Ben B's Essay

Essential Question: There are many different cultures represented in Boston. Is the food in Boston served in the restaurants actually made from the same ingredients and served the same way as it is back in the country of origin or is it “Americanized”?


During my stay in Boston I visited many different restaurants and venues. My group was the food group and throughout our journey we tasted many different kinds of foods in various restaurants from a handful of different countries. We never ate at the same place twice and for the most part we were kept well fed. During the trip I documented the dishes the members of our groups ate and whether the food we were eating was actually the same in America as back in the countries of origin.

The first place was an Irish restaurant that was called Solas Irish Pub. It was a place in the middle of the city that was in a dark but relatively friendly setting. At my table there were two dishes served that were Irish and one that was not Irish. One of the Irish dishes was a grilled chicken sandwich with tomatoes and bacon served with fries and pickled carrots, peppers, onions, and cucumbers. The other traditional Irish dish was a tossed salad with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, croutons, and dressing. The dish that was not actually Irish but was still being served at the Irish restaurant was a pizza with portabella mushrooms and cheese. As you can see the restaurant had to adapt slightly from Irish to a more American flavor in their cooking to keep the American people happy.

The second restaurant I visited was the Zenna Noodle Bar where a couple other fellow JUAers and I ate dinner. This was a Thai restaurant with a warm atmosphere and good service. Of the three dishes we ordered at this restaurant all were eaten in Thailand. One dish was the shrimp fried rice. This was made up of shrimp, rice, onions, cucumber, and scallions. Another dish eaten here was seafood with vegetables. This had shrimp, scallop, calamari, zucchini, carrots, cauliflower, mushroom, thick noodles, and peppers. Another dish served here was the vegan egg rolls. These were egg rolls filled with steamed broccoli, peppers, carrots, and cauliflower. The last dish was the noodle soup. This contained thin noodles, broccoli, carrots, snow peas, and chicken.

The third restaurant we ate at was called the China Pearl. This was a place filled with rolling carts of Chinese cuisine located in the heart of Chinatown. All of the dishes we enjoyed at this restaurant were straight from their country of origin. One of the dishes at this place was the pork fried rice and the pork sandwich which was a glossy bread filled in the middle with red pork. We also had the crunchy crab dish which was a big ball of crunchy, crispy crackers with a crab claw sticking out of it. Another dish we had was the noodle-covered shrimp and chicken, which was a piece of chicken or a jumbo shrimp covered by a layer of thick noodle.

The last restaurant we ate at was the Express Italian Cafeteria located in the North End of Boston. In this restaurant we all stayed toward all the more traditional Italian foods. Some people had some cheese and pepperoni pizza. Others had Italian subs with salami, ham, tomato, lettuce, and Italian dressing. Others had Caesar salad and some even had pasta, more specifically penne with cheese and tomato sauce. All of the foods we ate in this restaurant were real Italian foods.

Throughout our entire trip there was only one instance where there was a foreign restaurant that served us a dish that was not actually from the restaurant’s country (this was of course the portabella and cheese pizza served at the Irish restaurant. This seems like a very good thing because this means that it is still possible to get good exotic foods in America without having to leave the country to get it.