The Best Things I’ve Ate This Summer So Far

I think you already know by now that I always look forward to the summer because it’s the time of the year where I have more flexibility, have more time to go out and enjoy food with my family, boyfriend, and friends, and an opportunity to try restaurants and places on my list.

Since summer is half over, I’d like to share with you some of the tasty drinks and dishes that I’ve experienced and enjoy during the summer so far:

soup

This Lobster Bisque from Island Creek Oyster Bar in Boston, MA is lobster heaven! It’s by far the BEST lobster bisque I have had! It’s bright, warm, and inviting and has rich lobster flavors and juices.

baked crumb topping

During my Memorial Day weekend trip to Boston, I also visited Quincy Market and this one spot called Boston Chowda Co. I saw that they had Maine Lobster Pie which was filled with their Rockport lobster bisque and topped with their seasoned Ritz Cracker crumbs. The pie was absolutely wonderful and delicious! It was extremely creamy and the lobster meat was full of flavor! Who would have thought a savory pie could taste so amazing?

fruit floating on top of a clear, carbonated drink in a glass

I am a sangria lover! Last month, my boyfriend and I went to our friend’s birthday dinner which was at a Portuguese restaurant and they had White Sangria, so of course I had to have it. It was actually very light and refreshing, but didn’t have strong aromas like a red sangria does.

a pink smoothie

Since my internship is close to 42nd street in the city, I’ve been making a lot of visits to Jamba Juice for their freshly made smoothies. My favorite one so far is the Gotta Guava smoothie which contains guava juice blend, frozen peaches and strawberries, and sherbet with pineapple ice. It is super refreshing especially on a hot day and full of tropical goodness!

prosciutto on toast

I came to Piccoli Trattoria with my boyfriend and friends for a double date dinner and an item we ordered that I found absolutely divine was the Proscuitto E Peccorino which is fig jam, Proscuitto de Parma, and Gorgonzola cheese on a toasted rustic bread. It’s super tasty with a mix of salt and sweetness from the fig jam and Proscuitto. I really enjoyed this appetizer and it’s possibly one of the best ones I’ve had so far.

Korean meat and vegetables in broth

I’ve also visited a new ramen spot in Brooklyn Heights with my boyfriend and two other friends as well. I’ve tried Tonkotsu Ramen in a lot of ramen restaurants, but so far my favorite one is from the new ramen restaurant: Kogane Ramen. I really enjoyed this particular bowl of ramen because it had the right amount of fattiness and pork bone based broth. The noodles were straight and cooked al dente. I took my time eating this ramen so I was able to enjoy and savor every taste and texture in this bowl.

ravioli in sauceMy boyfriend and I celebrated our 5.5 year anniversary at one of my favorite restaurants, one that I’ve spoken previously about on The Buzz: Mussels & More.  One dish that we tried was the Lobster Ravioli which I absolutely enjoyed! They were quite big and they were truly delicious and the sauce went extremely well with the toasted bread that they gave us on the side.

I guess it’s pretty apparent that so far this summer, most of my favorite dishes are seafood and lobster related. I enjoy seafood very much except for oysters and scallop (for personal reasons). I’m excited for the food places I am planning to visit for the rest of this summer and to see what they offer.

What are some dishes or drinks you’ve enjoyed or tried this summer?

Neptune Oyster – The Longest Wait For Food

During Memorial Day weekend, my boyfriend, our two friends, and I did a weekend trip in Boston, MA. I did a search on restaurants in Boston on Yelp and Neptune Oyster was at the top of the list. I didn’t read any reviews, but I should have because nothing prepared me for what happened at Neptune Oyster.

Our friend told us Neptune Oyster has a 4.5 star rating on Yelp with over 3000+ reviews which is tremendous. We arrived on the street of Neptune Oyster at 3:30PM on a Saturday and made a reservation which we found out would be a 4 hour wait, so we had to return back at 7:30PM. After 2-4 hours of sight seeing, walking, and sitting at a cafe, we returned back to Neptune Oyster at 7:15PM and found out our wait time has extended to 8-8:30PM,so altogether nearly a 5 hour wait. We got a call around 8-8:15PM, but when we arrived we still had to wait for a seat.

The restaurant is very dark, dim, tight and small inside. The staff here are very friendly, knowledgeable and helpful. We started off with appetizers:

seafood dishes

The Fried Ipswich Clams came with a tartar sauce and was market price: $21.00 which isn’t expensive at all. The fried clams were fried to perfection, juicy and full of clam deliciousness inside. I liked the tartar sauce a lot because it was rich. We also had Razor Clams which I thought was excellent and delicious. My boyfriend and our friends also ordered oysters from the raw bar and I ordered a shrimp cocktail since I am not a fan of cooked or raw oysters at all.

soup

We got two bowls of the Wellfleet Clam Chowder, one bowl per couple. The clam chowder is a popular menu item, but honestly I thought it was alright. It’s definitely very filling because there’s a lot of cream and chunks of potatoes. There’s a good amount of clams in the chowder, but I just felt it was okay, not the best.

a seafood sandwich with fries and ketchup

Another popular menu item at Neptune Oyster is their Maine Lobster Roll  – toasted roll, available hot with butter or cold with mayo (available without roll). We both ordered it hot, but little did we know that it wasn’t the best route.

The lobster and roll were both submerged with so much butter that it was too overwhelming. However, the lobster was delicious and so were the fries. The butter did make my boyfriend feel slightly sick, so he wasn’t able to finish his half of the lobster roll.
All in all, I feel the five hour wait was definitely too much and an experience I never want to experience again at any restaurant. Was the five hour wait really, really worth it? I feel like it wasn’t because the food wasn’t five stars in my opinion, maybe 3.5. Would I return? No, because a five hour wait is crazy and it can definitely drive a person hangry. I’ve definitely had better seafood dishes before without having to wait so long.
What was the longest wait you’ve ever experienced at a restaurant? Was the wait worth it?