Right now eating in a restaurant is really unsafe, and so the next best, safe option during the pandemic is take-out. When getting take out, you always want to make sure you are picking the best possible restaurant, to ensure a delicious night, so sometimes it’s hard to branch out and pick a new restaurant–after all, who knows if it will be good?
One freezing January night, I decided to go all out on Asian American-inspired (not authentic) takeout foods so that I could give you some advice for when you next want to eat in, but don’t want the stress of cooking or of choosing a restaurant. Of course I also had to get some dessert, and so I have some suggestions on sweets as well! Keep in mind that what I ordered from each restaurant was plenty of food for me and two friends.
The restaurants I ordered from were Rice Burg, Jin’s Wellelsey, and Jake N Joes. The bottom line: I would recommend Rice Burg for Asian beverages, Jin’s for Asian food, and Jake N Joes for desserts with the caveat that most of them are very sweet.
All the restaurants I have ordered from deliver to Dana Hall. Rice Burg delivers through UberEats and will deliver throughout Wellesley as well as to Needham and Natick. Jin’s delivers through their website or by calling and will deliver within a 4-5 mile radius. And Jake N Joes delivers through Uber Eats and will deliver throughout Wellesley, Waltham, Natick, Needham and parts of Newton.
Rice Burg
Rice Burg is a fairly new Asian focused restaurant that serves burgers with buns made of rice, different Asian bowls, boba tea and more. This was my first time trying the food, and I already have quite a few opinions on it. Rice Burg is located at 552 Washington St #2, Wellesley, MA 02482 and can be reached by phone at (781) 772-1473.
If you want to order from the restaurant, simply go on to Uber Eats and place an order. My food arrived in 31 minutes, which I thought was pretty speedy.
I ordered a Matcha Iced Latte, a Strawberry Boba Black Bubble Milk Tea, a “Create your Own Bowl” with chicken, egg, stir fried broccoli, and a herb aioli sauce on the side, Taiwan Style Popcorn Chicken, and a small french fries.
My order arrived packaged well, with utensils. I was also pleasantly surprised to see that my drinks arrived with ice in a bag to keep cold.
My favorite items were the two drinks, although they were both almost too sweet. They were a good consistency: creamy and flavorful. The boba was chewy, and the matcha held together well. The Strawberry Bubble tea was $6, and the Iced Matcha Latte was $4.70.
I had heard good things about the Rice Burg Popcorn Chicken ($5), so I was very excited to try and hopefully have a new go to restaurant. The small chicken bites greet with many different Taiwanese seasonings that I enjoyed but didn’t expect as they look just like your typical American popcorn chicken. If you are looking for some traditional American chicken nuggets, Rice Burg is not going to be the place for you.
The french fries ($3 for a small order) were particularly salty and also a bit soggy, but overall not terrible. I would not recommend going to Rice Burg just for the popcorn chicken and fries, unless you truly are craving Taiwanese flavors.
As for the “create your own bowl” ($12.10), this really missed the mark for me. The chicken was really dry, and the overall flavor was not the best. Maybe it was the sauce or combination I chose, but generally speaking, I would not recommend ordering this from Rice Burg.
Jins:
Across from the Wellesley Papa Razzi, Jin’s Restaurant is fine Asian dining and takeout. It has everything you might want from lo mein to dumplings to scallion pancakes, and I took advantage of their wide menu! I also saw that Jin’s allows customers to add a box of 50 F-11 Disposable Face Masks for $22, which I thought was really cool.
I had eaten Jin’s once before at a friend’s house but never before ordered it myself. The restaurant is located at 11 Washington St, Wellesley, MA 02481, and can be reached by phone at (781) 237-5888.
If you want to order from the restaurant, simply go on to their website and place an order. My food arrived in 45 minutes, which was a nice surprise considering the website said 75 minutes.
I ordered Vegetable Lo Mein, Sesame Chicken with Broccoli, and also Edamame Dumplings. My order arrived packaged well, but without utensils. While I should have checked before ordering, I did not realize that their chicken dishes do not come with rice, so make sure to add it as a side. It did come with two fortune cookies however, which I was very excited about.
I am a big fan of lo mein, and Jin’s Vegetable Lo Mein ($11.50) was no exception. The flavors were spot on, not too strong and not too sweet. It was a large portion and was plenty for me and two other people. There was a good bit left over as well, which still tasted just as good reheated the next day. I thought it was delicious and would most definitely recommend it.
The Sesame Chicken dish was tasty, flavorful and a generous portion size. The chicken was tender, and the broccoli was well cooked but not as delicious as the chicken. This dish was $15.50, which I thought was on the pricey side considering rice is not included. Even without the rice, however, the Sesame Chicken was still delicious.
The last thing I ordered from Jin’s was their edamame dumplings ($8.25). I chose this over a typical chicken or beef dumpling as I had never heard of edamame in a dumpling before and wanted to try it. While they were not terrible, I think that both edamame and dumpling are better alone. I do, however, give Jin’s credit for the creative idea.
Jake N Joes:
I also scavenged UberEats to find a dessert place with unique and fun options. I found School Street Sweets, which operates under Jake N Joes. When I saw their menu, I knew I had to place an order, and I definitely do not regret my decision. Jake N Joes can be found at 70 Market Place Drive, Waltham, MA 02451, and can be reached by phone at (781) 894-0169.
I got one order of Belgian Waffles, a Banana Caramel Burrito, an order of their Fried Oreo Puffs, and one Molten Lava Chocolate Cake.
I was pleasantly surprised to see that the ice cream that came with two of the desserts was not melted by the time it arrived and still just as delicious as if I was sitting in their restaurant.
The Belgian Waffle ($6) made me feel like I was skiing, as they tasted just like the waffles you get at a mountain. The order came with two waffles sprinkled with powdered sugar and chocolate sauce on the side. While the waffles were pretty hard by the time they arrived, their amazing taste made up for it. I would definitely order these again.
The Banana Caramel Burrito sounded better to me than tasted. It is a banana cheesecake-like filling wrapped in a pastry tortilla, fried and topped with a caramel sauce. It also came with a side of vanilla ice cream. It was incredibly sweet and a little oily. This dessert was not my cup of tea. It cost $7 and really was not worth it to me as my favorite part ended up being the side of vanilla ice cream.
I was most excited to try the Fried Oreo Puffs ($7). The order came with four Oreo puffs dusted with powdered sugar and chocolate sauce on the side. I think that this dessert is either going to be a hit or miss, depending on the person. If your favorite part of a normal Oreo is the cookie, you likely won’t like this dessert, but if your favorite part is the cream, I think you will. The reason I say this is because the texture of the cookie is very soft and there is really no crunch in the dessert. For me, it was a little too sweet and oily, but I guess that’s what you get when you order a Fried Oreo Puff!
The Molten Chocolate Lava Cake ($7) was just what it sounds like: very chocolatey! It was super rich, and paired with the vanilla ice cream that came on the side, was perfect. When I cut into it, it was still pretty gooey on the inside, which was great. And if that is not enough chocolate for you, chocolate sauce is also served on the side. As long as you like chocolate, I would definitely recommend this dish.
You can find Jake N Joes dessert menu on UberEats, and it makes for a fun end to your takeout dinner experience!
Happy eating!
Photos: Rice Burg drinks from the restaurant’s Facebook page. Popcorn Chicken is from the Rice Burg menu. Sesame Chicken is from the Jin’s menu. Oreo Puffs photograph is from the Jake N Joes menu.
