By Sarah Moomaw, News Staff
Imagine a fancy three-course dinner complete with truffle glazed steak, a mixed greens salad topped off with candied walnuts and a cheesecake drizzled with homemade chocolate syrup in a manner Gatsby would envy – there can only be one explanation: Restaurant Week must be back.
Through Aug. 19 and Aug. 21-26, participating restaurants offer prix fixe menus for a set fee, excluding drinks, tax and tip. They pick which meals they are serving – lunch, dinner or both – but the prices are set by Restaurant Week: a three-course dinner for $33.11, three-course lunch for $20.11 and two-course lunch for $15.11. It’s the time of the season where students on the tightest of budgets have the opportunity to get a taste of some of the best dining the city has to offer.
On the event’s website, a calendar highlights the days each restaurant is participating and links to their prix fixe menus. Some restaurants will list a fourth course so dessert-skippers still get their money’s worth.
Restaurants aren’t required to offer their reduced menus on Saturday and Sunday, but the majority still do. Many also extend their menus through the end of the month.
With 11 pages of restaurants from around the city offering deals, it might be hard to decide where to start.
The Elephant Walk at 900 Beacon St. mixes Cambodian and French flavors, offering dishes like shrimp with traditional Cambodian satay sauce made with cumin, ginger, peanuts and lemongrass, pan-roasted cod served with cheese gnocchi in a wine cream sauce and flat-iron steak over a bed of local corn and cherry tomatoes. Vegan and gluten-free options are also available.
Have a hankering for seafood? Handfuls of restaurants have created menus, including local favorite Legal Sea Foods. The closest one to campus is located at 100 Huntington Ave.
The North End’s Mare at 135 Richmond St. has created a dinner menu with both land and sea options. Appetizers range from grilled octopus with potato mousse to a crab-stuffed arancini with eggplant puree and roasted cherry tomatoes. Main courses include fresh fish such as salmon and a local cod to options that walk on land like a crispy duck leg or “chicken under the brick.” Vegetarian pasta is also available.
Feeling iron deficient and need some red meat in your diet? Steakhouses have specialty cuts just for Restaurant Week.
KO Prime at 90 Tremont St. is serving dinner Tuesday through Saturday (except Aug. 27). On the menu is a “filet of beef,” pork belly and a salmon dish for pescatarians.
The Oak Room at 138 St. James Ave. is serving lunch and dinner with many options across the tasty spectrum. Shrimp cocktail makes an appearance on the dinner menu’s appetizer options as does a summer salad with berries and a citrus dressing. The entree options include a steak topped off with roasted squash and fingerling potatoes, a flounder with Yukon potatoes and corn and tomato relish and a cappelletti with roasted artichokes, spinach and zucchini. These options are also available for lunch.
For the less adventurous, but want a new view of Boston, Top of the Hub, on the 52nd floor of the Prudential Center, is cooking up standard fare with a twist: a chilled beet salad with red wine, pistachios and goat cheese, linguine with clams, and, for dessert, chocolate pound cake with honey cream and strawberries topped off with basil.
Whichever the restaurant, make sure to read the list closely. Many have included extras like wine pairings without a fee. Even though some combinations may seem strange, chefs know what the best mix of flavors are, so trust their suggestions.
