Phin Coffee House

I have a pset due tonight that I haven't started. Oh and a midterm in two days. After I finish writing this I gotta lock in hardcore.

Unfortunately today is not a coffee day, so we're doing a matcha review (because I've been thinking about matcha since the Maruichi popup with that one famous matcha guy)

Phin Coffee House

Rating: 2/5
Location: 10 High St, Boston, MA 02110
Ordered: large Matcha latte (6), Chicken Banh Mi (11), coffee cake (5)

Vibes: Chill, brightly lit, with light wood furniture and white walls. It's not a very big location in downtown Boston. The neighborhood is really pretty, but it looks out to an oddly-shaped Bank of America that is lowkey not that pleasant to look out of while you're enjoying your coffee. It's very busy (it's a Tuesday morning wow) and the barista is nice and accommodates my indecisiveness. There's soft EDM-chill type music playing.

Matcha latte: I asked for a slightly sweet matcha latte, and it's quite sweet. It's quite creamy and thick for a latte, and I'm not too much of a fan of that. I kind of wish that it had more matcha flavor, but I think that about basically every matcha latte that I get. I think it's the whole milk fattiness that's really getting to me, because I think it tastes kind of like Dunkin matcha (which is definitely not a compliment).

Banh Mi: The chicken and portabella is nice and smoky. There's a hint of teriyaki, and unfortunately I'm not a fan of teriyaki. There's also hints of spice, sweetness, and cilantro, but I really wish there was more. The majority of the flavor comes from the chicken. The pickled radish doesn't really pack a punch and the carrots don't hold any flavor. There's not enough cilantro, and the bread isn't extra crispy like how I like my banh mis. On the bright side, it's warm, and I did want something warm to eat. The chicken is quite tender though, so that's a plus.

Coffee Cake: Like a pound cake in terms of texture, sort of dense and moist. There are layers of cinnamon sugar in between that's kind of melted into the cake. There is a really thin crispy layer on the outside of caramelized sugar that gives it a sweet crunch. It's a solid cake, with hints of vanilla. There really isn't any coffee flavor to it, maybe the sign that says coffee cake was referring to something else. Or maybe it means that it's supposed to be eaten with coffee.

Value: I think everything was reasonably priced. Actually, I found the prices to be less than I had expected. The portion sizes aren't terribly large, though, so I think it's fair overall.

Rating: I'm pretty disappointed overall. The matcha latte didn't taste that good, the banh mi was underwhelming, and the coffee cake was good but nothing special. The prices aren't terrible so I don't feel scammed, but I had read good reviews online and I was just disappointed. To be fair, there were good reviews about the coffee, so perhaps I'll return another day to try out the coffee, though I don't think that's happening because the food options are underwhelming.