Boston Tour-lots of pics

I went up to Boston for the holiday weekend. My buddy had some gratis Sox tickets (yes, they won). So I thought I'd hit some of my favorite (and some new, to me anyway) places to eat, take some pics and put them up here.
Here is a good slice from Pizzeria Regina (the one in the South Station food court). very tasty, not at all greasy and very crispy. Not the same as a whole pie straight from the oven in the North End, but it's pretty good.

Note the blackened parts on the bottom of the crust. This came from a good pizza oven.

Boston isn't known as a pizza town, but this slice from the Upper Crust in Brookline was very, very good. Crispy, some blackened parts on the bottom. I liked the fresh chunks of tomatoes and the basil flavor I got in some of the bites (it could use more of both). The "Crust" is a welcome addition to the already diverse Coolidge Corner food scene.



My dinner from Bob's Southern Bistro (formerly Bob the Chef's) in the South End/Roxbury area. Not as good as I remembered. the baked "glorifried" chicken was alright, nice spice to it, but seemed a bit dry. The candied yams were very good, soft, sweet, but the mac and cheese was lacking in cheese flavor.

This is my friend's mustard & cornmeal crusted catfish, collards and red beans and rice. She said it was pretty tasty, but those beans looked pretty dry to me. Perhaps sitting out too long, under a heat lamp?

Outside the Dream Diner in Tyngsboro, MA.  My buddy has been getting good breakfasts here for a while.

I had the Manno omelette with corned beef hash and cheese inside, homefries and raisin toast. Solid all the way around.

Doug had a ham and cheese scramble with homefries and toast. Solid as well.

The waitstaff indulged, and took a pic of us.

We made it to the All-Star Sandwich Bar and it didn't disappoint.

This is my "Rachel" sandwich.  Almost exactly like the Turkey Reuben I had at Junior's in Grand Central. Very messy and very good.

Doug said this was the best steak tip sandwich he's ever had. The green beans were really good too.

German potato salad

A treat right next door to the All-Star.

The menu (and they give you samples if you ask)

My burnt sugar with pistachios. Loved it! Like a cold, creamy creme brulee (minus the crunch).

The griddle cakes and sausage at Charlie's Sandwich Shoppe in the South End (reviewed here on Roadfood). Very good. The cakes had a sweetness that I couldn't place, but were very tasty. And they were very light too. My only complaint is that the menu advertises them as being plate-wide, which these aren't. I had this image in my head that didn't match up with what they brought me. The sausages were extremely good. Dark, crusty and with an intense flavor. These are what breakfast sausages should taste like.

These homefries looked and felt great. Wicked crust and soft texture inside, but unfortunately they were rather bland. They tasted like plain potatoes. I couldn't taste any butter, salt, pepper or any other spice in them. I just like my homefries with some flavor (bacon drippings, butter, etc) and a little seasoning.

The sign outside.


More pics to follow in Part 2...and the reviews of these down the road.

-Billyboy

EXCELLANT billyboy

I'm totally wowing over that steak tip sandwich and that ice cream WOW can't wait to see the rest :)

FANTASTIC Photos!

MORE! MORE! MORE!

Those red beans look a crime Billyboy. They look like what's left in the pan after it's been sitting on the stove half the day.

Great job, thank you so much.

Hope some salt and pepper fixed up those home fries. Those are some of the best looking ones I've ever seen. For me, breakfast in a diner or coffee shop is all about the home fries.

great pics, Billyboy!

I love homemade ice cream places! Those are about the only ones I like to patronize!
Liked checking out all of chistines flavors, too

Loved the pictures, and the reviews that went along with them. I just love when roadfoodies share their adventure, pictures and comments about their experience.

Thanks so much and look forward to more.

Great photos! Thanks for sharing your trip!

Great looking pizzas. The first photo is a great representation of a east coast style pie. For me, it is that air bubble in the crust that does it. You bite into that and you will taste a perfume of yeasty goodnesss. What you did is smart, as the slices are unadorned and you have no other flavors to compete with the slice's true taste.

Bob the Chef (Right there is a warning, as most chefs won't draw that kind of attention to themselves) and his change to Bistro is not right. He should try 'Shack'. Your chicken plate looks kind of boring and appears to to be plated by a blind man. Red beans should never look like that. This seems to confirm my opinion that southern food cannot transfer past the Mason-Dixon Line.

The breakfast shots are great, yet they do show some things that are talked about elsewhere in the 'Diner Complaints' topic. The scrambled eggs with ham are griddle chopped eggs. You mention flavorless homefries.
Plate sized pancakes that are regular to small sized. Why? Because you can fit only so many things on a griddle and three plate sized ones take up too much space.
Both places do look good enough for me to start a day and be happy though.

These are great pictures and I can see that you enjoyed yourself. That's important. It seems that most shots are of breakfast and lunch. Any Ballpark food shots? What's for dinner?

mark

Boston Pics-Part 2

I probably should have prefaced this. There aren't any food photos in here, but it is somewhat food related. Regreattably, I didn't make it to the Lower Mills area of Dorchester where the Baker Chocolate Factory used to be. It was the first chocolate factory in America. If the moderators feel it needs to go in a different forum, please do so. This first shot is part of the Boston skyline (the financial district) as seen from inside the Boston Children's Museum where I used to work.


The outside of the Boston Children's Museum. A really great place to take the kids. It's an all-interactive, hands-on museum and the theatre there, KidStage, has audience participation with kids. Check it out!

Boston is a city of many firsts. This plaque is on a postal office building in the Downtown Crossing area of Boston.

The Hancock building in Back Bay has a unique design and when seen from a certain point of view, such as this one, it appears to be just a flat pane of glass in the sky with no backing.

I took about half an hour to relax on a bench and took this shot. Watching the swan boats, the trees. It was one of my favorite places to relax when I lived there.

Entrance to the Public Garden.

A shot of the Hancock and the Prudential buildings from the Public Garden.

Entrance to Boston Common and Park Street Station. Park Street Station is the oldest subway station in the country and the busiest one in Boston. The Common, I believe, is the oldest public park in the country and at one time was used to train British troops, herd cattle, and for hangings.

I stopped in Granary Burial Grounds near the Common and strolled around. The next three photos are of the graves of Paul Revere, Samuel Adams, and the victims of the Boston Massacre. A lot of interesting people and history in this cemetary.





A food first. The Omni Parker House invented Parker House Rolls, Baked Boston Scrod and Boston Creme Pie. As the story goes, at one time, Malcolm X worked there as did Ho Chi Minh.

The Union Oyster House has been around for a long, long time serving up some tasty New England seafood and tons of oysters.

The sign says it all. It hasn't been at the same location, but it has always been the Bell In Hand.

A perfect view on a perfect game night at Fenway Park!

A full shot of the inside of Fenway.

The Green Monster, The CITGO sign in the background and me.

Nice pics, dude. I like it when one mixes in a little site seeing along with the food pics. To me, it adds a lot to the food experience.

After all, Road Food is about the food one experiences while on the road, why shouldn't there be pics of the "road" as well as the food?

DD

What the F is KHULFL flavored ice cream?

quote:

Originally posted by Sushi_Girl

What the F is KHULFL flavored ice cream?

It's an Indian style of frozen dessert, usually flavored with cardamom. You learn something new every day!

Oh, and it's khulfi or kulfi. No L at the end.

quote:

Originally posted by ChopChop

Oh, and it's khulfi or kulfi. No L at the end.

Thanks, and welcome to Cambridge. Here's Christina's site with a listing of flavors. I'm interested in the Rose flavor, very Victorian, you know.

Nice work with the tour and pix, Billyboy!

Beautiful pictures! Thank you! I lived in Boston for 15 years and have been to all the places you photographed.

Hey Doggydaddy,

Yeah, the pies are pretty simple and really are served well by the "less is more" approach. The homefries at Charlie's looked great, but were just lacking in flavor. The one's at the Dream Diner however were right on the money. I think the build up to the plate sized pancakes was what let me down. I really expected them to be stacked on top of each other literally covering every inch of the plate like some I've seen here on Roadfood. I'd definitely get them again though as the most important part, the taste, was just right.

We had dinner at the All-Star and the ice cream at Christina's on our way to the T for the game. I couldn't even think of eating at the park. I was stuffed! I'll have to knock back a Fenway Frank and some Legal Seafood "chowdah" at the next game.

[id=quote font="arial, helvetica"]quote: Originally posted by doggydaddy




Great looking pizzas. The first photo is a great representation of a east coast style pie. For me, it is that air bubble in the crust that does it. You bite into that and you will taste a perfume of yeasty goodnesss. What you did is smart, as the slices are unadorned and you have no other flavors to compete with the slice's true taste.

Bob the Chef (Right there is a warning, as most chefs won't draw that kind of attention to themselves) and his change to Bistro is not right. He should try 'Shack'. Your chicken plate looks kind of boring and appears to to be plated by a blind man. Red beans should never look like that. This seems to confirm my opinion that southern food cannot transfer past the Mason-Dixon Line.

The breakfast shots are great, yet they do show some things that are talked about elsewhere in the 'Diner Complaints' topic. The scrambled eggs with ham are griddle chopped eggs. You mention flavorless homefries.
Plate sized pancakes that are regular to small sized. Why? Because you can fit only so many things on a griddle and three plate sized ones take up too much space.
Both places do look good enough for me to start a day and be happy though.

These are great pictures and I can see that you enjoyed yourself. That's important. It seems that most shots are of breakfast and lunch. Any Ballpark food shots? What's for dinner?

mark

Love YOUR pics!! Especially the spring training shots. Your breakfast on the terrace is amazing. Those have got to be some of the ripest tomatoes I've ever seen. And of course any AZ shots are just like a breath of fresh air. Only got to spend a month there, but I loved it

quote:

Originally posted by desertdog



Nice pics, dude. I like it when one mixes in a little site seeing along with the food pics. To me, it adds a lot to the food experience.

After all, Road Food is about the food one experiences while on the road, why shouldn't there be pics of the "road" as well as the food?

DD

I just returned from Boston and had the Rachel at All-Star Sandwich as well as a pizza slice to go at Pizzeria Regina at South Station before boarding the Amtrak. I had the Giambetti (not sure that I have the last part of the word right). It was delicious--thin, crusty, crisp crust; flavorful toppings with sauce that complemented and wasn't too sweet.

Nice report. I have breakfast at the Dream diner often, I paly golf with freinds in that area. If I don't stop there it's only because I've already had breakfast at their other spot The Owl Diner in Lowell.
Charlie's is a damn decent place also. I haven't been there in over a year or so but ate there daily a number of years ago, during the construction of Coply Place.
Chow Jim

I must have missed your report when I was out west as this is the first time I've seen it.

Not exactly the places that I would visit when I visit Boston, but it is a great report!

I just want to add my thanks for that great report and terrific pictures. I'm going to Cambridge in the fall and will try to hit as many of those places as I can. Much appreciated.