This is long overdue but after juggling school and work I was able to finally have time to write reviews and reflect on my trip to Boston. I know Dublin is also over due too, but I will get there eventually.
Boston was my first city on the East Coast I have visited and I took as much advantage in those 3 days I was there. There were so many places I ate and drank at, and when I mean drink I mean non-alcoholic beverages. Since there are so many things I have to say about each place listed I broke it up into two parts. Enjoy my experiences and I hope if you're ever in Boston you get the same experience, if not better than I have.
1. Shake Shack - Harvard Square
★★★★★
Shake Shack is the In-N-Out of the East Coast and even though there is a Shake Shack in the West I had to have my first experience with this franchise on the East Coast.
Went to the one in Harvard Square due to already exploring the campus and surrounding area. I was surprised they serve beer here, not as surprised with the price of their items.
Since there were a ton of other places to eat I split a spicy chicken sandwich, a red velvet concrete, and cheese fries. The price for those 3 items came out to almost $20. . . . man! $20 for one person? T____T Boy are these college students have some change in their pockets.
I ended up waiting a little longer than I like, but it was during a rush so there were some expectations it might take a while. Hopefully the wait was worth it.
I ended up conflictual. It was worth the wait but for the $20. . . ehh. It was sooo good, but on a college-student budget? The fries could have been devoured in less than 2 minutes, 5 minutes tops. No wonder they give you a little fork to prod and eat delicately. The sandwich had a kick but it didn't leave your mouth burning. Between all of them the concrete was the most surprising of them because it was flat-up amazing. The red velvet was on point and with it sprinkled evenly in each bite, it was a sad moment to have finished it.
The service was great, the food was spectacular, but man even though I was on vacation this was a luxury that was a-okay in the end. Not worth 3-stars, not worth 5 stars, right in between.
2. Taza Chocolate - Boston Public Market
I went to the Taza Chocolate Factory hoping for some hot chocolate, found out this location is the only location selling hot chocolate Taza style.
Luckly I had a coupon for 10% off a cup of hot chocolate, which was given to me from the factory (those sneaky . . . people, trying to get me to their other location). Then I bought a churro to go along with my hot chocolate, which was an additional $2. With the discount it came to a total of $6.
While waiting for my churro I found out the churro was frozen placed in some convection oven and ta-da. . . T___T I mean the churro was a churro and it was pretty tasting dunking it in the hot chocolate. The drink itself was pretty interesting. Just as the chocolate itself, there was a grainy texture. It wasn't overly sweet or overwhelming with chocolate. It was a very nice balance. Oh! I also got the spicy hot chocolate drink. It was very enjoyable to get a kick at the end of my sip.
It's an okay price for the combo and the 3-star is the combination of the "fresh" made churro but also the merchandise at this location was hiked up almost double the amount of what was at the factory for a good percentage of the items.
For example I bought a sampler pack which was $11 at the factory but $22 at this location. So another star for being sneaky again!!
It's in the Boston Public Market so if you're around I say take the hot chocolate, leave the churro. ^^
3. Sam LaGrassa's - Financial District
I loathed sauerkraut and all of its being. There wasn't a logical explanation on why sauerkraut would be loved my so many people. Then one day I understood, que Sam LaGrassa's.
After snacking around Harvard Square my friend and I were still hungry and he suggested Sam LaGrassa's and its fine reuben sandwich. After confirming with him there's sauerkraut in the sandwich I was hesitant. He swore on his life it was the best there was EVER. I obliged to try it. . . ON THE SIDE. We ordered the Ultimate Rueben with an order of fries, $17 roughly.
Who was I fooling? I did not want to try it. NOPE! NOPE! NOPE!
Then I took a bite of the sandwich and man did it put me in a good mood! The pastrami was pastrami I never had before, so tender, juicy, full of flavor. Combined with the corned beef and swiss cheese was already a sure winner. If the sandwich was that good I could give the sauerkraut, which is house made, a chance.
The sauerkraut completed the sandwich and my tastebuds fell head over heels over this condiment. This sandwich encompasses the culture, food, and quality of life Boston has to offer.
With the sandwich came coleslaw and two pickles. The coleslaw was one-level-below-the-reuben amazing. The pickles were in between a cucumber and mature pickle. I love how majority of my meal was house made, filling, and overall delicious.
I was bummed Sam LaGrassa is only open for a limited time during the weekdays but not as bummed when I finished my half of the sandwich. Of course if it was opened on weekends I don't think I would have gone to other places. =/
For everything it's worth, it's worth it a million times over. A place this good cannot be kept a secret for long. It is loved by the locals and most likely good handful of tourists, now is also loved by this California foodie. <3
4. New York Pizza
$5 can get you so much: a gallon and a half of gas, a Taco Bell box, or in this case a gigantic slice of pizza.
After coming from a restaurant, hoping to get our stomaches filled, we were in search of a place to fill in the other half of our stomaches. After some researching places that are cheap and open at the time, it was around 10pm, we found New York Pizza.
It's a small pizzeria with about a 20 people-dining-room capacity. They also serve pizza by the slice which was what we needed. We ordered a chicken bake slice for roughly $5 and I have to say this was either made to feed 2 people or 1 starving college student.
Just because it was huge and cheap didn't mean the quality of the ingredients have to suffer. It was downright comforting to take a bite and know this wasn't already cooked bacon shipped from out of state. The cheese was nicely layered with a sauce thinly layered. Yup! For $5 and having this place stay open later it is worth whatever hike you need to make after a night downtown.
5. Saus - Downtown
This review is based on their Late Night (after 10pm) menu.
We barely missed the regular menu, it was 10:05 so we did the best we could with what they were serving.
All they had for late night is poutine, fries, and a sandwich. On top of that the prices are higher than on their regular menu because during that time they're dealing with a different crowd of people. Probably the drunk around and I guess they can get quite rowdy. Hence the increase in prices.
Ordered the poutine with pork belly and the chicken sandwich. Total came out to be a little over $20 (8.50 for Poutine, 3 for Pork Belly add-on, and $10 for sandwich). This was to be split between two people so $12 per person.
It was more like $20 per person because even though the sandwich was a good handful it wasn't sufficent to suppress our appetites. The quality of the ingredients were apparent. The cheese curds were melted just right, the gravy smothered the fries, and the thick pork belly added a great finishing touch on the heaviness of the meal.
Still for over $20 I did kick myself for missing out on the regular menu. The regular menu has so much potential!! There's a lot more to go for on the regular menu. For now this is what I can give as a review until I go back and I hope to go back to Boston soon.
6. Tom's Bao Bao - Harvard Square
★★★★★
When looking for places to eat this came up on my radar real fast. Who doesn't love a hot pork bun during the fall? Came here with a semi-empty stomach and I was excited to see what bao awaits my consumption.
When you walk in you immediately see to your left bao being made, assembly line for bao. ^^ Then as you walk a narrow part of the place you then reach the cashier. There was a combo you can buy but we were only there to try a sample of what Tom's got.
We ordered the beef and pork baos which came out to a total right under $9, $3.75 for one bao. . . ONE. . . BAO. I'm use to getting about 3 more boas for the same price. My thought was "It better be mind blowing authentic." The cashier told us the beef one was still being cooked but had the pork ready.
As I ripped the pork into two, more for a photo op if anything, I noticed a HUGE lack of filling. This was was 90% bun and 10% filling. It was this tiny little pork patty in between. I ended up shoving a good amount of my half of the filling into my friends half to convince him he paid a good price for what he got. . . I shouldn't have done that. $3.75 for carbs and not even a decent amount oh and it was luke warm. I was then bracing myself for the beef.
The beef bao semi-saved the day. It came out fresh and the filling was a little bit more. The flavor for this was unique since it was beef curry. Even though the beef was more enjoyable, maybe because it was warm like how it's suppose to be, it cannot justify the high. $4 for something you can get for the fraction of the price, Boston you expensive. Get your bao and your Asian food fix somewhere else. =/ Happy eating!!!
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