Boston | Yummy Ventures

Royce’ Chocolate

Posted on April 20, 2017April 20, 2017 by yummyventuresco

Overall taste: 9/10 | 2017 | 251 Newbury St, Boston, MA 02116

We’re going to start off by saying Royce’ Chocolate is our favourite chocolate store. We were stoked when we found out they opened a branch in Boston.

They are on the pricey side, but after trying them, you’ll think twice before buying chocolate from anywhere else. If you have to pick one to try, we highly recommend their “nama chocolate” ($18 a box) – similar to truffles but waaaay better.

afterfocus_1492197605087 — **Nama chocolate “maccha”** – white chocolate with herbal aroma and bittersweet finish of real green tea leaves ($18) *[The best green tea white chocolate ever! They melt in your mouth and have a really addicting green tea flavour.]*

afterfocus_1492193120164 — **Prafeuille chocolat maccha** – fragrant green tea sandwiched between delicate green tea-infused chocolate ($18) *[These chocolate are paper-thin and when you apply a little biting pressure, the refreshing green tea syrup gushes out. We’re so in love with this.]*

IMG_20170415_154033_385 — **Amande chocolat “milk”** – roasted almonds in smooth milk chocolate ($15) *[We’ve nothing much to add, except that we’ve never tasted a better chocolate almond than this.]*

IMG_20170415_133651_965 — **Nama chocolate “champagne”** – nama chocolate with fragrance of pierre mignon champagne ($18) [Most of their nama chocolates contain alcohol, but it’s extremely subtle. This is our favourite out of all the chocolate in this review. It is rich, creamy, and not overly sweet. We do recommend eating it within 3 days as the taste and texture change pretty quickly after opening.]

Azul@88

Posted on April 15, 2017 by yummyventuresco

Overall taste: 8/10 | 2017 | 88 Wharf St, Milton, MA 02186

+++ = highly recommend | – – – = do not recommend

We were invited here for a complimentary meal, but we remain objective in our review.

Although it’s located in Milton, it’s less than 20-minute drive away from Boston. The view is great and the restaurant has a relaxing atmosphere. Most of all, we really love their tacos! We feel that their tacos are slightly better than the ones from Loco Taqueria & Oyster Bar.

afterfocus_1492218442880 — **Guacamole** – made to order, corn tortilla chips, smoky salsa ($13) *[We like that it’s made to order! Jeff hates cilantro and would like the option to have guacamole without cilantro.]*

IMG_20170414_104926_942 — **Chorizo with melted cheese –** chorizo, melted oaxaca & chihuahua cheese, fresh tomatillo-serrano salsa, hand pressed corn tortillas ($12) *[Jeff loves the cheese. He pretty much ate the whole thing!]*

IMG_20170414_105049_574 — **+++ Tacos baja –** beer battered fish of the day, jicama slaw, black sesame seeds, salsas fresca, cliantro garlic aioli, chipotle aioli ($8) *[This is our favourite taco. The fish was fried to perfection and went so well with the accompaniments.]*

20170414_160139 — **Taco de papa y champinones –** potatoes, mushrooms, spinach, chile poblanos, raisins, pumpkin seed salsa ($8) *[For a vegetarian taco, this was pretty good, but not something we would personally order since we L O V E meat. haha]*

20170414_170357 — **+++ Guisado de puerco o carnetaco** – braised beef, roasted tomatilla salsa, crispy sweet potatoes ($8) *[The beef was moist, tender and meaty. We also like the crispy sweet potatoes on top!]*

20170414_174021 — **Beef taco azul –** deconstructed slow cooked beef brisket, jicama slaw, pickled red onions, limes, corn tortillas ($8) *[This is quite similar to the taco above, but we like the combo above more.]*

IMG_20170414_173244_361 — **+++ Tacos al pastor –** grilled achiote marinated pork, pineapple, bacon, pickled red onion, soft corn tortillas, salsas fresca ($9) [This is our 2nd favourite taco after their fish taco. We don’t particularly like pineapple in savoury food but the chef managed to make it work here. The pork was also extra yummy and had the right amount of fat.]

IMG_20170414_174540_245 — **+++ Camarones enchipotlada –** shrimps, chipotle-garlic olive oil sauce, mexican rice, black beans ($22) *[The picture shown here is the sample portion, not the $22 portion. They were prepared well and were really fresh and plump!]*

IMG_20170414_174834_608 — **Tamal –** corn tamales, chipotle shredded pork, mole colorandito ($5) *[We are not huge fans of Tamal in general. This reminds us a lot of an Indonesian dish called “lontong”]*

IMG_20170414_175214_672 — **– – – Enchiladas suizas –** chicken filled tortillas, creamy tomatillo sauce, chihuahua & oaxaca cheese ($18) *[We found this kind of average and we both never liked chicken breast.]*

20170414_181543 — **+++ Churros –** cinnamon sugar, chocolate sauce ($8) *[We both liked to eat it by itself instead of dipping it in the chocolate sauce. They were still warm when they served it and it was one of the better churros we had.]*

IMG_20170414_180307_411 — **Boca negra –** chocolate cake, sweet tomatillo sauce, lime custard sauce ($8) *[This was good but we felt that the interior could have been more moist.]*

20170414_181044 — **– – – Flan de caramelo –** custard, rich caramel sauce ($8) *[We didn’t really like the taste and texture of this flan.]*

Tasting Menu

Regular Menu Front

Regular Menu Back

Click menus to enlarge.

Lady M Cake Boutique

Posted on April 14, 2017 by yummyventuresco

Overall taste: 7.75/10 | 2017 | 304 Newbury St, Boston, MA 02115

This Lady M boutique is take-out only. There’s even a no eating sign in the store. I found that the cream melts very quickly and you should definitely eat it as soon as you purchase it.

Pictured Above: Checkers ($8) [This is my least favourite out of the 3 cakes I’ve tried, but it wasn’t bad. The sponge cake was fluffy and the cream was light and not overly sweet. My favourite part was the chocolate ganache layer.]

IMG_20170412_234309_331 — **Green Tea Mille Crepes** ($8.5) *[Most people seem to like their green tea the most. I personally found that the matcha taste wasn’t strong enough and was a little too sweet.]*

IMG_20160728_203058 — **Signature Mille Crepes** ($8) *[Their signature crepe was my favourite! If you’ve never had crepe cake and don’t understand what the hype is about, try this at least.]*

Cochon555 Boston

Posted on April 13, 2017 by yummyventuresco

April 9, 2017 | 540 Harrison Ave, Boston, MA 02118

We received complimentary tickets to attend this event, but we remain objective in our review.

What is Cochon555? In short, it’s a pork-themed feast with free-flowing cocktail, spirits, and wine. Regular tickets are priced at $125pp and VIP tickets are priced at $200pp. We personally do not recommend the VIP tickets. It’s a lot more expensive and the only difference is you get to go in one hour early. A lot of the stations were also not ready at that time.

There were a lot less pork than we expected. We felt that it was more of a cocktail heaven. There were a lot of selections and efforts were made to make it fun . There were dry ice, test tubes, pipettes, neon light, & for one of our drinks, they let a burnt wood sit in the cup for a few second to create a smokey flavour. We’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

As for their food selection, not only were there less pork than we expected, the variety was also lacking. There were simply so much pulled pork. We would prefer if they had more interesting cuts of pork (e.g. tail, feet, ear, pork jowl) and more creative preparation methods. Here’s some of the food selection: (from top left to bottom right) head cheese (one of our favourites), deviled egg, soup with pulled pork, pulled pork on bread, pulled pork taco, pulled pork burger, accompaniments (tomato, artichoke, toast), cured meat (salami, prosciutto), chocolate.

Quality-wise, there’s definitely room for improvement. For example, some of the bread was rock hard. As for the burger, the buns were straight out of the fridge,

Here’s our highlight of the day: (from left to right) foie gras pate, pork skewer and truffle butter (and no, we’re not referring to the urban dictionary definition). The foie gras pate was amazing and it was comparable to the ones served in expensive french restaurants. The pork skewer was moist and meaty and was very similar to Chinese char-siu. We also loved the truffle butter! It was silky smooth and had the perfect amount of truffle and salt.

All in all, it’s a very fun event to attend. However, we think it’s more suitable for alcohol lovers than pork lovers.

Urban Cupcake Co.

Posted on April 10, 2017April 11, 2017 by yummyventuresco

Overall taste: 8/10 | 2017 | online order only

We hit 11k followers (for the second time) on instagram today! Feel free to participate in our giveaways: https://www.instagram.com/p/BSuM-TBFFcZ/

We received 2 complimentary boxes of cupcakes, but we remain objective in our review. Urban Cupcake Co. currently delivers within 10-mile radius of Boston.

We love that these mini cupcakes look soooooo adorable. We also love their golden wrapper as well as their their classy and beautiful presentation.

We are not huge fans of cupcakes in general because the frosting is usually awfully sweet. While these cupcakes are also sweet, they’re definitely a LOT milder then regular ones and we really enjoyed them! They are priced at either $39 or $43 for 24 cupcakes depending on flavour.

We had the opportunity to try the following flavours:

Strawberry shorty [our favourite! see more below]

Get hyped – coffee cupcake infused with fair-trade organic coffee, topped with coffee frosting & an espresso bean

Just chill – dark chocolate cupcake topped with french chocolate chips

Make it rain-bow – vanilla cupcake topped with vanilla frosting & 100% natural sprinkle

Nuttin’ betta – dark chocolate cupcake topped with rich peanut butter frosting and a french chocolate sauce

Main squeeze – lemon cupcake featuring fresh whipped lemon icing & sugar crystals

Bromance – dark chocolate cupcake topped with mocha frosting and fair-trade organic chocolate shavings

You fancy huh? – rich chocolate cupcake topped with chocolate ganache & an artisan pretzel. You can’t even tell it’s vegan!

Strawberry shorty – vanilla cupcake topped with vanilla frosting, fresh strawberries & sweet pastry chip [We feel that this is sooo good that it deserves it’s own section. By itself, we would rate it a 9/10. The tart strawberries complemented very well with their sweet vanilla cupcake and frosting. The sweet pastry chip is also delicious either by itself or with the cupcake.]

It’s perfect for parties or events since there is a minimum order of 24 cupcakes. We personally purchased a box of strawberry shorty for our anniversary!

Morse Fish Company

Posted on April 9, 2017April 9, 2017 by yummyventuresco

Overall taste: 7.5/10 | 2017 | 1401 Washington St, Boston, MA 02118

We walked by this place by chance. We didn’t actually try any of their hot food and only bought some stuff from their market section. It has a huge seafood selection (mainly deep-fried). We’d love to come back to order from their restaurant menu in the future.

IMG_20170407_212832_254 — **Lobster** ($16 each; 3 for $45) *[It’s a generous amount for $16 and it was fresh. This doesn’t come with seasoning but it’s already salty due to sea water. We mainly bought it for the convenience factor.]*

IMG_20170407_212943_346 — **Crab cake** ($2.25) *[We can’t taste any crab in this, it was more like a potato croquette. However we still found it delicious]*

IMG_20170407_213043_383 — **Stuffed clams** ($2.25) *[It is on the salty side, but there is a generous amount of clams in this. Jeff found it so-so, but Lynn really liked it.]*

Biagio Ristorante & Bar

Posted on April 7, 2017 by yummyventuresco

Overall taste: 7.75/10 | 2017 | 123 Moody St, Waltham, MA 02453

+++ = highly recommend | – – – = do not recommend

We received a $100 gift certificate for this restaurant, but we remain objective in our review.

IMG_20170406_093231_079 — **Mussels Dijon –** white wine, dijon mustard, garlic, butter, tomatoes & rosemary, served w/ grilled bread ($14.95) *[The mussels were fresh and well-cooked but they were on the small side. Lynn would prefer it without mustard but Jeff liked it.]*

IMG_20170406_092709_038 — **– – – Mini beef wellington –** w/ truffle demi-glaze ($14.95) *[We both did not like their beef wellington. The meat was tough and not meaty enough. The crust wasn’t good as well.]*

IMG_20170406_093720_431 — **+++ Seared jumbo sea scallops –** w/ lemon, white belgian chocolate risotto & grilled asparagus ($26.95) *[These scallops were seared to perfection! The white chocolate risotto was weird but good at the same time.]*

IMG_20170406_092638_998 — **+++ Lobster ravioli –** homemade ravioli filled w/ plump maine lobster in a lobster sherry cream sauce ($27.95) *[This is on the heavy and creamy side but if you like lobster bisque, you’d like this. We thought that their ravioli wrapping could be thinner. However, we really enjoyed this overall.]*

IMG_20170406_093604_165 — **Grand marnier creme brulee –** vanilla custard, grand marnier and crystallised sugar ($9.75) *[This tasted like regular creme brulee with a hint of orange taste, presumably from the grand marnier.]*

IMG_20170406_093451_084 — **Tiramisu –** espresso soaked biscotti layered with mascarpone cream and cocoa ($9.75) *[We really liked the taste of their mascarpone cream but there wasn’t enough of it. You can tell from the picture that it’s mainly filled with biscotti.]*

IMG_20170406_092848_456 — **Cioccolato –** warm molten lava cake with vanilla bean gelato and rasberry puree ($9.75) *[We felt that this was closer to a moist sponge cake than a lava cake. We would definitely have liked it more if the interior was more molten.]*

Dinner Menu

Dessert Menu

Grotto

Posted on April 1, 2017April 3, 2017 by yummyventuresco

Overall taste: 8.25/10 | 2017 | 37 Bowdoin St, Boston, MA 02114

+++ = highly recommend | – – – = do not recommend

We came here during the dine out week and it was only $2 cheaper than if we were to order from their regular menu (see menus below).

We feel that their food is a little on the salty and heavy side, but still delicious and satisfying.

IMG_20170401_173529_078 — +++ Focaccia (complimentary) [We never post pictures of complimentary bread but this was the best focaccia we had. The interior had a cakey texture and the exterior was like cookie! They served the same bread in Marliave but it was served cold and didn’t taste as good.]

IMG_20170401_173435_453 — **Piccata** – mussels, lemon, capers, white wine ($10) *[The mussels were extremely fresh and not overcooked. We both prefer it without lemon]*

IMG_20170327_134541_526 — **Fonduta –** fontina cheese fondue, beef tenderloin tips, portobello mushrooms, aged balsamic, truffle oil ($10) *[Lynn wasn’t a fan of it and found the cheese to be too salty but Jeff loved it.]*

IMG_20170401_173351_753 — **+++ Carne –** grilled beef tenderloin, reggiano risotto, asparagus, red wine sauce ($26) *[The tenderloin was alright but their risotto and red wine sauce were *(#&*@ amazing.]*

IMG_20170401_173314_555 — **+++ Anatra –** apple stuffed duck breast, crispy leg, prosciutto, dried cherries, potato gratin, black truffle aioli, madeira ($26) *[The duck leg was so moist, tender, and heavenly! We thought that the duck breast could be more rare. The potato gratin was soooo buttery.]*

IMG_20170401_173122_989 — **Cioccolato –** melting chocolate cake, vanilla ice cream ($10) *[average]*

IMG_20170401_173225_906 — **Budino –** banana bread pudding, caramel ice cream, spiced walnuts ($10) *[Loved the caramel ice cream. The bread pudding was so-so.]*

Dine out Menu

Regular Dinner Menu

Click menus to enlarge.

Little Donkey

Posted on March 27, 2017April 15, 2017 by yummyventuresco

Overall taste: 7.25/10 | 2017 | 505 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139

We only ordered from their raw bar menu (scroll down for menus) and the ingredients they used were extremely fresh! However, we felt that the seasonings and sauces were overpowering. We’re more of a purist when it comes to raw seafood.

If you’ve never tried raw scallops, uni or ikura, for, example, this is definitely a good place to start since their seasoning completely covers the fishy taste. Also, we tried barnacles for the first time today! Read on to find out more.

IMG_20170326_213954_742 — **Adult chocolate milk** – old monk rum, chocolate, milk, cinnamon ($11) *[This was extremely watered-down and definitely needs more rum, chocolate and milk. Look at the amount of ice.]*

IMG_20170326_214118_620 — **Brewed awakening** – rum, amaro di angostura, maple, cold brew ($13) [We don’t particularly like our drinks to be strong, but we felt that the alcohol content of this drink was insufficient. It tasted like sweet coffee and if you concentrate hard enough, you may be able to convince yourself that this is a cocktail.]

IMG_20170326_214227_674 — **Ikura** – wasabi, garlic soy ($18) [Ikura in itself is extremely, extremely salty. It’s hard to describe the taste but it tastes like the ocean, is fishy, and has a little salmon flavour. Each egg is surrounded by a transparent sac and the contents burst into your mouth with each bite. The texture is similar to a runny yolk. What boggled us the most is that they would serve ikura with soy sauce that’s even saltier than the already salty ikura. We could barely taste the ikura, and we’re not sure if there was any wasabi in it]

IMG_20170326_214441_276 — **King crab** – louis dressing ($19) *[This was good, but not worth the price in our opinion.]*

IMG_20170326_180248_526 — **Percebes** (goose barnacles) – old bay mayo ($19) [We’re so excited to introduce goose barnacles to you! Out server told us this was very hard to acquire. It’s like a combination of geoduck sashimi and surf clam in terms of taste and texture. We both loved it!]

IMG_20170326_214409_700 — **Tuna poke** – gochujang, pickled bean sprouts ($14) *[This was pretty good, except I think they should correct their menu description to “non-spicy gochujang”.]*

IMG_20170326_214300_309 — **Scallop crudo** – umeboshi, shiso, beech mushroom ($16) *[We love the taste of raw scallops, but you can barely taste it here because the sauce was so sour.]*

IMG_20170326_212920_779 — **Santa Barbara uni** – dashi, yuzu, chicharron ($19) [Santa Barbara uni is one of best uni in the world. It’s more buttery than Maine uni. It’s sweeter and less fishy than Hokkaido uni. Unfortunately, you can barely appreciate how good this uni was with their sour and salty sauce.]

Brunch menu

Raw bar menu

Click menus to enlarge.

Hi B3ar

Posted on March 25, 2017March 25, 2017 by yummyventuresco

Overall taste: 7.5/10 | 2017 | 147 Brighton Ave, Allston, MA 02134

Pictured above (clockwise from left): $6.95 each

Evil Berry – blueberry

Morning Call – coffee with chocolate chips

Monkey Lover – banana

It is quite fun watching them make the ice-cream in front of you. Unlimited toppings are also included with the price! Lynn’s personal favourite is their coffee with torched marshmallow.