central kitchen / 567 massachusetts avenue / cambridge ma / 617-491-5599 / sun-wed 5:30-1am, thu-sat 5:30-2am / reservations accepted for parties of 6+ (recommended) / entrees moderately expensive ($18-25)

celina and i have been trying to make indian food together for approximately four months now. as we’ll be in different cities for the summer, we’ll have to postpone that dinner for a few more months. on the bright side, we did manage to make it out to dinner on moving day. having spent the entire day moving stuff from lmf and my sister’s apartment, i was absolutely gross and sweaty. despite this fact, we wandered into central kitchen, which i’ve always wanted to try, and which i never had until now.

the interior of the restaurant is much nicer than the outside, which is a bit drab and looks very much like a slightly rundown, community-type neighborhood place. or rather, not rundown, but well worn from a lot of use. the interior is mod in a welcoming kind of way, with a bar surrounded by tables. the tables are chrome with dents in them – you have to see them to like them as much as i do, probably. the lighting is fairly dim, but since the walls are in warm dark colors, it’s somehow just right to be completely flattering. we were sitting between the bar and the street entrance, but there’s also a back area next to the back of the bar that has these fantastic lighting fixtures that are part lightbulbs, part lit-up old wine bottles. (more…)