Tatte Bakery Pistachio croissant: I guess I've been craving pistachio recently. This pistachio croissant from Tatte in Cambridge is dusted with crushed pistachios and had a marzipan-like sweet almond paste lightly mixed inside. Quality texture - flaky crust with a soft airy, slightly elastic interior. 3.5/5.0
recommended boston cambridge tattebakery pistachio croissant 3.5
New City Microcreamery Fennel and pistachio ice cream: At a little over $4, this kiddie scoop from Cambridge ice cream shop New City Microcreamery was fairly micro-sized, but large enough to get a good sense of the quality. The ice cream, made with liquid nitrogen, has a smooth consistency. I was hoping for more aniseed licorice flavor from the fennel, but it mostly tasted like a solid milk base with bits of pistachio, though there was a little something extra to the aftertaste that told you it wasn't just straight-up vanilla. Would come agai... (read more) 3.5/5.0
recommended icecream cambridge desserts newcitymicrocreamery fennel pistachio ice cream 3.5
Abide Monarch black sesame and matcha bubble tea with boba: In the 9 years I spent in Cambridge, we never had a dependable bubble tea shop. The short-lived bubble tea shop in Kendall was just ok, but since it was close to lab, I’d sometimes find myself there for quick meetings. Upon returning to Cambridge for mystery hunt, I visited a pop up boba shop at the Middlesex lounge with a diverse menu of tea and fruit drinks incorporating ingredients like peppercorn and cloves and with names like Binary and The Monarch. I ordered the latter, a hot milk tea ... (read more) 3.5/5.0
drinks bubbletea recommended cambridge abide monarch black sesame matcha bubble tea boba 3.5
Toscanini's Grapefruit Sorbet: I paid a visit to this Cambridge favorite on my visit back to MIT and purchased a mini-scoop of grapefruit sorbet. The portion was generous, and the ice cream had a fantastically smooth texture. A great palate cleanser and very fresh – acidic and slightly bitter, though it did have that slight metallic taste you sometimes get even with freshly squeezed grapefruit juice. Despite the cold, the shop was as popular as ever, and it felt good to be back. 4.0/5.0
recommended boston cambridge icecream toscaninis grapefruit sorbet 4.0 citrus
Mr Bartley's Black and White Malted Milkshake: For my last official snack in Cambridge, I had to get one of Bartley's famous malted "frappes" (milkshakes). Over the 9 years I've lived in Cambridge, I've had their milkshake a few times, spaced several years apart. One of my earliest memories is going on a trip with a few members of my undergraduate dorm, walking from MIT to Harvard Square just to get milkshakes to go. Their legendary shakes are thick (and stay that way, due to the incorporation of soft serve instead of ice cream), and ... (read more) 4.5/5.0
drinks cambridge harvardsquare exceptional mrbartleys black white malted milkshake 4.5
Beatnik Chia seed pudding with homemade raspberry jam: A cup of chia seed pudding sets you back a little over $6 post-tax at Will Gilson's juice bar, located in the Kendall Square food court outside of the Google offices. The pudding comes in two options: one with jam and one without. I opted for the vividly colored raspberry jam, which had a fantastic texture and nice flavor in small quantities, but mixed with the pudding, it was overwhelmingly sweet and masked any of the lightly sweetened but creamy chia seed pudding. While the pudding is e... (read more) 3.0/5.0
cambridge beatnik chia seed pudding homemade raspberry jam 3.0