Restaurants in Newton

In his hunt for the perfect breakfast, Guy Fieri, the host of Food Network's hit program Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, didn't have to look any further than Brint's piping hot platters of homemade hot cakes, egg dishes, and its specialty: biscuits and gravy. Had the charismatic host, whose surgically implanted sunglasses only reflected the glare of sizzling early morning skillets, stuck around, he would've also enjoyed a homemade dinner selection that includes a butterfly-cut chicken breast and fresh, hand-breaded country-fried steak. Molten mounds of chili tumble across heaps of tender noodles on the Cincinnati spaghetti dish, a regional specialty that elevates the traditional pasta dish with diced onions and shredded cheese.

Classic Chinese food favorites populate the menu at Chosen Wok, which takes pride in its practice of cooking each dish fresh to order. Chefs prepare entrees in open view, doing their work in front of their customers like actors in a play or lawyers reading 600 pages of case law in front of their eventually sleeping clients. They slice and heat savory morsels of kung pao shrimp, sesame chicken, szechuan beef, and hot braised pork in special brown sauce. Warm yellow hues pervade the dining room, which is home to egg rolls and cooling glasses of milk tea.

A wave of flavor washes over visitors to Tsunami Teriyaki, who can dig into charbroiled teriyaki, chicken wings, and Thai and Vietnamese dishes. Spring rolls stuffed with chicken and vegetables and garnished with a ginger-lime sauce can start off meals, or diners can sample salad rolls made with carrots, bean sprouts, and peanut sauce. The hearty selection of noodles ranges from pad thai, “Thailand’s official rice noodle,” to vermicelli, Vietnam’s “light and healthy rice noodle.” The luscious noodles arrive mixed with cilantro, toasted peanuts, lemongrass, bean sprouts, and proteins such as tofu, chicken, or steak. The house Tsunami Specials platters include chicken or tofu mixed with string beans, Thai herbs, or a crushed peppercorn sauce. Thai iced tea and Vietnamese iced coffee wash down spices, and boba drinks of avocado, mango, and sour-green-apple flavors provide refreshing sips that may come with pearls of tapioca freshly stolen from the elusive tapioca oyster.

One cuisine isn't enough for the chefs at Zaytun a Mediterranean & IndoPak Bistro. Instead, they embrace flavors and recipes from Turkey, India, and Pakistan as well as the broad culinary traditions of Persia and the Mediterranean. As a result, the menu gives diners plenty to consider, from mutton cooked in spicy masala sauce to sliced gyro meat on buttered pita bread. Accents of mango chutney, curry sauce, or silken hummus further extend the cultural scope of the carefully curated menu. To help assuage indecision, Zaytun Restaurant hosts a daily lunch buffet, allowing diners to sample a wider selection of dishes without ordering extra kebabs for their invisible friends.

Every day, Kababs owner and chef Syed Jillani fills the dining room with the aroma of fresh herbs and spices. Ginger, garlic, turmeric, and curry swirl in the air like an all-scent production of Cirque du Soleil while Syed applies more than 25 years of experience to preparing classic Indian and Pakistani dishes such as tandoori chicken, samosas, and, of course, kababs. These specialties arrive individually with à la carte service or sit in buffet displays during lunch.

The talented hibachi and sushi chefs at Saké Japanese Steakhouse & Sushi Bar freshly flip, cut, and roll all of the meals they serve. Elegant blue lighting washes over a capacious menu that caters to variable tastes with more than 30 dexterously crafted sushi rolls, such as the spicy-crunchy-tuna roll, yellowtail-scallion roll, and the large dining-room-carpet roll. In-table hibachi grills set the stage for fast-handed chefs to perform theatrical flips and flourishes as they prepare grilled, aerodynamic meals featuring chicken, shrimp, or steak, all accompanied by a festive trio of soup, salad, and fried rice.

As hungering eyes look upon dexterous feats of cooking, elegantly modern décor beckons forth diners' appetites with clean lines, glossy surfaces, and ancient Edo-period hedge-maze maps.