Restaurants in Watertown

At Al Wadi Restaurant, executive chef Walid Massad and his cooks transport palates to Beirut with flame-grilled kebabs and stews seasoned with Lebanese spices. Seated at linen-clad tables, diners clasp skewers of marinated beef tenderloin grilled over an open flame, and sink teeth into baked haddock with roasted pine nuts, served over spiced rice. The dining room shrouds every meal in elegance, with tiny chandeliers illuminating the inlets carved into the walls. Twinkling lights illuminate the bar, changing colors so servers know when they’re allowed to walk without disrupting foot traffic.

At Addis Red Sea, waiters top wicker tables with the spicy meats and vegan staples of Ethiopia. They serve lamb and fish dishes infused with spices such as turmeric, ginger, and rosemary. Vegetarian and vegan dishes of hearty lentils, collard greens, and chickpeas are scooped up with traditional injera bread rather than the spoon-shaped potato chips used in many Western cuisines. The waiters encourage patrons to share morsels with one another while they chat and chew around tables woven with reds, greens, and yellows. Though many of the dishes sizzle with the trademark spiciness of east African cuisine, chefs may amend them to the diner's desire.

The chefs at Bamboo Thai Restaurant developed a menu that gives diners complete control over their gustatory experience, from the level of spiciness to the type of noodles accompanying their dish. Five distinct curries—red, green, yellow, panang, and massaman—pair with the guest's selection of one of nine proteins and one of 10 rice or noodle options, including udon, buckwheat, and vermicelli, resulting in more dinner options than a socialite's rolodex. The noodle selection process crops up again when ordering one of the six meal-in-a-bowl soups, and five pad thai options dare taste buds to pick from vegetables, chicken, shrimp, or a combination of all three, with rice or crispy egg noodles. To complement spicy bites, a lengthy list of Thai, Japanese, and American beers stands next to warm and draft sakes.

A decade ago, Chuck Silverston was walking the streets of Paris when he happened upon a street vendor whipping up crepes. After tasting the quintessential Parisian treat, he returned to the states and promptly opened Paris Creperie. Inside the cozy café, the kitchen churns out crepes brimming with savory ingredients such as brie and apples or sweet fillings such as graham cracker and cinnamon, as well as smoothies and coffee. Nutella is a mainstay on the menu, making its way into dessert crepes as well as into drinks such as hot chocolate and lattes. In the spirit of Chuck’s original street-vendor encounter, Paris Creperie also unleashes its food truck—la Tour Eiffel—among the hungry denizens of Brookline, feeding passersby with breakfast and dinner crepes all day.

A common scene at The Wine Cellar: servers toting percolating pots of gruyere, emmental, or gorgonzola to diners, who in turn dip skewers of bread or potatoes into the steel cauldrons of melted cheese. This celebrated practice of submerging things into other, more scalding things isn't the only European tradition The Wine Cellar draws upon; its menu culls culinary influences from around the great continent, including France and Switzerland. In addition to sizzling up pots of oil or vegetable broth in which guests can cook their own beef, tiger shrimp, or rabbit, the chefs forge a spread of signature dishes, including tartifletes and roblochonnades, and pierrades made at the table in front of guests. They accompany this transatlantic fare with an international wine list, which sports hearty reds and delicate whites from vineyards and grocery-store aisles around the world.

Although the menu remains firmly rooted in the Old World, the dining room evokes classical American aesthetics. Exposed brickwork and wrought-iron lanterns surround the tables, and one wall sports a hand-painted mural of a Boston streetscape.

In spite of its serene-sounding name, the Sunset Cafe is all about vivacious cuisine that enlivens the palate. Flavorful Portuguese ingredients populate the menu, such as braised goat, Portuguese sausages served over flames, and shrimp simmered in spicy sauce. Chefs poach eggs in tomato-laced garlic broth and drape cantaloupe with sheets of prosciutto, creating flavor profiles even more harmonious than that of a soup made by boiling well-tuned guitars. Diners can subdue spice with sips of wine, beer, cocktails, or Sumol—a fruity Portuguese soda.