Monday, April 25, 2011

Fine dining at Boca



On Saturday I joined two friends at one of the city's very best dining destinations: Boca, the high-end, mostly Italian restaurant in Oakley, an in-town Cincinnati neighborhood.

It had been at least six months since I'd eaten there, and it was a first for both of my friends.
We had a swell time, from our cocktails (mine, at right) and sparkling wine, to the 20-year tawny port and late-harvest grenache that accompanied our desserts.
At Boca, dessert is included in the fixed price menu: either two courses plus dessert, or three plus dessert.
For first courses, Beth and I chose one of the pastas (clams with linguine for me, pictured) and Thea had a beautifully done asparagus appetizer with a poached egg (the photo did not come out well, alas).
We each went with a fish entree; my monkfish wrapped in prosciutto on potatoes Anna and spinach is in the photo. Thea and Beth both had branzino (also called Mediterranean sea bass). Both preparations were lovely, and scrumptious.

For dessert:
creme brulee and chocolate pots de creme.
One of my long-running complaints about Boca -- well, okay, my only complaint really -- was that they had the same three desserts literally since they opened at the Oakley location, years and years ago. So I was happy to see some changes in that department. Also, there was an off the menu dessert, a berry cake, that our waiter brought us a slice of to share. It was killer.

No comments:

Post a Comment