Best place for a clandestine lunch

With its storefront on Newbury, Sonsie is the ultimate see-and-be-seen spot -- and the last place you'd think of when planning a midday tryst. Which is, of course, precisely what makes it so perfect; for all the ogling going on around the window tables, the back of the restaurant goes largely overlooked. Coal-glow-colored walls, amber lamplight, and leather-banquette seating lend it a romantic cast, and at any given time Sonsie's lunch menu offers plenty that's ideal for sharing, like the "two-bite tuna melt" (one for each of you) or the honey-caramel custard with baklava.

Situated below street level, Casablanca is a shelter in the squall that is Harvard Square. A cozy, dimly lit front room, well-partitioned for discreet canoodling, leads unexpectedly to a ceiling-fanned bar in back that has the languid air of a speakeasy Bogie and Bacall might indeed have frequented. It also has a pair of wicker hatch shells with seats for two, where paramours-in-hiding can gaze and graze on Turkish meze.

Sonsie, 327 Newbury Street, Boston, (617) 351-2500. Casablanca, 40 Brattle Street, Cambridge, (617) 876-0999.