Boston Specialties

While Todd & I were in Boston, we wanted to soak up as much of the city as we could which also included trying some of the food that Boston is known for. I also happen to love Boston Cream Pie so my goal while we were there was to try a piece every day from a different restaurant or bakery. For those of you who have never had it before, it's more like a cake than a pie. It's yellow cake filled with yellow cream or custard and covered with chocolate icing or ganache. Out of the 5 days we were there, I tried 4 different kinds.

Our first night in Boston, we went to Quincy Market and ate at Durgin Park, a 180 year old restaurant. It's a 2 story restaurant with a nice view of the street below and had lots of steak & seafood. They're known for their Yankee Fare and sassy waitresses. For an appetizer, Todd had the clam chowder and I had Boston baked beans. Our main dishes consisted of crab cakes for Todd and pesto penne pasta for me followed by Boston Cream Pie. I was not a fan of this pie because the yellow cake part of it was soaked in rum. It wasn't the traditional Boston Cream Pie I was hoping for. In fact, Todd actually ate more of it than I did which is rare when it comes to dessert.

Durgin Park Boston Baked Beans & Clam Chowder
Boston Cream Pie from Durgin Park

Once we were done with dinner, we walked around Quincy Market. There were several bakeries inside but only one was selling Boston Cream Pie so even though I had already had a piece for dinner, I bought another one. We had a fridge in our hotel room so I ate a couple bites and then put it away for the next day. This piece was a lot better than what we had at Durgin Park.

Quincy Market

Boston Cream Pie from a bakery in Quincy Market

We had heard that Boston Cream Pie originated from the Omni Parker House and the bar inside the hotel, The Last Hurrah, had it on their menu. We stopped in for a piece of pie and a drink on Monday evening. I loved the presentation of the pie and the almonds around the outside but to be honest, I was expecting it to taste a lot better than it did since it started here.

Omni Parker House & The Last Hurrah

The original Boston Cream Pie from The Last Hurrah in the Omni Parker House

Our last stop for Boston Cream Pie was at Mike's Pastry in the North End on Wednesday. They are known more for their cannolis but I figured their pie would be pretty tasty too. We had actually wanted to stop here on Sunday night when we had our Italian dinner but all the marathoners must have had the same idea because the line was out the door and ridiculously long. We knew we'd be right by there on the Freedom Trail so we waited to go back on Wednesday and it was worth the wait. Hands down, this was the best piece of Boston Cream Pie I'd ever had! Todd also tried one of their cannolis which was just as delicious.

Mike's Pastry

Yellow Cream Cannoli from Mike's Pastry Boston Cream Pie from Mike's Pastry