A Little Bit About a Lot of Things

After seeing an article in the BBJ about cronuts coming to Boston, of course we had to see what the fuss was about. When we went the first day, they didn’t have any – so we decide to get lunch instead. There are so many options here, a hot food bar, sandwiches, a salad bar etc. If you come after 2:30 for lunch you get 30% off both the hot and cold self serve bar. I opt for the make your own pasta bar (not discounted). All the ingredients look fresh and colorful: pick your pasta, pick your sauce, pick your protein, and pick you add ons.

Everything is made to order, and I am only waiting for about 5 minutes. I get the bowtie pasta, portabello mushrooms, and broccoli with tomato sauce and parmesan cheese. I kid you not the portions are enormous, enough to make into two meals. The dish is simple and filling, nothing to write home about, but not bad either.

For dessert I went with the tiramisu.  The flavors were bordering on bland and it just felt like a very generic version of what tiramisu should taste like.

So my coworker stopped by Cafe de Boston on the way to work the following morning, just to see if they had any cronuts. Just my luck, they did! We sampled the vanilla, chocolate and pumpkin flavors. With all the buzz that is happening around cronuts, you would think that they were going to cure world hunger or be the answer for world peace. Shockingly, a cronut tastes a heck of a lot like a doughnut (gasp!). While yes, the consistency of the “cake” is different – the cronut is flaky and light with lots of layers, it ultimately underwhelmed me. Don’t get me wrong, frosted croissants are tasty, but is it really worth standing in line for 3 hours outside in New York people? What are your thoughts on the cronut craze?

Cafe De Boston

75 Federal Street,  Boston MA 02110
617-482-1006

http://www.cafedeboston.com/

Tags: casual dining, dessert, financial district, restaurant