Restaurant week is upon us on once again in the Boston area. It is nice to check out more places "on the cheap". This time, we traveled out of the city to a place called The Left Bank located in the Stonehenge Inn in Tyngsboro, MA close to the border of NH. It is positioned as one of the hidden restaurant jewels in the area. It boasts a large wine selection and a Wine spectator award of excellence. We have friends that live close by, so it seemed like a good choice.
They have a very extensive wine list of primarily "A" list wines. The wine list seemed more "vertical" than usual. They have all the usual big name suspects from California and Bordeaux. The red Burgundy selection was very small for some reason. The Spanish selection was also a little light. The Australia section seemed ok, but I can't remember. In the interest of being fair, I looked at the red wine selection only. Their while wine list might have been different.
If you are looking to do a vertical tasting of many high-end wines, this is the place to go. If you're looking for lots of variety and some of the new players, you will probably not find it here.
The RW menu consisted of either Ceasar salad or potstickers for the starter, Steak, Salmon or Fetuccini for the second course, and Sorbet or a Banana spring roll for dessert. Out of the four of us, three stayed with the RW menu, and one went off-menu. I went for the Caesar salad, the steak, and the spring roll.
The salad course was very good. The truffle oil gave the salad an extra bit of earthiness to go with the Parmesan cheese. I'm not a big fan of Romaine lettuce ribs, and they kept them to a minimum. The Steak was undercooked on all three cases. We ordered medium-rare, medium well and medium. Every single one of them came one-notch back (medium-rare was rare, and so on). The accouterments were very meager for the amount of steak, which was a little disappointing. Being a "veteran" of RW outings and this is the one part where restaurants don't skimp. I wasn't looking for buffet portions, but something that matched the amount of steak would have been nice. It just seemed odd.
The other thing that was a disappointing was the wait staff. They simply disappeared in between . The place seemed busy, but not full by any means. Maybe they're not used to having that volume of people at a given time, or maybe they thought that we were not going to order anything else since we ordered from the prix fixe menu. They probably would have done more drink business with us if they stopped by from time to time. Their loss, I suppose.
Would I go back? sure. It is tough justifying the trip for me having similar places in the city, but if you live in the area, it is certainly a good place to visit.
Later,
Friday, August 15, 2008
Sunday, August 10, 2008
EVOO
If you live in the Boston, you have probably heard of EVOO restaurant in Somerville. It is classified as an "eclectic and creative" restaurant that seems to be focused on interesting combinations (like nectarines with thyme and garlic flan) and organic ingredients.
The starters (Fried oysters with apple bacon salsa, Rabbit confit salad) were actually quite good. I was pleasantly surprised that the confit salad actually worked because I was wary of the rosemary dressing working with the port-soaked dried cherries. The wine list had some interesting choices, but for the most part it was "adequate". We stuck to wines by the glass. We had a French Sauvignon Blanc that worked great with the oyster dish. I had a glass of a Cote du Rhone that was good, but not memorable. The Lady had a California Pilot Noir that also pretty decent.
The Main entrées were a mixed bag. My lady got the "Duck, duck, goose", and I got the "Lamb two ways".
The Duck dish was very well executed. Consisting of Goose breast, Confit of duck and foie gras with lentils, haricot-verts, escarole and a sherry-ginger sauce. It was very delicious!
My dish, on the other hand, was disappointing. It was supposed to be a southwest-inspired dish consisting of ribs with adobo sauce, and a lamb empanada. The Adobo ribs were cooked more in the style of a lamb chop. They were also a little too fatty, and to put the nail in the coffin, the adobo sauce tasted more like BBQ than a southwest flavor. Not at all what I had hoped :(
The waiter was very courteous and friendly, but the overall pace of the place is very slow. The Kitchen seems a bit small, so I don't know if that is the root of the cause, but I would hope that they get it sorted out. Looking online for opinions, These things seems like common issues among consumers.
While I don't dislike the place, there are so many other great places in the city that supersede it. I think if wind up returning to the place, I would probably stick with the Duck dish, or something a little more traditional. There are so many good restaurants in the Boston area these days, so I don't think I will be making it back here any time soon.
The starters (Fried oysters with apple bacon salsa, Rabbit confit salad) were actually quite good. I was pleasantly surprised that the confit salad actually worked because I was wary of the rosemary dressing working with the port-soaked dried cherries. The wine list had some interesting choices, but for the most part it was "adequate". We stuck to wines by the glass. We had a French Sauvignon Blanc that worked great with the oyster dish. I had a glass of a Cote du Rhone that was good, but not memorable. The Lady had a California Pilot Noir that also pretty decent.
The Main entrées were a mixed bag. My lady got the "Duck, duck, goose", and I got the "Lamb two ways".
The Duck dish was very well executed. Consisting of Goose breast, Confit of duck and foie gras with lentils, haricot-verts, escarole and a sherry-ginger sauce. It was very delicious!
My dish, on the other hand, was disappointing. It was supposed to be a southwest-inspired dish consisting of ribs with adobo sauce, and a lamb empanada. The Adobo ribs were cooked more in the style of a lamb chop. They were also a little too fatty, and to put the nail in the coffin, the adobo sauce tasted more like BBQ than a southwest flavor. Not at all what I had hoped :(
The waiter was very courteous and friendly, but the overall pace of the place is very slow. The Kitchen seems a bit small, so I don't know if that is the root of the cause, but I would hope that they get it sorted out. Looking online for opinions, These things seems like common issues among consumers.
While I don't dislike the place, there are so many other great places in the city that supersede it. I think if wind up returning to the place, I would probably stick with the Duck dish, or something a little more traditional. There are so many good restaurants in the Boston area these days, so I don't think I will be making it back here any time soon.
Friday, August 8, 2008
A nice summer meal
My lady and I have this very good friend that just came back from visiting family in England. We try to help her our with her ongoing love/hate relationship my her motorcycles (yes, more than one...), and in return she gets us all kinds of good stuff when she travels. Nice deal if you ask me :) This last time, it was no different. She bought me a bottle of one of my favorite scotch whiskies: Isle of Jura Superstition, and some organic Stilton cheese.
I figured the proper thing to do was to make some accoutrement for steak, so we made a blue cheese butter sauce to go with our Rib-eye steaks. It was phenomenal (yes, heart attack on a plate, but oh-so-delicious). we also made Prosciutto-wrapped figs with stilton, and those never disappoint either. We had it with an old standby on the lower price scale: 2003 Chateau Greysac Medoc. I think it is a very good bargain at around 20 dollars. I find it very well rounded with good tannin structure and a perfect finish. I was quite surprised when I discovered it that is was so accesible. I really should have bought a case!
The previous night we tried a new wine: Two Hands Brave Faces. This is a new-world style wine with lots of fruit, full-on attach at the front of the palate, and a deep purple color. I'm not the biggest fan of new-world style wines (I did not care for a bottle of Quintessa I had in California), but I am amenable to the Rhone blends made in the new world style. It is more than the Greysac at mid 30's, but definitely worth a try if you like that style.
My lady was "complaining" that I have a pile of Nicolas Potel wines I haven't touched. I keep telling her that those babies are for long term study! :) I tried finding some of his 2005 Clos St. Denis, but they're almost impossible to get, and the prices are prohibitive. I don't clear that kind of cash.
Later,
I figured the proper thing to do was to make some accoutrement for steak, so we made a blue cheese butter sauce to go with our Rib-eye steaks. It was phenomenal (yes, heart attack on a plate, but oh-so-delicious). we also made Prosciutto-wrapped figs with stilton, and those never disappoint either. We had it with an old standby on the lower price scale: 2003 Chateau Greysac Medoc. I think it is a very good bargain at around 20 dollars. I find it very well rounded with good tannin structure and a perfect finish. I was quite surprised when I discovered it that is was so accesible. I really should have bought a case!
The previous night we tried a new wine: Two Hands Brave Faces. This is a new-world style wine with lots of fruit, full-on attach at the front of the palate, and a deep purple color. I'm not the biggest fan of new-world style wines (I did not care for a bottle of Quintessa I had in California), but I am amenable to the Rhone blends made in the new world style. It is more than the Greysac at mid 30's, but definitely worth a try if you like that style.
My lady was "complaining" that I have a pile of Nicolas Potel wines I haven't touched. I keep telling her that those babies are for long term study! :) I tried finding some of his 2005 Clos St. Denis, but they're almost impossible to get, and the prices are prohibitive. I don't clear that kind of cash.
Later,
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
