Lingbo Li
Cheesey, greasy Poland: review of Zaps in Allston in the Crimson
Read my review of Zaps in the Crimson’s Fifteen Minutes (plus some bomb recs for Allston eats)… I also took a bunch of video footage, but we’ll see if I actually get around to editing it.
In the meantime, enjoy these supplemental photos.
The Farmer – Corn, ham, dill, mushrooms, cheese
The Caprese – mozz, basil, tomato, pesto, mushrooms, cheese
photo credit - Terrell Woods, The Crimson
And here’s the attached photo from my older ‘Meals on Wheels‘ review of HUDS food carts… bread from the dhall, not the food truck, haha.
Why I’m entering a Beauty Pageant
Miss USA 2009 Kristen Dalton
I watched Miss America as a child. I was 8, maybe 9. I remember Miss Hawaii won Miss Congeniality, but I forget who took the crown. What I remember even more clearly was the lone Asian contestant vying for the national title. She seemed a little softer than the other contestants, a little less sexily taut, and I was torn between rooting for her based on our ethnic similarities or emotionally selling out to support the blondes who I wish I could be.
Now I’m 20. I got into Harvard with my well-roundedness – when I used to report on admissions for the The Harvard Crimson, Dean of Admissions Bill Fitzsimmons looked up my file and told me offhand, “Yep, you were one of the all-arounders.” I tried to do everything. I did some human rights stuff, I edited the school newspaper, I freelanced for a local paper, and dutifully attended karate twice a week.
But deep down, really, I always wondered what it would be like to be both beautiful and stupid; to do nothing but focus on your appearance rather than brains. I thought it’d be kind of glorious, an easy existence, even with evidence to the contrary. Now, I wonder more about how my ethnic background, which doesn’t reach too much farther than skin tone and bone structure, will affect my career aspirations. Will anyone – and by anyone, I mean the bulk of Caucasian America – be able to relate to me?
Miss New York USA 2009, Tracey Chang
This is all a long way of saying that part of the reason why I find entering Miss New York USA (part of Donald Trump’s Miss USA circuit, not the Miss America pageant) an interesting experience is because it is truly something that the 8 year old in me finds thrilling, a little subversive, obviously ludicrous. I was inspired to apply since 2009’s title holder is Tracey Chang, who was also born in China, although she left at a much later age than I did. And while part of me is entering just “for the experience” – which is the only reason to do anything – part of me also wonders if I would be qualified to represent this country, or some part of this country.
Iknow that while I could drum up a convincing-sounding argument in my favor, that plenty of people would disagree. This may be a country of immigrants, but some immigrants seem more American than others.
Part of why I’m entering is superficial: it’s to get in shape and have an excuse to take care of myself. I’m drinking my 8 glasses of water a day, cutting out coffee, and trying to get as much sleep and exercise as I can fit in. My skin looks much better, my head feels clearer, and though I still have a few pounds to shed, it seems being healthy is a worthwhile endeavor, all the better if there’s a goal in mind. It’s tough, though. Loving food is not necessarily bad for staying in shape – there are many ways to love food – but moderation is tough!
On Thanksgiving weekend, I’ll be competing and living out the third reason why I’m doing this – as an undercover mission. What’s the beauty pageant world like? What are the girls like? How many surgical enhancements might I spot? Will this ruin my self-esteem? Will I be able to glide in 4.5 inch gold stilettoes? How much tape will I need to adhere my bikini to my body? Will I feel totally ridiculous?
What doesn’t kill me, I hope, will just make me stronger. And more sparkly.
Hopefully, you’ll be interested in reading about my quest to have really big hair along with finding the perfect fried oyster.
So fresh it’s wriggling: Sushi at Fish Market in Allston
I found Fish Market on Yelp as a budget-priced option for sushi in Allston, and it didn’t disappoint. Prices are very reasonable – $3.75-6 for standard maki and $7.50-15 for “special” maki. The interior is cutesily modern: lime green chairs and light wood, with a merely 5 tables or so plus a sushi bar. Since I was surrounded by Asian staff, I suddenly wanted to burst out in my restaurant Chinese… but here, they all speak English.
The real standout of the night was the baked spicy scallop maki ($8). Oh. My. God. See bottom right – the topping is still-warm scallop, crabstick, and scallop with spicy mayo, complementing the super fresh, creamy avocado roll underneath. If you like your sushi occasionally uber-creamy and decadent, this is the roll for you.
I had dinner with a friend, now a consultant for Oliver Wyman, and his roommate, a professional poker player. Really. The poker player was planning a jaunt out to Vegas at some point and mused about a game in London that required a $20,000 buy in. He also did an admirable job of explaining how to count cards in blackjack: basically, as the game wears on, the deck is rated on a 1-12 scale as light (mostly low cards) or heavy (mostly high cards). Then bets can be made accordingly, although it’s still not a certain win. “It’s not worth it,” he concluded, with the wins from poker far better. He also knew a 16 year old also played the poker circuit, making and losing hundreds of thousands.
It seems like quite the lifestyle: “I’d drop $200 on dinner everyday,” he admitted, also throwing cash at bottle service in clubs. (Club girls were trashy, suprise!) He called the yellowtail out on being sliced too thickly:
“What’s the most you’ve ever earned in a single night?” I asked him.
“About $70,000,” he said.
I suddenly wanted to learn how to play poker.
Photo of the Day: Chocolate terrine with thai basil ice cream, sea salt
Thai basil ice cream (tastes precisely like thai basil, except it melts in your mouth) on sea-salt specked chocolate terrine, found at Ten Tables Cambridge.
Gourmet Dumpling House in Boston’s Chinatown
Gourmet Dumpling House is the kind of Chinese restaurant that you hope for when you stroll through Boston’s rather small enclave of all things Asia, with a focus on that mysterious Middle Kingdom. First of all, it’s very, very busy. That’s always a good sign.
I declared “two people” in Chinese at the front desk, and I may have imagined it, but I think we were seated more quickly than other people waiting. Finally entering the fray was like trying to crowdsurf: you just kind of dive in and hope for the best, with no romantic buffer between you and your meal. First of all, there’s wasn’t much ambiance to speak of. It was all naked, glaring light and diners packed in like sardines, seated at tables so tiny that they struggle to hold more than two dishes before the waiter starts stacking plates on top of one another. My friend Taylor and I basically had dinner with the couple jammed up next to us, a friendly Chinese couple who lived in the area – the husband was Harvard College class of 1975, and a former Quadling.
It’s funny how Americans come to expect semi-bad service and lack of ambiance as a hallmark of a good Chinese restaurant. I’m theorizing here, but I think part of it is because Chinese food has become such a commonly accepted cuisine that in order for it be more exotic and exciting of an experience, bad service and decor is appealing in the same way secondhand bohemian togs grace privileged bodies.
That being said, the service was surprisingly good, and I worked out a little bit of my Chinese that I picked up over the summer. My foodie friend had recommended the Szechuan fish stew and salt and pepper fried squid, as did our waiter. He also declared the soup dumplings (named “juicy dumplings” on the menu) as tasty, so we threw those into the mix as well.
Just looking at this picture again makes me salivate, thinking about the tender slices of flounder and cabbage steeped in a scary-looking (but only moderately spicy) red oil, giant handfuls of whole chiles, all perfectly paired with a bowl of slightly sticky white rice. Fantastic. They don’t use “numbing hot” spice, which is surprising considering it’s Szechuan style, but I guess it’s hard to get your hands on the real thing stateside, or maybe the flavors are just too unusual. Anyway, despite the lack of tongue paralysis, a supremely satisfying bowl that easily feeds 4-5 for about $13. What a deal.
We need a closeup to emphasize how delicious this is.
They also hit it out of the park with the salt and pepper fried squid, which might also be deemed “salt and pepper fried crack” or something similar. You just cannot stop eating this stuff – it’s crunchy, it’s salty, it’s bite has just the right amount of bounce and give coated by the tastiest breading known to man. It’s served superfluously on a bed of chopped pale greens. Anything – even the toes of babies and the flippers of fetal baby seals – would taste good prepared this way.
Unforch, the juicy dumplings (“xiao long bao”) disappointed. These are eaten with a spoon: you bite a small hole as you balance it in your soup spoon, then slowly suck out the burning hot juice inside which is actually a block of melted gelatin/fat that’s been placed prior to cooking. The flavor was a bit off and I felt it should have been sweeter, but the skins were supple and they were served satisfyingly at a dangerous temperature.
We opted to get a dessert across the street at Great Taste Bakery. They had run out of red bean paste and pineapple buns, and in fact, any kind of baked good that a Chinese bakery makes well, so Taylor made the ill-advised choice of getting this almond cake.
“Chinese cakes suck,” I told him very baldly, hoping to spare his tastebuds. But it was all of like, 70 cents, so no big loss when my premonition turned out to be correct.
Not only was it just… bad, it was also kind of stale. Dry, spongey, flavorless cake with stiff, flavorless, frosting that felt like watered-down chilled margarine. Oops.
Find it!
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52 Beach St (between Harrison Ave & Oxford St)
(617) 338-6223
63 Beach St (between Oxford St & Ping On St)
(617) 426-8899
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Lana Lingbo Li
I'm a world traveler / enthusiastic eater who's now blogging and producing videos over at HelloLana.com. Visit me there!
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