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Type: American
Hours: Mon.-Sat., 11 a.m.-9 p.m.; Sun., noon-8 p.m.
Good Choices: Roast pork; roast chicken; ribs; turkey breast; mildly curried long-grain rice; red bliss potatoes; medley of broccoli, carrots, and cauliflower; green bean salad.
Credit Cards: All major credit cards.
Access: Fully accessible.
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LA ROTISSERIE
239 Washington St.
(781) 416-9899
Restaurant reviewed 11/05/98 by Sheryl Julian
Boston Chicken began in 1985 with one Newton location where the food tasted home-cooked. Thirteen years later, as Boston Market, it had more than 1,000 stores.
Last month the company filed for bankruptcy protection, a victim, market analysts say, of an overly ambitious expansion plan. But while its business judgment may have been off, its culinary instincts were right: There's a demand for simple, unadorned food - just a succulent roast chicken with mashed potatoes that you can take home and eat on your own plates.
La Rotisserie is trying to tap that market. Owner Babak Veyssi began in Brookline's Coolidge Corner, then moved to a tiny slip of a place beside the Chestnut Hill Star Market, which is mostly takeout. Now he also has a place in Wellesley; it seats 46, so you can eat in if you like, though it's paper plates and self-service.
La Rotisserie's food reminds me of Boston Chicken before it expanded. Everything was good but plain, predictable as could be. And sometimes that's all you want.
This restaurant is an upscale cafeteria where spits are turning with whole chickens, turkey breasts, spare ribs, pork loin, and lamb. The diner chooses meat, then two vegetables - anything from fresh broccoli and cauliflower to a puree of yams - and no matter how heartily you eat, your bill won't exceed $8 or $9.
A half-chicken plate with roast red potatoes and a green bean salad costs $5.75.
If that isn't enough, the jumbo combo plate, which contains one-quarter chicken, a spare rib, a slice of turkey, some roast meat of the day, and two vegetables (curried rice, perhaps, with red cabbage cole slaw?) costs $8.25.
Besides the value, there are other things about La Rotisserie that I found irresistible. The young women who work the counter encouraged us to sit down and eat while the food was hot. We could pay later, they said.
And there's a children's play area with a chalkboard and lots of toys, so that when the kids get restless, they have somewhere to go. Veyssi, who is from Iran and the father of two young children, says that he put the area in a spot as "remote as possible" from the door so parents won't worry.
Oddly enough, the best food on La Rotisserie's menu isn't the chicken, but the roast pork, which is cooked to perfection (served only on Tuesdays, Fridays, and Sundays). The lamb is too well done (offered on Mondays and Thursdays). The ribs are succulent and sticky, not very Southern, though. The roast chickens are sweet, darkened from a soy-based marinade, not unlike the glaze on Bread & Circus's roast chickens. The meat was slightly dry on two visits.
Veyssi says that state inspectors insist that establishments roast poultry to an internal temperature of 175 degrees. If you leave it for a few minutes longer, the temperature goes up quickly to 180 degrees. I agree on the speed with which the temperature soars once it gets that high. But I suspect that the cooks are pulling chickens off the fire at a higher temperature.
This is a problem with roast chicken at every place it's offered. Perhaps Veyssi will be the person to finally figure out the timing. That done, and a little more seasoning on the side dishes (his customers have pushed him to leave out the salt, says Veyssi), La Rotisserie won't be able to keep up with the demand.
Tips & hits
