BOSTON CHOWDA CO.

Delicious New England Comfort Food!

                                                

When people go to visit Boston, they know that they must try the clam chowder and lobster rolls. One of the most popular places to visit, Quincy Market, or Faneuil Hall, houses the renowned Boston Clam Chowder Co. 

In addition to the signature orders, Boston Chowda Co offers a myriad of other options, such as pot pies and seafood rolls. There are also combination and set meals, such as getting the clam chowder and lobster roll for $19.85 USD. 

Faneuil Hall Menu

When I went, I opted for a bowl of clam chowder and a crab salad roll. 

Their clam chowder was extremely savory, made with fresh local surf clams, rich cream, and big chunks of hand cut potatoes. The creaminess was just right, and each sip of the soup was a burst of flavor. 

Clam Chowder

Personally, I would recommend people to order the bread bowl, as the clam chowder and sour dough bread make a superb combination. Their sour dough bread is baked fresh daily. When the bread is eaten together with the clam chowder, both the taste of the bread and chowder are enhanced and richened. 

My mom ordered the lobster roll, which I would recommend over the crab salad roll. The crab salad roll tasted amazing, but the texture was much like potato salad and the crab taste was not very strong. On the other hand, the lobster roll, though more expensive, has big chunks of lobster. The lobster tasted fresh and delightful.

Crab Salad Roll

Each bite of food from Boston Clam Chowda's showcases this store's use quality ingredients and passion for making the most satisfying meal. If you ever get a chance to visit Boston, make sure to stop by Clam Chowda Co for a hearty and mouth watering meal!

Visit their website here

1 Faneuil Hall Market Place, Boston, MA 02109

109 Main Street, North Andover, MA

FAMILY PIZZA

Authentic Taiwanese Fire-roasted Pizza!

Magherita Pizza

Family Pizza is arguably one of the most unique pizza stores. Family Pizza has one location: Hsinchu, Taiwan. Located in Jhubei, it is easily accessible by the High Speed Rail. The store itself is cozy, consisting of a wooden lodge where the pizza is freshly baked and a comfortable building for eating. The pizza is delivered straight from the oven to your table.

One's eye is immediately caught by the exotic menu choices, ranging from traditional Taiwanese flavors to dessert pizzas. Different choices for crusts include butter and pineapple flavored!

Compared to pizza chain stores, this store is special and delicious. Each pizza is made-to-order. The ingredients are fresh and infused with flavor. 

This store does not attract all the customers just through the bizarre flavors; the pizza is genuinely tasty. I ordered the classic Margherita Pizza and the Stinky Tofu Pizza. My first impression was that the pizza was not too oily. Instead, the perfect proportion of cheese and ingredients were paired with the thin crust. Normally, I toss out the crust of pizzas, but the crust of Family Pizza is baked to a golden crispy perfection. The Margherita pizza had rich tomato taste; it is an exceptional rendition of the classic. The stinky tofu had a much stronger taste. Stinky tofu lovers will love it. Stinky tofu haters: stay away. The Stinky Tofu Pizza was also pretty spicy, but incredibly flavorful.

Stinky Tofu Pizza

I will definitely be coming back to this store until I try everything on their menu. The abundance of choices, quality ingredients, and amicable service makes this one and only store a must-visit.

新竹縣竹北市高鐵二路65號
No. 65, Gaotie 2nd Rd, Zhubei City, Hsinchu County, 302

Visit their website here

THAI TOWN DESSERT

Authentic Thai cuisine and desserts!

Thai Town offers traditional Thai cuisine. They have over a dozen stores all over Taiwan and are incredibly renowned. In addition a wide array of delectable Thai curries and platters, they also offer stunning desserts. There is a large number of choices to choose from to satisfy your sweet tooth after heavily flavored Thai cuisine. 

Most of the desserts have a base of coconut milk. Their signature is the Burbur Cha Cha with crushed ice. It has a variety of exotic fruits such as ruby jicama, served over crushed ice and coconut milk. The rich aroma of the coconut milk and texture of the fruits and ice is truly a delight. Since most of the flavor is derived from the fruit and coconut, this dessert is definitely not sickly sweet. Be sure to try this dessert if it is your first time at Thai Town!

Another dessert I recently tried was the Black Sticky Rice in Taro Milk. On the menu, they recommend getting this dessert hot to bring out the coconut aroma. I loved this dessert due to the generosity of the ingredients. The natural flavors of the taro and rice were enhanced by the steaming coconut milk as well. Because this dessert contains a lot of taro and rice, it is very filling. Be sure not to stuff too much during the meal if you are planning to order this! 

Each time I visit Thai Town, I always can't help but ravenously scarf down all the main dishes and appetizers until I feel like my stomach is going to explode. However, their desserts are also too good to resist. Be sure to visit Thai Town and don't miss out on their richly flavored desserts! Due to the popularity of this restaurant, try to make reservations. 

Note: I was able to get both of the desserts for half the sugar.

Hsinchu Science Park Store: 88 Jinshan St., East Dist., Hsinchu (phone number: 03-563-1226)

Visit their website here

LLAO LLAO

Natural frozen yogurt!

Llao Llao has recently expanded their stores across Taiwan and the globe. They offer four sizes (mini, small [one topping], medium [two toppings], large [three toppings], and also the sanum [like a parfait]. With an array of toppings, kids are sure to love this place. Llao Llao offers toppings including a variety of fresh fruit, syrups, and candy. When I went, they had berries, bananas, kiwi, dragon fruit, etc. Syrups include chocolate, coffee, and many more. They also had chocolate nibs and cookie crumbles. On their website, it states that there are over 700 combinations of toppings!

Compared to competitor stores such as Yogurtland or Pinkeberry, Llao Llao's frozen yogurt has a distinctly different flavor. While it tasted less tart, it was not also too sweet. In addition, it has a consistency more like that of soft serve ice cream. Surprisingly, it melts very slowly, and I was able to enjoy every bite without having to hurry that it was melting too fast.

Bonus: I love the decor of their stores. The simple color theme of green and white is comfortable and easy. I have visited both the store in Xinyi District and the newly opened one in Hsinchu Sogo Big City.

It is definitely a healthy alternative to ice cream if you are looking to satisfy your sweet tooth and cool down!

Xinyi store: Viesshow Cinemas, No.20, Songshou Rd, Taipei

Visit their website here

BOWL OF HEAVEN

"Superfood for a Super Life"

With the increasing popularity of acai bowls in the past year, Bowl of Heaven joins the trend, serving a variety of fresh acai bowls, juices, and smoothies. The stores also sell paleo treats and other healthy snacks.

During my stay in Fremont, I went to this place three times within a week! I tried the North Shore original bowl (my favorite), Popeye bowl, and Green Glory juice.

The North Shore bowl has a base made of organic acai, strawberries, bananas, apple juice, and MAQ7 (blend of "powerful and exotic super fruits"). It is topped with organic hemp flax seed granola, honey, and bananas. I was struck by how similar this tasted to Jamba Juice's Banana Berry smoothie. The bowl was the perfect sweetness and had nicely balanced fruity flavors. The granola added a fun texture to the bowl and tasted great.

The Popeye bowl has a base of organic acai, strawberries, pineapple, blueberries, apple juice, banana, fresh kale, fresh spinach, and MAQ 7. Compared to the North Shore bowl, this definitely had a more earthy taste due to the addition of kale and spinach. Because of the pineapple, it also carried a tropical zest.

The Green Glory juice consists of kale, spinach, lemon, cucumber, celery, parsley, and apple. I had to wait about 10 minutes for the juice because the juice was freshly made and the juicing process took quite a while. Personally, I did not enjoy the juice due to the heavy celery and parsley flavors. However, it definitely tasted really fresh and was a nice energy boost.

Bowl of Heaven  is a little pricier than stores such as Jamba Juice, with snacks ranging from $5 (small bowls) to $14 (large bowls).

Since your order is made to order, you can also customize your bowl. For example, if you're looking for a less sugary bowl, you can substitute the apple juice with unsweetened almond milk or coconut milk. You can also choose form a variety of toppings.

Bowl of Heaven is the perfect stop if you're looking for a refreshing and healthy snack during the day.  They have stores in California, Utah, and Wisconsin.

You can visit their website here

MILKCOW

Organic creamy soft serve naturally sweetened with honey!

Milk cow prides itself in its pure ingredients, from organic milk to organic honey. Their most popular flavor is the Milky Cube, which incorporates both their premium soft serve and organic honeycomb. Besides soft serve, Milkcow has a variety of sweets and drinks, including macaroons and coffee.

I ordered the Milkway and the Santorini . The Milkyway was essentially plain soft serve, but nevertheless tasted amazing. The Santorini was flavored with tropical blue syrup, pistachio powder, Oreo crumble, nuts, and finished off with a huge cotton candy puff.

From the first taste, the creaminess of the ice cream stood out to me. Unlike other brands of soft serve which taste icy and syrupy, Milkcow's soft serve had an extremely smooth consistency and rich milk taste.

Compared to other stores, Milkcow's price range is low, ranging from $2-5.

When I went to the store in Fremont, the store was nearly empty and the service was kind and efficient. The store had a comfortable atmosphere. It is a great place to go to talk with friends!

Totally worth your time and money!

visit their website here