Aquitaine Bis- Chestnut Hill

Aquitaine Bis is a French bistro type restaurant in the suburbs of Boston – Chestnut Hill.  Is it chef driven cuisine – no.  Is it fine dining – no.  Is it on a par with Church and State in Los Angeles – no. But, it is safe, bistro food and for the most part executed well.

Sunday Brunch:

Eggs Benedict with Canadian bacon, hollandaise & fines herbes, lyonnaise potatoes – I didn’t taste this, but this is my Dad’s favorite and he loved it.

 

Omelette Alsacienne - with mushrooms, leeks & chevre, lyonnaise potatoes and toast – the eggs were a bit dry, but OK.

 

As Boston was packed during this time period (graduation time all over the city), we were relegated to where my Dad was a regular. So back to Aquitaine Bis for dinner on Tuesday.

Belgian Endive Salade with apple, roquefort, walnuts & watercress – not pictured

 I will have to let the photos tell the story as I didn’t taste the food from our dining companions.  I am assuming they liked what they had as each dish was completely eaten. I also didn’t take notes as this was a strictly social evening.

Lemon Sole Meunière with pommes purée and diced tomatoes 

 

Potato Crusted Atlantic Salmon with butter poached asparagus, mango & papaya chutney and beurre rouge 

 

Seared Dayboat Scallops with spring vegetable succotash, sweet corn beurre blanc 

 

Crispy buttermilk soft shell crabs – I am guessing that the saucing was the same as the scallops – a sweet corn beurre blanc. Also I have a vague recollection that the waiter said the soft shells were coated in panko – it did have a tempura quality.

No cheese and no desserts – an adequate meal with good service.

Capital Grille – Boston

Capital Grille is essentially a chain restaurant – they work on a formula, strive to use quality ingredients and basically do straight forward food and work on the theory of not messing it up. This was not a food trip; it was a reconnect with my Dad trip so  food was secondary. 

 

Bread Basket

 

Caesar Salad | $9

 

Wellfleet Oysters on the Half Shell (6) | $15

 

*Dry Aged Sirloin Steak 14 oz | $40 – split to share

 

Close-up of steak

 

Vidalia Onion Rings | $8

 

This is not fine dining – it is safe dining.

Neptune’s Oyster – Boston

One of my favorite restaurants in Boston is Neptune’s Oyster in the North End. I have a weird way of ordering the fried Ipswich clams with the bellies. I order a half order at a time so the second batch is as hot as the first batch. This time I ordered  1 1/2 orders and got an half order first and then a full order second. Vinny pictured below was terrific and when I gave him the order he asked if I was lizziee from LA. I don’t know if this is a good thing or a bad thing, but I certainly have a reputation.

Neptune is a small restaurant with most of the seats at the bar. As they take no reservations, I usually plan my flight from LA to land on the early side so I can have a late lunch at Neptune and not be stuck in a long line waiting to be seated. What a girl will do for fried clams with the bellies!!

Vinny

 

The oysters at Neptune are terrific and you check off from the list what you want.

 

Oysters

 

My first order of fried clams were stupendous – lush bellies, juicy, just perfect.

 

My Dad ordered the Maine Lobster Roll with fries

 

Just see those beautiful chunks of lobster, perfectly cooked.

 

Unfortunately my second order of fried clams had been overcooked – a couple in front were OK, but most were dry and shriveled. To Vinny’s credit, it was taken off the bill.

Now, I did a sort of no no and decided to take a photo of what our neighbors were eating as most of my photos from Neptune are nothing but fried clams. Descriptions are edited versions from the on-line menu.

 

Maine Lobster pan roast, grilled corn, chorizo-spring onion, littlenecks, blueberries

 

Seared Georges Bank Scallops, Israeli cous cous, English peas, Littlenecks

 
This is essentially a gastropub version of a clam shack – fun, casual, very busy, great service with a very friendly neighborhood vibe.

Metropolitan Club, Chestnut Hill

I hate panning restaurants. I honestly try to find the best in a restaurant, not the worst. However, there are certain restaurants that just disappoint. My father lives in Boston so when I visit him we generally go to neighborhood restaurants. He decided that the Metropolitan Club would be perfect for a quiet dinner. Quiet it isn’t. We were definitely the oldest table in the restaurant. This is a “yuppie” hang-out with a major bar scene. Wine is definitely not the favored beverage – cocktails in various hues is the preference for the 30 something crowd.

http://www.metclubandbar.com/menu/dining/

 My brother and his wife split the traditional Caesar as an appetizer – a wedge of Romaine with crispy onion “strings” and fried croutons.

 

 Duck Confit Spring Rolls pear duck sauce – this wasn’t awful, but it was more about the wrapper and the vegetables than the duck confit.

 

 My brother had the Pan Seared Prime Yellow Fin Tuna Steak pickled Asian vegetables, maple soy pepper glaze.  They got a plus for serving the tuna rare, but a minus for the “stringiest” piece of tuna I have ever tasted.

 

 My sister-in-law had some type of fish (don’t have a clue what it was) with artichoke, a spicy tomato sauce and some yogurt based sauce.

 

 

My dad and I split their 38 ounce bone-in Rib Eye – the potato sides with this were greasy and just plain horrible, the Yorkshire Pudding Roll – stale and dry. The steak, fatty and basically tasteless.

Over-all recommendation – don’t bother.

Bernard’s – Chestnut Hill

Thanks to a friend of mine, we went to Bernard’s as a “known quantity.” It is not 100% authentic Chinese but that’s not what its supposed to be. It is Americanized Chinese, using very good ingredients and cooked well. It is surprising that it is located in a mall, but once inside the restaurant, you lose the mall immediately. For some reason, I lost my notes so the photos will have to tell the story.

Bernard was so genial and so gracious. I basically let him choose our menu.


Chicken and Ginger served in lettuce leaves


 

Some type of Fried Spring Roll


 

Peking Duck – our server was terrific and prepared the duck for us – delicious


 

Shrimp with roasted black bean, garlic and shallots and sautéed String Beans


Don’t have a clue.


Tapioca Custard


An absolutely welcome addition to my dining adventures in Chestnut Hill. I would go back in a heartbeat

Clio and Uni – Boston

We were staying at the Eliot Hotel so it seemed like a no brainer to either eat at Clio or Uni. Unfortunately when we went down for dinner, there were no seats at the bar at Uni (only 6 seats total) so we kept our reservation at Clio.

 We ordered champagne and decided to order splits – one for two.

 

 Amuse  – Tomato water martini, diced cucumber, basil oil, caperberry, huckleberry, tomato popsicle – OK

 

Taylor Bay Scallops, Winterberrry verjus, fresh wasabi, oscetra caviar – this was served family style, but with no extra plates. We asked for small plates so we didn’t spill the verjus all over the table. Excellent

Now we waited and waited for food.

 Marinated Yellowtail and Yellow Fin Tuna with Opal Basil, Ginger and Garlic – Again this was served family style with no extra plates – we again asked for extra plates plus some silverware.

After finishing the above dish, the busser scrapes our plates at the table – table side service? – fine dining??

Now our server pours more champagne for me and manages to spill champagne all over the table as she overfilled the glass. She immediately leaves to wipe her hands, but forgets about the mess on the table and my wet slippery glass.

I could see that this was becoming a disastrous dining experience. I left the table, went to Uni, saw 2 empty seats at the bar at Uni and begged those already at the bar to save those seats.  I ran back to John, said meet me at Uni and quickly claimed our seats. John told the maitre d’ we were leaving to go eat at Uni. He said nothing, just shrugged his shoulders.

What followed was a very good meal with great service and equally great company.

My notes are a mess – it has been some time since this meal and we were both deep in conversation with our tablemates. We asked the chef to just do omakase – his choice. Some photos are missing so even letting the photos tell the story is incomplete. I apologize in advance for any and all mistakes.

 

Sushi Guy

 

Uni spoon with quail egg, oscetra caviar, chives- delicious

Toro, soy, yuzu, pluot

 

Hamachi, Ginger Mignonette, Green Apple, Swish of Cassis

 

Saba ???

 

Columbia River salmon

 

Smoked Chutoro, Porcini mushrooms, Wagyu Steak, Soy, Wagyu beef fat

 

Amaidai, Spicy Vinaigrette, Chardonnay gelee

 

Homemade Tofu, Uni, Oscetra Caviar

 

Uni, Chilled Gazpacho and…

 

Torched Tomato, Clam, Cauliflower Puree, Celery, Crunchy shallots and garlic, Togarashi

 

 

Spicy Lobster Salad, Orange, Shiso

This was an excellent meal and compared to Clio wondrous. It is not Urasawa and the quality of the fish is definitely not like Hiro’s, but it was a fun evening with wonderful company on either side of us. It also is quite expensive, about $300 for the two of us. 

As we were paying, the maitre d’ from Clio came to Uni and presented us with our check from Clio. The next morning, John complained to the GM of the hotel, a wonderful woman, Pascale Schlaefli, who upon hearing of our experience at Clio deducted that amount from our bill.

 

 

 

Ariadne – Boston

My notes are sparse on this meal at Ariadne, but I think the photos speak volumes. Ariadne bills itself as “Delicious food with Mediterranean & Asian influences.” There were exactly 8 people in the restaurant from 7 pm to 9:30 pm. My dad and his friend just had a main course and I chose one appetizer and one slighter larger plate.  Tuna Sashimi with avocado, passion fruit, peanuts, miso & pea sprouts  This was an $18 slightly larger course of 5 small slices of tuna that you needed a magnifying glass to find. It was topped with a huge “salad” of grated daikon, carrots and other assorted “stuff.” I kept thinking there must be more tuna under all the stuff on top. No such luck. Why the peanuts is a mystery to me. I would say that the food cost for this dish was approximately 10% if that. Absolutely dreadful. Uneaten stuff.   Grilled Squid with arugula, olives, creamy hummus and a lemon vinaigrette  There was lots of hummus, lots of arugula, many, many olives, but squid – it was like looking for a needle in a haystack.  I didn’t taste any of the mains, but suffice it to say, much went uneaten.   Grilled Lamb Rack with broccoli rabe, tzatziki, bulghur wheat & lamb ossobucco-   Pan Seared Duck Breast with roasted garlic bread pudding, Swiss chard, ciopollini onions & kumquats –  I think I know why there were only 8 people in this restaurant at prime time.

Neptune Oyster

Never let it be said that I don’t travel on my stomach. We scheduled our plane reservation based on the fact that we would arrive in Boston to catch an early lunch at Neptune Oyster. Exactly at 11:30, just as they were unlocking the doors, we were seated, ready and waiting.

The place is cute, somewhat of a hole in the wall with a huge long bar area for those who want to eat there.

My husband started with clam chowder. He happens to like a thicker version, but I thought the chowder was much more authentic as served – not gummy, gluey with too many potatoes and too much cream.

 

 

I had 3 types of Oysters-

From MA. – Cummaquid – medium size, medium salt, plump, buttery leeks and chive hints (They provide you with a cheat sheet that describes the oysters.)

From WA – Kumamoto – small size, plump, sweet, hints of cucumber, creamy

From AK – Windy Bay – large size, low salt, sweet, buttery, briny, melon finish

Now we ordered fried clams. They didn’t realize that we each wanted an order, but as it turned out this worked out in our favor. We ate the first order piping hot and then got a second batch, equally piping hot. I had clams three other places on this trip and I must say that these were the best by far.

 

First order with some eaten, as I just couldn’t wait:

 

 Second order:

Wonderful place and I would give anything to have this restaurant transplanted to Los Angeles.

Fried Clams – Boston

I am from the East Coast and the one thing that doesn’t exist on the West Coast is really good fried clams with the bellies. I have searched and searched, but nothing comes even close to East Coast fried clams. Therefore, whenever I go back to Boston, I indulge myself and have at least 4 lunch or dinners of fried clams. If they serve fries, onion rings, cole slaw, rolls with the clams, I just ignore them – just the clams please. So in order of preference:

 

First Place: Neptune Oyster (2 orders)

Neptune Oyster Clams

Neptune Oyster Clams

Second Place: Legal Sea Foods, Logan Airport (Terminal C)      

Legal Seafoods – Airport

Third Place: Legal Sea Foods, Chestnut Hill Shopping Center

Legal Seafoods – Chestnut Hill

Fourth Place: My Father’s Private Golf Club

Country Club

Please accept my personal stamp of approval on all of the above.  And believe me, I’ve done thorough market research! NEPTUNE OYSTER
63 Salem St.
Boston, MA 02113
Phone: 617.742.3474
http://www.neptuneoyster.com
Full Menu: Here     

LEGAL SEA FOODS
Logan Airport, Terminal C
Boston, MA 02128
Phone: 617.568.2800 Fax: 617.568.2810
http://www.legalseafoods.com
Full Menu: Here

LEGAL SEA FOODS
Chestnut Hill Shopping Center
43 Boylston St.
Chestnut Hill, MA 02467
Phone: 617.277.7300 Fax: 617.734.8053