February 8th 2019: Dinner in Ashland, Dessert in Holliston

Tonight, we decided to go back to Noodle City in Ashland to try out their other dishes.

This time, we got the YUM YUM NOODLE SOUP (Another traditional Thai Hot & Sour Noodle Soup, served with fresh rice noodles topped with bbq pork, ground pork, jumbo shrimp, beans sprouts, cilantro)

and the Tomato Ramen (umami packed vegetarian broth,served with fresh temomi noodles, a rustic hand kneaded ramen noodle, Topped with scallions, crispy onions, crispy garlic and roasted corn), with braised pork chashu and crispy pork belly.

The Thai noodles were a little on the sweet side, but still tasty, while the tomato broth was not too sour either. Delicious stuff again from this place.

For dessert, we decided to check out Gaetano's Bakery in Holliston.

We got the Boston Cream Pie, Strawberry Shortcake, Ricotta Pie and Pistachio Macaron.

Except for the macaron which had artificial pistachio flavor in it, the rest of the cakes were pretty decent, especially the cream pie. Not bad an Italian bakery.

A good night out for eating, to say the least.

February 5th 2019: Venturing into Temple and Peterborough, NH

We decided to visit the Bao Chon Zen Temple in Peterborough NH today, passing by Temple NH

Town Hall, 7 Main Street

Town Common,
Senator Tobey Highway and Firehouse Lane

Congregational Church of Temple

Pretty nice Buddhist temple, set atop a hilly area.

After having a delicious vegetarian lunch at the temple, we decided to stop for dessert on the way back home in Worcester at Fuel America, which I visited pretty recently. This time around, we got the Dirty Chai Latte (spiced black tea, lightly sweetened and steamed with High Lawn Farm Milk, with a shot of Espresso)

and the Ricotta & Honey Toast (toast with Ricotta cheese, honey, mint & toasted sunflower seeds).

Both drink and food tasted weird. I think I will not recommend this place any more. At least I got to visit 2 new towns.

February 4th 2019: Dinner and Dessert in Framingham

While looking for a place to eat today, we settled on Nzuko, a Caribbean restaurant in the town of Framingham. Definitely nicer than most hole in the wall places I have been to in the past.

We got the Nzuko Chicken (Chicken marinated in Lolo's unique spice blend with a tomato and red wine aroma) with mushroom rice and 3 plantains,

which was just alright in my opinion, although my other half thought it was pretty tasty.

For dessert, we decided to go to Dulce D Leche Gelato Cafe, which I visited once a while back.

This time around, we decided to try the ice cream, getting the Chocolate Hazelnut Gelato and Passion Fruit Sorbetto flavors.

The sorbet was not bad, although the hazelnut was a little too strong for me.

An okay night of eating out in Framingham, in my opinion.

February 2nd 2019: Cafes in Revere and Malden

Today, we decided to check out a few cafes in Revere and Malden, starting off with Brewin Cafe in the downtown area of Revere. The pictures on Yelp somewhat implied this place looked pretty nice, but it was more like a regular hole in the wall kinda cafe, specializing in coffee and bagels.

We got the Tiramisu Latte

and the Everything Bagel with Cream Cheese.

The coffee was just so-so, as were the bagels. Nothing special here.

The next cafe on the list was Sabrine Bakery and Cafe, which was definitely a much nicer looking place, focusing more on Mediterranean food than coffee.

We got the Seafood Briouat,

 which was not bad in terms of flavor, but it would have been if it was crispier.

Finally, we headed to Malden to check out the newest bubble tea place, Up Tea Hub, located at 7 Pleasant Street, on a street where there are already 2 other bubble tea places. Nice decor,

and interesting stuff on the menu, of which we got the Pineapple Bun

and the Mango Cheese Tea.

Loved the bun, and although the mild saltiness of the cheese made the drink taste a little weird at first, it grew on me eventually. Definitely an interesting creation, cheese tea, which puts it a league above the other tea places here.

January 31st 2019: Burgers in Upton and Natick

For lunch today, I decided to head to Upton to eat at the Rose Garden Restaurant, which is more of a dive bar than a restaurant.

I got the only interesting thing on the menu, the Jalapeno Cheese Burger (fresh jalapeño melted in with the cheddar cheese and avocado),

which was pretty bland, although the fries were decent. Definitely not coming back again. Rose garden it is not.

Later in the evening, we took a cooking class at Sur La Table in Natick, learning how to cook with a salt block. Really a novelty more than a better substitute for granular salt. In order to use it effectively, it has to be either heated in an oven or stored in a freezer before use.

For the hot block, we cooked shrimp on it, which were pretty tasty in the end.

For the cold block, we made caramel peanut brittle,

which was pretty tasty and crispy at the end of the process.

We were still hungry after the class though, so we decided to go the Met Bar and Grill in the mall, which I visited once a long time ago.

This time, we got the Tokyo (avocado, muenster, pickled onion, sprouts, sticky soy, wasabi mayo) burger,

which was not bad with the mayo, except for the pickled onions, which were not to my liking.

Overall, not a good day for burgers.

January 30th 2019: Grilled Cheese at The Coffee Loft, Marlborough

While in the area today, I decided to check out The Coffee Loft, a decent looking cafe in the town of Marlborough.

I got the Hawaiian Grilled Cheese (ham, pineapple and mozzarella pressed on wheat bread),

Which was a little burnt and a little bland.

Two strikes, definitely out.

January 29th 2019: Chinese Takeout from China Taste, Marlborough

Today, I decided to get Chinese takeout from China Taste in Marlborough, which has lunch buffet as well.

I got General Tso's Chicken,

which came with Pork Fried Rice and an Egg Roll.

Absolutely disgusting food. Definitely not coming back again.