quite nearby (as did half the population of Boston) many, many years ago. Parking was almost impossible then.

We were in the other half of the population of Boston who lived in Cambridge. We were always so grateful that our mode of transport was by foot!

Thanks you for the tapas rec, socialworker. Will remember for our next visit.

Last night we had the BEST ITALIAN food ever, even better than we had in Italy! I should start a new thread dedicated to this restaurant alone: Nico, at 417 Hanover Street, in the North End.

It is a tiny place, with excellent personal service. Our waiter was from Sicily, and every other worker we heard also had an Italian accent, except the maitre d' was from S America.

We started with shrimp bruschetta, which was a large plate with two pieces of toast, covered by four gigantic shrimp, in a wonderful scampi-type sauce. This was the size of a lunch sandwich. It was so delicious. It was $17.95, so not cheap.

We also had a caesar salad which we split, thank goodness, because it also was huge. I think it was only $9. It was dressed perfectly and also was delicious.

My entree was veal saltimbocca, for $22.95. It also was huge. Two slices of veal, stiffed with cheese and proscuitto, accompanied by homemade pasta. I had asked for pasta, instead of potato, and they are happy to modify their menu for their patrons.

DH had a house specialty-- linguine with seafood. OMG. Enough for two people, for sure. Lobster claw and a split lobster tail on top, huge shrimp, scallops, calamari, mussels and clams in a wonderful fra diablo sauce. I can't believe he ate the whole thing! If we'd had a fridge and microwave for leftovers, he would have taken it home, I am sure. It was about $45.

We enjoyed wonderful wine by the glass, which the waiter recommended. He brought sample tastes to the table, without being asked. He was extremely attentive and friendly. Our wines were probably $10/glass. I had white, DH had red.

We were given complimentary glasses of limoncello to finish.

Tables are close together and tiny, in the tiny room. We struck up a conversation at the end of the meal, with a couple from Canada and Australia. They were very interesting, and we actually had a lot in common.

It was an exquisite evening. Total bill was $150 + tip.

We highly recommend Nico!

Thank you, PeaceOut! We go to the North End at least once a year with some friends when they come up and stay at the Custom House near Faneuil Hall. We usually go to Lucca, which we all like, but it will be great to try out a new spot. I am going to cut and paste your "review" and mail it to her for future reference.