Jamaica Plain's Millenium Restaurant & Grill is Very Veg-Friendly (Ver Traducción Abajo)

[Editor's note: Millenium Restaurant was briefly closed last week because it opened without all the proper city permits.]

It’s often not easy to eat vegetarian at many of JP’s Latin restaurants. Other than rice and beans, obvious staples of the diet, choices can sometimes be few. Such is not the case at Millenium Restaurant & Grill in Egleston Square. The cheerful, yellow-painted restaurant offers a broad and delicious selection of Dominican dishes from which vegetarian diners can choose. Most of the veggie dishes appear on the menu as apertivos or appetizers, and al lado, side orders.  But rest assured that you won’t go hungry.

There are numerous meatless appetizers from which to choose. “Cheese Pastelito” ($1) is a stuffed, half-moon shaped, empanada-like creation made with flakey pastry. There are also “Bolitos de Yuca,” ($1.25) crispy fried cassava turnovers, and “Relleno de Papa,” ($1.50) stuffed potatoes. “Tajada de Berenjena” ($1.00) are fried eggplant slices.

Certainly, there’s rice and beans, which both come in two varieties.  White rice ($3 small or $6 large) and “Arroz con Vegetales,” ($4 small or $7 large,) or rice with vegetables, are both offered. Containing minced carrots and onions, and a sprinkling of peas, the rice with vegetables was hearty and healthy. In the bean department, you can choose from “Gandules,“ green pigeon peas, or “Habichuelas,“ red kidney beans (both $4 small or $7 large,) neither of which are prepared with any meat products.

My obliging server also surprised me with a very tasty dish of spaghetti, which did not appear on the menu. The garlicky tomato sauce contained a few thinly sliced green peppers. I asked her since when spaghetti was a Dominican dish but she insisted that it was.

Al lado, there are Batatas, ($1) potatoes, and Maduros or Tostones, ($1) both made with plaintains. The “Maduros” are ripe, mashed plaintains. “Tostones” are sliced, deep-fried green plaintains. The trick to good tostones is that they do not hold well, and should not be made in advance. The tostones at Millenium were admirably crisp and fresh.

The menu’s front page commands “Preguntate por nuestra variedad de mofongos,” or “Ask for our variety of mofongos.”  I dutifully obeyed, and learned that the restaurant offers one vegetarian variedad de mofongo, ($6) served with garlic sauce. I had once tried what I thought was mofongo with garlic, prepared at the home of an Ecuadorian friend. The dish was made with mashed plaintains, and covered in a green sauce made with olive oil, parsley, and lots and lots of garlic. Though the ingredients are basically the same, the “Mofongo” at Millenium is a different creation, perhaps owning to the cooking traditions of the eatery’s Dominican owners. The very garlicky mofongo was served in a mound, surrounded with a side salad of lettuce and tomatoes. The mashed plaintains were unlike mashed potatoes, and had a much heavier and denser texture than those prepared Ecuadorian style. The starchy dish probably weighed a full pound, and could certainly satisfy many appetites. To be honest, I’m not sure if I liked the mofongo or not but I recommend that you try it yourself, and make up your own mind. 

Millenium has a wide selection of jugos or juices, and batidas or shakes ($2.50-$4) to wash your meal down with.   Flavors include chinola or passion fruit, zanahoria or carrot, and papaya. There’s also the mysteriously named Morir Soñando or Die Dreaming, made with orange juice and milk.

After the mofongo, I didn’t have room for dessert but I plan to return soon to try the Flan ($1.50), Arroz con Leche, rice pudding ($1.50), or one of the restaurant’s other sweet treats.

Most of the staff at the restaurant are bilingual, and table service is available.  Diners also have the option of visiting the counter where many of the day’s offering are in open view so all you have to do is point to what you want.  The place is spotlessly clean, and prices are a bargain. Cheerful background music is provided by a local radio station playing mostly merengue and bachata. Service at the family-operated eatery, which opened in January, is extraordinarily helpful, friendly, and pleasant.  The next time that you have a taste for the DR, visit Millenium Restaurant & Grill right here in Egleston Square. You’ll be glad that you did!

Located at 3094 Washington St. in Egleston Square, Millenium Restaurant & Grill (617-522-0505) is open daily from 10 a.m. until 8 p.m.  The restaurant also offers home delivery service. 

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Sabor delicioso de República Dominicana en Plaza Egleston

No es fácil encontrar comida vegetariana en muchos de los restaurantes latinos de JP, a no ser arroz y habichuelas, las opciones son limitadas. El colorido restaurante ofrece una variada selección de platos dominicanos con varias opciones vegetarianas, la mayoría de las cuales figuran en el menú como aperitivos u órdenes al lado, pero a pesar de su clasificación son servidas en abundancia.

Entre los aperitivos carentes de carne se encuentran los Pastelitos de Queso ($1), una creación similar a la empanada con forma de media luna y deleitosa masa; Bolitos de Yuca ($1.25), empanaditas fritas de yuca; Rellenos de Papa ($1.50); y Tajadas de Berenjena fritas ($1.00).

2 tipos de arroz son servidos: Blanco ($3 pequeño y $6 grande), y Arroz con Vegetales ($4 pequeño y $7 grande) conteniendo trozos de zanahoria, cebolla y arvejas, es satisfactorio y nutritivo. Hay opción de gandules y habichuelas (ambos por $4 pequeño y $7 grande) preparados sin productos animales.

La amable mesera me sorprendió con un plato de Espagueti Dominicano que no aparece en el menú, con salsa de tomate con ajo y trozos delgados de pimiento verde.

Al lado se sirven Papas ($1), Maduros o Tostones ($1). Los tostones son crocantes y frescos.