The Other Critics

Devra First Doesn’t Sugarcoat Canary Square Review; Clover Food Lab Is Anti-Salt

• Devra First two-stars JP nook Canary Square: It “struggles to find consistency” with off-balance drinks, shaky service and a dry chicken sandwich. Still, late hours and and “reasonably priced bar snacks” cover a “multitude of sins.” [Globe]

• Mat Schaffer gives Met Back Bay a mixed write-up. Waitstaff hustles to keep up with the crowds, who swarm for “comfort food on steroids.” Chicken pot pie and curried spot prawns delight; less enticing is mysteriously mixed beef tartare. [Herald]

• Harvard Square’s Clover Food Lab experiments with high-tech ordering and frat house joviality. Food is consistently high-quality, but those who request salt will need to explain themselves. Really! [Globe]

• Robert Nadeau visits 28 Degrees in the South End, where his dining companion is an immersion thermometer. He wants to know if the “28 degree organic” martini really is served at 28 degrees. Well, it is, and the food’s not bad, either. Just don’t overdo it on those martinis, because then you’d have to visit the strangely designed bathroom. [Phoenix]

• Davis Square’s Deli-icious has an “expansive and confusing” menu. Sandwiches are predictable yet tasty enough to please the in-n-out student contingent. [Phoenix]

• Scott Kearnan thinks Newton’s Deluxe Station Diner serves a “happy ending” … in the form of a brandy and crème de cacao frappe, that is. [Stuff]

• Amy Traverso treks to Winthrop to enjoy Blackstrap BBQ, steered by East Coast Grill alums. Their motto is “BBQ = Love + Happiness.” But isn’t comfort food a tiny bit formulaic? [Boston]

Devra First Doesn’t Sugarcoat Canary Square Review; Clover Food Lab Is Anti-Salt