Day Trip to Boston with Monica

Coffee at 1369 Coffee House - Cambridge St., Cambridge, MA:

Mexican hot cocoa + shot of espresso
(Woke up at an ungodly hour to drive to Boston and desperately needed some caffeine. I could not decide between my favourite cortado or this house-made Mexican hot cocoa so I compromised. Not sweet, slight fiery kick and mildly bitter - exactly what I needed. It was a bit overpriced, but still on par with Amherst cafes, so it was still worth it.)

Monica's chai latte
(Another great house-made drink. Slight kick from the spices and not sweet, but I think it could have used a bit more black tea and chai spices. The milk diluted the flavour a bit too much.)

Snack at Dosa Factory, Cambridge, MA:

Masala dosa (shared w/sister)
(Massive and probably not worth the money. This could have definitely used more spices; the potatoes were bland and without the chutneys, the masala dosa would have just tasted like mashed potatoes. The dosa itself was pretty good though. I don't know how it was supposed to taste, but it was slightly sour, chewy and crispy.)

Inside shot of this huge dosa.

Assorted chutneys (tomato-based, veggie soup, cilantro(?)-based)
(The cilantro-based one was rather bland and ill-tasting. Neither my sister and I liked it. The soup was salty and the tomato-based one was sweet.)

Snack at Toscanini's, Cambridge, MA:

Lemon pistachio (shared w/sister)
(Great choice of flavour by me. The lemon was never overwhelming and its tartness made the ice cream very palatable. Both my sister and I enjoyed the crunch from the pistachios too.)

Late lunch at Gourmet Dumpling House, Boston, MA:

Vegetable tofu soup (shared w/sister)
(Very, very salty. I couldn't pour hot tea in here without offending the restaurant so I just ate the tofu and veggies since the broth was unbearable.)

Steamed veggie buns
(Also salty, but I drank copious amounts of hot tea while eating this. The bun was a bit too chewy, like it had been frozen and reheated.)

Monica's xiao long bao
(My sister seemed to like the soup to filling ratio, but also commented that it was much too salty.)

Late Night Nibbles:

Orange chocolate ice cream, black sesame bun, pineapple bun, leftover cream cheese brownie, pork bun (shared all except for pork bun w/sister)
(Bart's is always good, especially with the leftover brownie. I wasn't a fan of how oily and greasy the black sesame bun was, but the dough for the pineapple and pork buns were great! Not super sweet, light and fluffy. Both my sister and I were definitely fans of the pineapple bun. She didn't like the pork bun filling much though.)

*Orange chocolate ice cream from Bart's, Amherst, MA

Leftover cream cheese brownie from The Black Sheep, Amherst, MA 

Black sesame bun, pineapple bun, pork bun from Ho Yuen Bakery, Boston, MA

Inside of Monica's pork bun