Written 10/4/07:
I was in Boston for a couple days and it's like a nice, mini vacation. Far enough from NYC, but close enough where going home doesn't mean having to go to a horrible airport and wait 4 plus hours for who knows what.
I got off work on Sunday morning around 2 a.m. Went home to shower and pack a bit...slept a good 45 minutes and decided to just head down to the Lucky Star bus stop in Chinatown around 5:30 a.m. to catch the 7 a.m. ride to Boston. It was weird being out in my neighborhood while there was almost light coming out. Eery is the best word to describe it. Some bakeries and coffee shops are already bustling with workers but at some streets the absolute silence was deafening. I made it the stop 30 minutes ahead of departure. A real rarity for me as I have ALWAYS made a mad dash to the stop 2 minutes before departure time or 2 minutes after the scheduled time. I slept the entire bus ride through rather uncomfortably with my neck strained on both sides. Ugh. However, to my surprise, one jolt on the bus made me wake suddenly and pull out my earphones to find that we had arrived...20 minutes early. Nice! I'm no newbie to Boston as I've visited on countless occasions so I took the T to Central to meet Dan for lunch. Wow, it was early enough to get lunch. We went to Daedalus in Harvard Square and it was so-so. Nice ambiance but to my great sadness, his poached eggs in the Eggs Benedict were mostly cooked through...really the utmost worst you could do to Eggs Benedict. I got the crab sandwich which was ok, seeing as it was fried so you could barely taste much of anything. Blahblahblah. Don't want to waste space rambling even more...
We ended up at Toscanini's, the famous ice cream place in Boston, where it took us both a long while to decide what to get. The board had like 15-20 flavors that had the classics and the creative. So we asked the woman behind the counter, who ended up giving us a sample of like 6 flavors she liked most. We tried the Mint Chip, which we both muttered "toothpaste" under our breaths. Had the "hazelnut" but it just taste like sweet cream colored brown. BlahBlahBlah...other flavors. And then we hit upon Cocoa Pudding with Ginger Snap Cookies. Let me tell you it was like winning Bingo! It was fabulous! Tons of cocoa flavor as if you were running your tongue over the smooth, silkiness of real, rich chocolate pudding. The Ginger Snaps were such a pleasant surprise. Large chunks of what tasted like gingerbread soaked in a bit of chocolate paired so well with the cocoa ice cream. The next time I go I will do as I always do: order the same flavor that I know I will like. Why try the other 15 when you know which one you really like already? Many would disagree with me but sorry, this is non-negotiable. In fact, I could just inhale that flavor! Anyhow, sadly no picture as I did not have my camera with me. Perhaps my next visit I'll make another post on the ice cream with photo included. We also opted for a Cappuccino and a Vanilla Hot Chocolate. I'd say the drinks were tasty, but don't go to Toscanini's without the intent of ordering ice cream even if you think it's much too cold out...their ice cream really hits the spot when you find your true flavor. Yes, it's almost like finding the love of your life.
I can't possibly write EVERYTHING I ate in Boston. This one entry would be even more tiresome to read. However, after Toscanini's, I met Jan at her lab at the Charles MGH stop. My favorite ride is from I believe Kendall to Charles MGH where you can see the water and sailboats. We walked to North End for Mike's Pastry, a place really well-known for their cannolis. They are quite delicious as I had them I believe earlier this year, but the crowds at this place are a little intimidating. Instead of stopping here again, we went into an adorable cafe called Vittoria Cafe for coffee gelato and a sfogliatele, an Italian pastry that translates to "many leaves/layers" because well, it's made of many flaky layers that enrobed a cake-like center. The "cake" center was almost like a the soft part of a crumpet that taste like it was flavored with almond paste and hints of orange. Eh, sorry no photo but it did almost fly off the plate because of my extremely unskilled eating techniques. Gelato: Kind of tasted like brown-colored sweet cream like the hazelnut ice cream at Toscanini's. But it kind of grew on us so we continued to eat it. The sfogliatelle...it was nice. Authentic to me probably because I'd never had one in or from Italy.
Ok, blahblahblah...had dinner. Make it quick! Make it quick, you say? Ok...
F
or my last meal before heading back to NYC, Dan took me to a place called Miracle of Science. Ah, what a totally appropriate restaurant name for the area! The geekyness of it makes me smile! Anyhow, it wasn't that the food was amazing, but rather how simple the menu was AND it was written like a periodic table. I ordered the Cs...for Chicken Sandwich and Dan got the Ms (I think) for the Mesclun Salad (but added 
chicken to it as you can see above). The food was straightforward. You got what you ordered. The chicken in my sandwich was juicy, thin and tasty (at left) and it came with a spicy mango chipotle sauce that gave it a nice extra kick. The homefries were addicting and I'd go back just for those as they were perfectly cooked chunky, red-skin potatoes with just the right amount of seasoning. I'd say the word "minimalist" best describes the place. But that in no way means the decor was ugly. Everything was unpretentious...something quite lovely when many places these days go all out to impress diners with crazy things like life-size plants, giant Buddhas or indoor waterfalls.Lesson of the day: Boston is definitely a place to be!
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