June 5th 2022: Hanging Out in Harvard Square

 Today, we decided to spend the day in the Harvard Square area of Cambridge,

Anthropologie

The Coop

 where there happened to be the Charles River Farmers Market

and the Harvard Square Open Market going on today.

For food, we started with Wusong Road, a really nice bar restaurant, 

getting the Yuanyang Tea (a Hong Kong favorite, strong Oolong tea with coffee poured over condensed milk),

the Signature Animal Bao (comes on a signature milk bao, papaya slaw, cucumber:  pulled pork, coleslaw, chipotle char siu, bread and butter pickles, and crispy chicken katsu, general gao's sauce, siracha aioli),

and the Yong Kang Beef (star anise brisket, wheat noodles, bokchoy, chili oil, shallots, beef broth).

The tea was just alright, although the baos were really cute and tasty with the meat, and the brisket in the noodles soup was really tender as well, with tea flavor in the soup. Pretty good meal here.

Next we went to the LA Burdick location in the area, 

getting the Signature Burdick Hot Chocolate (dark, blend of shaved chocolate steamed with milk),

the Hazelnut Orange Cake (flourless hazelnut and orange cake coated in hazelnut gianduja),

and a box of truffles containing White Chocolate Mouse (Dark chocolate ganache with cinnamon and port wine. Toasted almond ears. Enrobed in white chocolate), Dark Chocolate Mouse (Dark chocolate ganache blended with freshly squeezed oranges. Toasted almond ears. Enrobed in dark chocolate.), 

Milk Chocolate Mouse (Dark chocolate ganache with espresso. Toasted almond ears. Enrobed with milk chocolate.), Chocolate Penguin (Dark chocolate ganache with a hint of lemon zest. Toasted almond wings. Enrobed in dark and white chocolate.), Hazelnut (Dark chocolate and hazelnut gianduja with a touch of orange zest. Enrobed in milk chocolate), paired with Praline Croquant (Dark chocolate praline with almond croquant.), Caramel Trio (Fresh vanilla bean caramel enrobed in dark chocolate, mocha caramel enrobed in milk chocolate, French apricot caramel enrobed in white chocolate.), Macallan (A layer of dark chocolate ganache and a layer of pistachio marzipan, both blended with 12-year-old Macallan Scotch whisky. Enrobed in dark chocolate.) paired with Talisker (Dark chocolate ganache with Talisker Scotch whisky, currants, and gianduja), Fig (Dark chocolate interior with a balanced flavor of fig and port wine), Lemon Pepper Truffle (Dark chocolate ganache infused with lemons, pepper, and rum), Salted Cardamom Caramel (Salted cardamom caramel enrobed in dark chocolate and garnished with Cyprus sea salt.) paired with Salted Vanilla Caramel (Salted vanilla bean caramel enrobed in milk chocolate.),  Pave Glace (gianduja, dark chocolate, cocoa butter, butter, cognac and saffron, dusted in cocoa powder),Earl Grey (Dark chocolate ganache infused with Earl Grey tea.), Richelieu (A milk and dark chocolate interior with cherry liqueur, cherries and cumin seeds), Mango (Dark chocolate ganache blended with mangoes.), Porto Baton (A baton of dark chocolate ganache with hints of cinnamon, cardamom, and chopped hazelnuts.) and Baton Framboise (Dark chocolate ganache blended with French raspberries.),

of which I got to try the Caramel Trio, the Lemon Pepper Truffle and the Earl Grey. Really liked the caramel, and not so much the other two. The drink was too chocolatey for me too, although the cake was pretty tasty with orange flavor.

For dinner, we headed to Bosso Ramen Tavern, a new izakaya in town. Pretty modern looking inside.

We got the Sakura Saku (ruby red grapefruit, elder flower),

the Umami Chicken Karaage,

the Umami Ramen (flavored egg, charshu pork, black garlic oil),

the Fried Shrimp Tartare,

the Takoyaki (octopus takoyaki ball) and Yuzu Scallop (ikura cod roe, scallop, yuzu), 

and the Japanese Sweet Potato with Black Sesame Ice Cream for dessert.

The drink was really light, and the ramen was not bad though a little salty, but the chicken was really crispy, and the sushi was flavored just as it would be in Japan. The sweet potato went really well with the thick, creamy ice cream as well. Overall, a really good meal here.

With that, an end to a day of fun in Harvard Square.