November 20th 2014: Eating in the Beacon Hill Area of Boston

Today after work, I had a meetup dinner to go at 75 Chestnut, a small but relatively upscale restaurant in the Beacon Hill area of Boston. As the dinner was held later at night, I had time to go check out a few other places in the area. I first headed to the Dean's List, a pretty nice bar lounge located within the Wyndham Boston Beacon Hill.

I went with a cup of New England Clam Chowder

and the Smoked Chicken Fritters (smoked chicken, risotto, cheddar cheese, jalapenos, honey chipotle aioli).

The soup was good, but nothing extraordinary, although I have to say the fritter were absolutely scrumptious, full of smoky flavor by itself, and even more tasty with the sauce. Not bad for starters.

Next, it was on to Caffe Bella Vita, a small cafe located closer to the final restaurant of the night.

Given the meal I was to have later, I decided to just get a Caramel Apple Pie,

which wasn't too bad.

I was still early, so I decided to head to Beacon Hill Chocolates nearby to buy a box of truffles for my friend. This place looks a little like an old candy shop,

complete with chocolate boxes with old postcard pictures printed on them lining the walls.

Unfortunately, as it is meant to be a surprise for my friend, I cannot open the sealed box, and won't post a picture of the truffles I personally selected for her till later. The truffles I got her were the Bacon Caramel (real bacon in sweet caramel enrobed in milk chocolate), Sweet Honey Crunch (cream honey with cocoa nib crunch), Bolero (vanilla buttercream in a milk chocolate cup), Belissimo (hazelnut buttercream coated in white chocolate), Dulce de Leche (white chocolate with sweet dulce de leche), Milk Chocolate Gift (smooth milk chocolate ganache tied with a bow), Creme Brulee (white chocolate, vanilla bean, raspberry puree) and the Ice Cream Sundae Truffle (White chocolate vanilla bean ganache with homemade caramel and chocolate sauce and topped with mini M&Ms).

I headed to the restaurant after leaving the truffles in my car, where there was a table reserved for our group in this busy restaurant. Apparently today is Beaujolais Nouveau Day, a popular French holiday when the beaujolais nouveau wine is celebrated, drunk and even bathed in, so there was a special menu to commemorate the holiday.

For food, we decided to share the Pumpkin Ravioli (sauteed with native butternut squash, tomato vodka sauce & shaved parmesan cheese),

the Soupe A L'Onion (french onion soup with a hearty broth finished with a garlic crouton and melted gruyere cheese),

the Farmed Organic Salmon Filet (Served with roasted organic lentil, sautéed spinach, wild mushroom, crispy polenta, grilled asparagus & pomegranate reduction),

the Lapin Au Beaujolais (Braised rabbit legs with a rich Beaujolais sauce, shallot mashed potatoes, caramelized baby carrots, grilled asparagus)

and the Porterhouse Pork Chop (Char-grilled pork chop, shallot mashed potatoes, garden vegetables & apple brandy sauce).

Compared to the ravioli I had at Picco on Monday, I preferred Picco's, as the skin was much thinner then. It was still good though. The soup was delicious, although there was seeminly no broth because it was shared between 2 people and split into 2 bowls. My salmon was very dry, and the asparagus a little charred. The polenta was not bad though, being fried. The rabbit was delicious, mainly because of the sauce. The part of the pork chop I got to try was pretty good too, although I saw that it looked a little dry too.

For dessert, we decided to share the Creme Brulee Collection (Three Petit brûlées: Tahitian vanilla, passion fruit and Belgium chocolate).

The passion fruit tasted a little weird, while the Belgium chocolate was a little too bitter. The vanilla was pretty good though.

We also had pumpkin pop tarts from Oakleaf Cakes Bake Shop, as our friend had gone to the trouble to getting them for everyone at the table.

Overall, 75 Chestnut was not too bad, although I have had much better elsewhere.