Healthy and Delicious Food in Boston's Restaurant Scene

Boston contains a relatively young demographic of people. Recent college graduates stay, young professional out of towners come for the Medical, Financial and Technology jobs and many of these youngsters are concerned about their health. The American College of Sports Medicine ranked Boston in the top healthiest cities in the United States and on top of that Boston came in number 3 behind San Francisco and Seattle respectively. Exercise is important to health conscious individuals, but the food to fuel one's fire must be considered as well. Boston's Irish Pubs and Fenway Franks are a good treat for a special occasion, but examples listed below offer a full range of interesting and healthy meals within a reasonable price range.

The Otherside-Cafe
This odd-ball restaurant is located at the end of Boston's Back Bay at 407 Newbury Street overlooks the beautiful scenery of the Mass Pike. Careful not to trip on the dozens of messenger bikes locked up against the surrounded fencing area. Upon entry it looks like a modern-day Western Salon with hipsters replacing the roles of the cowboys (and cowgirls). The bar downstairs offers an impressive array of domestic and foreign beers along with a decent wine list. Upstairs is a rather dark loft eating area where patrons are either stuffing their face or enjoying free chips with their pitcher of beer while surfing the web on the free Wi-Fi. The menu offers contemporary pub fare on one side and then goes completely eclectic on the other with its healthy and hearty vegetarian options. The special vegan stew is a mish-mash of root vegetables and hearty greens all stained red by the boiled beets inside. Not the prettiest meal but absolutely delicious. The buffalo grilled tempe is a unique take on the buffalo-anything craze and asserts that soy and veggie products can also be slathered in spicy sauce and dipped in blue cheese. After dinner order a cleansing wheat-grass drink that will leave you feeling refreshed and brave for trying such a foofy health-spa drink amongst so many tattooed ladies and gents. The servers are not of the groveling type, by any stretch. The food does come out hot, if not slightly delayed. The Otherside Cafe isn't the quintessential Newbury Street cafe anyone familiar with Boston would thing of, but the fact that it is entirely different and a genuinely good and healthy place to eat makes it all that much better.

Buddha's Delight
Chickens, pork ribs and many other mysteriously meaty delicacies can be viewed through the windows of several of Chinatown's shops and restaurants. Delicious and appealing to the carnivore, probably nauseating for the vegetarian. Fear not herbivores, your hunger will be satiated at Buddha's Delight, Chinatown's premier exclusively vegetarian restaurant. Interesting the location of this restaurant has gone upstairs and downstairs in the same building several times, but eating downstairs is usually the best idea if that seating area is available. Buddha's Delight has vegetable based meals that are strikingly close to the texture and flavor of some meats. The veggie-pork hot pot meal comes in a steaming hot clay pot with loads of vegetables, delicious broth and interestingly flavored and colored soy product that takes remarkably like pork. Don't be fooled though, this is not meat and upon closer examination the food have a truly unique flavor that exhibits the richness and complexities found with meat but without the actual taste of pork, beef, chicken, fish, etc. The dishes are cooked with exotic and extremely flavorful ingredients and the staff is very attentive with bringing green tea around and keeping customers happy. Nothing on the menu is too expensive and this is definitely a place for vegetarians and meat eaters to converge and be confused and delighted about how the chef can do such amazingly delicious things with vegetables.

Elephant Walk
For most people, France and Cambodia don't come to mind as having an immediate gastronomical correlation. Have most people even tried French food? Never mind Cambodian cuisine. But this restaurant offers up a relaxing setting for indulging in some of the most creative and unique dishes in Boston. Most of the dishes are pretty light and made with fresh ingredients. The restaurant's signature dish is Amok Royal, a seafood custard that is spicy and served in a cupped banana leaf. The wine list is very well matched with the food and almost any glass or bottle pairs well. There are three locations; Boston, Cambridge and Waltham which can all be quite busy on a Friday or Saturday night. The wait staff is attentive, but be aware of whether you sit upstairs or downstairs at the Cambridge location as downstairs servers have been slower on busy nights than upstairs. The gluten free and vegetarian options are great and are able to satisfy those who may have came with steak by offering Steak Grillé, Sauce Caramelisée au
Romarin, a delicious sirloin beef dish. The food is great here and you may leave feeling full but you won't feel weighed down how like a steak house or fried food joint may.

Eating healthily in Boston is easier than most people would think. Even with trans fats being eliminated from menus left and right, the light and refreshing meals that true health nuts crave can still be found in refined, rustic and popular settings alike. So next time you feel like talking a long walk around the city, end it right with some of the healthy restaurants listed above and you'll feel even better about being active all day long.

Resources:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/weightloss/2008-05-29-most-fit-cities_N.htm
http://boston.citysearch.com/profile/4728132/boston_ma/theotherside_caf_.html
http://boston.citysearch.com/profile/4724647/
http://www.elephantwalk.com/