Boston Restaurant Week is upon us again. From March 9-14 and 16-21 (why oh why is it not Boston Restaurant Weeks?), a broad selection of Hub restaurants will be offering three course dinners for $33.08 and lunches for $20.08. Try as you might, you can’t hit every participating restaurant, so we’ve culled our top picks. Reservations may be made now and the best spots tend to fill up fast, so get on your phone and make some plans.
Restaurant: Chez Henri
Why You Should Go: Not only is Chez Henri is one of Cambridge’s very best neighborhood restaurants, but for Restaurant Week, they’re offering venison. One really doesn’t see wild game on Boston area menus often enough.
What We’d Order: Start with the smoked cod and lobster chowder with chili lime butter. Follow that with the grilled venison with Tazo cocoa and ancho chile, which comes with a side of faro grain pilaf and clementine-piquillo pepper jus. Top it all off with tangerine flan with shortbread cookies.
Restaurant: Great Bay
Why You Should Go: Great Bay is lovely, but dinner there would usually run you quite a bit more than $33. Restaurant Week is a great chance to try their inventive seafood preparations on the cheap.
What We’d Order: Gazpacho seems hard to comprehend when it’s this cold out, but it’ll probably sound a bit better by March. For the main, the pan-roasted rainbow trout with asparagus, wild mushroom, new potato hash, and sauce gribizhe (we believe it’s a rustic variation on tartar sauce) sounds pretty great. We’re also drooling over the cornmeal cobbler with seasonal fruits.
Restaurant: Sandrine’s Bistro
Why You Should Go: Alsatian food is always a treat, but never more so than in winter. Plus, there’s lobster on the menu!
What We’d Order: Start with the rich celeriac veloute with parmesan croutons before moving on to the lobster risotto, which comes with wild mushrooms and a brandied lobster reduction. For dessert, you can’t miss the frozen praline souffle with warm chocolate sauce. We’d actually like that meal right now, please.
Restaurant: La Morra
Why You Should Go: La Morra’s Restaurant Week menu just might be the best bargain in town. Not only is chef Josh Ziskin squeezing in a fourth course, but the restaurant will also be offering wine pairings for just $15.08 extra.
What We’d Order: We’d start with an order of the hearty ribolita before moving on to a primi of linguine with mussels, tomato, scallion, and breadcrumb. For our secondi, we couldn’t resist the spit-roasted pork chop with semolina polenta, fig, and balsamic vinegar. The dessert has yet to be announced, but we feel confident that it will be excellent.
Boston Restaurant Week [Official Site]
Chez Henri [Official Site]
Great Bay [Official Site]
Sandrine’s Bistro [Official Site]
La Morra [Official Site]
[Photo: Alliance to Save Energy]
