At a glance:
Lunch at home
Price: $
Stars (out of 5): 5 for nutritional value.
Summer means an abundance of fruit and vegetables. Here’s my salad creation deconstructed:
Brie crumbles, almonds, corn nuts, pumpkin seeds, baby arugula, carrots, and grapes drizzled with sesame soy sauce vinaigrette served with crackers and cheese. Substitute with your favorite greens, nuts, and fruit.
Eat on!
At a glance:
3 Arrow Street, Cambridge, MA
Price: $
Stars (out of 5): 4.5 for froyo!
After walking around Cambridge for a little after dinner, we decided to stop for dessert at Berry Line.
Here’s a view of Cambridge at dusk by the way. It’s beautiful here.
Cute frozen yogurt hangout place tucked into a corner on Arrow Street. I like how they only have a few flavors per day, so you know it’s not the commercialized froyo from elsewhere. It’s a great place to come for dessert after a big meal. The yogurt is light and rejuvenating. They have people serving behind the counter so that’s good because you don’t have to exercise self control like you do when pumping from froyo machines.
Some of their toppings are made fresh in store.
I got lime coconut with mango and mochi toppings. I felt like I was taken to an island off of Southeast Asia. The yogurt did not taste artificial at all and was very creamy. The mango was fresh. The mochi was lightly sweet and incredibly chewy.
Totally worth the trip.
Eat on!
At a glance:
58 John. F. Kennedy Street, Cambridge, MA
Price: $$ (and a half)
Stars (out of 5): 4
Korean food is so flavorful and savory it’s hard not to like it. I love everything from Kbbq to Korean street food. Kaju Tofu House is a Korean eatery tucked into a 2-story building in Harvard Square (they also serve sushi and Japanese shabu shabu). To compete with 2 Asian restaurants in the same building, it must be serving up some quality specials. In this case, its their tofu.
My friend and I shared a seafood pajeon, or seafood scallion pancake to start. But they brought everything on at once so I guess it really wasn’t an appetizer. Pajeon is a pancake with an egg and flour base (there must be some glutinous rice flour because the pancake isn’t dough-like) and a lot of green onions. The seafood added include squid, octopus, clam, and oysters. It’s normally served with a sweet sauce to complement the flavors of the pancake. This particular pajeon at Kaju was the most egg-based one I’ve ever had! The egg made it quite decadent and I enjoyed it thoroughly.
Then I ordered a combo dish of bibimbap (rice, meat, and vegetables mixed in a bowl) and the house special tofu soup. I got the oyster and kimchee tofu soup, spicy. There was so. much. food.
First of all, Korean restaurants serve their dishes with a variety of important side dishes, or banchan. Don’t underestimate these small dishes. They are amazingly delicious, and carefully chosen to go well with your meal and rice. In the picture below, from left to right, our banchan include: chili sauce for the bibimbap, a raw egg (will get to that later), lightly pickled radishes, dried anchovies or eel flakes not sure (? they were so much better than any dried anchovies I’ve had), potato salad, daikon salad, egg pinwheels, cucumbers in garlic/chili sauce, and of course, kimchee.
Whenever I eat a full Korean meal, the banchan are probably one of my favorite things of the meal. Hehe. Now the bibimbap. Very very very satisfying. There were so many ingredients and vegetables that mixed into a flavor wonderland. We have here shittake mushrooms, broccoli, fried egg, seaweed, sesame seeds, bulgogi (marinated beef) slices, zucchini, sprouts, carrots, lettuce, cooked mustard greens, and scallions. Sure, there wasn’t much beef, but I wasn’t even disappointed, because after I added the rice (which was perfectly cooked jasmine rice by the way) and mixed everything together, the dish was held together in perfect harmony. I had a few bites and moved on to my tofu soup because I knew I wanted to savor this.
The tofu came in a steamy hot pot. I was supposed to crack the raw egg into the soup right away when it was served so the egg could be cooked in front of my eyes in the boiling soup. Alas, I forgot. Probably because I was so distracted by how delicious everything had been so far. 😦 Oh well. I thought I could handle spicy, but this dish was spicy to a whole new level. Surprisingly, I could still taste everything.
The tofu was soft and melted on my tongue. The oysters were delicious and cooked very well, and there were plenty of them. The soup was hot and tantalizing on my taste buds. Though I was kind of struggling with the spice, it was very addicting and I ate it with rice to dilute the spice a bit. Suggestion: if you are not sure, go for mild or medium. Oh, on a side note, service was kind of spotty. I was in dire need of some ice water and it took a while for my waitress to fill up my glass.
Kaju was yummy! Try what I tried and I hope you won’t be disappointed.
Eat on!
At a glance:
318 Third Street, Cambridge, MA
Price: $$ (for baked goods)
Stars (out of 5): 3.8
Super cozy spot with lots of heavenly baked goods and pastries to admire and try! I took a lot of pictures so feast with your eyes! They also have a delicious looking breakfast/brunch menu with croques and frittatas and a variety of coffee and drinks. If you are looking for a nice place to catch up with friends, this is the place for you. The baristas are so friendly. One of them totally photobombed my pictures. They have locations all over Boston so be sure to try them out.
They are famous for their nut bars, which they sell in bulk, fruit boxes, and cakes.
They have a special called cinnamon pecan roses. Today, they also had a rose with Halva, a sesame/honey confection.
I got a meringue cloud, a huge piece of crumbly meringue infused with your choice of pecans, Belgian chocolate/coconut, or pistachio rosewater. I chose the Belgian chocolate/coconut. The pastry came on such a pretty plate, just like the whole interior of the cafe. The meringue melted on my tongue and was very delectable. However, I didn’t really taste the coconut because it was very sweet, though I could feel the coconut shreds on my tongue so I know they were there. For $4.50, it was a pretty large piece of meringue and a good sugar pick-me-up. I also wanted to try the plum tart but thought I had enough sugar for the day.
My friend got the poached pear and almond cupcake for $2.50. The pear pieces were huge in the cupcake, and the cupcake was incredibly moist because of the fruit.
The pastries were on the pricey side, but definitely worth a trip. At least, the effort they put into the pastries really shows. Next time, I also want to try a neighboring cafe, Voltage Coffee and Art.
Eat on!
At a glance:
5 Cambridge Place, Cambridge, MA
Price: $ (and a half)
Stars (out of 5): 4.5
So this is the trendy, food-science-lab-esque, vegetarian fast food hub Boston is in love with. No wonder. As soon as you walk in, you can feel the energy and vibrancy of this cafe. The chefs are busy putting together sandwiches behind the open counter but you can see how they are constantly collaborating with each other and conversing with the customers. The customer service is fantastic even though there’s no waitstaff. When I went, there was a lady who stood with a smartphone at the front of the line, introducing the menu to us and answering our questions (since the menu is a little vague and there’s no descriptions). She even gave us a free order of fries with rosemary (featured image) to share. I was confused about the rhubarb agua fresca so she got me a sample right away. Also there was a customer who is blind ordering beside me, and she got a personal waitress for her visit even though it’s a fast food place. Such a friendly group of people!
Clover’s super cool because they build recipes from the community through their weekly food development meetings that anyone can visit. I must make my way to one! The food is fresh, local, and full of feel-good ingredients. Everyday, the menu changes with what’s in that day. I love the “experimental” and eclectic vibe of the cafe. They even have a carbonated water on tap contraption set up!
I ordered the chickpea fritter thanks to Yelp reviews. Their sandwiches are all made from seasonal ingredients so they are not set menu items. They also have plates, which are essentially deconstructed sandwiches without the bread and served with a little salad instead. The chickpea sandwich is a pita pocket filled with a full heaping of falafel, cucumber, very thinly shredded carrots, pickles, hummus, pickled red onion, and pickled cabbage. The sauce on top resembles cusabi but I’m not exactly sure because it wasn’t as pungent and blended in quite well with the vinegary taste of the pickled cabbage and onions.
The sandwich was so hearty and I loved the boldness of the flavors. My only complaint is that it was kind of difficult to eat? So I had to fork it, which was fine, but I kind of prefer my sandwich to fit in my mouth. Also, the way this sandwich was constructed vertically, all the pickled vegetables were on top while the hummus and cucumbers settled to the bottom. So I experienced quite distinct flavors as I worked my way through the sandwich, one with mostly the taste of hummus, the other with mostly the taste of pickled cabbage and falafel. Everything else fell in place in between. Was that intentional? Maybe…
My friend got the Panelle sandwich, which is polenta, feta, and lemon aioli. Sounds yummy!
I finished every last bit of the sandwich. The fries were very interesting. The potatoes they use must be different. They are very starchy and sweet, almost resembling yuca. Or I’m just going crazy. The rosemary and salt added are nice touches to accentuate the flavor. Rosemary is a great herb for starchy vegetables because it’s very aromatic and potent, so I think the match is spot on!
I also ordered the rhubarb agua fresca after trying the sample because it was so good! The rhubarb syrup had such a fresh aftertaste that lingered on your tongue. There was just enough lemon in the drink to add a kick. The aqua fresca just tasted like rosewater dew, which was fantastic.
I was very happy with my trip to Clover! There’s even a vertical herb garden inside the cafe! They are wonderful people doing wonderful things for the food world.
Eat on!
At a glance:
Snacking at home
Price: $
Stars (out of 5): can’t really rate my own food haha, but 4 for convenience and feel-good factor.
I went grocery shopping and bought a few boxes of nuts, vegetables, and other perishables. I figured I can’t eat out all the time this summer. Frankly, I never understood the misconception that college students living by themselves can only live off ramen, or microwave dinners. I bought ingredients that are the same price as a box of ramen, or a few microwave dinners, and here’s what I came up with! (Of course this can be made into 10-15 servings, I just made 1 today.) Going out later with friends too for late night food so this is not a dinner per se, but it is a very fulfilling and wholesome snack after a long day.
Basically, you pop open a tin of Pillsbury crescent roll dough. Each tin can make 4 grande pig in the blanket crusts, so roll out a quarter of a tin into a flat shape. Spread some soft swiss cheese (Laughing Cow is my go to) over the crust. Add arugula and pumpkin seeds for some super nutrients. Then, put half a hot dog link on top! You gotta go for the all beef franks if you want good protein. (I recommend Ballpark premium or Hebrew National or Nathan’s all-beef franks. Hot dogs are my guilty pleasure so I have the types of franks figured out haha.)
When this is done, you just assemble everything and roll it up in a blanket, and bake in a toaster oven or whatever oven you have for 10-15 minutes on about 375F. Check for a golden brown, solid crust and you should be good to go; the ingredients inside the roll don’t need much time at all. To be honest, I’m living in a frat house so I don’t venture into the kitchen. At least I haven’t had the heart to just yet. I’ll just use the microwave and toaster oven for now and see what I can come up with. Oh, I also baked a sweet potato portion along with my pig in a blanket for some added Vitamin A, fiber, and potassium.
And this was the end product!! I was super stoked to eat this all-encompassing snack. We got the veggies, the vitamins, the calcium (from the yogurt), the protein, the fiber, and some carbs. I also recommend going to the grocery store and getting some boxes of nuts and make your own trail mix. My favorite combination: banana chips, chocolate, almonds, corn nuts, and pumpkin seeds.
For dessert I put honey on my baked sweet potato and also had more swiss cheese haha. Trust me, putting honey on your sweet potato is the way to go. It’s very decadent.
Next time I’m going to try a different type of cheese in my crescent roll and maybe add more ingredients. I feel like a dried fruit would be yummy as well.
Also, here is a mixed drink recipe. It brings tropics and summer to you in a cup. Captain Morgan white rum, sparkling limeade (the sparkling fizziness is very important), and orange pineapple mango juice in 1:2:4 ratio. On point for a casual, brunch-y drink.
Eat on!
At a glance:
1246 Mass Ave, Boston, MA
Price: $$
Stars (out of 5): 4.8
A good burger speaks to the soul. And Bartley’s burgers are famous around town. Since the 1960s, they’ve been grilling out delicious burgers for visitors and residents of Harvard Square. They are also quite famous for their onion rings and frappes, which they insist are quite different from a milkshake or anything else. The restaurant’s wacky atmosphere with bumper stickers, posters, and logos covering the walls fits perfectly with its hilarious, snarky, pop-culture references filled menu. Please look at the menu carefully and appreciate the humor. Props for trying to entertain the customer from the point when they sit down. Beware, they are cash only. I actually don’t carry cash around, so thank goodness my friend was there to spot me. Oops.
The service was fast and efficient. They certainly know how to get the job done. Granted, it was a week night so they weren’t very busy. I got the Fiscal Cliff burger, which has essentially a bleu cheese salad on top. My friend got the School of Music burger, which is topped high with an herby boursin cheese spread, grilled mushrooms, and grilled onions. Both were masterworks.
A medium-cooked burger had the perfect amount of red and was very juicy. The 7 oz of beef was easily devoured. The toppings didn’t overpower the meat but rather enhanced the flavors. The balsamic vinegar in my burger accentuated the umami of the meat quite well. Then we attacked the onion rings and thick-cut sweet potato fries piled high next to our burgers. They weren’t kidding, these were some of the best onion rings/sweet potato fries I’ve had! I like how the onion rings are not heavily battered nor deep fried until the coating is the only thing you taste. These resemble more of a tempura style vegetable.
After dinner, we were so full that we couldn’t get the frappe we originally intended on getting. Next time though! They have so many great frappe flavors it would be a shame not to try one. I highly recommend this burger place! It lives up to its fame quite nicely.
***
After walking around Harvard Square for a while to burn off the dinner, I did stop by Starbucks to try their new frappes. Their 6 new flavors for a limited time are: lemon bar, cotton candy, red velvet, caramel cocoa cluster, cupcake, and cinnamon roll. I tried the lemon bar frappe, which is lemon syrup in a cream-based frappe with crunch caramel clusters on top. The barista was super nice and offered me a chocolate wafer cookie straw. Biting into the cookie straw while sipping the cool lemon bar blended beverage from it was magical. The drink gets a 10/10 I would say. The lemon flavor was really there but not too sour. I also love how this drink is less sweet than normal Starbucks frappes. I guess I’ll start changing my go-to green tea frappe for this.
Also, I just blogged about a Starbucks drink… Ok then.
Well, eat on! Haha.
At a glance:
829 Boylston Street, Boston, MA
Price: $$
Stars (out of 5): 4
Thai food is my comfort food. I love all the flavors and vegetables and the spice. Thai restaurants also have the most creative appetizers and desserts. So of course, in Boston, I had to find my go-to Thai restaurant. Chilli Duck could just be the one; the food is spot on.
Walking along Boylston Street, you’ll see restaurants and bars lining up the street on either side. But take care not to miss this beautifully decorated, subterranean restaurant. I got carry out because I wanted to eat at the beautiful courtyard (below) of the Boston Public Library, which is just 5 minutes away.
I ordered the crazy rolls and pad thai with chicken and shrimp. My rule of thumb is that the first time I go to a Thai restaurant, I try the pad thai. The second time, I get the drunken noodles. Yes it’s a bit idiosyncratic but that’s just how I roll. The crazy rolls were crazy good! It’s a tempura roll with shrimp, lettuce, basil, carrots, cucumber, vermicelli rice noodles, and a light drizzle of peanut sauce. It tasted like summer with a crunch. The mix of flavors perfectly captured what I love so much about Thai cuisine. The pad thai was very much a comfort food. The noodles were perfectly cooked but the dish was skimping on the ingredients. If it had a bit more sprouts, peanuts, and shrimp, it would be even better.
I also enjoyed a Mango Passion Fruit Coolata from Dunkin’ Donuts out on Copley Square, which overlooks the library. (I know, DD is getting quite creative with their drinks. So is Starbucks! I’ll talk about that more in my next post.) I would describe the drink as a blend of a Rita’s Italian Ice, a 7-11 slushie, and a box of sugar. Whatever, it was very thirst quenching and tropical.
Eat on!
At a glance:
8 Tyler Street, Boston, MA
Price: $
Stars (out of 5): 3.5 for drinks
A super chic contemporary tea house to visit after dinner. They have a variety of drinks from smoothies to bubble tea, the tea varieties include classic tapioca bubbles, exploding juice bubbles, aloe bubbles, and grassjelly bubbles. They also serve a few Japanese snacks and small dishes, which we did not try.
I recommend trying their specialty drinks, which is kind of like bubble tea mixology galore. Because we just had a heavy meal, we didn’t want a milk based tea, but went for the fruity flavors instead! I got the Hulk, which is kiwi, green apple, and lychee syrup with a green tea base. There’s plenty of aloe vera jelly on the bottom to add some refreshment. My friend got the First Love, which is red guava and passion fruit with a red tea base. Mine was sweeter than hers, but her flavors were bold on the taste buds.
Only complaint was the amount of ice that watered down the drink after a while.
Update: we came back a second time and got a tropical twister tea and a mango smoothie, respectively. The tropical twister (mango, pineapple, passion fruit with lychee jelly) was very artificial tasting but refreshing. Kind of like a tropical Kool-Aid? I couldn’t detect what tea base they used because the tea flavor was very minimal. Maybe it was a touch of black tea. The mango smoothie was nice and creamy, but the aloe jelly was a bit aromatic, like perfume? Whether that’s good or bad, I think is a personal preference.
Eat on!
At a glance:
34 Oxford Street, Boston, MA.
Price: $$
Stars (out of 5): 3.8
If you are looking for authentic Chinese and Taiwanese cuisine, this is the place to be. They are also open until 1 am daily so definitely a nice place for late night indulging of your taste buds. This is my third time coming to this pretty small cafe that sits about 20 parties at a time. The line on weekends can be very long so coming on a week night this time was a good decision.
For 2 people, I recommend getting a light fare/appetizer, a meat dish, and a vegetarian dish. For the light fare, my go-to is the soup dumplings. I’ve heard their scallion pancakes are quite good too.
Their soup dumplings are really tender and have the just right skin to filling ratio. The minced pork inside is rich (a little on the greasy side but hey, I only eat these occasionally) and the soup is flavorful. I eat soup dumplings by getting a little bit of soy sauce on my spoon, then picking up the top of the dumpling gingerly with my chopsticks while scooping the bottom onto my spoon with soy sauce. Then I nip a little hole in the skin so the soup can flow out at the perfect rate. Ideally, you would want to drink a little of the soup/soy sauce mixture while eating the dumpling. Yeah. Kind of an acquired skill. I’m still failing all the time. The skin is very fragile at the bottom and can stick a little to the paper in the basket. That’s when the skin can break and all the soup will flow out. At this point, you can’t do anything but to observe this sad moment and eat the remnants of the dumpling, which is still heavenly even without the soup. Haha.
We also ordered the Sweet and Sour Chicken Chunks. The chicken is lightly battered and crispy (I recall it being a little more crispy the last time I came) and sauteed with green peppers and onions. The sauce is a very distinct sweet that’s not overpowering. This is probably my favorite dish in the entire Chinese cuisine. Though this sounds like the stereotypical dish you get at Americanized Chinese restaurants, trust me, it’s very different. But my mom still makes fun of me all the time for being super lame.
We also got mustard greens sauteed with garlic. It was quite refreshing against all the meaty dishes. The garlic mixed with the juices of the greens had the perfect kick to it.
Overall, we were very satisfied, and definitely full after the meal. The dishes came out fast and it was a good fix for 2 hungry girls who had the craving for soup dumplings.
Eat on!
(Eats) By the Esplanade 