Go Home For Dinner at 224 Boston Street Update – South Boston

Had a fabulous quadruple date at 224 last weekend – it’s the second time I’ve come here in a big group, and believe me, if any nice restaurant can handle a group, it’s 224 Boston Street.

When we first arrived, we were shown to our roundtable with the air conditioning unit blasting away at the neatly rolled napkins. We barely had time to notice this when the host quickly added, “If you would rather not sit with the air blowing on you I can seat you on the other side.” If only this kind of attention to detail had persisted in all the food….

Soon we were seated in the other room of the restaurant, and I swear I’ve never seen so many cocks in one place! The interior decorator must have felt pretty cocky about his/her skill (GROAN)…ok, enough cock jokes…for now…

We commenced the meal by ordering drinks. Some of my tablemates ordered a good California wine but I started with the sangria. This was my biggest mistake since 7^th grade when I decided that leopard print shirt would look cool with a zebra-striped skirt. Though to be fair, it DID look like the leopard ate the zebra… Along that train of thought, I quickly discovered that the sangria tasted like carbonated blood. To be fair, I would highly recommend this to the die-hard fans of True Blood. This is the most sanitary way to get a taste of the sustenance that keeps that exalted vampires from their untimely…re-death?

For every cock there is hen, and for every god-awful sangria, there are Parmesean Zucchini Fries. The fries were well-battered with a hint of sweet cornmeal and a kick of red pepper but not too well-battered to overshadow the zucchini. Even the blue cheese dip was smartly diluted to add just enough flavor.

For entrees, I split the Lobster Mac n Cheese (described in my previous review), which is still a yummy safe-dish and adventurously tried the Salmon with Crab Stuffing. This may have been a bigger mistake than the sangria. IMO, even carbonated blood tastes more pleasant than mayo soup. If Hurricaine Irene was wet, the salmon was the exact opposite. (Too soon?) The crab stuffing was not terrible, it didn’t contribute to the dish. The orzo salad was more mayo than orzo, and the ludicrously strong flavor of the aioli was clearly intended to cover up the butchered salmon.

Thanks to my generous friends, I also tried the Grilled Pork Loin Chop and the Caprese Tortelloni. The pork chop was dry but the port wine reduction went well with it. Pork is already a neutral-tasting meat, try not to make it worse by nuking it! In stark contrast, the Fig & Walnut Mascarpone Ravioli and Crumbled Stilton on the side were amazing. LOVE the gritty texture of fig, LOVE how it tasted with the stilton. That combination alone should be an appetizer and if it were, I would order 8. As for the tortelloni, although it was al dente and nicely stuffed, the Saffron Tomato Sauce looked more like tomato water than sauce. Weirdly, thanks to the sauce-broth they reminded me of more of wontons, as if I were having Italian wonton soup.

Overall, it physically pains me to deduct an entire star for the food as the service is fantastic and the restaurant is really quite pretty and pleasant in its homey-ness. I never thought I would find a roomful of cocks comforting but if you’re craving higher-end home-cooking, this really is a good option, especially if you inexplicably happen to be in Southie.