Food, glorious food by Andi Q. '25

If you asked me before spring break where I like to eat around MIT, I would have told you Simmons Dining (or maybe Maseeh Dining more recently⁠01 Simmons Dining's quality really fell off a cliff this semester, and it makes me sad. ). Despite having been at MIT for almost four years, I had not yet explored Boston’s food scene as much as some people have in their first semester. Even my sister, who has only visited Boston for a few weeks, knows more places to eat out than I do!

So when Aiden posted his tier list of MIT’s dining halls and rated Simmons Dining a measly B, I knew what I had to do over spring break – go out and eat at some actual restaurants near MIT. Plus, Simmons Dining was closed during spring break anyway, so I couldn’t eat there even if I wanted to.

Day 1 (Saturday)

Maseeh Dining (Brunch)

This was my first spring break meal, and we were already off to a rough start. (Although I guess spring break had not officially started…)

Maseeh was the only dining hall open that morning, and I was not mentally/physically prepared to venture off campus quite yet. I don’t remember what I got (it was probably scrambled eggs and a bagel or something), but it was just okay.

Punto Rojo (Dinner)

To compensate for my sad brunch, some friends and I went to Punto Rojo – a small Colombian restaurant near the Boston Logan Airport. Punto Rojo is quite far from MIT’s campus (we had to take two separate MBTA lines to get there, and it took like an hour), but it was definitely worth the trip. The food was delicious (and contained vegetables), the portions were huge, and it was (relatively) cheap.

My order:

• A steak with salsa, fried eggs, plantain, salad, rice, beans, and an arepa (all for $14).
• “Corn custard” (from the drinks menu, which turned out to be just a bowl of corn kernels soaked in cold milk).

Day 2 (Sunday)

Veggie Galaxy (Brunch)

Still fueled by the adrenaline of venturing off MIT’s campus the previous day, I went to Veggie Galaxy for brunch. Veggie Galaxy is a traditional American diner on Mass Ave near MIT, with the twist that everything they serve is vegetarian. It looks extremely suspicious from the outside ( almost like a drug den⁠02 The name of the restaurant does not help at all... ), but it is actually very decent on the inside.

My order:

• A vegan shamrock shake.
• “Chicken” and waffles (the “chicken” actually did taste like real chicken, surprisingly).

Jahunger (Dinner)

It started drizzling in the afternoon, so I went to Jahunger – a Uyghur restaurant that makes hand-pulled noodles, right behind my dorm. It’s only about a block away from Simmons, but I didn’t know about it until this spring break. I wish I’d known about it sooner though, because Jahunger was one of the best restaurants on this list.

My order:

• “Non-alcoholic milk beer” (a drink that tasted like an Asian cream soda, kind of like Milkis).
• Jahunger noodles (their signature spicy hand-pulled noodles).
• “Not your typical honey cake”

Day 3 (Monday)

Cafe Luna (Brunch)

It was still raining in the morning, so I went to Cafe Luna – a popular brunch spot also not far from Simmons. I don’t have much to say about this place. It’s just regular brunch food, and they do it well. (Though admittedly, I was also not super adventurous in my order.)

My order:

• A latte.
• Corned beef hash with fruit.

Trader Joe’s Mandarin Orange Chicken (Dinner)

By late afternoon, it was pouring outside. I didn’t want to walk in the rain or call an Uber, so I just prepared the pack of frozen Trader Joe’s Mandarin Orange Chicken I had sitting in my freezer since January. A rather sad college-student meal, but it still beats going to a dining hall.

Day 4 (Tuesday)

Cicada (Brunch)

Cicada is a Vietnamese fusion cafe near the H Mart on Mass Ave. I went there on Gloria ’26’s and Janet ’27’s suggestion, because they think “their black rice is sooo good”. Gloria and Janet have eaten out a lot, so I thought this endorsement meant that the black rice would be life-changing. But honestly, it wasn’t that great. Like it was still good, but I went in with such high expectations that I was sorely disappointed when I took the first bite and didn’t transcend to a higher flavor dimension.

My order:

• Saigon espresso.
• Salmon black rice bowl.

Leftover Trader Joe’s Mandarin Orange Chicken and Avocado Salad from Target (Dinner)

Yeah. At least the salad made it somewhat healthier this time, I guess.

Day 5 (Wednesday)

Brookline Lunch (Brunch)

At this point in the week, my body desperately needed vegetables, so I went to Brookline Lunch – a Mediterranean brunch restaurant on Mass Ave. It’s like Cafe Luna but better (Mediterranean food >>> American food). But it’s also somewhat worse because they only accept cash, which I did not know until I got the bill, and consequently had to spend an extra $10 on ATM fees.

My order:

• Turkish coffee.
• Shakshuka.

Coreanos (Dinner)

Coreanos is a Korean-Mexican fusion restaurant in Allston. Cuisine aside, it’s similar to Punto Rojo in several ways: it’s small, relatively far from MIT (I walked about an hour to get there), and the food is good yet cheap (I think this meal also cost me ~$14). I went here on Jebby ’25’s suggestion.

My order:

• Peach limeade.
• Coreanos bowl (Korean fried rice with a fried egg and miso soup).

Day 6 (Thursday)

Saloniki (Lunch)

Saloniki is probably the restaurant I’ve eaten at the most in Boston. It’s a Greek “fast food” restaurant right next to MIT’s campus, and it’s just so convenient yet also tastes so good. It’s like McDonald’s but healthy and generally better in every way. They also give you fries for free if you show them your student ID. I love Saloniki so much – writing about it makes me want to eat there again after posting this blog post.

My order:

• Grilled chicken sandwich.
• Student fries.

Shake Shack (Dinner)

I was in Boston helping two of my friends shop for their dance outfits, and we were all collectively craving Shake Shack. Just like Cafe Luna, there’s not much to say here – it’s Shake Shack, and it was exactly what you’d expect from it.

My order:

• Black truffle burger.
• Thai iced tea shake.

Day 7 (Friday)

Flour (Brunch)

I was running out of unique brunch places within walking distance from MIT, so I just went to Flour for brunch. Flour is a cafe that, for whatever reason, has two locations next to MIT half a mile apart from each other. I’d gone to the Flour on Mass Ave before, but this was my first time going to the other location, which was surprisingly much closer to Simmons.

My order:

• A latte.
• Chicken tikka masala naan sandwich.

OTTO (Dinner)

OTTO is a pizzeria from Maine. It’s a popular free food option for student events at MIT, but I’d never eaten at the restaurant in person. I decided to go this time because they had a special promotion with a climbing gym I visit, where showing them your membership tag would get you 15% off your order. The food was… okay, I guess. I’m not a fan of their crust (it’s tough and chewy for some reason), but their toppings are good.

My order:

• Vidalia onion and sausage pizza.

Day 8 (Saturday)

Maseeh Dining (Brunch)

I know I said I’d try to avoid Maseeh Dining, but a group of my friends had just returned from a trip to Iceland, and they wanted to go to Maseeh because (a) it was close to Simmons, (b) they were jetlagged, and (c) Maseeh has many vegetables (which they were severely lacking in Iceland).

This time, I did remember to take a picture of my food:

For reference, this is the kind of food my friends were eating in Iceland:

Nirvana (Dinner)

After resting for a day, a few of my friends were ready to eat out again. We went to Nirvana – an Indian restaurant near Harvard. Nirvana is hands-down my top restaurant on this list. The food was just excellent, and it wasn’t too expensive either. Our entire order (listed below, split between three people) cost just over $20 per person!

Our order:

• The Nirvana Royal Vegetarian Dinner for Two (an unbelievably good deal), which included:
  • Vegetable soup.
  • Samosas.
  • Malai kofta (crisp fried potato-and-cheese balls in a creamy fenugreek sauce).
  • Palak paneer (cheese cubes in a spinach sauce).
  • Unlimited rice and naan.
  • Gulab jamun (basically Indian donut holes soaked in rose syrup).
  • Kheer (rice pudding with cardamom, rose water, and cinnamon).
• Chicken 65 (a chicken dish invented in 1965; I don’t know much else about it other than it tastes amazing).

Day 9 (Sunday)

Simmons Dining (Brunch)

Finally, Simmons Dining opened again! Eating out for the past week was fun, but Simmons Dining is still the only place where it’s socially acceptable for me to get food in my pyjamas.

“Mango Sticky Rice” (Bonus Second Brunch)

While returning from Nirvana the previous night, I bought ingredients for mango sticky rice from H Mart.

“How hard could it be?” I thought, “Surely it’s just three ingredients – mango, sticky, and rice?”

Well…

here’s how it turned out.

(And this is why I don’t live in a cook-for-yourself dorm.)