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The secret hiding place of the best roti in Massachusetts

By adamg on Thu, 10/13/2011 - 8:48am

UPDATE: Post has been taken down. Pretend you never saw this.

Way better than even at Ali's Roti in Mattapan, Boston Guru reports. But Underground Roti is only open for lunch just two days a week, in a shed behind somebody's house on a Jamaica Plain side street, so he's not giving out the address, because, well, you know. But he says he'll e-mail it to you.

On my first trip to Roti I found myself a little uncomfortable walking up the driveway; hoping this is the right place. Then I saw the line of people waiting and smelled the curry emanating from the shack... I knew I'd found gold. ... UR is one of those places where you get your hands on the food and devour while moaning and saying "this is sooo gooood!"

Neighborhoods: 
Jamaica Plain
Topics: 
Dining
Free tagging: 
Jamaican food


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Comments

By MC Slim JB on Thu, 10/13/2011 - 9:01am.

Somebody always has to be so proud of being in on a food-nerd secret that they have to take a megaphone to an unsuspecting public to let us all know how cool they are. Bully for you, unless this brings an ISD crackdown on the place that puts it out of business. The fact that you didn't list the address but did include a picture of the house doesn't absolve you.

This same cluelessness is what ruined Love and Butter, the underground dining club that some Boston Globe reporter got themselves invited to and then wrote a story about, which led directly to the authorities bringing a swift end to it. (I was later somewhat mollified by the fact that this outing forced the operators to go legit: they went on to open Journeyman. But that's a rare happy ending to this sort of idiocy.)

Attention Yelpers, amateur food bloggers, et. al. If you hear about a place in Chinatown or Allston or somewhere else that lets you brown-bag some booze or serves "cold tea" after hours or operates a bootleg restaurant off their back porch, shut the hell up about it. Don't ruin the party for everyone else in the interest of showing off your insider knowledge.

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By issacg on Thu, 10/13/2011 - 9:16am.

I guess that I agree with this, however, underground restaurants do not approach the top of my "why can't we have nice things" list.

A transit system that works and intercity trains that are like the TGV do - of course, and ironically, getting those requires the opposite of what you've prescribed, i.e., not shutting the hell up about it.

Perhaps we can co-opt the occupiers to take up transportation infrastructure improvement as a unified message. After all, they are pretty well positioned near South Station.

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By Chris Dowd on Thu, 10/13/2011 - 10:40pm.

. . . I might have done in the past . . . I consider myself properly chastised. Plussed.

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By danielle on Thu, 10/13/2011 - 9:55am.

the blogger is an idiot for thinking that giving away the address to anyone that emails him for it is going to keep the place from being exposed.
i frequent that place every week, it is a wonderful family that runs it, and i would hate to see anything bad come of it or them because some young guy thinks its cool to flaunt a secret.

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By M on Thu, 10/13/2011 - 10:27am.

Possibly for reasons listed above?

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By GoodStuff on Thu, 10/13/2011 - 11:00am.

There's nothing underground about the place -- it's legit. That roti shop has been there for twenty years and is a licensed and inspected business. Although it's not mobile, it's categorized as a food cart.

Eventually, they'll get some new neighbors that will raise a stink and ruin it for everyone. Until then, the shrimp roti is the best bet.

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By Neal Simpson on Thu, 10/13/2011 - 12:04pm.

On the internet, nothing goes poof.

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By anon on Fri, 10/14/2011 - 9:10am.

...and considering the fact that the license plate on the car in the driveway next door is visible, it should not take an interested authority more than a few minutes to find the place.

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By anon on Thu, 10/13/2011 - 11:18am.

Thank you

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By BT on Thu, 10/13/2011 - 11:31am.

I am as much a foodie as the next guy and appreciate hidden neighborhood gems...But should these places operate under the radar, isn't anyone concerned with them meeting BOH standards for cleanliness, storage temp, etc? Just sayin...

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By MC Slim JB on Thu, 10/13/2011 - 11:50am.

But I'd argue that you're just as likely to be sickened by improper food handling in the kitchen of a fine-dining restaurant as a bootleg restaurateur. Remember this Globe article? http://www.boston.com/ae/food/articles/2007/08/26/...

Any meal out is a roll of the dice. I just chalk up a couple of cases of food-borne illness a year to my dining-out habit, quite worth the price to me. What are you going to do: eat only at places that *look* clean to you? Stay home?

I'm resigned to the fact that any restaurant I dine in, from the most humble to the fanciest, has a chance to kill me. To balance this risk out, I don't cross streets without first looking both ways and putting down my phone, an increasingly rare practice.

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By BT on Thu, 10/13/2011 - 12:06pm.

eating in any establishment, fine dining or not, poses the threat of food borne illness...i've been victim more than once. but i have to believe that properly licensed restaurants are held to some standard whereas there's NO oversight with unlicensed ones...i'm more likely to choose the legit ones...

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By MC Slim JB on Thu, 10/13/2011 - 12:43pm.

Because they stand to be shut down for good if they sicken someone, whereas a Mistral only gets shut down for a couple of days. (Pure speculation.) I grant the point that the specter of a health inspection makes many licensed establishments more careful about food safety.

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By GoodStuff on Thu, 10/13/2011 - 12:18pm.

It's quirky but legal.

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By Allstonian on Thu, 10/13/2011 - 12:41pm.

What name is it licensed under? It would be nice to be able to look at the Mayor's Food Court record.

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By MC Slim JB on Thu, 10/13/2011 - 12:52pm.

Unless it is hiding under some stealthy name.

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By Allstonian on Thu, 10/13/2011 - 1:07pm.

Yeah, that's what I'm wondering about. Somebody said this upthread:

There's nothing underground about the place -- it's legit. That roti shop has been there for twenty years and is a licensed and inspected business. Although it's not mobile, it's categorized as a food cart.

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By anon on Thu, 10/13/2011 - 2:53pm.

...I am assuming the writer is talking about food, roti isn't code for say, something you can get at the end of a massage?

I think I got one of those down in Providence once, right about she offered taboli.

And don't get me started on her babaganoush!

PS - I know what roti is. ;)

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By anon on Fri, 10/14/2011 - 1:39am.

i don't think this place is considered a restaurant

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By MC Slim JB on Thu, 10/13/2011 - 3:59pm.

He should investigate to verify whether the operation is indeed licensed. If it's not, his post should stay kaput.

If it is legal, he ought to republish his post with full details. Sort of ruins the underground angle, but if it's really good, then he's doing a good food-blogging service by drawing attention to it.

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By anon on Thu, 10/20/2011 - 10:07am.

i've had this roti before
and its realllly good
but it was my friend who picked it up for me
now im gonna venture out to find it again

how do i get in touch w this guy?
or can someone tell me which street he's on at least?

thx!

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