Santarpios Pizza (East Boston)

Santarpios Pizza

111 Chelsea St, Boston, MA 02128

http://www.santarpiospizza.com/

After hearing friends rave about Santarpios, some even claiming it was better than Pizzeria Regina, Joe and I finally ventured out to East Boston to check it out for ourselves.

We walked in around noon and already 1/3 of the tables were full. Joe and I split a pepperoni, mushroom and onion pizza. After about 15 minutes the pizza came out piping hot with a mouth watering aroma. The pizzas are 12 in. pies, but since they're loaded with cheese and sauce, one is big enough to feed two.

So not to be a hater, but there's something I didn't enjoy about both Santarpios and Pizzeria Regina: the crust in the middle of the pie was soggy. I like my crust to be crispy on the bottom throughout so I was a little disappointed to pick up the slice and have all the cheese and toppings fall out due to soggy crust syndrome. I blame sauces that are too watery- but that's just my two cents.

Once you get past the soggy tip of each slice, the pizza is wonderful. The sauce is flavorful and full of herbs, the crust is crispy, the toppings are fresh and the cheese is gooey.

In my opinion, I think Santarpios and Pizzeria Regina are pretty similar and I couldn't really choose a winner, but Santarpios is definitely somewhere I'd go back to.

For those who care- the pie and 2 sodas ran us about $18 (pre-tip), so not expensive for a fresh made-to-order pie, but I wouldn't call it cheap either.

As a side note, I'm going to the Yu Family rating system (1-100). This one gets a 70.

Food Truck Frenzy (Boston)

Sorry for the hiatus. Things have been busy, but I've still been eating.

A college friend of mine has been working on a project (see Feasting on Four Wheel's facebook page) and it made me realize that I've actually been eating at a lot of food trucks in Boston. So here's the skinny (but really chubby?) on what I think. Maybe the good ones will get their own blog post soon.

Bon Me (http://www.bonmetruck.com/)

Photo courtesy of www.thrillest.com

Find it: weekday lunches @ city hall plaza/ weekday dinners @ bu/ sundays @ sowa

Thoughts: I really like Vietnamese food and I really like fish sauce, so this doesn't quite do it for me. For people who are looking for a more Thai-American flavor and probably can't stomach the smell of fish sauce, this place is perfect (and really this is their target market). The noodle bowls aren't bad and the quality of food is good, but with Chin

atown being equal distance from my office, I usually head there instead.

Silk Road BBQ (www.silkroadbbq.com)

Photo courtesy of silkroadbbq

Find it: lunch tues-fri @ rowes wharf/ dinners tues-fri @ concord ave in belmont/ sundays @ sowa

Thoughts: I LOVE THIS PLACE. Any time I hit up Sowa, I always treat myself to a Pulled Pork Sandwich (though it's equally delicious over rice). They top it off with a pomegranate chile bbq sauce that is absolutely mouth watering. Don't know how, but my favorite BBQ place in Boston is this little food stand.

Clover (www.cloverfoodlab.com)

Photo courtesy of the Boston Globe

Find it: lunches mon-fri @ greenway, kendall sq, and city hall plaza/ sundays @ sowa

Thoughts: I've done a post about Clover so I'll keep this short. It's a hit or miss for me. Some of the stuff has been great (ie. chickpea fritters & rosemary fries) and others have made me wish I had stopped eating it after the first bite (ie. bbq seitan). It's a love/hate relationship and I hate that whenever I do approach the truck they only have the bbq seitan left.

Momogoose (www.momogoose.com)

Photo courtesy of cityrover.com

Find it: weekday lunches @ dewey (m,w,f), kendall sq, davenport building, and city hall plaza

Thoughts: It's cheap. It's a good deal of food for $5, and for $5 it's decent, but to call the food actually "good" would be a stretch. Sauces can be a little too sweet and if you go for a late lunch, it's just been sitting in a hot box for a couple hours. This is another case of "I could just go to Chinatown". It's not bad, it's not great, but it's a good deal.

So those are my thoughts for now, maybe I'll try some of them again and I'll definitely be trying more food trucks (they are the new fad after all). Expect posting more often. Lots of ideas, recipes, and restaurants to post about!

Disagree with me on any of these or have a place you think I should try out? Leave a comment.

Angela's Cafe (East Boston)

After Laura read the review of Angela's Cafe in the globe, she suggested that we go to it for our dinner date. It was a small mom and pop shop, but it did not disappoint.

First we started out with some guacamole and the Sopas Aztecas. The guacamole wasn't anything crazy, just some good ol' fashioned guac with fresh ingredients. The Sopas Aztecas was a tad bit on the salty side, but if you got just the right bite of chicken broth, mexican cheese, avocado, and tortilla strip- it was absolutely delicious.

For my entrée I ordered a combination of random things. A Taco Al Pastor (far left on the center plate), a Shrimp Ceviche Tostada (center), a Tamale Caseros de Puebla (with chicken and green sauce pictures right on the center plate), and a Gordita Poblana (with Mexican sausage pictured back right). I'd say the taco was my least favorite and the Tamale was my favorite followed closely by the Tostada. While nothing was crazy complicated, the authentic Mexican flavors were there, and you could tell some love went into the food. I haven't had a Tamale that good in a while.
I'm not usually a fan of dessert, but I can never pass up flan. Laura and I were a little greedy and each got one, which we regretted later on...sort of. The flan was delicious and the texture was smooth, but it is really creamy and not meant to be eaten by one person. I'd suggest it, but would also suggest sharing (because sharing is caring anyways).
And of course we couldn't pass up a photo-op with Angela herself! I will definitely be coming back to visit friends!

I'll say this is a 7 spoons of soy sauce restaurant!