May 18th 2013: Being a Foodie in the North End, Boston

Today, after dropping my friends off at the commisary kitchen in Malden to work on the food truck for the day, I took the train into the North End area for my first pizza tour in the North End, organized by Boston Pizza Tours.

I still had some time to kill before the tour started, so I decided to grab a quick bite at the nearby Cobblestone Cafe, getting the All In 1 Sandwich (Scrambled Eggs, Bacon, American Cheese & Home Fries) in this small cafe. It wasn't too bad for a breakfast meal, to say the least.

When the tour finally started, our first destination was the first ever Regina's Pizzeria joint at 11 1/2 Thacher Street, where we passed by a unique vantage point at Cross Street and North Washington Street where you can see both the Zakim Bridge and the Bunker Hill Monument.

The oldest pizza joint (opened in 1926) in the downtown Boston area was nothing much to speak of in terms of decor,

and the Cheese Pizza we got was so-so as well, eating it at a neighborhood park, the DeFelippo Playground at 141 Prince Street, nicknamed the Gassy  as there used to be a gas tank located here.

From here, we headed to the Copp's Hill Burying Ground to visit the graves there,

especially of Prince Hall, the first free Afro-American in America.

It was also cool to learn that the skull and angel wings depicted on many of the gravestones symbolize human mortality (skull) and eternal life (wings).

Right at the entrance to the cemetery is also the skinniest house I have ever seen, namely the Skinny House.

From here we headed to the Old North Church, and as I had already visited this place before, I decided to go into Caffe Lil Italy, a small cafe right next door to have a tea break,

getting a few cream puffs and an iced peach tea, which were not too bad.

After our guide got us our next slice of Cheese pizza from Galleria Umberto at 289 Hanover Street, one of the best pizza places in the US,

we sat down near the Clough House on 21 Unity Street, one of the oldest buildings in Boston left standing from the 1700s,

where there was an archaeological project going on in the backyard to find artifacts.

Located here is also a Memorial Garden made up of Dog Tags to commemorate those who fought in the various wars.

After we had our fill, we headed into the Clough House itself, where there were ongoing demonstrations about chocolate making in the old days,

as well as the use of old printing presses to create the Declaration of Independence.

From here, we headed

North End Parks

North Square

to the Paul Revere House,

passing by an interesting old lady in the Paul Revere Mall playing a glass harmonica, something I have never seen the likes of before. She was playing really good music though.

Finally, the end of the tour was near, and we got our final piece of cheese pizza from Ernesto's Pizza.

Of all the pizzas I had, Galleria Umberto was definitely the best. We also got a Gummi Pizza as a parting gift, something I have never seen before either.

With that, I headed off to the North End Fish Market nearby, where I had a meetup event to learn how to shuck oysters.

I learnt a lot about shucking oysters today. Firstly, one has to find the flat side of the oyster, have it face up, and stick an oyster knife into the hinge area of the oyster shell.

After wiggling a little to get a firm foothold inside the shell, the knife is twisted in order to pry open the shell a little, upon which the knife is slid in to ensure the shell stays open.

From here, it becomes pretty easy, sliding the knife along the shell to severe the muscle connecting the meat to the top shell, and doing the same for the bottom, and wah lah, fresh raw oysters to eat.

After shucking and eating several delicious oysters this way, I decided to call it quits, and start looking for places in the North End area to buy a birthday cake for my friend, who I was going to celebrate it with later tonight. My first destination was Modern Pastry, which is right opposite the more famous Mike's Pastry, although the line here was just as long.

I decided to get the Peanut Butter Torrone, which was delicious, and the Lobster Tail, which was simply humongous and crispy.

While here, I happened to meet my friend who had been oyster shucking earlier, so I asked her for recommendations as to where to get my birthday cake. She told me about Flour Bakery and Cafe in South Boston, so I decided to head there to check it out.

Along the way, I realized that the Boston Fire Museum was open, so I decided to check out the small collection of old fire engines, helmets and water hoses among other things. Pictures follow.

From here, it was on to the bakery which was right next door, looking more like a Starbucks than a bakery.

No Birthday cakes here though, although the Sticky Buns I got here were pretty good.

Heading back to the North End for my next pizza tour, I decided to walk past Fan Pier along the way, with nice views of the Boston Harbor,

and walking on the Northern Avenue Bridge.

Back in the North End, I decided to check out the other bakeries here to continue my search for birthday cakes, starting at Maria's Pastry Shop, where I got an interesting looking cream puff which was soaked in a weird tasting syrup.

Next, Bova's Bakery, which did not have any seating space like Maria's, although the pastries looked more appetizing.

The eclair I got here was pretty scrumptious too.

Now, it was time for my pizza tour, this time heading into Charlestown. I've been to the City Square Park before, but never noticed the old ruins of the ancient Three Cranes Tavern located here, as pointed out by my guide, who was the same guy who gave the tour of North End this morning.

Next, we headed to the Warren Tavern for a drink and a BBQ Chicken pizza, which is actually not on the menu and made specially for us.

It was actually the best pizza I had all day, although it was probably because it had more toppings than just cheese. I also decided to get a Steak and Cheese Spring Roll,

but this dish was really tasteless, and just spoiled my opinion of the place.

From here, we headed to the Charlestown Naval Yard, where we took the ferry back to Long Wharf in Boston.

When we finally landed, we headed to our final tavern for the day, the Green Dragon Tavern, a pretty nicely decorate place for a tavern, passing by the Boston Stone near 10 Marshall Street, an interesting but almost forgotten antiquity in the city of Boston.

Finally the tour ended, upon which I decided to try to get a cake from Mike's Pastry, even though I knew there was going to be a long line outside as always. I was almost discouraged when I reached the famous pastry place, but I thought I saw someone inside that I knew, so I called to him, but he did not respons, so I decided at this point to do the unethical thing, slipping into the shop to see if that was indeed my friend, but as it turned out, he just had the same hairstyle.

Being already inside the shop, and no one had complained. I decided to continue in the line on the side, and pick my cake, a chocolate mousse cake. Just like that, I managed to get the cake in a short time, and I made it back to my car in Malden eventually.

My friends had gone to Gyukaku, a Japanese BBQ place in the town of Brookline. By the time I got there, they had already been eating for a while, but thankfully I was able to signal to the waiter to hide the cake with the candles until the end of the meal.

The BBQ meal was actually pretty good,

especially the mushrooms which were cooked, covered in a layer of aluminum foil.

We had a great time trying to get our birthday boy drunk,and at one point we actually thought the birthday cake had been brought out, but apparently another table was also celebrating a birthday. At the end, I found out that another of the members at the table had also gotten a birthday cake for my friend from Finale, so we ended up with two cakes. The Tiramisu cake my other friend got was much better than mine,  so a quarter of my cake was left standing as everyone was already so full.

With that, we left to get more drinks at Myung Dong 1st Avenue in the Allston area of Boston. We got the Boodae Jungol, as well as the Birthday Special for our friend, which consists of 5 shots which he had to drink all at once. He did it easily, of course.

If you thought we were done for the night, guess again. We headed to Golden Leaf Karaoke in Chinatown to sing some karaoke, and we had a pretty good time because to the antics of my other friend, including cutting my song while I was still singing it. Things people do when they are drunk, oh well. With that, we all headed home. I have no idea how we are going to get up tomorrow to a day of doing food truck stuff.