Nightshade Noodle Bar

Just north of the city, you’ll find this intimate, plant-packed and rattan-accented oasis serving up refreshing, Vietnamese-inspired cuisine. Chef-owner Rachel Miller is at the helm of this female-forward kitchen in Lynn, which first started as a pop-up venture before becoming a brick-and-mortar establishment in 2019. The menu dazzles with delicate yet decadent dishes that offer playfully unexpected flavor combinations, such as the frothy, vanilla-laced lobster glacé, foie gras with grilled coconut sticky rice and sour cherries, and warm Mediterranean olives tossed in sesame and Asian aromatics. More substantial plates include a rotation of hand-pulled noodles (normally served in some sort of bliss-inducing broth) and fried rice (go with the bone marrow variety for an extra dose of umami). Be on the lookout for indulgent seafood specialties like the Viet Cajun shellfish boil or live sea urchins crammed with glass noodles, tomato water nuoc cham, pickled peppers and charred tomato hollandaise—the latter of which is hidden under a smoke-filled cloche and theatrically revealed tableside. Ask the extremely friendly staff to guide you through their highly curated selection of wines, customize a spritz to your liking or go with an Southeast Asian-influenced cocktail (i.e. its signature saigon cigar club, a blend of bourbon, thai banana and black cardamom).