cheeseboudin

My wife used to live in Boston and we still go on "let's go to all our favorite restaurants" trips there. A lot of my favorites went out of business during COVID or have changed management or menus. But of the survivors, Coppa is way up there. Whatever's seasonal on the pizza or pasta section is always great -- we usually go in summer so that usually means something with corn or squash blossoms --- and the uni sandwich is my number one favorite thing I've had in the city. If you're an amaro fan, they have Varnelli's Dell'Erborista, which is my personal favorite and hard to find, at least where I live.

Flour in Cambridge is great not just for the sticky buns but for, if they have it, the lamb sandwich. (Every sandwich I've had there is great, but my wife hasn't lived in Boston for ten years and we still talk about the lamb sandwich.)

There are some good places in Boston's Chinatown, but if you're going to NYC too, Boston just isn't going to compare, at least in terms of selection.

I really like Darbar (Pakistani) and Thai North (... Thai). There are apparently a number of Nepali restaurants in the city now that used to be limited to the outskirts -- I haven't been, but I hear good things.

Toscanini's for ice cream is an absolute must -- especially since you'll be there in summer. There will be a line. Someone will tell you it's not actually worth it, that X or Y is just as good or better. But I'm telling you, every time we go, it's better than we remember. Try a couple different flavors before you order. Somehow, any flavor that is related to a beverage -- not just the coffee or tea flavors, but wort -- always ends up being my favorite thing we get. And the line moves pretty quickly.

These recs are pretty spread out geographically, but Toscanini's is really worth the trip if you're not staying nearby.

Now that my favorite burger in the city is gone, Flat Patties and Tasty Burger both do a really good one. Nothing fancy, no short rib on top or anything, just really good.

Someone will probably try to sell you on a lobster roll, and I don't know, if it's your thing, I guess this is the place and the time to get it. I personally always feel let down by them -- New Englanders pride themselves on barely seasoning their seafood so you don't "cover up the flavor," but if they'd boil that thing like a crawfish I think it'd be a huge improvement. They're really expensive for the amount of lobster you get, especially in the city.

My grumpy old man answer is C.W. Post, which they haven't made since ... I don't know, the 80s*. But among the living, I think I have to agree with Cracklin Oat Bran. Also a big fan of the Ezekiel cereals, but I usually put them on yogurt.

(*It was basically a sweetened granola and most likely I wouldn't still love it as much as I remember.)

In terms of a go-to order, I'm a cherry vanilla or something-with-coconut guy, or Grape Nut when I'm in New England.

All time best ice creams I've had, though, are the lemon espresso at Toscanini's in Boston, and the sweet corn and black raspberry from Jeni's, which my wife and I loved so much we served it instead of cake at our wedding.

Ohhh you get it. I don't meet many people who have lived in both places! There's this fried chicken place in Nashville Indiana that people rave about, and the chicken is cooked very very nicely - and this was back before fried chicken was hip. But there was zero seasoning. Maybe salt and pepper, but it's like it was tailored for people who thought the Colonel's 11 herbs and spices were just too much.

And the barbecue sauce pizza thing I'll never understand.

The farmer's market was always great though, and you could get good quality meat from the Mennnonites. Great ingredients, basically, just nobody seasoned anything.

Has anyone ever heard of "boudin" being used to mean "cheesy rice"? Or even heard of boudin links with cheese in them?

I ran into this at a restaurant in Indiana opened by Louisiana expats, years ago. I'm not from Louisiana but lived there for a decade, so this was huge - food in Indiana is not very highly seasoned. I was so excited to see boudin on the menu, but it was ... cheesy rice. Literally a bowl of rice mixed with a mac-and-cheese quantity of cheese, with some onion and seasonings. It's not that it was bad - it's cheese, it's rice - I just couldn't understand why they were calling it boudin. (I should have asked, but everyone was so happy for me to be eating "real Cajun food.")

I'll go a year or two without thinking about this at all, and then it'll come back to me and haunt me all over again.