Food & Drink in Worcester

The culinary savants at Webster House Restaurant dole out fresh seafood and juicy steaks, as well as vibrant Greek specialties. The menu boasts as many options as a cable provider working on commission, including seafood entrees such as a rich, crab-stuffed haddock filet ($13.50) and savory fried clams ($15.95). Landlubbers carve into a 12-ounce Angus new york strip steak crowned with onion rings ($15.95) or an open-face hot turkey sandwich ($10.95). Taste buds go international with nine Mediterranean dishes such as the broiled loin lamb chops ($14.50), and palates with vegetarian leanings can vacation with butternut-squash ravioli ($10.95) or a garden burger ($7.95) harvested from the verdant garden-burger fields of northern Maine.

Embracing the regional Asian flavors and French influences that characterize so much of Vietnamese cuisine, Pho Dakao presents diners with comfort foods inspired by recipes from half a world away. Those deep roots are evident in the crispy spring rolls, the steamed bass with ginger and scallions, and the bowls of fragrant pho in which rare steak or vegetables are equally powerful. The recipes' French influences pop up from dish to dish, most notably in the rice powder crepe stuffed with shrimp, pork, and bean sprouts. Cocktails here conspire to complement the food, and frosty beers and wines from Europe, South America, and the famous chardonnay-spewing geysers of California are also on the list.

Opened in 1979, Palma’s Bakery and Cafe maintains a familial culinary tradition of classic italian flavors with a menu of hearty sandwiches piled high atop fresh baked bread and delectable homemade cookies and pastries that glisten in the bakery’s display case. Juicy slices of tomato join fresh mozzarella in a bath of olive oil, basil, and duck-shaped lettuce leaves in the caprese salad ($6.99). Hands can eschew diabolical chinese finger traps in favor of the breaded eggplant sandwich ($4.75) or the calabrese sopresatta sandwich, dressed in a garment of capicola mortadella and sopresatta, with a prosciutto necklace and an olive-oil perfume ($6). Italian cookies, such as raspberry pockets ($6.75/pound) or lemon drops ($6.75/pound) round off Palma’s platoon of bulk baked goods, with turnovers ($1.50 each), cannoli ($2 for a large), and éclairs ($2 for a large) leading the pack of individual palate-pleasing pastries.

Head chef David Lemenager and fellow kitchen wizards at 86 Winter populate a diverse menu with comforting dishes and daily house specials. Prepare palates for upcoming puppy-school-graduation feasts with a pan-seared crab cake ($9) or a savory small plate of sea scallops dipped in bourbon maple, crusted in cornflakes, and hugged by strips of bacon ($9). The housemade meatloaf, served with potatoes and vegetables, sings with flavor ($14), and mac ’n’ cheese plays dress up with a seasoned-cracker-crumb topping appropriate for both high-chair occupants and carbohydrate fanatics ($13). Vegetarians can revel in a plate of seasoned plant matter with an order of vegetable stir-fry, tossed in a sweet-and-spicy teriyaki sauce ($13), and mammal consumers can sink their canines into a juicy porterhouse au poivre—a 16-ounce peppercorn-crusted steak accompanied with sautéed spinach, roasted peppers, and gorgonzola crumbles ($27).

The cooks at Piccadilly Pub Restaurant bake, fry, grill, and assemble a medley of sandwiches, seafood platters, and other comfort cuisine. Haddock fillets take a dip in a light beer batter before trans-fat-free oil cooks them to a golden crisp, and fries and coleslaw cuddle up beside them in a dish of fish 'n' chips ($11.69). A dozen seafood platters harvest additional ocean occupants, including lobster, salmon, shrimp, and mermaid-grown sea vegetables. Baked bowls of shepherd's pie ($9.59) and chicken pot pie ($8.99) release a flood of steam after knives and forks cut into the blistering combination of seasoned meat and vegetables. A different house-made soup holds court daily ($3.50–$4.50), and the soothing staples of Piccadilly clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl ($7.99) and lobster bisque ($4.59–$7.99), taking their middle-school yearbook inscriptions to heart, never change.

Sweet T Southern Kitchen’s stealthy servers dish up hearty portions of made-from-scratch Southern comfort food for lunch and dinner. The uncomplicated menu includes four meats and 10 homespun sides for diners to mix and match in combo platters ($6.75+). Big-man-on-campus proteins such as country-fried chicken and smothered steak go steady with demure southern sides such as fried okra, baked mac ‘n’ cheese, candied sweet potatoes, or black-eyed peas. Meanwhile, steaming bowls of beef stew, chili, or spicy chicken gumbo ($4.50 each) are accompanied by Sweet T’s crackling cornbread, warming up bellies and helping to thaw frozen ancestors.