In addition to seeing Grand Central Terminal and eating at Shake Shack my first night in New York City, I also got the chance to try a Magnolia Bakery cupcake.

I'm not sure if there's a hierarchy of which locations are the best, and I'd imagine a train station may not be the most glamorous place, but this cupcake was still pretty bangin'. It was late, and their options were running out. But, a vanilla cupcake was exactly what I would have wanted anyway.

Moist cake, sweet icing that's not too whipped and a nice sweet bite to end my first night in NYC. I can dig it.


Grade: A

I finally made it to New York City - the place I dreamed of since I was a little girl. I thought one day I could be the editor of the New York Times. Lofty goals, I know. But I had never had the chance to visit New York City ... until this fall. I meticulously planned places to go, things to see and, of course, food to eat.

My incredible friends Kaitlynn and Josh drove into the city from Boston on a Friday night. As soon as we got to the city, we immediately went to Grand Central Terminal - a beautiful, beautiful site.

Not only did I want to see Grand Central Terminal, but I could also get a burger at Shake Shack. It was pretty busy, so we got in line and waited our turn. I paid. Then, we got a buzzer for when our order would be ready. When mine went off, I went to the front of the line. The woman behind the counter grabbed the bag with my name on it, looked up and said "it's empty." I gave her a puzzled look back. "That means somebody probably took it." Oh. So, my order went back in queue, and I waited some more.

When my buzzer went off this time, my burger was there - as well as a complementary order of fries for having to wait. I took my single Shackburger (cheeseburger topped with lettuce, tomato and ShackSauce) and order of fries back to an open table.

These burgers are good! For a fast food burger, it's damn good. It's a good patty, the toppings were fresh, and I dig the sauce.

And even though I didn't order the fries, they were still good. Free fries taste even better.

Grade: A

Ah, lobster rolls. The delicious fruit of New England makes me so happy. A lobster roll is a split-top bun filled with lobster meat soaked in butter. Some contain celery, scallions or mayo. Neptune Oyster is known for having one of the best lobster rolls around.

The oyster bar is very small, so we had a bit of a wait. We walked down the street and hung out for a bit before coming back. When our name was called, we were seated at the bar in very, very tight quarters.

Neptune Oyster focuses on its raw bar, but it also serves up crudo, cioppino, scallops, clambake and, of course, that lobster roll. The Maine lobster roll comes with a toasted roll available hot with butter or cold with mayo.

I ordered the hot with butter lobster roll, which comes in at $30! Much pricier than the average lobster roll. Dear god, it is delicious. It has huge chunks of lobster meat soaked in butter and this toasted bun is the vehicle to heaven.


Yes, it's pricey. But would I pay that much for it again? Yes.



Grade: A

Aeronaut Brewing Company was opened by three MIT graduate students (and one Yale student), who are working with others in the same building space to make a really cool "food incubator." This includes food trucks, bands and other social events that make this place a central gathering spot.

The space has an industrial hipster feel, with lawn chairs and balloons hanging from the ceiling, and a game system projected onto the wall. When I was here, a band was playing loudly - so loudly it made conversation difficult. We were having a mini WVU reunion, so I was hoping to talk with my friends a bit more.

I ordered a Saison of the Western Ghats - a French-style farmhouse ale. Light and spicy. Pretty good.

A nice place with a pretty cool environment. I think next time, though, I may choose a different night.



Grade: B

I read a list of the bucket list items to try in Boston, and near the top of the list was Oleana's Baked Alaska ($14). This stuck out to me for a few reasons: Oleana wasn't too far away, and what the hell is baked Alaska?

The dessert is made with six ingredients: ice cream, sponge cake, egg whites, sugar, vanilla, and salt. A scoop of ice cream on a bed of cake is smothered in a generous layer of meringue and baked in an ultra-hot oven. A few minutes later, out comes an irresistible confection, one with a piping hot exterior, like that of a toasted marshmallow, encapsulating the ice cream, which remains frozen. It’s an ice cream dessert that is actually baked.

We didn't care to eat inside since we only wanted dessert, so we had to convince them to get this dish to go. You can see why this could be problematic. You need to eat it almost as soon as it's served. As soon as it was served to us, we hopped in the car, headed home and raced up the stairs.

Oleana's Baked Alaska is built upon a chewy coconut macaron base. Atop that is a housemade coconut ice cream, and it's all wrapped in a torched meringue. I loved the chewy macaron, which gave some nice texture. The odd part is a tangy, bitter passionfruit sauce. It definitely tones down the sweetness, but it also made me pucker a bit.

It's a pricey dessert, and I could do without the passionfruit sauce, but the macaron, ice cream and meringue were a unique flavor combination I've never had before. I think it's definitely something to try!

Grade: B

I think the first Harpoon beer I ever tried was their pumpkin cider years ago at Apothecary Ale House. I was, of course, a fan. And while most of my visits in Boston were to smaller breweries, I figured it couldn't hurt to throw a larger one in there, too.


Harpoon is clearly on a different level, just judging from the sheer space. There is a huge dining area with tables lined up, brick walls, and neat lighting fixtures. On the flip side, it also makes it a little more impersonal.

I ordered the UFO sampler, which came with the UFO Hefeweizen, UFO R-A-Z, UFO White and UFO Pumpkin. The Hefeweizen was light, crisp. The R-A-Z is a raspberry wheat, so yes, that is delicious. The white was a bit spicy. And the pumpkin was an OK pumpkin.

There was beer everywhere. I don't know if they spilled when they were carried over or what the situation was, but the attention to service here was just not what I had been used to. The beer, though, tasty.

Grade: B

I first heard of Somerville Brewing Company when I was at Kaitlynn's friend's apartment, and he had some local Slumbrew beers that we drank while playing board games. I made a quick decision to visit the brewery when I got the chance. It's another brewery that was a little ways away - after my T stop, I walked a little over a mile to get here.

I ventured to the 15 Ward Street location (the brewery and taproom), as opposed to the beer garden because I wanted to check out the actual brewery. They had just opened (I was trying to be efficient and cram as much into this day as I could), so I was the only one there.

I ordered a flight of their flagship beers - Happy Sol Blood Orange Hef, Porter Square Porter, Trekker Trippel, and Flagraiser IPA.

The Happy Sol was tasty and a bit sour. And citrusy. The porter was a stark contrast - deeper, roasty. The trippel was pretty tasty - a little spice there and a bit hoppier. Then the flagraiser was much hoppier - a bit too much for my palate.

I also ordered the housemade meatball sandwich, which is "Jeff's Favorite." This was just OK. The meatballs could've been hotter and more moist. The bread was too hard, making it tough to really eat. Maybe more sauce could've helped? The macaroni and cheese was tasty, as was the pickle, though!

Overall, a bit of a hike to get here, but decent beer and OK food.


Grade: B
 

In the past few years, "ramen" has become increasingly mainstream. It's no longer just a utilitarian Japanese noodle soup dish. It has formed into this trendy dish popping up all over Western cities.

And, no, I'm not talking about the instant ramen mass-produced as a block of dried noodles with an accompanying spice packet that sells for about 20 centers per package. Ramen is the Chinese-style wheat noodles served in a meat-based broth with soy, miso, slices of pork, nori, fish cake and green onions.

In Boston, Yume Wo Katare is known to have some of the best ramen around. As it should because it literally only serves on item: the pork ramen. You can add extra meat. Yume Wo Katare is also cash only, has a long line no matter what time of day and has just three rows of bench seating, where you face the chef and are ultimately judged on how much you are able to eat. It's certainly an experience.

After waiting for a long time outside, it was finally our turn to pass through the door. Except, they split our party up into two and two (instead of four) so that it would be more simple to seat us. There are only 18 seats here afterall. We placed our order at the cash register, paid, grabbed our cup and pour a glass of water before shimmying into our place on the bench. Soon after, the other half of our party was seated in the row in front of us. We sit quietly and patiently as some of the people finish up their meals. One of the Yume Wo Katare chefs announces every so often "We gotta Perfect!!" or "It's a Next Time!" dependent upon how much of the ramen was finished.

Soon, as the chefs begin to prepare our meals, we were asked if we wanted garlic or not. The answer to that question is always yes. And before long, there is this massive, overwhelming piping hot bowl of ramen.

There are a few general types of ramen: shio (pale, clear, yellow, salty broth made with chicken, vegetables fish and seaweed), tonkotsu (a cloudy white broth used by boiling pork bones, fat over high heat for many hours), shoyu (clear brown broth, made with soy sauce so it's tangy, salty and and savory) and miso (contains miso, so it's tangy and slightly sweet).

Yume Wo Katare serves jiro ramen, which is a tonkotsu broth with shoyu added. The noodles are very thick and chewy. This giant bowl has a heaping ton of thick noodles in a fatty broth with a few tender pieces of pork belly, mixed in with bean sprouts, bok choy and lots of minced garlic.

I love the thick, chewy noodles, and the broth, while salty, was very good. I slurped up my soup, alternating between my chopsticks and spoon. It is a method that takes some practice, but I entered into a rhythm. But after I finished all my noodles, it felt like there was a rock in my belly. I looked down to see a full bowl of broth and some pork left. I took a few spoonfuls of just the broth - but there's no way I could hold all that in. It's so rich and fatty and greasy - and without the noodle to cut through it, it just wasn't going to happen. I took a break, hoping to make room in my belly - regretting everything I ate earlier in the day. There was so much pressure! They announce to everyone how you did! I wanted to do well! Unfortunately, when it was my turn to be judged, I received an "Almost!" That's better than a "Next Time!" so I was actually proud of myself. Even though the other three members of my group all got "Perfect!"

At the end of the meal, you're allegedly encouraged to "share your dream," and there are signs hanging up of previous patrons' dreams. This didn't happen while I was there, but it is apparently a big part of the experience. You're encouraged to be quiet and focus on your ramen - apparently as a symbol of what you can accomplish - and if you finish your ramen, you can accomplish your dream.

My only dream at that moment was to keep everything I just ingested inside of me. This was the first time I ever ate so much, I was genuinely concerned I might throw up. We thankfully had about maybe a half mile or so walk back to the apartment so I could try to get some of that to settle.

This isn't a casual, carefree light dinner. It's a TON of food, it's almost served militant style, and there's pressure to perform. That said, it's also fun. Just be sure to get mentally prepared first.

Grade: A