Mike's Pastry

Mike's Pastry

300 Hanover St.

Boston, MA 02113

Yelp

mikespastry.com

Aside from Boston's famous lobster rolls, the cannolis are another must-try eat while visiting the city.  Why are cannolis so popular here?  I'm not so sure.  I've never been that impressed with cannolis to begin with so I was a bit baffled by the rave reviews and popularity of Mike's.  To me, cannolis have always just been some cream in a tubular crunchy thing.  It's never been memorable.  I read that the line at Mike's can be quite long, 30 minutes plus.  I guess it was just my lucky day since my wait at Neptune was nonexistent.  Here, I just walked in and ordered.

They have a large selection of flavors from plain ricotta cheese to hazelnut and even Oreo.  There was so much to choose from and I didn't know what was good.  It was overwhelming.

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Neptune Oysters

Neptune Oyster

63 Salem St

Boston, MA 02113

Yelp

neptuneoyster.com

I have wanted to visit Boston for a very long time.  The last time I was here was probably over 10 years ago, so well before my foodie days.  Since that time, I've wanted to see if Boston was as vibrant a food metropolis as other major cities such as NYC or SF.  I jumped at the chance to tag along with The Annoyer while he visited Boston for a conference.  I was getting my food on while he was getting his edumacation on.  I had to start with one Boston's well known favorites that highlights the bountiful lobsters of the Northeast.  I heard that the wait can be an hour or even longer.  Lucky for me, the wait was less than 20 minutes at 11:30 on a weekday.

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These were some of freshest and tastiest oysters I've had.  I quite enjoyed this fresh start to my Boston eats.  West coast oysters are always the winner.

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Masraff's

Masraff's

1735 Post Oak Blvd.

Houston, TX 77056

masraffs.com

Yelp

Masraff is a seafood centric eatery in Houston.  It's pretty nice and reminds me of a high end steak house like Mastro's.  Dark walls and furnishings, soft lighting, waiters fully suited up, white linens, heavy leather bound menu, large wine list.  This is not your every day meal but for The Annoyer and I, we made it our Monday night dinner.

Garlic Seared Calamari oyster mushroom, shaved onion, cilantro, soy reduction
The calamari was very tender and the sauce was tasty.  I didn't quite like how the calamari was lightly floured and pan fried and then sauced.  It kinda ended up a mushy exterior.  Overall, a good dish but not quite refined.

Pan Seared Foie Gras bosc pear, toasted brioche, red wine reduction
The foie was seared nicely.  The brioche toast was a bit too thin for that hunk of fat and soaked through pretty quickly.  The pear and red wine reduction were necessary to cut through the richness.  Not the best seared foie gras but not bad.

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