(no subject)

[gilana]

awhyzip and I enjoyed a lovely Restaurant Week lunch this afternoon at Zephyr, in the Hyatt Regency Cambridge. It was hard not to stuff ourselves too full on the bread basket, which came with something very much like a huge soft pretzel, plus a delicious roasted garlic bread.

We started by sharing the the Yukon Chips (with blue cheese, caramelized onions, truffle salt) and Grilled Eggplant Roulades (with goat cheese, candied walnuts, roasted tomatoes). The chips were crisp and lovely, and the eggplant came with lots of nice greens and a lovely balsamic vinegar. I think I haven't had enough salad this winter, my body seemed really psyched for the greens.

After that, she had the Wild Mushroom Raviolis (with pine nuts, spinach, goat cheese, herb broth) while I chose the Grilled Tuna Salad (Mustard Greens, goat cheese, roasted tomatoes, caramelized onions). The bite I had of ravioli may have been slightly overdone, but was really delicious, and not ricotta-y at all. The tuna came as two large chunks of perfectly rare tuna with some nice seasoning (and not too harsh a black pepper) on the outside, on top of a bed of greens. Didn't actually notice any roasted tomatoes, now that I think about it, although there were some roasted peppers, which Ariela was willing to take for me.

We were pretty stuffed halfway through our entrees, so the waiter offered to pack up our desserts for later along with the rest of our entrees. So Ariela will have to report on the Cranberry Orange Bread Pudding with Crème Anglaise. I had the Chocolate Dipped Strawberries with Whipped cream. When the box came I opened it to find that all 3 strawberries were dipped in white chocolate. I like white chocolate ok, but not nearly as much as dark, so I asked if it was possible to get the dark. The waiter said they were just dipping some more and came back with a new box, which turned out later to have milk chocolate, and no whipped cream. Still, tasty enough.

We both felt it was really odd to be in the hotel without the swirl of Arisia happening around us, but it was definitely a lovely lunch, and I'd happily eat there again, although their normal prices are a bit on the high side for what you get. So definitely a nice deal for Restaurant Week!

Comments

[saraheeyore.livejournal.com]

I'm glad it was tasty! wellstar and I had a less than great Restaurant Week dinner there last time around.

Ariela's Report

[awhyzip.livejournal.com]

I think one of those "roasted peppers" was actually a long, roasted, oblong of tomato. I didn't tell you, cause I'd already eaten it. The first one was a pepper, tho.

The bread pudding was tasty. The Cranberries were very tart -- they used whole fruit, not the sweetened dried I was expecting. I suspect that some of the "bread" was croissant. Luckily, this bread pudding managed to avoid the twin flaws of too-dense and/or too-dry. It was a good dish & finished the last bite for afternoon snack, today.

You enjoyed the Yukon Chips much more than I did. But I agree that the Grilled Eggplant Roulades were very pleasing -- better than I'd expected from the description.

I'm surprised you didn't mention the beautiful, jewel-like color & perfect shape of the Tuna hunks.

Since I don't believe there was *any* ricotta in those ravioli, I'm glad to know it wasn't too much for you!

Thanks for having lunch with me :-)