Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Expanding my Diameter at Radius

I know it's been a while, but I'm back!  I recently switched positions at my company, so I will no longer be able to "eat America."  Instead, I'll continue profiling the wonderful meals I enjoy right here in Boston.  And what better time to pick up than Summer Restaurant Week!

I started off at Radius (http://www.radiusrestaurant.com/), a swanky restaurant downtown.

The dimly lit, circular dining room has cream colored walls, which are offset with primarily red decor.  It has a very modern, though not impersonal, ambiance.

A wide, winding marble staircase leads to their impressive wine cellar and (less impressive) restrooms.  Hundreds of bottles of wines can be seen through an open, foot-thick vault.  A card-key operated glass door protects them, so I'm assuming the vault is just for show.  Who knows though?  They did have some REALLY expensive wines on that list ($4500 bottle anyone?).

Their Restaurant Week Menu was pretty limited, only offering two or three dishes as options for each of the three courses for the $33.12 inclusive price.  They did offer more choices, but these came with (often hefty) supplemental charges.

For the first course, my boyfriend and I split the Red Oak Leaf Salad and an order of Foie Gras.  The Foie Gras had a $16 supplemental charge, but we couldn't pass it up.  It was served with several pieces of brioche, which made for a super-rich combo.  For me, rich is always a good thing.  I loved every bite, but for my heart's sake, I was happy that I was only having half an order.

The salad was pleasant, though nothing special.  It was supposed to have feta, "confit cherry tomatoes," and be dressed with a cucumber vinaigrette, but it looked like plain greens and tomatoes to me.  Perhaps the subtlety escaped me.  It did make for a refreshing follow-up to the foie gras though.

For my second course, I went with the Roasted Skate Wing.  For anyone that doesn't know (I didn't), a skate is like a sting ray.  I'm going to skip the biology lesson, but if you are really that interested in the differences, you can get more information here.

It was roasted in brown butter, and served with dandelion greens, peas, and preserved orange.  I was a little wary, considering I had never eaten skate wing before, but I figured Radius was probably a safe a place as any to try something new.  It was great!  It did not have an overwhelmingly "fishy" flavor.  When eating all the components together, everything was well balanced.  However, if I did get too many dandelion greens in one bite, it got bitter.  I also wasn't a huge fan of the preserved orange.  I didn't mind it at first, but as the meal progressed, it was all I could taste.  I ended up fishing (no pun intended) out the remaining orange pieces to avoid overpowering the nice taste of the roasted skate.

The dessert was my favorite part of the meal.  I had the Lemon Mousse, which was served in a little tartlet along with some blackberry sorbet and some black olive caramel (it tasted as interesting as it sounds!).  The mousse was light, and along with the sorbet, very refreshing.  The black olive flavor was very present in the caramel, adding a nice earthiness to the dish, but it was never overpowering.  I could taste it when I would first put a bite in my mouth, but it would fade as all the other bright flavors came rushing in.

The service was great, and all in all, I had a wonderful meal.  My waistline is the only thing that was disappointed.  For now though, Radius will remain a Restaurant Week restaurant for me, as it's just slightly outside of my price range with its regularly priced $38 entrees.

Are you enjoying any restaurants this week?  Let me know where you're eating and what you think, and maybe I'll stop in too!

2 comments:

  1. I will say sitting in the center of the circular dining room made for a unique dining experience. You make it sound as if you didn't enjoy the foie gras, but I do agree a full portion would have been a lot.

    My pork belly was delicious!!!!!


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  2. Thanks for the feedback Matthew! I LOVED the foie gras, so I've made a minor edit to the post that I think will make that very clear!

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