One of the most famous Italian restaurants in Boston. Past reviews have appointed Giacomo’s as one of Boston’s must visit tourist restaurant with horrible and rushed service but I firmly disagree. Giacomo’s doesn’t take reservations and people start lining up at 4:30pm for the restaurant to open at 5pm. The restaurant is tiny with tables extremely close together but I didn’t mind, I love seeing what other people are eating.
We started off with the small Calamari, $7. I loved the light batter that coated the rings and tentacles, the marinara sauce had a nice spice and tang to it. Even for a small I thought the portions were quite generous.
The Butternut Squash Ravioli (Diced Asparagus in a Prosciutto Mascarpone Cream sauce), $16. I can honestly say Giacomo’s has the best ravioli I’ve ever had. Even though it was in a cream sauce, the dish wasn’t heavy and it was a the perfect balance between sweet and savoury.
Shrimp & Scallop Spaghetti with Pesto Sauce, $16. What can I say? Everything about this dish was perfect, so simple but so well made.
I can’t wait to visit Boston again and visit one of my favourite restaurants!
I highly recommend going early before 5pm to get a seat!
For my last birthday dinner celebration, a bunch of us headed to Buca. I’ve heard amazing things about Buca so why wouldn’t I want to come for my birthday and what better excuse to get a bunch of my friends together to join me a restaurant that I want to try?
The restaurant is quite hidden and you won’t be able to find it from street view, it’s in the basement behind a building. There are two different seating areas; one with 30-feet ceilings with gorgeous natural sunlight. The other area is more like a cellar, there’s an impressive meat fridge. The overall space is rustic but elegant. The menu is updated daily so they don’t have a menu online.
We started off with a Salumi Di Buca ($18) which is basically their charcuterie made in house and Formaggi ($19) (a selection of three local and imported cheeses), You have a choice of three meats and three cheeses and is served with preservatives. Our server also served us bread knots without telling us it wasn’t complimentary. I was a little taken back with the size or at least quantity of the board. I’ve had better and bigger charcuterie boards (Black Hoof) at other restaurants so I wasn’t that impressed with Buca’s. We also got two orders of Nodini, warm bread knots with olive oil, rosemary, garlic and sea salt, $6. Who doesn’t like warm garlicy bread?
Ravioli Doppi, double stuffed ravioli, braised duck and foie gras, goat cheese mousse finished with good crackle and citrus & lovage sauce, $26.
Gnocchi Alla Cenere, hand rolled dumplings made with onion ash served with pecorino and parmigiano cheese, $21.
Carbonara Di Mare, bronze die-cut mezze maniche from abruzzo with parmigiano reggiano cheese, fresh italian chili, sea urchin, mullet bottarga and trout caviar, $25.
Seafood special of the night was ricotta stuffed squid.
Salumi Di Buca, smoked pizza dough with buffalo cheddar, eggplant and salumi di buca, $21.
Out of all our dishes, I think mine was hands down the favourite with the group.
All the boys weren’t full so we all headed to Wvrst after! Our server wasn’t very attentive and when we asked him to recommend some dishes he kind of trailed off without even suggesting anything. I’m not sure if it was because my friends and I all still look like we’re 16 but he was much more attentive to all his other tables.
At the end of our meal we were served individually packaged amaretti cookies with the bill, which were absolutely delightful. Everything at Buca was tasty, innovative and flavours you wouldn’t normally find at Italian restaurants. Having said all that, I wouldn’t pick Buca as my favourite Italian restaurant and would probably only be back if someone else picked up the tab.
Buca has tasty innovative food, a lovely place for date night but too pricey for me to call my go-to Italian restaurant.
If you watched Top Chef season 2, you’ll probably know who Carl Heinrich is or at least recognize his face. This recently opened restaurant has been well received so we had to give it a try ourselves.
When you walk in you enter a narrow space with tall ceilings and modern decor, the restaurant doesn’t look that big until you walk up the stairs to another dining space with the clear view of the kitchen.
There is also a chef’s table at the back of the restaurant with a clear view of all the action happening in the kitchen.
We started off with the Polenta Fries, $8, with bomba mayonnaise and marinara. I really liked this dish, the polenta was soft and creamy with an ultra crispy exterior. I wasn’t a fan of the bomba mayo which was a little spicy but I really enjoyed the fries with the marinara sauce. I would definitely order this again.
We also shared the Richmond Station Charcuterie, $14. I can’t remember all the items on the board but basically we got salami, smoked ham, some sort of lamb pate?, beet chutney, two different mustards and two deep-fried balls (I really can’t remember what these were but they were delicious!). It wasn’t the best charcuterie board I’ve had but everything was tasty.
My first time having beef tartare, this one came with hickory sticks, haricot salad and a fried egg. At first I only had the beef and potato together and it wasn’t anything special but once eaten with the egg it was delicious. Jess said it was death on a plate, e coli & salmonella all together but she couldn’t resist and had to try some.
For my main I got the Stn. Burger, $21, with aged cheddar, beet chutney, rosemary fries and radish salad. The burger was super juicy and the sweet/tart beet chutney was perfect contrast to the fat in the beefy burger.
The rosemary fries were thin and crispy but the radish salad was kind of a let down, nothing special about it. Angela got the Bread Crusted Whitefish, $26, with lobster, cauliflower chowder, parsley & celery. I thought this was the best entree we ordered. The fish was super crispy and moist, the lobster was perfect and the chowder was flavourful and light.
Both Cherry and Jess got pasta options. Cherry with the Mushroom Ravioli with braised swiss chard, caper vinaigrette, parsnip chips, $23. The pasta was nice and thin and packed full of mushroom stuffing.
Jess got the Wild Boar Ragu with hand made orecchiette, tomato, toscana cheese. I didn’t think it was anything special but it was still delicious.
We never finish a meal without getting dessert and Richmond Station had some pretty tempting options. We settled for 3 out of the 4 options given.
First we started off, in my option, the best bread pudding I’ve ever had! Studded with cranberries and served with apples, almonds, the most delicious butterscotch sauce known to man and their homemade almond ice cream. It was just perfection, I would definitely just come back for this dessert alone. It was on their daily special menu but I really hope they keep it on their regular menu.
We tried the Spiced Butternut Squash Cake served with mascarpone, honey, and toasted pumpkin seeds. After eating the bread pudding nothing else tasted as good and I was a little sad. The cake itself was moist and dense, it was like Christmas in cake form, packed full of holiday spices.
Lastly we had the Station S’More, basically it was a slab of chocolate, graham crumbs sprinkled all over the plate, a half baked meringue blob, smudges of cherry sauce and some sort of cookie. Needless to say I wasn’t a fan and I was really looking forward to enjoy this dish. Overall our meal was great and the service was fantastic, I loved how the servers took the time to explain what was in each dish. Carl himself even came out to ask how we were enjoying our meal.
“Richmond Station is a stopping place, a bustling neighbourhood restaurant in the downtown core. We are committed to delicious food and excellent hospitality.” This quote is on their website and everything about it is true.
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