The April Hit List: La Royal, Lord Hobo Seaport, Wusong Road, and More

The Celeste crew has opened their long-awaited follow up, which remains fixated on Peruvian fare but this time expands the scope from Lima-style cuisine to dishes representing the whole of Peru. Within the airy dining room’s exposed brick walls, you might encounter a purple corn tamal stuffed with sirloin meat, Northern-style blue cod ceviche, or a Peruvian-Chinese style seafood fried rice with shrimp, squid, and mussels. Perhaps anticipating the joke, the restaurant does indeed offer a “La Royal” burger made from a blend of beef, alpaca, and lamb, served with yucca fries on the side.

For evidence of how East Boston’s come up in the world, look no further than Next Door, a brand-new cocktail bar and seafood dispensary just a hop and a skip from the Blue Line’s Airport stop. Within a windowless barroom full of blue velvet banquettes and lacquered wood, you’ll decide between cocktails marked “Cool & Refreshing” (example: a “Love Language” made with red dragon fruit-infused rum, lime juice, and red dragon fruit syrup) or “Spirit Forward” (such as the “Take Your Time,” prepped with rye, toasted maple sesame syrup, black walnut bitters, and applewood smoke). Between sips, help yourself to balsamic-glazed octopus carpaccio, Dijon-dressed steak tartare, a daily-changing selection of East and West coast oysters, and other opulent snacks.

Boston’s latest food hall has opened its doors within an Art Deco National Historic Landmark building Downtown with a total of (checks notes) 19 locally based purveyors of food and drink. Among its highlights are Bubble Bath, a Champagne-centric wine bar from Tiffani Faison with no shortage of high-end hot dogs; Haley Jane’s, a fried chicken stand as envisioned by the Wheelhouse team; and Daiquiris and Daisies, a standalone cocktail bar from a pair of local veterans who cut their teeth at JM Curley, backbar, and Hojoko. Joining these entirely new concepts are fresh locations of other local favorites including Mike & Patty’s, Mamaleh’s Delicatessen, and Pennypacker’s.

Walk-ins only.

After taking considerable time off, Lord Hobo’s 3,500-square-foot Seaport beer garden is again welcoming patrons for frothy pulls of Boomsauce. Whether seated indoors or on its fits-350 outdoor patio, you can soak said suds with blackened fish street tacos, brown butter lobster rolls, and a smash-patty Hobo burger topped with Buffalo ranch pickles and Vermont cheddar.

Harvard’s newest tiki bar continues to evolve, and now its Hong Kong deli-style downstairs is open six days a week. That’s where you might congregate for spam musubi, free-range General Tso’s chicken drumettes, or crab Rangoon stuffed with housemade cream cheese, before daring to order one of Wusong’s potent Zombies.

The newest addition to Time Out Market is Source, a supplier of wood-fired Neapolitan pizzas that got its start as a standalone restaurant in Harvard Square. Now they’re on hand to supply pre- and post-Sox game attendees with lightly charred, chewy-crust pies like the Tuscan Kale (maitake mushrooms, kale, goat cheese, and spicy honey), The Fenway (smoked ricotta, sweet sausage, onions, eggs, and confit potato) and the decadent It’s Lobstah Kid (red onions, lettuce, roasted peppers, tartar sauce, and seven ounces of lobster meat).

Walk-ins only.

The Greater Boston Area may soon have more “modern Japanese izakayas” than we know what to do with, now that Bosso Ramen Tavern in Harvard Square has joined the fray. Not that we’re complaining: we’re always happy to see a fresh supplier of yuzu scallop and otoro tuna hand rolls and umami ramen bowls filled out by char siu pork, wood-ear mushrooms, and black garlic oil.

Walk-ins only.

The Kendall Square quasi-dive is doing its best to make up for the live music deficit of the past two years by launching a “Roaring Sundays” series that sees local bands perform each Sunday at 8 p.m., no cover. Ponder whether you have a front-row seat to the next Nirvana as you bite into a piece of Tabasco honey-drizzled fried chicken and await another pitcher of Pineapple Cynar Spritz.

The Seaport has welcomed Thazia, a Thai-influenced ramen spot that happens to operate out of an industrial shipping container. Now that we’ve got that crucial detail out of the way, we can move on to the soup itself. You might play it straight with the eponymous bowl, a brothless ramen with chashu pork, wontons, and Thai BBQ pork dressing; or make for the Ten Yum, a tom yum-inspired ramen with shrimp tempura, crispy shallots, and lime; or play it closer to tradition with Mi Soul, which adds Japanese miso and chashu pork to a Thai-style pork bone broth.

Walk-ins only.

Pansies and violets are lovely, but when it comes to signs of spring, we’re more interested in new menu items. The Viet-Cajun restaurant has not disappointed on that count, as it’s delivered a bumper crop of fresh additions including chili crisp cream cheese crab dip with toasted demi-baguette, grilled coconut sticky rice pops with brown butter tamarind pork floss, and cassava fritters with chile lime aioli and spicy relish.