Wisteria House

For 13 improbable years, Wisteria House survived in a basement on Newbury Street. Despite its humble digs, this Taiwanese restaurant drew in numerous fans with its cheap, authentic fare. If you craved the island's spicy beef soup swirling with fat noodles, or sweet tofu-wrapped sausages, or tender sauteed luffa (yes, the sponge), you'd find it there. They always had all kinds of mouthwatering seafood. Late last year the rent shot up, and owner Tina Peng packed up the restaurant and moved. Now just called Wisteria, the restaurant has two eateries: a cozy sit-down location in East Cambridge with a full menu of consistently good dishes, and a stall at Allston's Super 88 Market food court with an abbreviated menu that's a little hit-or-miss. Though they offer plenty of standard American-Chinese fare, the real draw is the authentic regional cooking.