Ostra Restaurant at Boston

If you are looking for a fine dining restaurant in Boston, definitely check out Ostra. It received high ratings in Yelp, Tripadvisor and OpenTable. 

The restaurant has a nice interior and high ceiling. When we walked to our table, we came across a station where fresh fishes were on ice display. There was also live performance by a pianist. I guess you are paying for the ambience after all. In total, we ordered one appetizer, three entrees and two desserts. 

First, they served the freshly baked house ciabatta bread, served with olive oil and butter.

Then, all the food arrived at same time.

French Escargot 

Malbec Risotto, Serrano Ham, Hon Shimeji, Garlic, Trevisano

Risotto was tender, moist and flavorful. Fried garlic provided a nice crust. Escargot was nicely cooked.

Pan Seared Maine Sea Scallops

Whipped Chestnuts, Roasted Salsify, Black Trumpets, Satsuma Mandarin Gastrique

Scallops was the star of this dish.  It was cooked really nice. Seared on the outside and not overcooked.

Grilled Branzino Filet Salt 
Cured Lemon, Garlic & Herb Baste, Roasted Potatoes, Vidalia Onion, Radish

This dish reminds me of a fish cooked back home. Although it was well seasoned, it tasted simple. I can't justify its cost.

Broiled Maine Lobster
3 lbs, Roasted Cauliflower & Broccolini, Pearl Onions, Confit Baby Carrots, Herbed Butter Sauce

This is the main highlight of the meal. However, this dish ain't cheap ($72), probably because it's from Maine. Lobster was cooked on point as it was tender and not rubbery. Sauce was full of butter and my cholesterol was probably off-the-chart after this meal. Nevertheless, it was an enjoyable "death-defying experience".

Food assembled!

We also ordered two desserts. I don't remember much of the dessert as this is a late post.

Almond Citrus Cake

Blood Orange Ganache, Fresh Citrus, Brown Butter Ice Cream

Coconut Flan

Coconut Cake, Yuzu Curd, Toasted Meringue

Overall, the restaurant delivered solid meal. It is a good place to bring your date for special occasion, but it does not come cheap.

Tempura Matsui - best tempura experience so far

Tempura Matsui is a probably the only fancy tempura restaurant that I know in NYC (one michelin star). It opened in late 2015 and received good review from NY Times. Luckily for us, they offered an offer in Gilt City which I believed is a very good deal.

We got the Matsui dinner which cost $200 per person (original price). The deal costed us $199 for 2 person.

Having gone to Tempura Kondo in Tokyo, I was surprised to be greeted by young chefs. I later learned that the head chef has passed away.

First up is the seasonal starter - fluke with vegetables, corn and flava bean.

Next is the sashimi assortment of the day- fatty tuna on shiso leaves, amberjack and (??).

What's interesting about the setup is that you can be creative with your food. Top left, you can see that there are two kinds of salt- miso salt and german rock salt. Top right is a lemon squeezer where you can add lemon to your tempura. 

The large bowl at the bottom left is the tempura dipping sauce where you can dunk grated daikon (right bowl) on it to give the dipping sauce more body. For each meal, the chef will provide recommendation on how you should season the tempura. For example, pair one of the salt with/without lemon, or to just use the dipping sauce. I had fun trying other kinds of combination to each dish.

The two salts.

The german rock salt comes from the big rock behind the counter.

So, what do you get in this course? Obviously, you will get the prawn and prawn heads.

Asparagus

Don't remember what these are..

Scallops. You can see that the chef cooked it right as it's still rare inside.

Lotus root.

Eggplants wrapped in eel.

Pumpkin.

Corn fritters.

White fish.

I asked the chef what they do with all of the leftover crumbs. I believed he said that it's either used in some dishes or they eat it with staffs/family.

The next three dishes are add-ons (outside the dinner course). Shiitake mushroom.

Squid.

Uni. This could have been presented better though.

As a cleanser is the somen noodle with fresh vegetables.

Steamed egg custard & foie gras topped with crab sauce. This is very good. It's soft and flavorful.

For the rice course, you can opt for either ten-don or ten-cha.

Below is ten-cha, tempura rice bowl topped with tea.

Below is ten-don, rice with tempura on top.

Lastly is the refreshment. If I recall correctly, it's yuzu ice cream with matcha.

So what's the final verdict? Compared with the two tempura places that I tried before in Japan (Tempura Kondo- two michelin star and Tempura tsunahachi), I'll rate this the highest. First, it's fun to be explore different flavor profile by combining the tempura with different seasoning. Second, non-tempura courses (e.g., egg custard and sashimi) are better options than what was offered in Tempura Kondo. You can read more about my experience with Tempura Kondo in here. 

The only downside is that this tempura course (original price) is more expensive than Tempura Kondo. Will probably have to wait for deal to eat at here again.