I went to grad school in Boston, and hadn’t been back since 2009 when I graduated. Since several of my friends still live there and Boston is one of my favorite places in the world, and I scored a great deal on airfare, it was a perfect time to go back this past June. Now, when I was in grad school I wasn’t vegan yet, or even vegetarian (except for in the dining hall, the veg option was often the least disgusting thing on the menu) so I had all new culinary territory to cover. I didn’t take pictures of everything I had, since I had a few cheese free pizzas and large salads, but here are a few pictures of the more notable things I ate.
On the plane on the way to Boston I read the Veg News article on vegan ice cream (can’t find a link right now, but it is in the August 2012 issue on page 63) and discovered that JP Licks had non-dairy options. So, the first order of business was to drag my friend, T, to the Harvard Square location for sorbet. It was really good, and the woman behind the counter decided to charge me for only one topping instead of two because she said I really didn’t have that much fruit, which was nice of her. From the looks of their website, they have even better vegan options right now (soy chai, yum!) so if you are near by, go and tell me how it is!

Berry sorbet with fresh fruit toppings
After our ice cream lunch, T and I wandered around Harvard Square for a while, then took the train back across to continue wandering around Downtown Crossing and the Boston Common. At the Common we came across one of the Clover Food Lab food trucks and decided to have a snack.
I had a chickpea fritter, rosemary french fries and some kind of lemonade (I really should write these posts in a more timely manner, then I would remember the flavor). The chickpea fritter was very flavorful and super filling, I was almost full before I even reached the chickpea part, the pita was so full of vegetables and tahini sauce. The fries were crispy and since they were tossed with fresh rosemary as we watched, the flavors were still present and the fries were still piping hot.

One handed shot of the lemonade.

Rosemary french fries and iced tea, held by my very patient friend (hanging out with a food blogger can be a bit exhausting to those not used to documenting everything they eat).

Chickpea fritter
I had Clover Food Lab again a couple days later at the South Station location with another friend and it was just as delicious, even though they were out of tahini sauce the second time.
The next day, another friend from grad school came in to Boston from New Hampshire for the day, and we wandered the city, shopping and taking pictures and catching up on the last three years of our lives. The morning started with a quick stop at a cafe called The South End Buttery in, you guessed it, the South End near my friend’s apartment for breakfast. The menu wasn’t terribly vegan friendly, but I had them modify a berry smoothie for me, taking the yogurt out and using soy milk instead.

Slightly blurry berry smoothie
We ended up having lunch at the relatively new Wagamama in the Prudential Center in downtown Boston. Wagamama had several vegan options on the menu, and several more items that could be made vegan. I started with the yasai gyoza (vegetable dumplings) and my friends had the summer rolls.

Yasai Gyoza

Summer rolls
For my main dish I had the moyashi soba, which was basically a doctored ramen, but much better, if that makes any sense. I don’t remember what my friends had for their main, but they weren’t vegan, so no pictures.

Moyashi soba
The next day I went to the North End for yoga, and lunch. I love the North End, there are so many great little Italian restaurants and I walked up Hanover street reading menus until I found a place with no crowd and a vegan sounding pasta dish on their menu. I don’t remember the name of the place, but they made me a heap of pasta with fresh tomatoes and basil. It was so simple, but perfect, especially with the glass of Sam’s summer that I accompanied it with. This might have been my favorite meal, most likely due to the ambience, and the sunny window I was sitting in (remember, this was June and this Seattle girl hadn’t seen proper sun in months).

Pasta with tomatoes and basil
Overall I was pleased with my choices, but wish I had tried a few other places, but I couldn’t try everything. To see what is on my list for next time, read the posts about vegan eats in Boston by Vegan Miam, and Helen from Vegtastic.