Lolia "the S stands for Smurf" S.'s Profile

I've never had any desire to go to Legal Seafood but LTK was close to the hotel and my colleagues were in the mood for seafood. The place feels like a dark sports bar with flatscreen TVs.  It's very dark inside.  The menu tries to be innovative with seasonal comfort food (e.g., mac & cheese with truffled lobster) but I think it's trying too hard.  Entrees are a little under $20 on average.

Enjoyed the complimentary soft, warm rolls with hummus.

* Tuna burger ($12.95) with chili sambal, roasted pepper aioli.  The burger came with a pile of really awful, super overfried potato chips that tasted like oily, dried out, crispy cardboard.  The cucumber slices had been seasoned and would have been better plain because they just didn't taste good. The slaw had little flavor.  The tuna burger was thick and juicy with ground tuna.  It had many different flavors but the flavors weren't complementary.  The bun was nice (fluffy, buttery, brioche, toasted) but the bottom of the bun was soggy.

They were very accommodating with special requests/substitutions.  The wood grilled steak tips with mashed potatoes looked boring.  The paella portion looked small.  The service was on the slow side though friendly.

Fro-yo girl here.  Tuttimelon is open!  The soft opening is today (11/20).  Come back tomorrow for the grand opening. The first 50 people will receive a special Tuttimelon door prize (turned out to be t-shirts).  

FREE FRO-YO from 10 AM - 1 PM.  

Swirl your fro-yo at Tuttimelon Stoneridge.

Update (11/21):  Congratulations to the Tuttimelon family on your new self-serve location.  Thanks for letting me (and Tuttimelon Bear) in early and for the adorable blue I Heart Tuttimelon t-shirt!

The details: 38 cents an ounce, 4 machines, 15 dry toppings, space for 12 wet toppings, a case filled with gelato and sorbet (not self-serve).  They have so many mini size toppings like Reese's Pieces, M&Ms, yogurt chips, chocolate chips - so cute.  The wet toppings included pomegranate seeds, mango stars, lychee, lychee jelly, strawberries, kiwi, mango and cheesecake bits.  They had plain mochi (no flavored mochi).  Toppings were labeled.

It definitely looks like a Tuttimelon with the white wavy wall that glows, the orange brick tile, the pretty hanging white globes and the orange/white chairs.  They've also added new elements: a glowing wavy counter and some new stools (don't lean back).  The glowing counter is very striking.

Flavors of the day:
* Chocolate (sugar free)
* Vanilla
* Guava tart: I don't really like guava but this was good, tasted natural, creamy, thick, flavorful
* Mango tart: Sweet and juicy, really nice
* Coconut tart
* Taro tart
* Pomegranate tart: Still my favorite, love how it's extra tart, great texture too, thick and dense, not too creamy, not too icy
* Original tart: A little too cold today but the taste is truly tuttilicious, refreshing, unique Tuttimelon taste, nice and tart

I wonder who won the Kelly Clarkson tickets?

You know you love me.  X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

While Boston suffers from a lack of fro-yo shops, Dunkin Donuts is everywhere, including the airport and the Boston Convention Center.  You're walking by their donuts constantly.

I wandered into one across the street from Boston Common.  It was a spacious location with muffins, bagels (many varieties), breakfast sandwiches, and wraps.  And donuts.  They had traditional doughnuts but also different ones like butternut (which I was told has caramel and is very dry according to an employee) and pumpkin.  Donuts are 95 cents.

They had pumpkin muffins, pumpkin lattes and pumpkin donuts.

* Pumpkin donut: I like how the glaze was light, not sticky and very thin.  The inside was unnaturally bright orange.  It was tasty.  Tender, like a spice cake, sweet.  
* Coffee: Scalding, extra, extra hot.  It's no Peet's but it's good enough with donuts.

The shop didn't have a strong doughnut smell and you'll probably never run into a warm donut at DD (who knows where the donuts are actually fried).

At this location, customers can only sit for 20 minutes.  The place was busy, with a constant flow of people coming in for donuts.

Located inside a sketchy indoor mall (more like a badly lit, single corridor with a cell phone stall, smoke show and cheap Chinese stall), Falafel King is a popular food stall close to Downtown Crossing.  The two vertical spits were empty on Saturday.  Perhaps there are better days to go?  I wanted my shawerma to be carved/shaved off to order.  The menu includes falafel, kebabs, shawerma plates and wraps, etc.

Everyone seems to get a free falafel patty as soon as it's their turn to order.  That was nice of them.  The falafel was dense, tender on the inside, and dark brown and crispy on the outside.  I'm not the falafel expert that Dan B. is though.

I had the chicken shawerma plate ($6.95).  They give you a ton of food so it's definitely a good value: tabbouli, hummus, cucumbers, lettuce, pilaf, 1 falafel patty, chicken and half a pita.  The pita was paper thin and straight out of a plastic bag.  Disappointing.  The chicken pieces were dry with little flavor.  Very disappointing.  The pilaf was moist and perhaps the best thing on the plate (or the falafel patty).  The tabbouli was very sour.  The hummus was average.  The super watery hot sauce wasn't spicy but it was sour too (vinegar).

There isn't any seating but there are some dirty looking counters inside. Technically there is one stool.

This was my first Chilean sandwich.  It reminded me of a torta.  The Chilean sandwich features homemade bread (soft with pin pricks, similar to a foccacia), your choice of meat (beef, chicken or both, grilled or BBQ) steamed green beans (interesting, I didn't mind having them in the sandwich), Muenster cheese (strange that they use Muenster cheese), sliced tomatoes, creamy avocado spread (nice), secret hot sauce (green - probably has jalapenos), salt and pepper.  They do have a vegetarian version of their famous sandwich.

The line during lunch was really long but moved quickly.  This will give you plenty of time to stare at the hanging menu board.  There aren't that many options: sandwiches, salad, soup, sides, and desserts.  They have a breakfast menu.  The sandwich comes in two sizes.  You order and pay first and then give the receipt to the person behind the counter (pick up your soda on the way to the counter).  This is where you can customize your sandwich by telling them what to leave out.

At least three people assemble your sandwich.
Person 1: Puts meat on bread
Person 2: Puts cheese on bread, applies avocado spread and spicy sauce
Person 3: Puts green beans on, sprinkles with salt and pepper

* Grilled chicken & beef (combo sandwich, small $7.50, large $8.50): The big soft round bread was nice though not amazing.  The meat is sliced into thinner pieces.  The chicken was tender but plain.  The beef was chewy and didn't taste like quality beef.  I noticed that many people ordered the BBQ chicken sandwich - that seems like a better idea.  I didn't realize the chicken would be so plain.  I liked the veggies, avocado spread and the spicy secret sauce.  

I wish the sandwich were warmer (the cheese didn't melt).  If it weren't for the size and homemade bread, I'd give this sandwich three stars.  Get the small - it's huge.  

It has a chain feeling inside (not much character).  The wrapper that the sandwich comes in has their story (the story of the sandwich).  They accept fax orders and deliver.

Fro-yo girl here.  I've been dreaming about going to BerryLine for years.  I think I fell in love with BL when I saw the first pictures of the store (it's adorable) and then I heard about their unique flavors like banana, Nutella, pear almond, etc.  You can't get those flavors elsewhere.  The flavors of the day are listed on their website and each location (they have three) has different flavors.

Fro-yo flavors of the day:
* Original tart: very good, full of flavor, tastes like real yogurt, not too icy/not too creamy, sweet after taste, not that tart
* Apple cinnamon tart: Really good, like apple pie only tart and yogurt like, not that tart
* Pumpkin pie tart: Sweeter and creamier than the other two flavors, tastes real - real yogurt, real pumpkin

Fro-yo prices:
* S ($2.75)/ M ($3.40)/ L ($4.90)

The store looks like a tiny house and the walls are decorated with Halloween artwork.  Very cute.  They had about 18 toppings: nuts, chips, granola, cereal, candy.  They didn't have as much fresh fruit (no pom seeds) and the strawberries looked like they'd been cut hours ago...but this is Boston where fro-yo options are limited and I'm thinking of CA fro-yo shops.

I asked for my fro-yo side by side (in fact I said I definitely wanted it side by side) but I received a swirl...and they didn't put much in the cup.  The plain mochi tasted homemade (chewy and soft), and their flavors are really good, so that made up for the stingy portion of fro-yo.

I think they have a bonus card but they didn't offer one to me. They were friendly though.  The fro-yo comes in a boring cup.  It's not plain but it's brown with vertical lines.  Free wi-fi.  Limited seating.

You know you love me.  X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

Mmm, so many good things are going on at this bakery café.  The pastries are tender, very fresh (often times still warm), and well made.

The coffee is very good and they have an awesome variety of menu items from cakes, brioche, scones, cupcakes, cookies, croissant, sticky buns, donuts, bread pudding, steel cut oatmeal, homemade granola, crème brulee, muffins (pear ginger, pumpkin, bran), pizza, quiche, loaves of bread, rolls, brunch items on the weekend (French toast, home fries, bacon), soup, salad, sandwiches on housemade bread, homemade raspberry seltzer, homemade pickles, etc.  Even the signs are cute (the chalkboard menu with illustrations).  It's vegan friendly too.  They sell signature t-shirts, caps and mugs.

Prices are reasonable.  Everything looks amazing.  I wanted a roasted lamb sandwich with goat cheese and tomato chutney (but it wasn't lunch time).

* Lemon ginger scone ($2.25): Great texture.  Slightly crunchy exterior, very tender inside, with a very thin, sweet lemony glaze.  Mmm.  I didn't taste much ginger.  A refined scone.  

* Brioche au chocolat ($2.75): Decadent, soft brioche style roll with a good dark chocolate inside.  Pastry cream makes it moist.  So tender and light.

* Sugar bun brioche ($2.75): Like a morning bun but not as heavy and dense as a typical morning bun.  It bun was still warm!  Topped with sugar, the exterior is crusty and the interior is silky, tender, and buttery.  Mmm, divine.

* Cheddar scallion scone ($2.75): The scone was tender and light, with plenty of scallions, but the exterior was very salty.

Sunday is donut day and the donut of the day was chocolate dipped banana cream pie.  Cupcakes usually show up around 10 AM.

I think Flour is going to be a part of my must go to list every time I'm in Boston.

One of the older looking bakeries in Boston's Chinatown, Ho Yuen carries baked buns, cakes, cookies, sesame balls, assorted pastries and egg custard tarts.  The egg custard tarts looked unusually pale and had large pools of liquid on top.  Items have English signs.  They didn't have steamed buns.

* Egg custard bun (90 cents): The baked bun was covered with an almond cookie like crunchy crust.  The bun had plenty of overly sweet custard.  The bread seemed undercooked and too doughy.
* Curry beef bun (90 cents): The dough was drier and sweeter than it should be.  The ground beef filling was nice though rather salty.  Not bad.
* Red bean muffin: It's not a muffin at all but they called it a muffin on the sign (which was in English).  It's a flat glutinous rice pancake filled with red bean.  The edges were rather hard.  It wasn't too greasy but the rice pancake should be softer and chewier.

There isn't any seating inside the shop.  I like how you can see the Chinese guy in the back rolling dough and making their pastries.  

Cash only.

I used to look forward to visiting Cunha's every October and checking out their Halloween wares upstairs.  The upstairs had the charm of an old country general store...but then the original building was lost in a fire a few years ago.  Cunha's still carries non-food merchandise upstairs (candles, bath & body items, kitchen items, clothing, wine) but the selection is really awful and junky now.  They even have clothes on consignment! Even worse, they barely had any Halloween items the week before Halloween.  The greeting cards are awful and they carry so much Half Moon Bay merchandise (t-shirts, sweatshirts) for tourists.

The downstairs part (grocery) seems nicer now, but I can't get over what they did to the upstairs.  Downstairs they have made to order sandwiches with Boar's Head meat and an eclectic mix of health food items (e.g., Rice Dream, Coconut Bliss, Cuties), Asian food, British food, Mexican, etc.  They carried bakery items from a Portuguese bakery (I was intrigued but didn't buy any).  The ice cream selection was quite nice: Marianne's, Soy Delicious, and even ice cream for dogs called Frosty Paws.    

Every October they have giant decorated pumpkins out front (cute).

This surprisingly nice, Whole Foods like grocery store is where I would shop if I were a local.  You can get your Acme Bakery bread here with San Pellegrino and imported fresh Italian pastas (reasonably priced too). The bakery has all sorts of goodies like macarons, mini cakes, cookies, etc., and coffee to go with your pastries.  I thought they had fro-yo too but it was organic soft serve ice cream (by Straus).  

The hot and salad food bar looked tempting ($7.99/lb).  I tried the Indian style chickpea curry (tasty), Thai BBQ chicken (tender, flavorful but didn't taste Thai), and quinoa (plain, simple, good).  You can also get paninis and made to order sandwiches.  I have a feeling that they make good sandwiches.

The store is clean, bright and spacious.  It has all the usual departments - meat, produce, seafood, cheese, bath & body, fair trade type goods like Peruvian scarves and socks, wine, etc., and a lovely looking olive bar.  I was also impressed with their variety of seitan snacks.  If they started offering soft-serve fro-yo, I'd give them another star.