My friend actually made this Indian yogurt drink for me. It was so easy and simple, but delicious and healthy. What you need though is a personal blender, or Nutri bullet, or Magic bullet…Take 2 to 3 large scoops of nonfat plain Greek yogurt based on your preference of creaminess for the lassi.
Add 2 to 3 tablespoons of mango pulp, which you can buy at a store like Trader Joe’s, based on your personal preference of how fruity you want the drink to be.
Add water and/or ice to dilute the drink based on your preferences. Blend in the magical blender.
Add honey and/or sugar to taste. Voila. As you can imagine, you can change this up and add different flavored yogurt, spices, and/or fruit, or even a little magic juice. 😉
This is a very annoying and strange food habit I’ve developed, but I don’t normally eat/enjoy eating cupcakes. And when I do eat a cupcake, I only eat the icing. Unless the cupcake is really moist or delicious. But since I ate every crumb of the cupcake I got at Georgetown Cupcake, I think this cupcake store has won me over.
all the pink to-go boxesrows and rows of cupcakes
In addition to cupcakes, they have an extensive tea and coffee menu, which I did not know about until I entered the store.
For $3, you can choose any of the delicious cupcakes on today’s flavor list. I was looking for lavender early grey! But alas, they didn’t have it when I went. I heard every day on Twitter they post a flavor of the day. And if you go to the store and name that flavor, you automatically get a free cupcake? Well isn’t that convenient 😉 I’m also in love with the boxes they put the cupcakes in. Pastels and pinks, what can go wrong?
So I got a gluten-free strawberry lava fudge cupcake for myself and a vanilla chocolate for my friend. My diet is not gluten-free, but the regular cupcake didn’t have the lava version. So…
The frosting with strawberry candy bits was fluffy (definitely confectioners’ sugar and other fine sugars involved instead of just granulated), creamy, and not too sweet. That was key, because the lava fudge inside the cupcake was very, very sweet and decadent. The cupcake itself was moist and chocolatey. The fudge combined with the cupcake morsels made the cupcake easy to finish.
Food truck location varies, they have several in-store locations around Boston as well.
Price: $
Stars (out of 5): 4.5
After I got out of class, I waited for 20 minutes for the Bon Me food truck to open their window. I don’t know why I did that, it wasn’t that I heard of Bon Me before (though afterwards, I yelped them and the ratings were quite good so they are very popular) or that I was craving Vietnamese sandwiches/bowls, I was just curious. So I sat there and waited and thought: “this better be good.” And it was. Thank goodness.
The menu is not extensive at all. You can choose any type of dish and add a regular or special filling (basically your choice of protein). But for the low price, they highlight the art of Vietnamese fusion in their food and do what they do quite well. The name: Bon Me, is a play off the Vietnamese word; bhan mi, meaning bread. On the streets of Vietnam, bhan mi like baguettes are stuffed with vegetables, meats, eggs, and even ice cream, to make a Vietnamese sandwich. That concept was brought over to the U.S and incorporated into the bold, unique fusion world. Bon Me serves up non-traditional sandwiches, bowls, noodles, and salads with Vietnamese-inspired cuisine and also cool drinks like Thai basil limeade and spicy ginger lemonade.
After much debate between the delicious looking bowl and the sandwich, I got a miso-braised pulled pork sandwich and a deviled tea egg. The total? $8.50. That is dirt cheap for Boston food. Ok I must say the egg was expensive. $2.50 for one, single egg? Well, at least it was a good egg.
The boiled egg had a fleeting hint of tea, as you can tell by the marbled surface of the egg. (To make tea eggs, the general concept is to hard boil eggs in a tea-based broth.) The yolk was creamy and not dry at all, well done! This variation of deviled egg could not be simpler. The yolk wasn’t even dug up and mixed with mayo or mustard. The mayo was literally dolloped on top of the yolk and paprika was lightly sprinkled over the egg. And lastly, scallion bits topped off the mayo. Genius. The mayo had a kick to it so I think it might’ve been chipotle mayo. I also added a bit of Sriracha to complement the scallion bits.
Let’s now deconstruct the bhan mi sandwich. The baguette was toasted and super crunchy and tasty. The miso-braised pork was seasoned well with black pepper and garlic, but a bit dry. This could be due to the fact that the pulled pork was mostly lean, I wish there were a few bits of fatty meat in there. But no matter, because the meat to veggies ratio was perfect, and the veggies made the whole sandwich pop. The veggies: red onion, daikon, cucumber, carrots, and cilantro, were thinly shredded and pickled with a lightly briny and tangy sauce. Then, a housemade spicy mayo was the right on ingredient to bring the meat and pickled veggies together. Thinking about those pickled vegetables and the cilantro is making me want another sandwich right now. It was fantastic and I couldn’t stop eating it!
it was a very big and filling sandwich
Pro tip: if you like Sriracha, definitely try it on your sandwich because it will make the meat more moist and delicious.
Ok, so BBC. I’ve heard a lot of great things and have been craving a juicy burger recently so this is a long-awaited moment. Their toppings are bizarre, out of this world, unique, but most importantly, paired well with the burgers. Go with friends so you can see everyone’s crazy toppings atop their voluminous patties. Let’s talk about “The King” that has peanut butter, bacon, fried bananas, and cinnamon and sugar. Or the “420” that has everything fried you can ever imagine including mozz sticks, fried mac’n’cheese, onion rings, and French fries. Or the “Sophie” that has candied walnuts and goat cheese (the sophistication of the burger matches the name). Or the “Vermonster” that has sautéed granny smith apples and maple mayo. Or the “Artery Clogger” that has a beer battered and deep fried patty, drenched with bacon and BBQ sauce. Or the “Bahama Mama” that is in fact a conch burger with jerk mayo. For a complete list of the awesome burgers, see the menu snapshots below. No wonder they’ve been featured on Food Network, Guy Fieri’s Triple D show, Rachael Ray, Phantom Gourmet, Boston magazine, the Boston Globe, and of course, Zagat. We had to wait 20 min to be seated, but it was well worth it. We even caught a student recital at Berklee while we were waiting!
They also have a cool frappe menu featuring bacon, nutella, custard, and all that good stuff. We put in an order of “mini mac-ancini” appetizer (fried homemade mac’n’ cheese ball) right away. Hello, calories. I took forever deciding what kind of burger to get. And eventually I settled on the Hot Mess (the burger featured on Rachel Ray), while my friends ordered the Killer Bee, Green Monstah, and the Rundown, respectively. Another friend also got spicy Pterodactyl boneless wings; the pterodactyl sauce is a teriyaki and BBQ glaze.
Great, let’s start looking at some of these burgers. But first, the mac’n’cheese balls were divine. Piping hot and nicely battered, with a kickin’ marinara sauce. The macaroni inside was still cheesy and gooey, but the shell outside was crunchy and crisp.
For a Tuesday evening, the place was packed. Though they were busy, all of our burgers came up fast.
the Killer Bee with bacon, beer battered onion rings, honey bbq sauce, and American cheesethe “Run Down” with fried pickles, potato sticks, horseradish sauce, and your typical lettuce, tomato, and cheesethe “Green Monstah” with homemade guac, pico de gallo, and cheddar jack cheese
All my friends praised their burgers but lamented that the portions were too big to finish. Well, I had no problem finishing my “Hot Mess” burger with diced pickles, red onion, jalapeno, bacon, shredded lettuce, homemade thousand island dressing, sweet potato fries, and American cheese. Basically, I had a nice, flavorful salad on top of my burger. And then sweet potato fries! Haha. I also added on a side of their homemade bahama mama mango salsa and it was amazing.
The sweet and tangy mango salsa went well with the kick of the jalapeno, while the thousand island dressing and the sweet potato fries became a match made in heaven. The meat itself was cooked well for medium, with just the right amount of red and grilled smokiness, but a bit dry. I wanted a more juicy burger.
In terms of the bun and sides. The bun was toasted and oiled, which made it all nice and buttery. The house fried potato chips had a great crunch, but the baked beans and creamy coleslaw were a bit heavy to pair with the huge burger.
And lastly, the spicy pterodactyl wings. Though not spicy at all, the glaze was sweet, smoky, and tangy all at once, while the chicken was juicy and all white meat. The bleu cheese dressing was quite creamy. I had no grievances.
I devoured my burger bite after bite. After the meal I was practically groggy from such a heavy, but satisfying burger. Boston Burger Company, you did not disappoint.
What J.P Licks brought me was not just ice cream, but happiness and memories of childhood. It was delicious, creamy, smooth, and consistent ice cream. I got two flavors in a cup: butter almond and cookies’n’cream cheesecake. For an extra dollar or so, you can add toppings, but I didn’t want to because I needed to taste the ice cream by itself. It was a decadent treat on a hot summer day.
The ice cream was very solid and cool in texture, but not frozen hard. So there was no runny cream that turns warm under the sun business, which I think is just yucky. The layers of Oreos swirled into the cheesecake flavored ice cream was a great complement. The butter almond tasted like a butter cookie, with loads of real almonds to add some crunch. They also serve coffee and other frozen treats like sundaes and ice cream sandwiches. Did I mention the entire ice cream shop smelled like sweet cream? It was heavenly.
I got pretty hungry touring around Berklee School of Music, so I ventured into Dumpling Palace by myself at the risk of getting judged for eating Chinese food by myself. Oh well, my stomach’s satisfaction comes first, always. It’s not that I don’t enjoy eating by myself, it’s that Chinese cuisine is mostly a family style one that intends for dishes to be shared among people. Immediately when I walked into the restaurant, I loved the atmosphere. Dumpling Palace is bright, open, and modern, not typical for a traditional Chinese restaurant. The menu is very authentic and appealing to someone who grew up eating traditional Chinese food, but contains Americanized dishes as well to appeal to a broader clientele. Though dumplings are their specialty, and they have many different varieties of dumplings: steamed, fried, buns, shumai, all of which come in an assortment of fillings, their noodles and rice dishes sound quite delicious as well.
The service was superb. The waiters were attentive and got my orders on my table within 10 minutes. I got a small dish of beef with tendons and tripe to start, then seafood chow-fun and also a basket of crab soup dumplings. The beef with tendons and tripe was very well-seasoned, and I could tell the meat was quality and fresh. It was lightly spicy but not nearly as spicy as this dish should be, so that was a bummer. The roasted peanuts, chili flakes, and anise on top of the beef were a nice touch. Loved the bits of cilantro too! Tendons and tripe are both very chewy types of offal, but because tripe is found in the stomach, it’s much more light and has more surface area. Eating tripe is like eating a cold piece of edible sponge with a chewy surface texture. Yeah it doesn’t sound very appealing does it? But how would you know if you never try. It’s actually really refreshing.
a closer look at the tendons and tripe
The seafood chow-fun was under-seasoned and leaned towards the oily side. The flat rice noodles were smooth on the tongue and maintained their chewiness, the seafood was cooked well and there was a lot of it! I didn’t quite enjoy the large pieces of leek lurking around the noodles. The leek tasted too raw and wasn’t incorporated into the dish as an aromatic flavor enhancer, but instead jarred my taste buds. Sprouts were nicely sautéed.
And my favorite dish of the night was the crab soup dumplings. These soup dumplings were not greasy, which is kind of a miracle in that alone, and very flavorful. The crabmeat mixed with the minced pork made the whole flavor profile a lot more interesting. The broth inside after you poke open the thin dumpling skin was delightfully salty and hearty.
the beautifulness inside is not to be underestimated
Did I mention the whole time I was eating, the Harry Potter soundtrack was playing?
Overall, a very traditional meal with very enjoyable food. They are open every single day from 11 am to 3am in the morning, bless them. For the Berklee kids who crave dumplings after some late night composition and practicing, you are in luck.
Minimalist coffee bar with a modern, techy feel. The steampunk coffee comes out of these iPad-operated coffee machines. The wi-fi is supposed to be hella fast but when I went, it was barely working.
very cool steampunk coffee
I got a hot chai with chocolate. It was quite rich, the chai was good, but the shot of chocolate made it bitter. Maybe just get the chai by itself. And what happened to my latte art :*( ? I worked there for a little bit because I had such a nice view of Newbury Street from where I was sitting
view onto Newbury
I heard great things about the bacon gruyere scone so decided to splurge on one. I’m sorry to say it was kind of disappointing 😦 The bacon tasted old. And the gruyere was not good with the stale tasting bacon. The scone itself was too dry and hard. Maybe I just got a bad one of the batch, but it didn’t taste freshly baked at all.
I’m willing to give them another shot though! The chai really was quite good. And the steampunk coffee seems so exciting!
another one of my microwave hacks that you can do anywhere there’s a microwave. For me, that’s work.
Price: $
Stars (out of 5): 5 for convenience
Take a sweet potato, wash it for cleanliness, and wrap in a paper towel. Go to the microwave, hit the setting for “Potato.” One potato should be 4-8 minutes, depending on the power of your microwave. After your sweet potato is cooked, half it with a butter knife immediately down the middle. Add a slice, or 2, or 3 🙂 of brie. Close the two halves like you are making a blanket for your brie. Indeed you are trying to make the brie all warm and gooey. Open up the 2 halves and lightly sprinkle cinnamon on top!
the microwave is great for cooking sweet potatoes. Look at how easily the skin comes off
There you go. Easy snack, or breakfast, or dessert, or whatever you deem a sweet potato to be.
Ah El Pelón Taqueria, how I’ve missed you! I came to this Mexican tacos and burritos joint twice before when I stopped in Boston for a short while. Imagine my excitement when my friends and I found this place close to the movie theatre where we watched the most recent Pixar animation and Disney film: Inside Out (great movie by the way, gotta give Disney credit for making attempts to address mental health and bring about social awareness regarding teenagers’ internal struggles).
a caricature of the hairless hero, who looks like the boss from their website haha
Pelón in Spanish literally means hairless (pelo being hair). The interior décor is as quaint as the eatery’s name. There are pictures of families and customers lining the walls. And the place has little to no room to sit, but plenty of outdoor picnic tables for a nice day!
the wallmore wall decorations
Their menu is not large, but every item is distinctly authentic, cheap, and DELICIOUS. Seriously, I would not keep coming back to the same place for Mexican if the food were not on point.
the entire menu fits on this tiny brochure
In addition to the regular menu, they have the daily specials written on small chalkboards. I made sure to try them.
Ok. The food. The food is hearty, quick, and everything you want Mexican food to be: fresh, flavorful, guac-filled, and heartwarming. The tacos caramelos under tacos de la casa (house-special tacos) are my go-to. For $8, you get two overloaded soft shell tacos filled with amazingly juicy and plump carne asada (grilled steak), fresh guacamole, hot sauce, melted cheese, and salsa fresca. I like spicy food so the hot sauce was not hot enough for me, but it was homemade and packed with boldness. The juices from the steak mixed with the melted jack cheese was so decadent, and complemented well by the fresh salsa fresca and guac that brought me to a sea shore. Lastly, the double-tortilla was warm and inviting as I sunk my teeth into the meaty umami of the steak. The wedge of lime on the side is a perfect kick to add to the whole ensemble if you are so inclined.
And because I love this place so much, I also ordered a daily special, which was the Sonoran hot dog. Hot dog wrapped in bacon, topped with more bacon, onions, diced tomatoes, mustard/mayo/ketchup, and guac, all on a grilled bun? Yes please. I admit, this hot dog is not for everyone. I personally normally stick to just relish and/or mustard on my hot dogs, so I was quite surprised at my decision to get this, especially since it has ketchup. (Ketchup on hot dogs is like… ummm what? I mean the hot dog is already quite a sweet meat with such a weird flavor profile… but to each his own, right? Who am I to commentate on other people’s condiment options.)
fully loaded Sonoran hot dog
Ok back to the Sonoran hot dog. It was delicious! Flaws: a little salty, the hot dog was floury, and definitely I didn’t enjoy the mayo nor the ketchup, but mixed with the mustard, they were bearable. The bacon had a smoky flavor and the tomatoes and onions were nice condiments. The toasted bun sealed the deal for me. Nicely done.
My friends got the carnitas (braised, shredded pork) burrito and the tacos Americanos (grilled chicken instead of steak), respectively. Both enjoyed their meals and commented on the nice mix of flavors and the heartiness.
a HUGE carnitas burritotacos Americanos with lettuce
For dessert, I had a coconut flan. Yeah I know, I pretty much tried everything. The flan was not as smooth as I had hoped. In fact, there were a lot of curdles in there. Maybe that was what authentic Mexican flan should be? Or maybe it was overcooked? I loved the shredded coconut hidden in there, and the caramel coconut syrup was not overpowering but instead subtly sweet, subtly nutty. Very satisfying.
coconut flan
Also, try the fish tacos. They will change your life for a moment while you are eating them. At least they did for me.
(Eats) By the Esplanade 