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L.A. Burdick

Nov. 14 and 18

Ever since Hillary moved to Harvard Square, we've been trying to go to L.A. Burdick, best known for their sumptuously rich hot chocolate that you practically have to eat with a spoon. Steph's not too into hot chocolate though, so not to worry, the cake still takes center stage on this outing! 

Our first try was on a Sunday, after a vegetarian lunch at the newly-opened Clover Food Lab in Harvard Square, introduced to us by Xing-Yin. (We agreed months ago that she introduces us to such wonderful things in life!) Though we won't get too into the lunchtime conversation, please let it be known that Steph gives great and hilarious advice about men! It was a nice, brisk stroll over to Burdick, which is nearly always crowded on chilly weekend afternoons, so we took 2 small hot chocolates and a slice of coconut chocolate cake to Hillary's apartment. After observing the crookedness of the floor (yes, Hillary lives in a crooked apartment!), we gave it a taste! 

We photographed the placard so you can read the description!

The cake was kind of dry, the way coconut cakes often are (Steph said the cake part tasted old), so this was an unfortunate disappointment. Luckily, we had the opportunity to give Burdick a second chance later that week! 

Our super-awesome friend and biggest fan Evelyne was in town later that week! Evelyne also journeyed with us to Sunset Grille, thus far still a top runner. If you've been paying attention, you'll remember that Evelyne is a vegetarian (actually, you'd know this because everyone who reads this blog is friends with us), so Shabu Zen in Chinatown was a great choice for dinner (last time, we went to the one in Allston). But before dinner, Hillary had to run home to Harvard Sq. to drop off her things, grab the camera, take an orgo exam, etc., so she picked up another chocolate cake from Burdick for dessert! This time we had the chocolate mousse cake with lingonberry jam and ganache. What a a world of improvement moisture makes! (The Steph in my head is saying, "That's what she said.") We all thought this cake was really yummy!

Check out that day's headline!

And of course, this adventure was made all the more awesome by Evelyne's presence. Evelyne, we look forward to your moving here soon! 

Blue Ginger

Oct. 15

As a 4-and-a-half-month post-commencement celebration, Steph and Hillary took Lolo to locally-famous Blue Ginger in Wellesley! We had never been while at Wellesley, and had always wanted to try their renown Asian-fusion fare. We wanted to take Lolo in May, but our poor girl was under the weather from lack of sleep. You know, the usual studying too hard for finals, working non-stop on her thesis, and maybe even something caught from having too much fun as well...

Because it's Blue Ginger, we have to share what we had for our meal! Steph loves Shiitake mushrooms, so for our appetizer, we shared the Shiitake-leek springrolls and they were amazing! We also shared our three entrees, one of which was Blue Ginger's signature sake-miso Alaskan butterfish. The butterfish lived up to its name (how can something have the word "butter" in it and not practically melt with tastiness?), it was as smooth and delicious as the arctic char we had at Mare! Everything was also nearly perfectly proportioned, so we had just the right amount of room for dessert!

We had no question about what to order for dessert- the bittersweet chocolate cake, covered in chocolate ganache and served with cardamom (a ginger spice) ice cream and a wafer. In our case, we got two wafers because we told our server that we were celebrating Lolo's birthday! (Who celebrates a graduation on a rainy October night?)

Happy Birthday, Lolo! It even comes with a birthday candle!

Despite being reminded by Evelyne to bring a camera, we forgot! So the above photo was taken on Lo's camera. The chocolate, cake and ice cream were all really good! But Steph argues that you have to take the cost of the dessert into consideration, so her overall assessment: not worth it. However, as Evelyne faithfully noted, the awesomeness of the chocolate cake correlates strongly with how much fun we have on the outing. We love Lo, and now that she's off in Hanover, NH, spending time with her, laughing over a meal and sharing chocolate cake are even more precious celebrations! So as a toast to our friendship, this chocolate cake does pretty well!

Highlight of the evening- Steph: "I would never date a pizza delivery boy because when we go out for pizza, I want him to pay for the pizza. I don't want him to high-five his bro!"

Incidentally, I love high-fiving my girls :)