Returning to Boston from vacation in Montreal is like awakening from a wonderful dream and facing reality of having to pay $120-160 for a great dinner for two. What we love about Montreal is the abundance of restaurants that serve delicious and imaginative cuisine at reasonable prices ($20-30/person for dinner) and let you bring your own wine. Restaurants sell wines for 2-3 times the retail price, so bringing wine to a restaurant usually saves us at least $20. In Montreal, we can have a lovely 4-course dinner with good wine for roughly $75, and that's hard not to miss. But this year, instead of groaning and moaning about Boston restaurants, I decided to go on a search of Boston's hidden gems. This journey involved both space and time travel - space travel away from downtown and time travel away from the weekend. The results were surprisingly good.

I decided not to restrict my exploration to any neighborhood or cuisine. What I love most about eating out in Boston is the abundance of excellent ethnic eateries. Excluding them from my search would not do Boston justice. In fact, one of my two best finds turned out to be a Cambodian restaurant called Floating Rock. On chowhound.com, there was no end to raves about this little hole-in-the-wall. The descriptions of steaming soups, squid salad, mint, basil, and lemongrass were too hard to resist. Not even the restaurant's location in Revere, or its weird hours - only open till 8pm - were going to stop us. As we sat in traffic on Route 1, I was thinking that this place had better be good. We stepped into the tiny room whose only décor consisted of a poster on one of the walls. While the atmosphere was nothing to write home about, the food was simply sublime, and even Jason agreed that the effort of coming to Revere was worth it. The squid salad was full of refreshing herbs, peanuts, and perfectly tender squid rings. The seafood soup was comfort food at it's best - a huge bowl of clear broth, thin noodles, plump shrimp, and miraculously tender squid steaming with the aroma of lemongrass. When we took a bite of Tiger's Tears salad we realized that no traffic could ever prevent us from coming back to Floating Rock. It was a salad of tender slices of beef, red and green peppers, whole mint and basil leaves, finely sliced lemon grass, and roasted ground rice. The contrast of textures and flavors was irresistible - tender and crunchy, rich and refreshing. Although we asked all our dishes to be made mild, they were still pleasantly spicy for our taste. The pineapple shake with coconut milk eased off some of the heat and complimented all the dishes. Floating Rock does not have a liquor license, but when we inquired about bringing our own wine, the hostess graciously agreed. We didn't wait long to go back to Floating Rock, this time, with a bottle in hand. Babich Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand ($12) complemented Cambodian cuisine admirably with hints of lemongrass and mint. We didn't think it was possible to have a good dinner with good wine for under $50, but our meal for two totaled only $47.

My success with Floating Rock got my hopes up, and I decided to set a loftier goal of finding a more upscale restaurant that doesn't break the bank. I found just such a place in Sel de la Terre. Every Wednesday, Sel de la Terre hosts wine dinners centered on a particular French wine theme. The dinner consists of 4 courses each accompanied by a glass of wine and an introduction to the wine by the sommelier. At the wine dinner, the guests sit at communal tables so it's a great place to meet other food and wine lovers and exchange tasting opinions. Chef Geoff Gardner creates mouth-watering dishes rooted in regional French cuisine and bakes some of the best rustic breads in Boston. We had to use all our will power not to fill up on the bread; saving room for dinner was worth the effort. The first course, chunky tuna tartar, was light and refreshing and was paired with a bright Bonny Doon Riesling from California. The citrus salad and a dry Taltarni Sauvignon Blanc from Australia presented a wonderful contrast to the silky and flavorful poached chicken sausage. The duck fricassee was a robust duck stew with a rich tomato, sweet pepper, and olive sauce topped with perfectly cooked duck breast. The bold and full-bodied "Cuvee Alexandre" Merlot from Chile was a stunning match to the duck and the best one of the night. Beaulieu Vineyard Zinfandel from California was big and strong enough to stand up to the Roquefort on the cheese plate. At $35/person for food and wine, our dinner came to $87 with tax and tip. Who said you can't find French cuisine at reasonable prices in Boston? Maybe not on the weekend, but on a Wednesday night, everything is possible at Sel de la Terre.

I believe my foray into Boston's world of food and wine was quite successful. Although I had to go out of my way to find good cuisine at affordable prices, I was rewarded with wonderful meals and good wine. I learned that some flexibility in when and where to eat out is the key to eating well and inexpensively in Boston.

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