Za Pizza Restaurant

This was our last resto in Boston, and it was a desperate pick because I was having mad anxiety and couldn't find a whole OTHER nut-friendly looking place. Anyway, this was a good pick! There was no wait, it was nice and dark BUT there were lil kids and families in there BUT they served alc. Very good. And they were good about allergies. We got a pizza with mushroom and green pepper (good, normal) and the "Grilled Chicken" specialty pizza (no red sauce with carmelized onions so a bit different, but still good IMO). Both were enough for 2 servings I think. Cut into 6-8 pieces which is great. I also drank the Peak Organic Sweet Tart Sour Ale which was a little TOO sour for me (rare!) but still tasty and a fun colour.

Overall
Cost: 6/10
Taste: 7/10

Blue Dragon Restaurant

Wow, wow wow. As a nut-allergy babe who loved Asian food, when I heard that Ming Tsai had a nut-free Chinese resto in Boston, Boston became like, my dream city. And I never got to go to that resto because now it is closed!!!!!! But I went to his new place, which is almost as cool because it's also nut free. I went with my boyf and my great friend, so that was also very fun. The food was great, but sharing it was hard. They were good about allergies of course, including fish and peas! :)

I/we got:

Pork and Scallion Wontons: Honestly I didn't love this -- it was super spicy (??) or made me tear up somehow, even though it obviously wasn't an allergy. Just not what I loved. 5/10

Spicy Chicken Rangoons: This was amazing, it tasted very good but I only got one of them. Crispy and like, uh, Asian food??? I love this. 9/10

Chinese Broccoli: Not the same as American brocco, but basically chili-powdered oily green broc stoccs. I liked it and didn't find it spicy at all, but my cohort thought it was very spicy and didn't love it. I thought "This is fine." 6/10

Chow Fun: This was fun, but I wanted like a lo mein noodle and this was very thick bois. The veg were great and the flavor was great, but I would try a different noodle next time. 8/10

Cookie: OH GOD! THE COOKIE! Got it without the soy caramel just in case. It was so warm and crunchy and good and I love the cookie and ice cream. Cookie. 9/10

Blue Samoan Cocktail: They were out of the beer I ordered, and thank god because this was amazing. Creamy and sweet and refreshing and bright blue and came with an umbrella. I stan (as they say). 9/10

Wine: Wine is fine, I got this. 7/10

Overall, I think our waiter might have hated us and the table was a bit cramped, but the food was great and the service was good and everything was a fun and good experience. Would 100% go back.

Overall

Cost: 5/10 (About 120$ for 3)

Taste: 9/10

Blackmoor Bar & Kitchen

Stopped at the bar for a break along the Freedom Trail in Boston (longer than I expected). I didn't actually get any food, but my partner got a chicken wrap with sweet potato fries (nut free, they claimed) and it seemed fine. A good bar list, I got a Framboise but it was 10 dollars and they only poured me like half the bottle and took the rest away, so that was very weird. Big, nice place though, with poutine on the menu that I hope to try someday if I return.

Overall
Cost: 4/10
Taste: 6/10

Abigail's Restaurant

A random Boston trip led us here! This was a cute bar, and the waiter was very good and nice and understanding about nut allergy. I got the seasonal (fall) sangria, which was a little spicy and very good (and nut free). We shared the cheese fries, which of course were good (poutine without gravy or curd, basically) and I got the burger with greens (lots of greens!). All very tasty, nothing too oily or huge, overall a nice and pleasant dinner. Plus the resto itself was cute, classy, and not too empty or full. Good stuff.

Overall
Cost: 6/10
Taste: 8/10

Deer Park Sparkling Water - Zesty Lime

Sparkling water is extremely boring. I used to hate it (the whole "eyedropper of flavor in a lake of water" phenomenon) but now I like being hydrated and for some reason my department at school bought a pack of these so I've been indulging. The lime flavor is nice and refreshing, no artificial sweetness, just fizzy water with yes, a hint of lime. Not very noteworthy, but baseline hydration rarely is.

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10

Act II Butter Lovers' Popcorn

I've bought this a few times now because other than the janky store brand, this is the cheapest popcorn for sale. At first I was hesitant because I like to get the "butter lite" types, since I thought Butter Lovers would be like, really bad for you. The problem with popcorn is that the nutrition labels are deeply inscrutable -- none of them are just "per bag" "popped" it's all "2tsp unpopped" and then I have no idea what that actually translates to. But I did the work once to translate it and the butter versions are so insignificantly different from the non butter versions, it's crazy! So therefore, I will buy the cheapest, which for some reason is this one which is half price of the other brands and flavors. Conclusion: it is good. Actually the butter "flavor" is not very good, but the texture is good and it doesn't burn easily and I usually pop most of the kernels, so it's a much better pop than other types I've had. I keep craving this so it must be decent; a fun cheap snack that is so-so healthwise.

Overall
Cost: 6/10 [2$]
Taste: 7/10

Marie Callender's Italiano Lasagna

Huh. OK, so, unlike many frozen sausage bits, this meal contains 0 soy. Which means it didn't make me itchy at all! But the sausage ball bits still tasted fake to me, so I feel really confused. It was safe yet still not great. But not bad! I bought this on sale and I'd do it again; the noodles are fine and the mozz on top is good. The sauce I don't recall, and the ricotta was actively not good, but overall it was "eh".  Better than the PF Changs meal I just saw that had oyster sauce in it but only labelled "milk, soy" as allergens....




Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10

Halfpops - Brooklyn Dill Pickle

Ah, Halfpops. So hard, they feel like I'm breaking my teeth open when I eat them. But I guess none broke that I know of, so maybe it's just a feeling. I thought this flavor was better than the others I tried, a good amount of flavor which is truly dill (I know it to be so because I had dill potato chips recently and it tasted like these!), and a little sweet. They're also pretty filling for their small size, and cute and unique. So that's something.


Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10

2016 Lekker Red

Lekker? I hardly know her! Apparently "lekker" is basically South African for "bonzer", which is cool. I reached for this wine among my remaining wine stores because it has a clean design and a screwtop, and I was pleased with my choice. It's a fairly unique, earthy/spicy/caroby flavor, not as much berry/cherry notes as with other reds. The first sip was really intense, but it's a grower on you. Tastes like restaurant wine, which is high praise!

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10

Jelly Belly - Buttered Popcorn Jelly Beans

I really support Jelly Belly because they're peanut free now! (And say so!) This is a huge deal for a company to make this choice, especially when they used to have peanut butter flavored jelly beans. So I love that. But this is definitely not my top flavor of jelly belly. I guess the flavor profile is fairly accurate, but it's too sweet (popcorn isn't sweet) and consequently, kind of weird. So props in general but not for this single-flavored bag, which is not fun or very good!

Overall
Cost: 6/10
Taste: 5/10

2017 Maison Marcel Rosé

This is such a pretty looking bottle! It's see through with minimal white writing and very elegant. The wine tastes like a nice standard rosé, maybe a little bit sweet/cloying/acidic for my preferences but delightful enough. It taught me that wine over ice (recommended for this bottle) was not bad! And again, the style of this bottle should not be overlooked. Cute.

Overall
Cost: 6/10
Taste: 6/10

Tootsie Caramel Apple Pop

These are nut free, which is great! Tootsie is cool. This is much better than a tootsie roll, and quite different from a tootsie pop. It's a sour apple lollipop (good bright green sour flavor) with a thin uneven coating of hardish sticky caramel over it. A pretty unique candy! I kind of expected the caramel to be chewy, but it really was not. This is a licker of a sucker. But the taste was good, so that's OK.

Overall
Cost: 7/10
Taste: 7/10

Anna de Codorníu Blanc de Blancs NV

Bubbly! I popped this sucker open all by myself, which is rare for a scaredy girl like me. It was not a gentle pop, despite my best efforts. Anyway, at first I thought I was allergic to this but I think it was just the bubbles/alc making me itchy. Weird. Anyway, this is a white AND a bubbles so it goes down real easy. I actually did get some peach/nectarine/creamy vibes, which was cool. Tasted good and was fun and drinkable. The lady on the bottle art looks like that "old lady or beautiful lady" art illusion thing, which is silly.

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 7/10