Mike's Pastry, Boston

If you've ever flown out of Boston Logan airport, you have likely encountered Mike's Pastry, a Boston institution, known for its cannoli.  Seriously.  I don't think I've ever boarded a flight there without seeing someone getting on with a Mike's Pastry box, a white box, blue logo, tied up with twine.

Mike's is famous, and people go kinda crazy for it.  At least, tourists certainly do.

"Founded in 1946, Mike’s Pastry is located in Boston’s historic North End on Hanover Street. Michael Mercogliano (the “Mike” behind the famed Mike’s Pastry) created the one-of-a-kind cannoli that keeps loyal Bostonians and tourists coming from around the world to enjoy. Going to Mike’s has become a Boston tradition when in town whether visiting family, friends, sporting events, college, or any other event. We hope that you continue the tradition and come see us and grab a pastry."

The North End, original, location is a madhouse, always.  But, they opened a location in Cambridge, right off Harvard Square, and after dinner nearby at Alden & Harlow, we decided to swing by to pick up some backup dessert.  Because, um, me and dessert.

To be honest, I don't really like cannoli that much, and I knew I had thought "eh" when I had Mike's before, but I was happy to try again.

Menu.

I was shocked to find that there were literally no crowds.  One family sat on the side eating a pastry.  A couple came in after us.  And that ... was it.  So very very different from the North End location.

It gave me a chance to actually see the goods, as you usually can't due to the hoards.  They also had a menu posted on a chalkboard, although it was fairly general, included everything they make regardless of it they had it, and, had no prices.  Pastries, cupcakes, cakes, cookies, cannoli.  Got it.

Cakes, Cupcakes, etc.

 It was better to look with our eyes anyway.  The lineup was vast, all fairly super sized creations, large slices of assorted cheeseake, layer cakes, and Boston cream pie.  Italian cookies, right alongside whoopie pies.  A large selection of huge brownies, fudgy, and loaded with toppings.  "Cupcakes" that really were decadent looking mini cakes, with fairly involved toppings.  And don't forget all the cream filled items, cream puffs in several varieties, eclairs, and GIANT lobstertails.

I really was eyeing the lobstertail, but it was truly enormous, and we had just had a huge feast, and no one else wanted it.  They just wanted to all try a cannoli.

Cannolis.

 So we moved straight to the cannoli, available in many flavors, mostly with classic mascarpone filling and different toppings.

Pistachio Cannoli. $4.50.

Our group of 5 had two people who had never had a cannoli before, one person who doesn't eat dessert, and one person who really wanted a cannoli.  And me.  So we got only two, and let the person who actually likes cannoli pick it.

He went for pistachio.

The cannoli was ... fine?  Again, I just don't find the shell very interesting (just a pastry shell), and the filling, while rich and thick and creamy, just isn't enough to excite me.  Pistachio was good for crunch and didn't detract.

My review remains the same.  "Eh, its a cannoli."  Probably a very good one, but, just a cannoli.

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Somi Somi Soft Serve & Taiyaki

Somi Somi is a soft serve and taiyaki shop in Cupertino, part of a chain throughout California, with ambitions to expand more.

"Somisomi can be found all over the U.S., offering irresistible Korean-inspired soft serve in ornate fish-shaped cones. We were founded by two dessert enthusiasts whose love for ice cream led to SomiSomi. Our company delivers unforgettable, personalized ice cream experiences with a Korean flare."

Yes, another trendy ice cream shop featuring taiyaki cones.  Another place with ridiculously long lines.  Another place with everyone stopping to take photos before eating their creations.

I know, I know.  But I don't care if you think these things are made for Instagram, and aren't otherwise worthy.  Because Somi Somi has legit good soft serve ice cream.  And as a lover of soft serve ice cream, that is the part I care about.

Somi Somi makes 11 base flavors, although each shop only carries a few at a time.  They pre-announce the next week's upcoming swirls though, so you know what is coming up next.  The range includes a few basics ("milk", chocolate, coffee), a few fruity (strawberry, banana), a few interesting (Oreo, horchata) and a few Asian inspired (matcha, milk tea, black sesame, ube).

I sought out Somi Somi specifically for the ube soft serve, but I hoped that black sesame would be an option too (even better if swirled!).  I called ahead to make sure ube was on offer, and, I was told that this location (Cupertino) always has ube.  YES.  On my visit, the other options were matcha and Oreo (or swirled), and milk (which could swirl with the ube).  I sampled both the ube and milk on their own, and decided to get the swirl.  I'll cut right to the chase: this is the best ube soft serve I've ever had.

Soft serve is available on its own in a cup, or, as nearly everyone opted to do, with a taiyaki cone. They don't even carry regular cones.  One other interesting thing to note - if you get the taiyaki cone, you have the option of having it served "rightside up", e.g. in the cone, with the taiyaki as your cone, or "upside down", in a bowl, with the cone upside down on top.  I haven't seen other places so explicitly make this an option, but, I think I quickly saw why they do.  More on this soon.  And yes, this was also the best taiyaki cone I've ever had.

Taiyaki Making.

Like most places, Somi Somi has the taiyaki molds right in front of you at the store, and the aroma of freshly waffling cones fills the air.  It really does draw you in.

The taiyaki options at Somi Somi were the most extensive I've seen at places like this.  For filling, for the cone style, you could pick from fairly common custard, red bean, or Nutella, but they also had taro filling as an option, which made me quite pleased.  These are not made to order, but seemed fairly fresh.

For regular taiyaki, as in, just taiyaki, not the cone style, they also have a cheese version, which sounds pretty fascinating.  Unlike the cones, those are made to order, so the cheese would be melty, and I think would be great to try.  The little filled taiyaki are available in singles or trios, and seemed fairly popular too.  I'd love to try these next time, maybe split a ice cream version, and get at least one on the side?

Toppings.

The only negative I have to say is that ordering is a bit chaotic, as the place is just packed, and no one seems to really know where they should be.  The line went out the front, and down the sidewalk, but inside was filled entirely with people waiting for their turn to customize.  This is because when you get to the front of the line, all they want to know is your base flavor, and style.  Then, you pay, and shuffle off to the side, try to stay out of the way, until your name gets called to specify your toppings.  People seemed generally confused, and, in each other's way.

Finally, our names were called to pick our toppings.  The topping lineup is one area that Somi Somi did let me down.

There was not much exciting here.  Just a few cereals (cocoa pebbles, captain crunch, and fruity pebbles), a few crunchy things (graham cracker, coconut flakes, oreos), and rainbow sprinkles.  No drizzles (I was expecting condensed milk drizzle!).  No mochi.

But, toppings are included for free, although most people seem to just pick one, plus they add an option random mini macaron if you please.

Ube and Milk Swirl / Rainbow Sprinkles / Macaron / Taro Filled Taiyaki Cone. Upside Down. 

So, for my creation, I opted for the milk and ube swirl, even though I really did love the ube on its own too.   I was worried that it would get old after a while on its own, and thus, the swirl.

Both flavors were perfectly rich and creamy, very textbook high quality soft serve.  The "milk" flavor was simple, but not too sweet, and I think it was nice to have mixed with the ube.  The ube was very good, and a stunning purple color.  No complaints on this ice cream, at all.

For my toppings, I just went for the rainbow sprinkles, since I don't really like any of the other options.  I found this to be pretty boring quickly though, and really wanted some drizzle, some other crunch, some mochi ... or even, um, more sprinkles?  Because these ran out fast.  Luckily, I had more in my purse ...

The macaron was fine, but, I still just found it random, and I can't say it added to my experience in any way.

And finally, the taiyaki.  I haven't had that many taiyaki cones, because I haven't really liked the others I have had.  But this one was much, much better.  The cone was softer, and more mochi like.  I really liked the texture and the flavor to it.  No eggy quality to it, which was what I didn't care for at Taiyaki NYC in Boston.  I opted for taro filling, which was good, standard taro paste, and it was more generously stuffed than other places have been.  A good item, which again, made me interested in trying just the regular freshly made taiyaki.

I opted for the upside down version, so I could make my own cone, and add to it as I wanted.  Plus, I knew it wouldn't get soggy too fast that way.  My peers however went right-side up, traditional cone style.  And ... let's just say, their cones didn't hold their integrity very well, and they quickly became major messes.  It was a bit humorous to watch adults struggle so badly with ice cream cones, their shirts covered, their shoes covered, and the sidewalk quickly a puddle of purple.  As much as I think the taiyaki at Somi Somi were far better than other places, in taste and texture, they really did fail as cones fairly spectacularly.  I'd still pick taste over function though!  

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Jerry Remy's Sports Bar & Grille @ Logan Airport, BOS

Jerry Remy's is a fairly generic sports bar and grille, located in the Boston Logan airport, airside, terminal C.  It is adjacent to the food court with Burger King, Dunkin' Donuts, etc, and doesn't have its own bathroom facilities.

I've walked by a number of times, but never stopped in, until July 2019, when I was at the airport far earlier than I needed to be, and decided to check it out.

The staff mostly ignored everyone, and looked like they hated their jobs.  Signs said to seat ourselves, but no one came to give me a menu, or glance my way, for nearly 10 minutes.  They were not thrilled with life.

The menu was full of things that I'd actually love to try, if I had time to dine-in, or if I was at a reputable restaurants, with tempting appetizers like fried calamari, loaded fries, fresh haddock with a panko breading (or fried, fish & chips if you prefer, or as a sandwich), lobster rolls, and more.  The sides sounded good too, onion strings, sweet potato fries, and more.

But alas, I was just grabbing takeout, so opted for my airport standard: a salad, and a dessert.  My order was quickly prepared, and, actually, the food was slightly above airport average (not a high bar, but, still).  I would consider returning.

Caesar Salad. $11.

"Crisp romaine lettuce tossed with house made Caesar dressing, garlic croutons and grated Parmesan cheese."

For my savory item, I got the most takeout friendly thing I could - a salad, Caesar, dressing on the side.

It was a pretty standard Caesar - torn romaine, both hearts and outer leaves, bite sized chunks. Not the most crispy, but not too wilted.  Some thinly shredded Parmesan.  The garlic croutons were far better than I expected, really herby and garlicky, crisp, not stale nor soggy.  Actually my favorite part of the salad, a shocker since they are usually so forgettable at a place like this.

Overall, all basic, standard components, not amazing, but, decent quality.  It beat my expectations.

But I'm all about dressing.  This is key.  I knew it wouldn't have real anchovy, or be great dressing, but I was thrilled it was at least the creamy style, as I loath the more vinaigrette style of Caesar dressing.  It too was decent, flavorful, well seasoned.  And, provided in a really large condiment container, so I had far more than I needed, which, as someone who likes to save her dressings for other uses, I appreciated.

Overall, not bad, slightly above average, and a good size (this was dinner size, a side size is also available). 

Mega Box.

Dessert options are basic: bowl of ice cream, brownie ice cream sundae, cheesecake, or "Seasonal", which, in the middle of summer, turned out to be "Chocolate lava cake".  Not so seasonal.

I went with a slice of cheesecake, a common move when I'm about to get on a plane (like Yankee Pier in SFO where it was decent enough, and Romano's Macaroni Grill in O'hare - where it was not a winner .  Most of these restaurants buy low end ice cream, so that is out (and not very savable for later), and they certainly don't make their own desserts, so cheesecake is actually a fairly safe bet.

I had to laugh at the packaging, the slice was a reasonable size, but the box was the same size as my giant salad.  Guess they don't have multiple size boxes?

NY Style Cheesecake. $8.

The cheesecake was a decent size slice, served entirely unadorned.  No drizzle of caramel, chocolate, or strawberry goo.  No whipped cream.  Just cheesecake.  Which was fine with me, but, a bit surprising.  No effort put in here.

The cheesecake though was actually good.  Creamy and smooth.  Slight hint of lemon.  Fairly standard cheesecake, nothing earth shattering, but, solidly good.

The crust too was quite decent, a thick back and bottom crust.  Not just soggy, or cardboard like.  It wasn't anything special, not super caramelized or anything like that, but, it was a good crust.

Overall, this really was a fine slice of cheesecake, I'd gladly get another, and I wonder who their distributor is.

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