December 12th 2015: Watching The Nutcracker at the Boston Opera House

We started out this morning with a quick bite from O'Brien's Bakery, a small nondescript place in Quincy, getting an Apple Dumpling.

I did not like how the apple was one whole piece though.

Next, it was time for our cake tasting in at Konditor Meister in Braintree,

 where we got to try lots of flavors this time, namely the Carrot Cake (walnut, cream cheese apricot jam), Strawberry Grand Marnier (white chocolate mousse, fresh strawberries, Grand Marnier), Chocolate Oreo (Chocolate cake, white chocolate mousse & crushed oreos), Lemon Raspberry (Gold cake, one layer lemon mousse and one layer raspberry mousse), Tiramisu (Gold cake, mascarpone mousse and coffee flavor), Chocolate Chocolate (chocolate cake, chocolate mousse), Bailey's (gold cake, chocolate bailey's cream),

the Banana Cream (chocolate mousse and banana pastry cream),

the Mimosa (gold cake, orange champagne mousse), Kahlua (marble cake, chocolate kahlua mousse), Raspberry (raspberry mousse), Cognac Truffle (white chocolate truffle mousse and touch of cognac), White Chocolate Strawberry, Strawberry Peach, Mango

and the Mandarin Orange (mandarin mousse).

Of them, we really liked the Strawberry Grand Marnier, the Strawberry Peach, the Cognac Truffle and the Mandarin Orange). On top of that, we got a box of free pastry as well,

Of which I tried the Mini New York Cheesecake and the Lemon Roulade. Pretty good stuff.

After our tasting, we went on our way,

Vietnamese Buddhist Center

heading to Quincy

Thousand Buddha Temple

going to Beni Cafe, a Japanese takeout place in town for lunch.

We got the Iced Jasmine Tea with Honey and Lemon,

which was a tad too sweet in my opinion, the Spicy Tuna Maki, the California Roll (crab stick, cucumber and avocado) and the Crispy Mango Shrimp Maki (panko breaded shrimp, mango, cucumber roll with spicy mayo and tobiko on top).

The california roll was just alright, although the spicy tuna and mango shrimp were pretty good. Overall, not too bad for a takeout place, although I might not bring friends from out of town here.

Next, we headed next door to Grand Chinatown for some dimsum. Didn't know they did it here.

Pretty good considering we only had tummy space for 2 dishes.

Dinner was at the Avenue One Restaurant in Boston, located within the Hyatt Regency Boston, which I have been to in the past a few times for drinks, but never for food.

This time, we got the Butternut Puree (Sherry reduction, sour dough croutons, grilled shrimp)

and the Stewed Chicken (Thyme and sherry essence, beet and sweet potato gnocchi).

The creamy puree was excellent, going well with the croutons and shrimp. Although the chicken was a little dry, the sauce of the stew was amazing and made up for it. Overall, a pretty good meal.

The highlight of the night was the performance by Boston Ballet, "The Nutcracker",

performed at the Boston Opera House, which is absolutely beautiful inside.

The ballet itself was a little hard to follow, being a little different from the original story, but the ballet performances themselves were pretty good.

After the performance, we decided to wait out the crowd by heading nearby to Sip Wine Bar and Kitchen, a pretty upscale restaurant.

We got the Raspberry Frozen Bellini (prosecco, triple sec, crushed ice) for a drink,

which was pretty good, although I could not have much of it as I was to be driving soon,

For food, we got the White Bean Soup (“super tuscan” style, prosciutto bits, pesto, grilled ciabatta )

Grill Charred Broccoli (cashew-parmesan gratin, roasted butternut squash hummus, chive oil drizzle).

Both were pretty tasty, although I have to admit that the broccoli was definitely not worth the price we paid for it. Avenue One was definitely better, but I would come back here still.