Boston, Part 2

On our last day in Boston, we were wondering around the city aimlessly enjoying the sites.  As we were walking around the famous Beacon Hill, I started to get hungry. Josh pulled out his fancy phone and found a couple places nearby that were rated well on Yelp.  The first place was super crowded, but luckily, the second place on the list was right next door.  That place was Figs.

My first impression of Figs was that it was super cute! There was seating for maybe 25 people and a wood-burning pizza oven in the back.  After we sat down at a table, I looked down at the menu and saw that Figs is actually a Tod English restaurant. All of a sudden I started geeking out since he's been a guest judge on just about every cooking competition show around!  Needless to say that if I was not excited to eat at Figs before that moment, I definitely was then.

So what Figs is famous for is their pizzas....but we didn't know that when we ordered. We thought that the panini would be the fastest thing to order since they are sandwiches.  Please note that if you ever visit this restaurant, the pizzas are WAY faster.  But I digress...

After we ordered the waiter brought out the most amazing bread and olive oil. It was so delicious that I almost wanted to say "Just keep the panini, I'll just eat the bread!" Of course I did not say that and waited patiently for my food.  Here's what I got:

A turkey panini on sourdough bread with rosemary french fries.  The quality of the sandwich was great, although the sandwich didn't blow me away.  What did blow me away was Josh's leek & potato soup:

I don't think I have ever tasted a potato leek soup that was so creamy and complex. I say complex because none of us could figure out that "mystery taste" in the soup that made it so delicious.  If the three of us could have gone back and done it again, we would have ordered the pizza, but most importantly, we would have definitely eaten at this restaurant!

Boston Good Eats!

Sometimes a girl needs to hit the road and head to a change of venue! That is what happened a few weekends ago.  My friend's husband was running the Boston Marathon (Go Josh!!), so they invited me to come with them to keep her (Julie) company during the race. I have never been to Boston before, so of course I said yes!

Needless to say we ate our way around the city; which should be nothing less than expected from a foodie like me! The first place Julie declared we must eat at was Max Brenner's. She saw a "Best Thing I Ever Ate" episode on chocolate, and remembered that this restaurant was on the show. Not to be completely dependent on the Food Network's review, I agreed that we must try it!

Of course the first thing I had to order was a chocolate martini...this was a chocolate restaurant after all! I had the Mocha Madness, which is a mix of Kahlua, fresh brewed espresso, milk, and dark chocolate. (sorry for the quality of the photos...it was dark in the restaurant)  The martini was pretty pricey ($12), but this had to be the best quality chocolate martini I have ever tasted, so well worth the price!  It was not too sweet and allowed the dark chocolate to really be on display. Plus, any time you add espresso to chocolate, my tongue does a little happy dance!

After this drink I was excited for the rest of my chocolate adventure....

Since we were visiting the restaurant because of a Food Network show, we had to get what they said was the best!  This was the Chocolate Dessert Pizza with "The Works". This pizza was topped with "Max's double chocolate melting chunks", bananas, toasted marshmallows, and peanut butter.  Just as promised (though I usually never doubt the opinion of those at the Food Network), this pizza was the best chocolate pizza I have ever had!  All of us agreed that this was due to the quality of the chocolate, and the way it melted so beautifully in your mouth. If the quality had gone down just slightly it would have been like any other dessert pizza.

Our only complaint was the thickness of the pizza crust. I was happy that the crust was not sweet, which allowed us to really taste the chocolate's complexity. However, the crust was so thick that I felt like all I was chewing was crust. At some point I decided to eat just the toppings off, but they needed a crust to really bring balance to the textures. So although a thinner crust is necessary, the overall rating from the table was that we were blown away! 

This dessert pizza cost $17 with "the works", but you can also get a half pizza for half the price. We almost wished after attempted to eat all 4 slices that we had only gotten a half pizza; however as we enjoyed the last slice together at the airport on the way home, none of us complained!

So if you love great quality chocolate, you should check out Max Brenner's in Boston, or any of they're other locations around the US and the world! And be on the lookout for a few more posts on my Boston adventure...