In fact, when I first saw that there was a banana dessert on the menu for the cooking class, I sort of cringed. After all, I've never liked bananas. There's something about the flavor that just sort of rubs me the wrong way. I can't place my finger on it, but it's definitely something I don't eat often.
This dessert is our cooking instructor's favorite dessert, and I can totally see why. It's super easy to make, and the sweet-salty combination of the sweet bananas with the savory coconut cream sauce works together surprisingly well.
I hate to say this, but it was almost mildly addictive. The bananas used in this dessert are not the normal large bananas we see in North America. Instead, these are mini bananas that are about half the length of the big bananas we are used to seeing in the States. Here's a woman selling these little bananas on skewers at the floating markets at Damnoen Saduak. You want to use bananas that are still pretty green (see color in the photo). They need to be firm so they can stand up to the cooking. Remove the peels from all the bananas. You can peel them traditionally by hand, or use a knife to speed up the process.
To prevent bananas from turning brown after peeling, place them immediately in a bowl of water acidified wi lime juice. We will cook these bananas in a fragrant, pandan-infused syrup. Pandan is a tropical plant commonly used in Southeast Asia in both sweet and savory applications. It has a sweet, fragrant aroma that is very pleasing, making it a popular flavor used in many desserts. If you don't have pandan, you can either add a few drops of pandan essence (a little goes a long way!) or even vanilla extract would work fine too.
Combine sugar, salt, pandan leaves, and water in a pot and bring to a boil. Add bananas, reduce heat, and cook until the bananas turn a darker shade of yellow, maybe 10-15 minutes. Try not to disturb the bananas too much, though you can flip them once in the middle if desired. Meanwhile, make your savory coconut cream. It's pretty easy - just dissolve coconut cream with salt and a bit of rice flour to thicken it up. If you want, you can add some pandan leaves for extra flavor, but this is optional.
Once the bananas are done, remove them from the pot, straining out the syrup. Optionally squeeze lime on top, and pour the savory coconut cream sauce all over the bananas.
Serve! Clearly the students couldn't get enough of this dish, including a very surprised me, who shocked herself by going back for seconds.
Love that sweet + salty combo. Seriously addictive.
Enjoy!
Bananas in Golden Syrup Bananas 8 small golden bananas 2 cups water 1 cup sugar 1/4 tsp salt 1 tsp lime juice Pandan leaves (optional) Vanilla flavoring (optional)
Peel bananas and immediately put them in a bowl of water to prevent further browning. In a pot, bring sugar, water, salt, and pandan leaves to a boil. Reduce heat and add bananas, cooking at low heat until the bananas turn a darker shade of yellow. Add lime juice and then remove bananas. Top with coconut cream topping (see below for recipe).
Serve!
Coconut Cream Topping 1 cup coconut cream 1/4 tsp salt 1 tsp rice flour*
Add the rice flour to the coconut cream (room temperature). Heat over medium heat until the mixture becomes thick and sauce-like. Add salt and stir to dissolve. Set aside.
*I believe the purpose of the flour is mostly for texture, so if you can't find rice flour, other substitutes may work, such as all purpose flour.
In Bangkok, where there are a ton of tourists, it's not uncommon for the waiter to ask you what kind of spice level you want. Bryan has always loved spicy food, so he never hesitates to say "spicy."
The server will then respond by asking, "Thai spicy?"
If you say "yes," you'll most certainly be blown away by the spiciness of the food. Thailand is the only place in the world where Bryan has ever had to stop eating a dish because it was too spicy.
Thankfully, not all Thai food is characterized by excessively spicy food. Panaeng curry is a perfect example. Despite its gorgeously bright red color, Panaeng curry is actually a milder, sweeter, and less spicy curry than its heat-laden cousins. Unique because of the presence of crushed peanuts, Panaeng curry is also gloriously fragrant and flavorful due its inclusion of a dizzying array of ingredients, including lemongrass, coriander seeds, galangal, cilantro root, and kaffir limes.
It's the perfect dish for those of us who can't quite handle the crazy heat of Thai food, but still love the rich and complex aromas of Southeast Asian herbs and spices. Before we get to the recipe, let's take a closer look at some of those more exotic herbs (which we picked up during our fun little market trip earlier in the day).
Pictured above, gorgeous bunches of lemongrass, Thai chilies, galangal, and kaffir lime leaves. This combination of ingredients is used in so many things, it makes sense for the market to sell them together. Our Panaeng curry will use all of those ingredients. Coriander (or cilantro) root is commonly used in Thai cooking. The root itself gives a more intense flavor than the leaves. Sadly, most US supermarkets cut off the roots of cilantro, and therefore it's harder to find the roots in the US. It's OK to substitute the roots with stems in a recipe if necessary, keeping in mind the flavor will be less intense. Have you ever seen a kaffir lime (left)? It's much bumpier than a normal lime (right), and also has a lot less juice inside. People mostly use the kaffir lime's zest and leaves in Thai cooking. The juice itself is too tart and not typically used. At the market, our cooking instructor Koy showed us three different roots that are related but taste very different. Traditional ginger (with which we are all familiar), galangal (a root commonly used in Thai cooking that's sweeter and milder than ginger), and yet another even narrower, finger-like root (whose name I cannot remember - does anyone know?).
According to Koy, freshly made curries taste infinitely better than the stuff you can buy in packages. However, making curry is quite labor intensive, and therefore it's totally understandable why sometimes you may just reach for a package if you are short on time.
Koy gave us one trick for those times when we reach for the package: add extra coriander seed, coriander root, and cumin. It will taste so much better and closer to a freshly made version. Though the steps for making the curry are not particularly difficult, they are time consuming. You must first measure out and prep (chop, seed, soak, etc) the large list of ingredients. Then, group by group, add the ingredients into a mortar and pestle.
The grinding is tedious. \ We physically pounded away at this for about 10 minutes and didn't even come close to a smooth paste.
Theoretically, hand grinding will afford a smoother, more refined curry paste. However, most people these days rely on the food processor because it just saves so much time and energy and still creates a fine product.
Our pastes were whisked away and thrown into a food processor. Once the smooth paste was done (check out how much finer it looks now in the photo above!) we prepped our ingredients for chicken curry. Above, you can see fresh coconut cream, coconut milk, palm sugar, fish sauce, kaffir lime leaves (thinly sliced), and chicken breast meat.
If you can't get fresh coconut milk and coconut cream, Koy recommends just buying the small packaged carton of cream. You can make "milk" just by diluting the cream in half with water. Saute one tablespoon of the curry paste it in a wok until it is fragrant. Add 1/2 cup of coconut cream and reduce the heat. Wait until you see bubbles forming. This is the fat from the coconut milk separating out and rising the the surface. Add the chicken and stir fry until it is cooked all the way through. Add the rest of the coconut milk, fish sauce, and palm sugar. If you can't get palm sugar around you, brown sugar or even white sugar are acceptable substitutes, though brown sugar is preferred. When shopping for a fish sauce, get a lighter colored bottle. Color is an indicator of freshness. Fish sauce darkens over time and becomes more fishy as it ages. As a final step, sprinkle thinly sliced kaffir lime leaves and Thai bird chili strips for decoration. If you want, you can optionally add a dollop of thickened coconut cream, which is just made by heating coconut cream up with some corn starch (about 2 tsp of corn starch per cup of canned coconut cream). Important note: dissolve the corn starch in the coconut cream at room temperature and then heat up. Otherwise, the starch will clump if added to a warm liquid.
Serve! Over rice, noodles, whatever!
Yum . . . SO good.
Recipes Panaeng Curry Paste
Ingredients group 1 5 peppercorns 1/2 tsp roasted coriander seed 1/2 tsp roasted cumin seeds 1/4 tsp salt
group 2 1 tsp galangal, chopped 1 tsp lemongrass, chopped 1/2 tsp kaffir lime skin, finely chopped 1/2 tsp cilantro root (or use cilantro stems/leaves if the root is unavailable)
group 3 4 dried spur chilies, seeded and soaked 1 tsp chopped shallots 1 tsp chopped garlic
Pound group 1 ingredients (coriander seeds, cumin seeds, peppercorns and salt) in a mortar and pestle (or spice grinder). Add the group 2 ingredients (galangal, lemongrass, kaffir skin, cilantro root). Then add group 3 ingredients (garlic, shallots, and chilies). Add shrimp paste and pound until smooth. Finally, add peanuts and crush them in. Use a food processor if necessary to get the texture like a really fine paste.
Set aside.
Panaeng Chicken Curry serves 1 as a main dish, or 2 as an appetizer
Ingredients 70g boneless chicken, cut into bite sized pieces 1 tsp Panaeng curry paste 1/2 cup coconut cream 1/2 cup coconut milk 1 T red spur chili, thinly sliced (remove seeds!) 2 kaffir lime leaves, thinly sliced 1/2 T fish sauce 1/2 tsp palm sugar Heat curry paste over medium heat until fragrant. Reduce heat and add coconut cream and stir until the oil separates out (you will see little bubbles forming). Add chicken and stir fry until it is cooked through. Add the coconut milk. Add fish sauce and palm sugar.
Sprinkle kaffir lime leaves and chilies and remove from heat.
Optionally add a dollop of coconut topping, made by heating coconut milk and corn starch together. Garnish with chopped chilies and kaffir lime leaves.
It's the perfect blend of savory umami, sweet, spicy, and tart. It's cool, refreshing, and a delightful blend of textural contrasts: the crunchy peanuts, crispy vegetables, and juicy tomatoes. Heck, it's even been named as one of world's 50 most delicious foods by CNN.
Som tam literally means "sour pounded" in Thai, and is a refreshingly delicious green papaya salad that's popular all throughout Thailand. It originates from the northeastern part of Thailand, (called Isaan) and due to its proximity to Laos, derives quite a bit of influence from Laos cuisine.
I partly chose this particular cooking class because it included this salad, which I've always wanted to learn how to make. I was thrilled to learn that it's super easy. Getting the ingredients may be the hardest (though still very doable!) part. The main ingredient in this salad is the green papaya. You want your papaya to be as unripen as possible. It should be really hard and firm. This recipe won't work with papaya that has started to ripen, turn orange, or become soft and sweet.
At the market, Koy showed us an example of a perfect papaya.
I'm pretty sure they sell these in the US, because my mom used to make a version of green papaya salad when I was a kid. First, you need thin, julienne strips of papaya. Please note, the above papaya is actually borderline too ripe for this recipe (you can see how it's turning orange), but Koy, our instructor, was still able to use it to show us how to create the julienne strips for the salad. Method 1: Simple Knife If you have no special tools, you can create the strips with just a sharp knife. This is how a lot of street vendors do it in Thailand.
First, whack away at the papaya to create a bunch of vertical "cuts" into the side (see photo above). Second, slice these strips onto a plate. It looks easier than it is. I tried to do it, and it was tricky slicing off thin, evenly sized strips.
Method 2: Use a Tool! Of course, if you feel uncomfortable chopping and cutting, the much easier way is to use a papaya slicer. They recommended the brand Kiwi, which I was surprised to find out is actually available on Amazon! With this slicer, it's easy: you just peel away!
I guess you can probably use a mandolin slicer or any other tools designed for shredding carrots and other related vegetables. Though you can make this with just papaya, we did it with a mixture of papaya and carrots. It adds a nice color and the two work well together.
Gather all your ingredients. You can get long beans at any Chinese supermarket (we eat them all the time too!). Most of the less common ingredients, such as dried shrimp, palm sugar, and tamarind can probably be found at an Asian grocery (I'm pretty sure I've seen them in Boston). Now, we will pound it all together in a mortar and pestle.
Notice how the som tam mortar and pestle is a little bit taller and narrower? I'm not sure how well this recipe would work with the lower, flatter marble type we typically see in the US, though I'm definitely planning to try it! Alternatively, it's not too expensive to buy a proper one such as this wooden one, though the nice earthenware ones are definitely more expensive. We begin with the dry ingredients. Pound your garlic, dried shrimp, fresh Thai chili, and peanuts with your mortar and pestle until they are crushed. Add the wet ingredients: tamarind juice, fish juice, sugar, and the lime. Keep the skin on one lime edge; squeeze out just the juice for the other lime wedge. At this point, to avoid squirting tart acids into your eyes, do a "pound and stir" motion with a spoon. Mix the ingredients together. Once the sauce is nicely mixed, add the papaya strips, carrot strips (if you have any), long beans, and tomatoes. Continue the pounding + stirring motion with the spoon and pestle until everything is well mixed. Just for fun, we also learned how to make "tomato roses." It's actually not as hard as it looks, and the end result is gorgeous! Using a sharp knife and starting at the top of the tomato, slowly cut off the skin of a tomato (we used these pretty orange ones), trying to keep the width consistent (about 2-3 cm or 1/2 inch). Keep the bottom of the tomato to serve as a base.
Gradually roll the skin in a spiral, trying to keep it as tight as possible. How pretty is that? Dump your som tam into a bowl (juices and all). Ideally, it's a pretty Thai bowl for your pictures.
For garnish, top with the remaining crushed peanuts and optionally top with your rose.
So pretty, so delicious, and healthy!
I could eat this everyday.
Enjoy!
Som Tam Thai [Papaya Salad] 3/4 cup shredded green papaya 1/2 cup long beans, cut into 1 inch pieces 2 Thai chilies 2 cloves of garlic 2 cherry tomatoes, sliced in half 1 tsp ground dried shrimp 2 T crushed peanuts 1/2 lime, sliced into quarters 1 T palm sugar 1 1/2 T fish sauce 2 T tamarind juice
Pound garlic, chili, dried shrimp, and 1 T of the peanuts in a mortar and pestle. Add tamarind juice, fish sauce, sugar, and lime (1 wedge with skin, 1 wedge add juice only). Continue to pound and stir. Add long beans, papaya, and tomatoes. Mix well, and top with remaining peanuts and optionally a tomato rose.
*Note* Palm sugar can be found at most Asian supermarkets (I've definitely seen it in Boston). If necessary, regular sugar can probably be substituted, but add less, since it's a bit sweeter and more refined.
Thailand is an awesome place to take a cooking class. The availability of produce in this country is insane, truly creating a playground for the senses. It is a very foreigner friendly country - there are tons of classes taught in English. Plus, prices are very reasonable and you get to cook and eat a ton of fantastic food.
I swear, some of the best dishes I tasted in Thailand were in my cooking classes.
I went to two cooking schools while I was in Thailand. I had time during the day while Bryan was at his conference, and I was curious to compare how two different schools taught Thai cooking.
I initially decided on Somphong Cooking School because it had excellent reviews, was close to my hotel, and offered to teach dishes I really wanted to learn.
It turned out to be a fantastic experience and totally, totally worth the $30 USD I paid for the class. Somphong Cooking School is very centrally located in the Silom neighborhood of Bangkok right off the BTS Skytrain stop Chong Nongsi. It's located at the end of a very narrow alleyway. The first thing we did was head out to a local market where we got to see all kinds of fresh meat, fruits, vegetables, herbs, and spices. It's at this market that our instructor Koy taught us all about local Thai ingredients, such as how coconut milk and cream are made (above), how to identify various types of herbs, and how to use these herbs in Thai cooking. I'll focus more on those ingredients in the upcoming posts when I talk about the individual recipes that incorporate these ingredients. Isn't the produce just enviably gorgeous? Never in Boston would I ever have such a unique variety and abundance of fresh vegetables. After the educational market trip, we all walked back into the open-air cooking school, where Koy began to teach us how to make all sorts of dishes.
Here are the dishes we learned to make, all to be described in much more detail (including recipes!) in upcoming posts! We learned how to make Panaeng style red curry from scratch. A plethora of spices, fresh herbs, and aromatics are painstakingly ground up in a mortar and pestle. We used the fruits of our labor to make a delicious curry chicken dish. We pounded out northeasternThai style Som Tam Thai, or Papaya Salad, the traditional way (yup, with yet another mortar and pestle). We also learned how to make tomato "roses" for garnish. We learned the many complex steps to making a really good Pad Thai. I was surprised how different the ingredients were compared to what I typically see (and taste!) in the States. For dessert, we made golden bananas in a pandan coconut milk syrup, which was surprisingly delicious. I typically don't like bananas, but I loved the balance of sweet and salty in this fragrant dessert. I had a ton of fun at this class and I learned so much. My class was super diverse, and it was fun to meet people from all over the world. In my class alone, we had two people from Bangkok, one from France, one from Belgium, a couple from New Zealand, a woman from Hong Kong (who was originally from Malaysia), a woman from India, and me, the lone American!
It was fun to exchange stories and learn about each others' cultures, all while prepping and cooking food from Thailand, yet another new culture for most of us. We had so much fun together, we were friends by the end of the class, sitting and chatting away. Bonus! They gave us mango sticky rice at the end of our meal
I would highly recommend the classes at Somphong Thai Cooking School. The prices are really reasonable for the quality of instruction and food that you get. My 4 hour class, which included cooking and eating 4 dishes, only cost about $30 USD (1000 Baht). The class is really well run, and I felt like we had ample opportunities to do lots of hands-on cooking. They even gave us take-out containers and a bonus dessert (yay, mango sticky rice!) to take home with us.
Stay tuned for recipes (and more photos, of course)!
It has been a tough, tough week for those of us in Boston.
For me, I landed in Boston right around the time the lock-down was lifted, so thankfully we were able to catch a cab back to our home in Cambridge. Imagine our surprise when about 10 unmarked cruisers sped past our cab on Storrow Drive racing towards Watertown. We continued to hear sirens for several minutes, even after we got home.
Who could have imagined that the tenseness, craziness, and unbelievability of this whole week would finally reach some sort of closure in a couple more hours.
We were all relieved, and it was really, really nice to see Boston slowly coming back to life over the weekend. Going back to normal never felt so great.
In honor of my beloved city, I have written up a post detailing some of my favorite places to bring friends when they visit. I often get requests for where to eat while in Boston, and I've never really written up a proper post putting it all together.
So, please enjoy this write up of some of my favorite places to eat (plus a fun surprise at the end).
And if you have a chance, definitely come and visit! 1. Taste Boston's Famous Seafood Boston has fantastic seafood - everything from our dizzying array of raw oysters to the awesome lobster rolls and clam chowder. Try the incredible lobster roll at Neptune Oyster in Boston's North End. Their hot lobster roll is especially famous, but everything there is really, really good. I personally love their oysters as well as the Johnny cake. The biggest negative about this place is that they don't take reservations and the restaurant is tiny. Waits can easily stretch to a couple hours long. Thankfully, you can leave your phone number and they will call you when your table is ready. However, don't show up too late. We've come and been turned away before because the line was so long they wouldn't be able to seat us that night.
If you don't want to wait at Neptune, Island Creek Oyster Bar is an excellent alternative because they take reservations (plus they are located a stone's throne from Fenway Park). This place has a great selection of local oysters plus lots of tasty seafood options. Of course, it is also very popular, so book early! Other decent stand-bys for seafood include Legal Sea Foods (very fresh but simply prepared seafood and excellent clam chowder) and (for that fancier steakhouse-like experience), the Oceanaire.
2. Italian Food in Boston's North End (+ pastries afterwards!) The North End is a vibrant, food-packed neighborhood that is definitely a must-visit. Though most tourists will line up to eat at Giacamo's or Pizzeria Regina, we prefer Mamma Maria, a place serving excellent Italian food in a cozy, townhouse-like environment; or the buzzing Prezza, who has one of the best bolognese sauces we've ever tried and an awesome lobster fra diavlo (but really, everything is fantastic). For more casual, less expensive, but still excellent Italian fare, try Monica's Trattoria or Antico Forno. I always skips dessert at restaurants in the North End because I love heading over to
Mike's Pastry or Modern for dessert. Don't miss the awesome lobster tail at Mike's (my favorite!) or the delicious cannoli at either location. Lines can get long on weekends, though you can sometimes avoid the lines if you opt for sit-down service at Mike's (if there's an open table).
3. A Splurge One Night? Although Boston hasn't been rated by the likes of the Michelin Guide, San Pellegrino Top 50 Best Restaurants list, or other lists that get passed around, we have our own fair share of fantastic fine dining options. Here are my favorites. Watermelon Pearls and Oysters at O Ya
For a twist on Japanese food (one of my favorite cuisines), head down to O Ya in downtown Boston where Tim Cushman will delight you with his creative takes on sushi. Must try dishes include the fried Kumamoto oysters nigiri, grilled chanterelles & shitake mushroom "sashimi", and the foie gras nigiri for dessert (yes, chocolate sauce and dessert wine). If you're into sake, Chef Cushman's wife Nancy Cushman is a certified sake sommelier and can create a great pairing for you.
Ken Oringer is one of the most famous chefs locally, and it's not hard to see why. Both of his restaurants, Clio and Uni Sashimi Bar serve beautiful, creative, and well executed dishes. Clio is more traditional French, while Uni Sashimi Bar is a twist on Japanese cuisine. A Course from The Ultimate Chef's Tasting at Craigie on Main
For true nose to tail dining, check out the ever popular Craigie on Main across the river in Cambridge for overall excellent food. Chef Tony Maws is fanatical about the quality and the source of all his food, and it really shows. His burger is so famous and popular (even at a whopping $18), that it often sells out before 7PM (and you have to know about it to ask for it, since it only appears on the bar menu now). I've enjoyed everything from the casual brunch (best bloody Mary I've ever tried, by the way) to his "Ultimate Chef's Tasting." This guy's got true talent, and it's definitely worth trying his restaurant if you have a chance. A twist on a Lobster Roll from Menton
For that refined, sophisticated high-end French experience, Menton is well regarded as the best option in the city. Barbara Lynch set out to even out-do herself in offering a new level of haute cuisine never seen in Boston. It seems like Chef Lynch has succeeded, even receiving the honor of being Boston's first ever Relais & Chateaux recognized restaurant, an honor indeed. Menton offers various tasting menus inspired by local ingredients and interpreted with French techniques with influences from all different sorts of cuisines. We've tried severalmeals there, and have always been impressed by the food, ambiance, and service. It really is one of the best high-end restaurants in Boston.
For a more unusual, Mediterranean experience, check out Ana Sortun's Oleana, which derives quite a lot of influence from Turkish cuisine. Chef Sortun's husband is a farmer, and therefore the restaurant also strongly emphasizes the use of local and seasonal produce, produced with organic methods when possible.
Another fun and unique place is Scampo, an excellent Italian-leaning restaurant located in The Liberty Hotel, a former prison. The architecture of this prison makes this building pretty interesting to visit. The food at Scampo, from Boston's well-known chef Lydia Shire, is also excellent.
Russell House Tavern One thing that has spoiled me here is the plethora of really good gastropubs. I almost thing I take it for granted. Just in Cambridge alone, I only need to walk a few minutes to find a really good, reasonably priced pub where I can get excellent food and a great selection of craft beers. There are tons of these around, so I'll just mention a few of my favorites. Keep in mind that I do live in Cambridge, so my choices may be a little skewed towards places that are convenient for me. Russell House Tavern is something that's almost too good to be true: a restaurant located at a prime location (the heart of Harvard Square) serving fantastic food at very reasonable prices. They have a huge bar in the lower level (great place to try to grab a seat if no reservations are available), and a great selection of draft beers. They emphasize local and seasonal ingredients, and the food is excellent. Cambridge Brewing Company I have a soft spot for Cambridge Brewing Company, one of our local microbreweries. They make a lot of fun beers throughout the year - everything from a pumpkin ale during the fall to a fun, smoky spicy hot pepper beer that we recently tried. The food is good, the ambiance is fun (try the tower of beer!), and sometimes they even have a jazz brunch on weekends, which is fun and relaxing. Garden at the Cellar in Cambridge still (in my mind) has the best rosemary truffle fries around, while Cambridge Common has a mean selection of beers (over 30 on draft) plus inexpensive (and solid) food. Puritan & Co. is helmed by a super talented chef and has great charcuterie and oysters. One of our favorite go-to restaurants Bergamot falls more into the new American category, although they do have a small bar where we love to hang out. Bergamot has a fantastic $39 three course deal that they offer all the time. Chef Pooler is extremely talented and executes fantastic, flavorful dishes that change frequently due to the seasonality of ingredients. Another favorite, Ten Tables in Cambridge, offers a warm and cozy ambiance in which to enjoy new American fare made from local and seasonal ingredients. In the summer, enjoy a lovely meal while sitting outside in Harvard Square at the Monday Club at Upstairs on the Square. Best Casual / Ethnic Tastes It was hard to cull down this list, so it's a bit longer than the others. There are just a lot of good ethnic eats here!
For a unique style of rich, pork-bone broth ramen, try Yume Wo Katare in Porter Square, where you can try the unusual "Jiro"-style ramen not found in many parts of the US. Don't be surprised if you have to wait in line outside to get into this tiny little place which only accepts cash. For hand-pulled noodles made in the style of Xi'an, drive far out into the suburbs to get a taste of Gene's Chinese Flatbread Cafe. Get the liang pi (weekend only), lamb stew, and handmade noodles, but skip the flatbread sandwiches. My favorite Brazilian restaurant is Muqueca in Inman Square, which offers delicious seafood stews called moquecas. The mariscada is also excellent, and the yucca fries and cashew fruit drinks are just fun to try. My favorite not-so-hidden ethnic gem is Baraka Cafe, a North African Tunisian restaurant right on the edge of Central Square. Service can be a bit slow at this family owned restaurant, but the food is really good and (in my mind) worth the wait. Definitely try the cherbat, their signature Algerian style lemonade made with rose petals and North African spices. Bartley's Burger
One of the most famous burger places in the entire city is Bartley's in Harvard Square. This place is almost an institution in the Square and often has lines going out the door on nice days. The burgers are named after various celebrities in fun, irreverent ways (often poking fun based on current events). They're also pretty tasty.
One of my favorite local places for excellent salads and pizzas is Area Four in Cambridge right near MIT. I love the thin crust pizzas that they make, which often come with really creative toppings. Their salads are excellent, and are often made with more unusual seasonal ingredients, such as their shaved Brussels sprouts salad (yum). Emma's in East Cambridge also makes great thin crust pizzas. Our favorite is the No. 4, which includes cranberries, potatoes, and bacon.
For excellent Southern American / French cuisine, try Hungry Mother in Cambridge. Reserve early, because this is one of those places that is virtually impossible to book same day reservations (unless if you want to eat at really odd times).
4. Don't Forget the Sweets! Toscanini's Ice Cream Boston is obsessed with ice cream and I really think we have some of the best ice cream in America. My personal favorite is Toscanini's (or Tosci's) in Cambridge, which offers an eclectic variety of flavors that is ever-changing. His brother's place, Rancatore's, in Belmont and Lexington also serves similar ice cream, though the flavors are more ordinary. Other popular places include Christina's and JP Licks, but Tosci's is my favorite. One of my all time favorite baked items in the entire city of Boston is High Rise Bread Company's vanilla loaf. I've even tried making it (though my version based on their recipe still doesn't taste quite as good as the real thing, though it's close!). Aside from all the wonderful breads and sweets that they sell, High Rise also makes excellent sandwiches. There are multiple locations in Cambridge, and it's a fabulous place to have a relaxed lunch (though come early if you want to make sure you get a seat! I usually try to come before 12pm on a weekday). The most famous bakery in Boston just may be Flour Bakery by Joanne Chang. Her sticky buns are the most famous. They were featured in a throwdown with Bobby Flay and won. Rumor has it that you have to go early otherwise the sticky buns run out, though I've seen them at the Central Square location as late as 6PM. The fresh baked bread here is excellent, and it makes the sandwiches especially tasty. This is by no means a comprehensive list of all the really great restaurants in Boston. It's a list of places that I would recommend to my friends if they asked me for advice. I hope you find it helpful, and feel free to comment below or email me with any questions.
Come support Boston!
Boston Strong.
(just for fun, in honor of Boston "coming back", here is an animated video I made a couple years ago with vegetables building themselves into a Boston skyline)
